This news story originally provided by The Charleston Gazette

10/2/03

Heavier trucks on roads
120,000-lb. coal hauls begin on 1,996 miles in 15 counties

By Ken Ward Jr.
STAFF WRITER

An additional 263 miles of West Virginia’s roads were opened to a near doubling of coal-truck weight limits Wednesday.

Coal haulers now can carry 120,000-pound loads on nearly 2,000 miles of state routes.

Transportation Secretary Fred VanKirk said the program, called the Coal Resource Transportation System, makes state roads safer.

“The roads out there are hauling more than this now,” VanKirk said Wednesday morning. “So we’re actually going to be reducing weights.”

VanKirk joined officials from the state Public Service Commission at the press conference to update their progress in implementing West Virginia’s new coal-hauling rules (SB583), which were signed into law by Gov. Bob Wise.

As required by the law, the Department of Transportation on Wednesday published an “interim list” of roads where coal haulers can obtain permits to carry loads of up to 120,000 pounds. Before the increase, larger state roads and interstates had 80,000-pound limits, and smaller West Virginia roads had limits of 65,000 pounds.

In a news release, DOT said that it would publish the final list by the legal deadline of Jan. 1, 2004. Public comments on the interim list will be accepted through Nov. 7, the release said.

But VanKirk said that 120,000-pound loads would be legal to companies with the special permits as soon as DOH crews post signs on the roads that are on the new agency list. That will be done over the next few months, he said.

About 120 bridges along the coal-haul roads also must be marked, VanKirk said.

DOT engineers found that those bridges would not be safe with the 120,000-pound loads, so the structures will be marked for lesser weight limits, VanKirk said.

Coal haulers now can apply to the PSC for permits to carry heavier weights, said commission transportation director Frank Crabtree.

Final rules to outline the permit process will go before the Legislature next year, Crabtree said. Until then, he said, the agency is operating under emergency rules issued in August.

The new law also required the PSC to take over enforcement, effective Wednesday, of coal-truck weight limits from the transportation department.

“The PSC’s major priority is public safety,” Crabtree said. “In that regard, all safety provisions of the legislation are now being enforced, including speeding, and vehicle and driver safety checks.”

In July, the DOT released a preliminary list of about 1,700 miles of state roads in 15 counties eligible for heavier coal trucks.

After a public comment period, the agency expanded that list to 1,996 miles of roads, officials announced Wednesday.

Many of the additional roads are in Fayette County, according to DOT records. There, the agency nearly doubled the eligible mileage to about 200 miles.

Among other roads, DOT added 35 miles of U.S. 60, from Chimney Corner to the Greenbrier County line, and 27 miles of U.S. 19, agency records show.

The DOT also added 41 miles of roads in Boone County and 31 miles in Kanawha County, records show.

VanKirk said no roads were deleted from the list at the request of citizens.

“We didn’t get that many negative comments, frankly,” he said.

Roads were added, VanKirk said, at the request of coal producers and coal haulers.

“The people that haul coal are the ones who know where these roads are,” VanKirk said.

Robert Watson, a DOT engineer, said he could not immediately identify which coal companies or haulers requested which roads be added to the list.

“It was easier to deal with one point of contact,” Watson said. “So we dealt with the coal association, and met with [association president] Bill Raney and went through his list.”

10/5/03

Legislative candidates given $6 million, research shows

By Paul J. Nyden
STAFF WRITER

Corporate donations continue to play a major role in financing legislative campaigns, according to a new report by the West Virginia People’s Election Reform Coalition.

PERC researchers have analyzed donations to state political candidates for the 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002 election cycles.

Julie Archer, a research analyst for PERC, said $6 million went to all legislative candidates last year. About $4 million went to winners and $2 million to losers, she said.

Candidates running for the state Senate and House of Delegates raised more money from health-care providers than from any other special interest group.

Physicians, hospital executives and other health-care providers contributed $475,650 to legislative races — more than twice as much as they donated in 2000. Their contributions made up 14 percent of all legislative contributions that PERC identified.

Personal funds and family contributions remained the largest single largest source of campaign money for winning candidates, accounting for 20 percent of all the money spent.

Sen. Lisa Smith, R-Putnam, skewed this percentage single-handedly, by loaning her campaign $258,000 in a successful race against incumbent Senate Finance Chairman Oshel Craigo, D-Putnam. Smith accounted for 38 percent of all personal money spent on winning 2002 campaigns.

Craigo lost the race even though he set a record for candidates running for the Legislature.

Craigo raised $408,587 in 2002, beating the previous record by more than $80,000. Craigo set that record during his successful Senate re-election campaign in 1988. Smith raised the next best amount of money of any Senate candidate, with $296,091, during the 2002 election cycle.

“In most legislative races, the candidate who was able to raise and spent the most money won, although there were some notable exceptions in 2002,” the PERC report states.

Two incumbent senators — Judiciary Chairman Bill Wooton, D-Raleigh, and Sen. John Mitchell, D-Kanawha — also lost races despite raising more money than their opponents. So did House Health and Human Resources Chairwoman Mary Pearl Compton, D-Monroe, who raised $211,364, more than double what her opponent collected.

Other major donors to 2002 legislative races included: lawyers, who donated 10 percent; labor unions, 8 percent; coal executives, 7 percent; real estate and construction, 5 percent; gambling interests, 4 percent; banking and finance executives, 4 percent.

Another 19 percent of identifiable donations came from a variety of other business interests, including: pharmaceuticals, railroads, timber, oil and gas, tobacco, chemicals, beverage distributors and electric utilities.

The average amount each winning legislative candidate raised rose dramatically between 1996 and 2002, PERC found:

The typical Senate winner’s contributions increased by 86 percent, from $51,159 to $95,372, between 1986 and 2002.

