Governor Jim Justice announced a second round of the “Do it for Babydog” sweepstakes. After his initial failed vaccination lottery that cost taxpayers $6 million, he is now focused on the youth of our state. The college-age kids I know love free stuff! I remember signing up for credit cards to get free t-shirts when I was in college. The larger issue here is the waste of taxpayer dollars on prizes when the capital could otherwise be used to actually help West Virginia citizens and business owners who have been decimated by the pandemic. Not only is Governor Justice spending American Rescue Plan funds on another sweepstakes, he is also gallivanting around the state on the taxpayers’ dime to hand out prizes like a game show host, complete with a helpless English Bulldog as a prop.
Those who are calling for the governor to resign over his latest financial failures, however, should not get their hopes up. It won’t happen! If the governor goes back to solely being coal-baron Jim Justice, he will merely be a man embroiled in lawsuits and liens over his continued failure to pay taxes and, more recently, his default on several hundred-million dollar loans that he personally guaranteed. As a governor with seemingly endless amounts of federal dollars (read: taxpayer money) to throw around, Governor Justice gets to act like the billionaire he once was. The irony is so thick you could cut it with a knife. On a whim, he is able to throw money around wherever he wants, knowing no one can or will stop him. The governor obviously craves attention and popularity as if he’s competing for the title of homecoming king. He distributes prizes and million-dollar checks all over the state on funds that came from hard-working taxpayers. The governor should resign not for his financial woes, but instead for his reckless spending on a vaccine lottery that has been a direct slap in the face to all West Virginians who are hurting financially due to the pandemic.
The West Virginia Legislature tried to put an end to these types of shenanigans by calling for a special session in 2020 and then again during the 2021 legislative session, but unfortunately there were a select few in the Senate that lacked the moral fortitude to do so. They would rather be buddies with the governor than stand up for the people for which they represent.
You deserve better, West Virginia. You deserve a full-time governor who works for the people of West Virginia, and not a pretend game- show host/basketball coach/failed billionaire who cares more for his dog than he does West Virginians. For someone who constantly claims not to be a politician, Governor Justice just might play the part perfectly.
Evan Worrell represents District 18 in the West Virginia House of Delegates.