By Phil Kabler, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — In a swan song as he nears the end of a 16-year legislative tenure, House Minority Leader Tim Miley, D-Harrison, told attendees of the West Virginia Press Association’s annual Legislative Breakfast that “things are not great” in West Virginia.
Miley, the House speaker from 2013 to 2015, used his final address before the Press Association as an antidote to positive commentary offered by House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, and Senate President Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson.
“We need to be honest about where we are, and where we need to go, and not talk about how great we are, because things are not great,” Miley said.
In the past decade, he said, public school enrollment statewide has dropped by 20,000 students, with declines in 50 of 55 counties.
“These kids won’t grow up to be adults here, to be taxpayers here,” Miley said. …