The average House of Delegates winner raised 46 percent more last year than six years earlier, up from $17,486 in 1996 to $25,589 in 2002.

Last year, the top two political action committees were the Laborers District Council PAC, which contributed $59,600, and the West Virginia Law PAC (representing trial lawyers), which contributed $58,600.

Three other PACs contributed more than $50,000: the West Virginia Bankers PAC, Hospital Association PAC and West Virginia Federation of Teachers.

The 10 top individual contributors included: five gambling executives, two coal operators, two trial lawyers and one business lobbyist. The top four were:

Ted Arneault, chief executive officer of Mountaineer Race Track in Chester, who gave $33,350 to 73 candidates.

Jeremy Jacobs, an owner of Delaware North Companies that owns the Wheeling Downs racetrack, who gave $26,000 to 61 candidates.

William Bright, a Nicholas County coal executive and business leader, who gave $20,950 to 54 candidates.

Herbert Tyner, an owner of Tri-State Race Track and Gaming Center in Cross Lanes, who gave $17,450 to 35 candidates.

House of Delegates candidates who raised the most in 2002 were: House Speaker Bob Kiss, D-Raleigh, $182,460; and Delegates Dan Foster, D-Kanawha, $131,954; Carrie Webster, D-Kanawha, $90,297; Sally Susman, D-Raleigh, $75,640; and Barbara Fleischauer, $65,685.

Delegate Bonnie Brown, D-Kanawha, received 20 percent of her contributions from donors who gave $100 or less — more than any other House of Delegates candidate.

Three others received 17 percent of their contributions from small donors: Fleischauer; Greg Howard, R-Cabell; and John Overington, R-Berkeley.

Delegates receiving the highest percentages of contributions that were $500 or more were: Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, 100 percent; Cindy Frich, R-Monongalia, 87 percent; Susman, 76 percent; Lidella Hrutkay, D-Logan, 74 percent; and Joe C. Ferrell, D-Logan, 73 percent.

Winning senators receiving the highest percentage of large donations were: Smith, 96 percent; Tracy Dempsey, D-Lincoln, 78 percent; Truman Chafin, D-Mingo, 72 percent; John Unger, D-Berkeley, 57 percent; Russell Weeks, R-Raleigh, 55 percent.

The five state Senate candidates who received the most from health-care providers included two winners: Evan Jenkins, D-Cabell, and Mike Oliverio, D-Monongalia. Health-care interests were also generous with three Senate losers: Tom Scott, R-Cabell, along with Craigo and Wooton.

(Jenkins, former president of the West Virginia Medical Association and House of Delegates member, defeated Scott, a physician.)

The new PERC report also takes a look at recent gubernatorial races.

Before announcing he would not run for re-election, Gov. Bob Wise raised $1.21 million for the 2004 election.

Eighty-eight percent of Wise’s donations that could be identified came from business leaders or corporate lawyers. (Donors who gave $130,237 could not be identified and classified by PERC researchers. State election laws do not require donors giving less than $250 to identify their occupations.)

PERC research found that the types of donors to Wise’s re-election campaign during the 2002 election cycle were remarkably similar to donors who financed former Gov. Cecil Underwood’s campaign in 2000, which he lost to Wise.

-- Coal interests gave 17 percent of all contributions to Underwood in 2000 and 17 percent of all contributions to Wise in 2002. Wise helped lead efforts to pass legislation raising the legal weight limits for coal-hauling trucks.

-- Health-care interests gave 11 percent to Underwood and 14 percent to Wise. Wise backed legislation passed this year that limits the amount of money that can be collected by victims of medical malpractice.

-- Real estate and construction interests gave 11 percent of all donations to Underwood in 2000 and 13 percent of all donations to Wise in 2002.

-- Banking and finance executives accounted for 6 percent of Underwood’s donations and 5 percent of Wise’s contributions.

PERC and the West Virginia Citizen Action Group both support the concept of “clean elections.”

Archer, of PERC, said, “Six states already passed ‘clean election laws’ that set up systems of public financing for qualified candidates. Those candidates have to show they have public support by collecting a specified number of campaign contributions and signatures from registered voters.

“To get public financing, they agree to forgo any private contributions. Once they qualify, they get a set amount of money and don’t have to spend time fund-raising,” she said.

“In 2001, the Maine legislature passed a universal health-care plan. In previous years, supporters of that law were unable to overcome opposition from the insurance industry.

“One of the bill’s sponsors said the ‘clean elections’ law diminished the influence the insurance industry had over the legislature, so they could get the law passed,” Archer said.

This news story originally provided by The Charleston Gazette

10/7/03

Monster trucks
Making the illegal legal

HUGE, dangerous, destructive trucks weighing 120,000 pounds now are legal on 2,000 miles of designated “coal haul” roads in Southern West Virginia. Supposedly, this cures longtime lawbreaking — but will it bring other improvement?

The weight limit on two-lane blacktop roads in the mountains traditionally was 65,000 pounds, and for thick concrete interstate highways it’s 80,000. But many coal operators and haulers systematically broke the law. They bought ever-bigger trucks and routinely hauled 160,000 pounds. State enforcement was feeble, and fines were trivial.

The giant trucks crush flimsy blacktop and weaken bridges, imposing large costs on taxpayers. Worse, the trucks kill a tragic number of West Virginians because extreme loads are difficult to stop.

Facing this problem, the governor and Legislature could have created many jobs. They could have forced haulers to obey the law, which would have required twice as many drivers in smaller trucks.

Instead, as usual, the governor and Legislature caved in to out-of-state coal corporations that own much of West Virginia. They adopted a “compromise” subjecting weak blacktop to loads not allowed on strong concrete.

