Elect Craig Blair

Issues

Craig Blair’s Legislative Successes

• Medical Malpractice 2003

• Workers’ Compensation 2003 & 2005

• Tort Laws Reform 2005

• Eminent Domain 2006

• West Virginia Turnpike Tolls Rollback 2006

• Protecting Children from Sexual Predators 2006

• Elimination of the Food Tax 2006, 2007, 2008

• Reformed the Automobile Privilege Tax 2007

• Castle Doctrine/2nd Amendment 2008

• Strengthened Child Custody/False Allegations 2008

• Defeated ObamaCare in West Virginia 2010

Delegate Craig Blair’s Pledge to the West Virginia Family

Many West Virginians Believe

• Those in power do not adequately reflect their values.

• Representatives have lost touch with everyday problems – putting food on the table, gas

in the car, educational issues, raising children.

• Some public officials are more concerned with distributing government handouts, gaining

more political control, getting re-elected, than with the real issues West Virginians face –

job loss, financial hardship, and young people leaving the state at an alarming rate.

• The government is not doing enough to protect children and families from the increased

influence of illegal drugs and other criminal activities.

Cause and Effect

• The West Virginia Legislature has been ruled by just one party since the Great

Depression.

• For over eight decades, the Democratic Party has controlled both houses of the

legislature.

• While the rest of the nation has grown and prospered, West Virginia has cycled from one

failure to the next.

State Rankings

• West Virginia ranks 5th in people living below poverty level.

• We rank 49th ($40,827) in average family median income (National Average: $53,692;

Five Surround States’ Average: $56,120).

Core Difference

• Republicans understand you don’t create prosperity by increasing taxes.

• We are willing to make the changes necessary to grow our economy.

• We can reverse the trend of decades of failed public policies and accumulated debt.

West Virginia’s Time Has Come!

Voters, if you elect Republicans to the West Virginia Legislature, you will exercise your power to give our caucus control of the State’s agenda for the first time in a quarter of a century!

Were We Stand

• EMPLOYMENT AND EDUCATION

It is time that these two issues were combined to create a partnership for our future!

• We will reduce bureaucratic waste and spend education dollars in the classrooms, not

on state administrators.

• We will allow local school boards more autonomy and grant greater flexibility.

• We will redirect funding to provide for more competitive salaries for teachers and all state

employees.

• We will reinforce the fact that students and parents also share the responsibility for their

education.

• We will ensure the security of all West Virginia state employee retirement systems.

• We will provide employment opportunities for our graduates to encourage young, talented

adults to stay. Children are West Virginia's future.

• TAX AND LEGAL REFORMS

Tired of paying too much in taxes and not seeing any results from your hard-earned

investment?

• We will fully and immediately eliminate the tax on food which will save the average family

of four $156 per year.

• We will have non-partisan elections for judges.

• We will stop the "lottery mentality" regarding frivolous lawsuits.

• We will audit and review spending by all state agencies, cut wasteful spending and

return excess revenues back to the taxpayers.

• We will assist senior citizens by raising the homestead exemption.

• We will eliminate income tax for those earning less than $20,000 which will include

seniors.

• We will exempt certain pension benefits earned by seniors from state income tax.

• We will undertake the first, full audit of the $2.6 billion Medicaid Budget in 15 years.

• We will completely eliminate the anti-competition, anti-growth business franchise tax to

enhance business expansion and employment opportunities.

• We will competitively reduce the corporate net income tax to the national average of 6.5%.

• We will eliminate the job-killing personal property tax on equipment and machinery.

• We will repeal the wholesale gas tax which also taxes home heating oil.

• We will overhaul the tax code to allow greater regional control and promote job growth.

• HEALTH CARE

Incarcerated murderers, thieves, rapists, drug traffickers, and their addicts, all have

better health care than many working West Virginians. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? This is

wrong!

• We will offer tax incentives to employers who provide health care coverage to their

employees, especially low wage earners.

• We will promote health-care savings accounts, providing people a vested interest in

their own well being.

• We will encourage employee wellness and fitness programs.

• We will substantially increase the punishment for trafficking drugs to ensure that dealers

will avoid West Virginia and our children.

• We will allow regional jails to work inmates to offset taxpayers’ expenses for inmate

housing.

• We will make prisons miserable and cheap so that those who enter would never want to

return.

• FAMILY

Are you discouraged by the legislature's failure to reflect the values we share as West

Virginians?

• We will constitutionally protect current West Virginia law by defining marriage as a “union

of one man and one woman” and reject any other states’ attempt to redefine marriage

otherwise.

• We will require parental notification before a minor child can receive an abortion and

continue to promote polices that value all human life.

• We will foster a family atmosphere that recognizes the value of two-parent families and

promote "children first" custody laws.

• We will continue to strengthen our laws to protect our children and families from child

molesters, sexual predators, and rapists.

• We will reduce West Virginia’s budget dependency on neighborhood gambling parlors

where proceeds are obtained at the expense of West Virginia’s less fortunate and their

families.

• FAITH IN GOVERNMENT

Your Government should serve you – honestly and fairly. The time has come for all West

Virginians to hold your local politicians accountable for their legislative votes and for the

better government you deserve.

• We will provide the citizens their right of initiative, referendum, and recall so that all West

Virginians can have better control and greater participation in their government.

• We will limit the growth of government to a rate no greater than the rate of inflation.

• We will require a super majority for any future tax increases.

• We will provide the citizens a strong and effective ethics commission and ensure

vigorous prosecution to stop the continuous cycle of political corruption.

• We will reduce or eliminate most legislative interim meetings and travel junkets that

waste taxpayer dollars.

Delegate Craig P. Blair - The Issues

West Virginia 52nd District/Candidate for State Senate District 16

Since 2002, Republicans have effectively piloted the way to a better West Virginia!

Leadership has continuously refused to act until threatened with crisis or political embarrassment.

During the last six years, Republicans have driven all major reforms or repeals.

We Believe

• Government exists to serve and protect the

interests of the individual, without

compromising the rights of life, liberty,

property, and the pursuit of happiness.

• State government should provide only for those

services that the individual cannot do alone

and that a smaller, more accountable and

fiscally responsible state government

will better serve the citizens of West Virginia.

• Government should not grow beyond the

growth in population and the rate of inflation

and that budget surpluses should be returned

to the taxpayers who have paid them.

Our Vision

My vision of changing the tax structure and implementing further tort reforms will improve the business climate, thus bringing more employers to our state. As jobs increase, employment will broaden, stabilizing our tax base while increasing revenues. A strong treasury combined with a lean, efficient government will allow our state to fully invest in our future commitments like education, roads and the safety and well-being of your family. West Virginians deserve more jobs and better pay.