Last week, Transportation Secretary Fred VanKirk announced that 1,996 miles of roads in 15 counties now may be used by 120,000-pound coal trucks with special permits. “We’re actually going to be reducing weights,” he said, because those trucks previously carried heavier loads.

Unfortunately, 120 bridges on those roads can’t legally bear 120,000 pounds, so they will be posted for lower weights.

Enforcement of this new system has been assigned to the Public Service Commission, which already inspects big trucks for safety. For the first time, enforcers will be allowed to see scale records from coal loading docks.

But we wonder. Since coal haulers willfully violated weight laws all these years, will they now rig scales to show lighter loads? Did changing the law make them law-abiding?

Also, will the PSC post guards at the 120 unsafe bridges? Will a 120,000-pound truck be required to stop and dump half its load into a second truck before crossing? Or will haulers cross illegally, as they’ve always done?

This longstanding West Virginia issue isn’t simple. Forcing the coal industry to use smaller vehicles with more drivers would have created jobs — but it also would have doubled the number of trucks on the road. And it would have left the industry stuck with the costly behemoths that were purchased for illegal hauling.

Maybe reducing the hurtling Gargantuans on crooked mountain roads from 160,000 to 120,000 pounds will save some lives and reduce pavement destruction. However, the weight reduction will require truly tough enforcement — something little known in West Virginia.

This news story originally provided by AP through The Daily Mail 

10/7/03

Bottle bill gaining support, opposition

By JENNIFER BUNDY
Associated Press Writer

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Consumers would have to pay a 10-cent deposit on beverage containers under a bill being promoted by the West Virginia Citizen Action Group.

The deposit could be redeemed when the containers are turned in for recycling, said Linda Mallet, a program manager for the group. The proposed West Virginia Container Recycling and Litter Control Act would require the deposit on all single use glass, aluminum and plastic beverage containers.

About half of the 1 billion containers used in West Virginia each year are not recycled, Citizens Action Group says.

Charleston, Huntington, Morgantown, South Charleston and St. Albans city councils have voted to support the bill. Parkersburg's council is scheduled to vote Oct. 14.

The initiative, led by Mallet's group, also has the support of the West Virginia Farm Bureau, the West Virginia Environmental Council, the West Virginia Sierra Club and the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy. The group also is gathering petitions from around the state.

The 10 states that have a "bottle bill'' have seen container litter drop up to 80 percent, with an overall drop in litter of up to 50 percent, Mallet said. Those states are Oregon, California, Iowa, Michigan, Maine, New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Delaware.

Although West Virginia has mandatory recycling, it isn't working well, Mallet said.

"Parkersburg is a great example. Although they have mandatory recycling, they have a 47 percent participation rate. It's not even 50 percent and it's mandatory.''

West Virginia spends almost $2 million a year cleaning up litter. The bill would shift that cost to consumers, Mallet said.

It would allow people to redeem the deposit at container collection centers, which hopefully would be at the stores where they bought the drinks, and elsewhere. Those centers would have an incentive to take the containers because they would be paid to do so, Mallet said.

The money would come from deposits that were not redeemed. For example, if 80 percent of containers were returned, the deposits from the other 20 percent would be revenue for the state, which Mallet estimates would be about $20 million a year. Some of that could be used to pay a handling fee to retailers.

"Granted, there will be more work for the retailers, but there is a cost to society for having all these containers,'' Mallet said.

The West Virginia Retailers Association opposes the bill.

"The idea of the thing sounds good,'' said lobbyist Paul McKown. The problem is sorting and storing the containers, which may be contaminated.

"It's impossible for a small business,'' McKown said. "It would be very expensive, very time consuming.''

Also, many people in border counties shop in other states, so it would be difficult for retailers to know which containers should be redeemable, McKown said.

People who are not participating in mandatory recycling, particularly in cities that have curbside pickup, are not likely to return their containers, so there would be no reduction in litter, McKown said. Instead, there should be more enforcement of litter laws.

The bill was introduced in the Legislature earlier this year, but died in the House and Senate judiciary committees.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Jeffrey Kessler, D-Marshall, said the idea does not sound workable.

It's not fair to penalize all consumers because a few litter, said Kessler, who controls his committee's agenda.

"I'll take a look at anything,'' he said. "My gut feeling is, it would probably cost more than it would ever benefit.''

This news story originally provided by The Register Herald

10/8/03

'Bottle bill' gains both support, opposition

By Jessica Farrish/Register-Herald Reporter

A proposed "bottle bill" pending in the West Virginia Legislature has created a flurry of responses from various lobbying groups and agencies.

The West Virginia Container Recycling and Litter Control Act being promoted by the West Virginia Citizen Action Group seeks to compel consumers to pay a 10-cent deposit on all single-use glass, aluminum and plastic beverage containers.

Under the proposed legislation, consumers could redeem the deposit at container collection centers, which - sponsors hope - would be at the store at which the drinks were bought and at other locations.

According to Linda Mallet, program manager for Citizen Action Group, retailers would be paid to accept the recyclables.

Mallet added the money to pay the retailers would come from deposits that were not returned.

Although West Virginia has mandatory recycling, it's not working well, she said.

"Parkersburg is a great example," Mallet said. "Although they have mandatory recycling, they have a 47 percent participation rate.

"It's not even 50 percent, and it's mandatory."

Mallet said the bill - which has the support of the West Virginia Farm Bureau, West Virginia Environmental Council, Sierra Club and West Virginia Highlands Conservancy - would shift the $2 million annual litter cleanup costs from the state to consumers.

Raleigh County Solid Waste Authority education and marketing director Sherrie Hunter - who supports the proposed measure - predicted passage of the bill would result in more people picking up recyclable items that now litter roadsides and forests throughout the state.

"People would be picking (all recyclables) up just like they do the aluminum cans to make a little bit of extra money," Hunter said. "I believe that the bottle bill would benefit our communities by eliminating litter on the sides of the roadway.

"I think that litter is a threat to tourism, which is the state's important industry."

Hunter added the number of recyclable items that languish in landfills could also be lessened through passage of the bottle bill.

Those who oppose the bill say the cost to businesses would be significant while the benefit to communities would be minimal.

West Virginia Retailers Association lobbyist Paul McKown said sorting and storing containers, which may be contaminated, would present a challenge to retailers.

"It's impossible for a small business," McKown said. "It would be very expensive, very time-consuming."

Another pitfall is that many West Virginians living in border counties shop in other states, so it would be difficult for retailers to identify the containers that are redeemable.

Finally, McKown said, those who don't participate in mandatory recycling, particularly in cities that have curbside service, are not likely to return their containers, so there would be no reduction in litter.

Charleston, Huntington, Morgantown, South Charl-eston and St. Albans city councils have voted to support the bill.

Beckley Mayor Emmett Pugh said he decided to study the bill more thoroughly before offering support.

The mayor added Beckley has had a recycling program "for several years."

"(Recycling) markets are up and down," Pugh added. "It's extremely hard, at times, to find viable markets for recyclables.

"The goal (of the proposed bill) is great, but it has to be done in a cost-effective manner and not use too much money.

"I really need to look at the bill and see exactly what they would propose."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

- E-mail:

jshifflett@register-herald.com

This news story originally provided by WV Metro News

10/14/2003

Drivers Prepare to Haul Heavy -- Legally

Staff
Logan

Coal truck drivers from all over the southern part of West Virginia and the northern part of Virginia are buying permits from the state Public Service Commission so they can haul heavier loads in 15 southern counties.

The PSC is selling the permits at Chief Logan State Park Conference Center Monday and Tuesday. Weight Enforcement officials will be in Raleigh County later this week.

PSC Weight Enforcement official Jeff Davis says come November 1, coal truck drivers need a special permit to haul up to 120,000 on the designated roads in the 15 counties. Davis says the permits $600. He says money will go back into the state coffers to pay for road and bridge repair caused by the extra weight.

Truckers from as far away as northern Virginia showed up at Chief Logan just to fill out their paperwork and hand over their $600 check. Drivers Danny Stacy and Mickey Matney both haul coal in Mingo County. Neither is pleased about having to shell out that kind of money. But they say in order to haul over the current 80,000 limit; they have to make some concessions.

Matney says the thing he worries most about now is keeping insurance on his coal truck. He says it’s becoming more and more difficult in West Virginia to obtain insurance.

PSC workers will move their mobile office to Raleigh County later this week for two days. They say it's their way of trying to reach out to the public and make it easier for coal truck drivers to get a permit. Drivers who can't make it to either the Logan or Raleigh location can still apply and buy their permit at the PSC's Charleston office.

Davis says if a driver is caught carrying over the 80,000-pound limit without a permit, they face a fine. But if drivers have a permit and are caught hauling more than 120,000 PSC officials say they are looking at steeper fines.

The new coal haul route system doesn't go into effect until January 1st, but the PSC says they wanted to get drivers now.

This news story originally provided by AP and The Charleston Gazette

10/16/03

Conference focuses on guidelines for industry gifts to physicians

By MICHELLE SAXTON
Associated Press Writer

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Weekend resort trips, good seats at sporting events and expensive dinners all make pretty good gifts -- but not if you're a doctor and the generous benefactor is a pharmaceutical company sales representative.

That is the message of an upcoming continuing education conference at the West Virginia University Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center in Morgantown.

While allegations of extravagant promotional gifts such as free airline tickets or golf clubs have declined in recent years, potential abuses should be addressed, said Dr. James Helsley, vice chair of the committee on continuing medical education at the WVU School of Medicine.

"Those targeted physicians who were receiving the fairly exorbitant gifts were prescribing certain products or using certain versions of medical equipment that created dollar income to the companies,'' Helsley said of past occurrences.

The influence of such gifts that may have strings attached could hurt patient care if the patient gets more expensive or less effective treatment, Helsley said. Infringements of ethical guidelines could also come from the other side, if doctors request such gifts for using a company's product, he added.

Offering expensive gifts to doctors was fairly common in the 1980s and early 1990s, Helsley said, but that practice has become rare since the American Medical Association developed guidelines in the latter part of the 1990s.

"To either offer it or accept an exorbitant gift would be considered rather unethical and unprofessional,'' Helsley said.

Physician gifts from the pharmaceutical or medical device manufacturing industries should be worth no more than $100 and somehow relate to patient care, Helsley said, citing the AMA's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs' guidelines. Acceptable gifts could include a stethoscope or medical textbook.

Gifts of minimal value but related to a doctor's work, such as notepads and pens, are also OK, according to the council.

"It really is an acknowledgment that the doctor was very patient to agree to meet with sales representatives, and doctors are very busy,'' said Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America spokesman Jeff Trewhitt of the smaller gifts.

PhRMA, which represents pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies across the nation, has developed voluntary guidelines similar to the AMA's, Trewhitt said.

"In the vast majority of cases, the relationship between sales representatives and doctors has been appropriate,'' Trewhitt said.

Helsley said pharmaceutical and manufacturing companies work with the medical community by funding unrestricted grants for continuing medical education and by providing free samples and patient educational materials.

The conference will be held Oct. 31 at the WVU Health Sciences Auditorium.

On the Net:
American Medical Association: http://www.ama-assn.org/
PhRMA: http://www.phrma.org/

This news story originally provided by AP and The Charleston Gazette

10/21/03

Lawmakers get alternate view of insurance trends

By LAWRENCE MESSINA
Associated Press Writer

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- If West Virginians are paying more to insure their autos or homes, it's not because of lawsuits, lawmakers were told during an interim session.

An insurance industry analyst said that losses paid out for liability coverage -- the component of auto policies involved in lawsuits -- have grown at about the same rate in West Virginia as they have nationally since 1999.

David Shepherd told a joint interim committee Monday that losses from injuries grew at 2.8 percent per year in West Virginia and 2.6 percent nationwide.

Property losses paid out under liability coverage grew annually for both at 3.5 percent, Shepherd told the Insurance Availability and Medical Malpractice Insurance Committee.

The increase in liability losses under home policies, meanwhile, has been negligible because less than 15 percent of such policies include that component of coverage, Shepherd said.

Shepherd said people in West Virginia and elsewhere are paying more for other components of auto and home policies because insurers failed in prior years to adjust rates. Instead, they tried to undercut each other to capture larger chunks of the market, he said.

Shepherd, with the Alabama firm of Merlinos and Associates, told lawmakers that insurers make their profits from investments, not premiums. Unlike now, the roaring stock market of the 1990s allowed insurers to wage a pricing war, he said. As investments rebound, premiums will decline, he predicted.

Shepherd was one of several speakers presented by the West Virginia Trial Lawyers Association.

Both that group and the insurance industry have sought the committee's ear as it studies the availability and affordability of home and auto insurance in the Mountain State. Those sparring interests helped pack the House Government Organization room for Monday's meeting.

The joint committee has paid particular attention to third-party bad faith lawsuits, civil cases filed against insurers alleging they fail to deal fairly with claims filed by non-policyholders. Clarksburg lawyer Michael Romano told the committee that the insurance lobby has overstated the ill effects of such cases.

Romano said such a lawsuit cannot be filed as long as an insurance company answers a claim filing, investigates the claim and makes an offer, if the case warrants. Evidence of fraud by the claimant immunizes insurers against these lawsuits as well, he said.

Romano defended this type of lawsuit as a consumer protection measure. Five of the six states that allow them sport lower auto policy rates than the national average, and all have lower home policy rates, lawmakers were told.

As for the causes of rising rates, Romano cited Shepherd's study. He also noted the 22 auto deaths in West Virginia for every 100,000 people last year. Of the surrounding states, Maryland had only 11 deaths per 100,000 population and Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia each had 13, he said.

This news story originally provided by The Register Herald

10/21/03

Attorney warns lawmakers payday lending is 'addictive'

By Mannix Porterfield/Register-Herald Reporter

CHARLESTON - Short on funds with an impending car repair that can't be delayed another week?

No problem. Just stop in at your friendly payday lender for instant cash.

All you need do is sign over your next pay stub with a post-dated check, and you're off to the garage. When payday arrives, the lender keeps the amount needed to cover the short-term loan - plus his profit.

In a nutshell, that's the concept of payday lending - an idea that brings quick money when a financial crisis develops.

Many consumers find the idea attractive, given the inability to get small sums of cash for brief periods from banks or other institutions.

West Virginia lawmakers got their first glimpse Monday of proposed regulations sought by Community Financial Services Association of America.

In what appears to be a burgeoning idea across the nation to bail consumers out of emergencies, West Virginia already has some such entities at work. First American Cash Advance has a number of outlets in the state, including Beckley.

Vicki Woodward, representing Advance America, told the committee some 20,000 such offices operate nationally - proof that a void exists which banks cannot fill.

"Our customers find this cheaper than a bounced check or overdraft protection or having their utilities turned off and then turned back on," Woodward said. "These are choices our customers are making."

But a consumer watchdog and a Charleston attorney who practices law on behalf of low-income clients warned Judiciary Subcommittee B that payday lending is addictive and can get consumers in more hot water than they imagined.

"I live from payday to payday," Norm Steenstra, director of West Virginia Citizen Action Group said. "I don't have any credit cards.

"Sometimes I don't live payday to payday. You change your eating habits then. I don't understand the need for payday lending."

Steenstra and attorney David McMahon cautioned that payday lending is a hook that finds consumers making repeat loans at exorbitant rates until they reach the point they cannot make other bills.

What was intended as a one-time loan to tide them over until payday quickly turns in habitual borrowing, the two cautioned.

The WVCAG leader said one out-of-state company, whom he didn't identify, has been making first-time campaign donations to West Virginia office-holders, possibly laying the groundwork to return eventually and plead for higher rates on the premise they're needed to protect jobs it provides to state residents.

When that happens, Steenstra warned, what the lenders will be saying to the Legislature, in effect is, "We need to tweak the law so it's easy to take a man's house or a man's car."

"It is not a consumer protection bill," McMahon said, but rather sets the stage for "predatory" lending practices that prey on consumers.

Thirty-five states now regulate payday lending, with five adding laws within the last three years.

A Virginia lawmaker, Delegate Clifton Woodrum III, who helped craft his state's regulatory measure, HB940 last year, told the panel, "Payday lending is growing. I believe it's going to continue whether or not you act to control it."

Some 600,000 such loans were processed in Virginia, reflecting a total payout of $165 million, and only $6 million of that wound up in default, Woodrum said.

"It shows that the loans are being made and being paid," he added.

This news story originally provided by AP and The Charleston Gazette

10/15/03

Coal trucks hauling lighter loads, PSC says

By MARTHA BRYSON HODEL
Associated Press Writer

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Coal truck weights across southern West Virginia appear to be dropping in the first weeks the state Public Service Commission has been applying new safety and weight standards, the PSC's director of enforcement said.

The state has issued 380 permits for trucks to haul as much as 120,000 pounds in 15 southern West Virginia counties, up from the old limits of 60,000 to 80,000 pounds, said Jeff Davis, director of weight enforcement for the PSC.

The amount of truck traffic "appears to be about the same,'' Davis said, adding that haulers who previously shipped up to 140,000 pounds in each truck have reduced their loads to the new limits.

Some coal haulers and the head of a lobbying group representing haulers have a different take on the first weeks of the new laws.

Carl Kirk, the owner of Kirk Trucking based in Lenore in Mingo County, said business for coal haulers is as bad as he has seen it in the last four years.

"We're so slow, we're hardly moving,'' Kirk said. "The mines we normally haul for just aren't shipping.''

Ted Berry, director of a lobbying organization called the West Virginia Natural Resource Transporters Association, said his members agree that business is down. A hauling business that was operating a fleet of 28 trucks out of Boone County to the Kanawha River has cut his operation down to 10, Berry said.

"The new laws mean a reduction of at least 20 tons from what we were allowed to carry in the past,'' Berry said. "That may be affecting some marginal operations to where they can't afford to haul any more.''

According to Davis, the new requirements for weighing shipments electronically at the starting point as well as the receiving end may be slowing some production.

"Some mine sites are having difficulty with installation, but I think that is something that will resolve itself soon,'' Davis said.

Davis said it isn't surprising that some haulers believe the PSC has a heavier enforcement presence than before. PSC truck safety crews have effectively been doubled with the addition of officers that formerly enforced weights for the state Division of Highways.

It takes at least two officers to weigh a vehicle, Davis said.

"We're working in teams, and drivers might be seeing two or three officers where they used to see just one,'' he said.

Between Oct. 1 and Oct. 17, the PSC cited six companies for shipping overweight in the 15 counties.

In the same time, 130 violations were written statewide for coal trucks that were overweight or oversize or had license violations, said PSC spokesman Bob Teets.

The agency has conducted 27 safety inspections on coal trucks statewide, and seven vehicles were taken out of service, Teets said. Twelve drivers were cited for violations involving log books or their commercial driver's licenses, and two drivers were suspended.

Since the PSC began enforcing speed limits on July 1, it has issued an average of seven speeding citations a month to coal trucks.

Coal production statistics are not current enough to determine whether mining has dropped off since the law took effect. While the U.S. Energy Information Administration keeps statistics week by week, those numbers are based on rail car loadings and do not include coal shipped by truck.

In 2002, West Virginia shipped an estimated 32 million tons of coal by truck, or about 20 percent of 153.5 million tons total production.

The majority, 93 million tons, was shipped by rail. Fourteen million tons were shipped by river, 12.5 million tons were stockpiled and the remainder was shipped by conveyor belt, according to statistics compiled by the state Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training.

This news story originally provided The Register Herald

10/23/03

The demand is there, so W.Va. lawmakers should regulate lending

Payday lending companies conjure up images of seedy, back-alley businesses. But they're not all like that, the industry's trade group argues. To weed out the bad apples, the industry itself is coming before state legislatures and pushing for regulations.

In Charleston this week, a joint Judiciary subcommittee heard from several speakers at its interim meeting as lawmakers consider whether to regulate payday lending in West Virginia.

New federal rules and a cap on loan interest rates already limit payday lending in the state. Vicki Woodward, representing Advance America, told the committee some 20,000 such offices operate nationally - proof that a void exists which banks cannot fill.

"There is a demand. Consumers in our state needed this type of credit," Woodrum testified. "You should let business have an opportunity, but you should not be afraid of regulating them."

A Virginia lawmaker, Delegate Clifton Woodrum III, who helped craft his state's regulatory measure last year, told the panel, "Payday lending is growing. I believe it's going to continue whether or not you act to control it."

Virginia has capped the fees at 15 percent and the loans at $500. Lenders can only hold the future paycheck as collateral and cannot threaten borrowers with bad check charges if they fail to pay. Consumers have a right to cancel the deal within one business day, and payday lending without a license is a felony.

Thirty-five states now regulate payday lending, with five adding laws within the last three years. West Virginia would be prudent to be the 36th.

This news story originally provided by The Charleston Gazette

10/27/03

Insurance profits contradict ‘crisis’ claims

New tort reform would give industry unnecessary boost, consumers group leader says

By Paul J. Nyden
STAFF WRITER

Recent insurance industry profits show no further “tort reform” laws are needed to restrict the rights of accident victims, according to Gary Zuckett, coordinator for the West Virginia Consumers and Victims Coalition for Insurance Reform.

The Insurance Services Office, an industry data gathering organization, recently reported property and casualty insurance companies made $14.5 billion during the first six months of 2003.

The American International Group and Allstate, two leading insurance companies, each enjoyed major profits for the three months from July to September. AIG made $2.34 billion, an increase of 29 percent from its previous third quarter, while Allstate made $691 million, a 77 percent increase.

Earlier this year, state lawmakers passed legislation, backed by Gov. Bob Wise, to make it harder for medical malpractice victims to collect major awards. Next year, there are plans to make it harder to collect damage awards from auto and property insurance companies.

Zuckett said, “The insurance industry wants us to believe they are in crisis. The insurance industry is on pace to clear a profit of nearly $30 billion this year. If that’s their idea of crisis, I’d like to know what the numbers are like when they’re doing really well.”

Sen. Evan Jenkins, D-Cabell, executive director of the West Virginia State Medical Association, said Friday, “The new battleground appears to be over homeowner and automobile insurance rates. The arguments from the trial lawyers are the same arguments that were put forth three years ago relating to our health-care crisis.

“They said no action was needed. After that, the wheels fell off our health-care system, with the loss of the trauma designation at CAMC, with physicians leaving the state and with patients losing access to care,” Jenkins said.

Zuckett said new tort reform legislation will not cut premiums for small business, auto and homeowners. “We will continue to pay more and victims will get less. The only group that will benefit financially will be the insurance industry itself.”

Jenkins said, “Nobody ever suggested [medical malpractice insurance] rates would immediately turn downward. We hope the rates will stabilize in the near future. The next major hurdle is getting the state Supreme Court to approve the actions of the Legislature. That is clearly a major question at this point.”

Zuckett also pointed out the high salaries paid to many insurance executives. “Last year, 79 insurance executives made more than $5 million and 18 made more than $10 million each, according to the Insurance Services Office.”

Eli Broad, head of AIG’s SunAmerica, earned $48.2 million, while Jay S. Wintrob, another SunAmerica executive, was paid $18.2 million.

“They cry economic hardship in a state where 21.4 percent of all West Virginians live below the federal poverty line, according to the 2000 Census,” Zuckett said. “That is an annual income of $17,650 for a family of four.”

Jenkins expects the next legislative session to be a repeat performance of this year’s debate about medical malpractice insurance.

“The trial lawyers will say we don’t have a problem with auto and homeowners insurance and that the Legislature shouldn’t do anything. I think the public recognizes there is a problem and that the problem is getting worse.”

Jenkins said legislative interim committees are now studying the issue during their monthly meetings, with help from the state Insurance Commissioner’s office.

“West Virginia is out of sync with the rest of the country and outcry from the public will lead the Legislature to act early next year,” Jenkins predicted.

To contact staff writer Paul J. Nyden, use e-mail or call 348-5164.

This news story originally provided by AP and The Charleston Gazette

10/27/03

Insurance industry complains of fraud

Enforcement needed, lawmakers told

By The Associated Press

The FBI considers insurance fraud a national, $27 billion-a-year problem. Although there is anecdotal evidence of a fraud problem in West Virginia, there is no hard data to determine its scope.

Insurance agents and lobbyists spoke to lawmakers last week about padded claims, staged accidents and arson, the granddaddy of fraud tools. They said fraud was forcing them to raise rates on all West Virginians and even to curtail or drop coverage.

Legislators heard more anecdote than fact, but were also told that part of the problem was the lack of teeth in West Virginia law. Insurance fraud is rarely prosecuted, lawmakers were told, and state regulators lacked the investigative resources to land convictions.

Legislators have floated at least 15 bills since 1993 to create a state fraud unit and a specific felony offense for filing phony claims. Thirty-eight states have some sort of agency assigned to tackle fraud, and an equal number treat it as a felony, according to the industry-based Insurance Research Council.

Former Gov. Gaston Caperton, a Democrat, and his Republican successor, Cecil Underwood, each included an insurance fraud bill in their agenda. Such measures have often boasted bipartisan sponsors. Three got as far as passing the House of Delegates, including one this year, only to die in Senate committees.

Prosecutors say a fraud unit would help them gather evidence, but add that there is a reason why criminal charges are rarely pursued in state court.

“The problem is, they are just difficult cases to win,” said Bill Charnock, director of the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute.

Charnock cited a recent Wyoming County civil trial. State Farm had refused to pay on a November 1999 house fire, and the policyholder sued.

“[State Farm] had witnesses who saw family members taking their possessions out of the home before it caught fire. They had inconsistent statements from the insured,” Charnock said. “Prosecutors sat in on that case, and were prepared to take it to a grand jury.”

But the civil jury found for the policyholder, and awarded her $150,000. Charnock noted that prosecutors must prove their cases beyond a reasonable doubt, while the burden of proof in civil cases is much lower.

“The fire marshal thought there was fraud, and the insurance company obviously thought there was fraud. This was a clear-cut case,” he said. “But if you can’t win a civil case, you damn well can’t win a criminal case.”

U.S. Department of Justice data suggests insurance fraud is infrequently prosecuted on the federal level. Congress passed the Insurance Fraud Protection Act in 1994, to target both bogus claims and corporate misconduct. Only 266 charges were filed under the act as of 2001, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. None was filed in either of West Virginia’s two federal court districts.

More than 36,000 counts of mail and wire fraud, meanwhile, were filed nationwide. Federal prosecutors often pursue insurance cases with these statutes, and 339 of these charges were brought in West Virginia.

Beyond the absence of criminal prosecutions, groups like the Insurance Research Council sift through claims records and trends for evidence of fraud.

But even these data fail to put a dollar figure on insurance scams in West Virginia. The state ranked 19th, for instance, for the number of bodily injury liability claims filed for every 100 insured vehicles, IRC figures show. The rate was slightly above the national average. But for property damage liability claims, the state ranked 34th. It reported 3.59 claims per 100 insured vehicles, vs. the national rate of 4.13 claims.

And while the insurance industry might link the injury claim rate to incidents of fraud, federal data suggest West Virginia auto crashes are costly because they are among the most deadly in the nation.

This news story originally provided by NewsandSentinel.com

10/28/03

League of Women Voters makes clean election presentation

By ROGER ADKINS

VIENNA - Imagine what it would be like if the money some political candidates spend on their campaigns did not come from private funding and support from special interest donors.

That's what Janet Fout, coordinator of Citizens for Clean Elections, asked a group of citizens and political officeholders to do Monday during a presentation on clean elections sponsored by the Wood County League of Women Voters.

The 7 p.m. presentation was held at the Vienna Public Library.

Fout was there to garner support of a proposed Clean Elections Act that is in an interim session in a joint subcommittee of the state House and Senate Judiciary committees for additional study.

The Clean Elections Act is a comprehensive approach to campaign finance reform that could fundamentally improve the democratic electoral process, Fout said.

In the proposed bill, candidates qualify for public funding by agreeing to limit their spending and reject all private donations. To qualify for the funds, they must demonstrate public support by collecting a certain number of signatures along with $5 contributions from registered voters in their districts.

Individuals choose to run as "clean" candidates and adhere to the requirements, Fout said.

Fout said the bill, if passed in the next session, would level the playing field for candidates. Under the current system, candidates usually aren't successful unless they are independently wealthy or take donations from special interest groups, she said.

Under the Clean Election Act, any committed person can run for a political office and have resources at their disposal comparable to candidates who use privately donated funds and their own money to campaign, Fout said.

Delegate John Ellem, R-Wood, attended the presentation and said he is a supporter of the Clean Elections Act. He said if the program were available in West Virginia, he would choose to run as a "clean" candidate.

In fact, through the program, he could receive more money than he did from private donations to his last campaign.

"I like the grassroots concept," Ellem said. "I would support it."

Rick Modesitt, county commissioner, said he likes the concept of the Clean Elections Act, but he feels it would be difficult to get West Virginians to agree to funding such a program.

Fout said clean election concepts have worked in states such as Maine and Arizona. She said the concept is proven to:

 - Increase the number of candidates who run, giving voters more choices.

 - Increase the number of minority candidates.

 - Increase voter participation.

 - Allow candidates to spend more time talking to their constituents about important issues rather than "dialing for dollars."

 - Allow candidates to run on support from the public rather than support from special interest groups that may want political favors in return for campaign donations.

"One of the underlying problems in this state is there is too much influence in the Legislature," Fout said.

For example, more than $400,000 worth of private donations from "big healthcare" sources went to funding state legislators' campaigns in the last election, Fout said. The result she said was, "they got a cap put on medical malpractice."

This news story originally provided by AP and The Charleston Gazette

10/31/03

Analysis counts 2002 races as W.Va.'s costliest

By LAWRENCE MESSINA
Associated Press Writer

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- As candidates across the state gear up for next year's elections, a study released Thursday concludes that the 2002 campaigns for the Legislature were the most expensive in West Virginia's history.

Even though the ballot featured no statewide, nonfederal offices, candidates managed to amass more than $6 million, research by the Peoples Election Reform Coalition found.

"West Virginia is becoming a domain where only those who are independently wealthy or have access to special interest money can run for office,'' Julie Archer, a PERC member with West Virginia Citizen Action Group, said at a Capitol news conference.

PERC traced all but 15 percent of the money given candidates during the election cycle to particular special interests.

With medical malpractice a major issue that year, the study found that doctors, hospital executives and others in health care contributed 14 percent of all campaign cash. Labor officials and union Political Action Committees followed with 8 percent. Coal interests, meanwhile, contributed 7 percent of the total.

PERC member Janet Fout, from the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, noted that business interests have outspent labor 8-to-1 in campaigns since 1998.

The study also identifies the most generous individual contributors. Ted Arneault, chief executive of MTR Gaming, owner of Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort in Chester, gave $33,350 to 73 candidates. Another gambling-related figure, Wheeling Island Racetrack & Gaming Center owner Jeremy Jacobs, spread $26,000 among 61 candidates.

The 2002 contributions also reveal possible future legislative issues, CAG Executive Director and PERC member Norm Steenstra said. For the first time in West Virginia, officials from "pay day'' quickie loan outfits gave money to leading lawmakers, Steenstra said. Billboard and outdoor advertising interests were another group of first-time donors, he said.

Among PERC's other findings: the wealthiest campaign was also one of the most significant losses. Then-Senate Finance Chairman Oshel Craigo, D-Putnam, raised more than $408,000 in his failed effort against Republican Lisa Smith. PERC found that Craigo had raised more money than any other legislative candidate since the group began analyzing campaign finance reports in 1996.

House Speaker Bob Kiss, D-Raleigh, collected the most among candidates for that chamber. He raised $72,000, but also relied on nearly $110,000 more from prior campaigns.

Kiss still has nearly $81,000 and is one of five lawmakers with a campaign surplus exceeding $25,000, PERC's study shows. Kiss, a Beckley lawyer, has not said whether he will run to keep his House seat. He explored a Supreme Court bid earlier this year but has opted not to vie for his party's nomination.

Craigo was not the only incumbent who outspent a victorious opponent. Then-Senate Judiciary Chairman Bill Wooton, D-Raleigh, Sen. John Mitchell, D-Kanawha, and Delegate Mary Pearl Compton, D-Monroe, also fell. Compton ran for the Senate that year.

"While these examples show that money doesn't always determine the outcome of the race, they are exceptions rather than the rule,'' the report said. "Candidates who raised the most money in their district won 76 percent of all contested seats in the Legislature.''

Craigo's foe also reflected another trend, the study said. Smith lent her campaign $258,000. One-fifth of the money raised in 2002 came from the candidates themselves or their families, the study said.

PERC advocates the public financing of elections, among other reforms, and has analyzed West Virginia campaigns since 1996. PERC officials said they are donating all of their research to date to the state archives.

This news story originally provided by The Charleston Gazette

10/31/03

Election contributions up, report says

By Paul J. Nyden
STAFF WRITER

Political contributions continue to rise in state elections, according to a report released Thursday by the West Virginia People’s Election Reform Coalition.

Contributions to winning candidates in state legislative elections increased by 60 percent since 1996, the first election cycle when PERC analyzed campaign contributions.

Contributions to all legislative candidates rose from $3.4 million in 1998 and $3.8 million in 2000 to $6.2 million in 2002. Last year, more than $1 million came from candidates themselves.

Julie Archer, who coordinates PERC research and data analysis, praised former Secretary of State Ken Hechler and current Secretary of State Joe Manchin for making campaign contribution lists available over the Internet.

“However, PERC is the only statewide organization that has an entire database in which contributors are identified by special interest affiliation. With PERC’s analysis of the 2002 election complete, comparison of four election cycles is possible,” Archer said.

The PERC database also identifies most contributors by industry, occupation or special interest group.

Norm Steenstra, executive director of the West Virginia Citizen Action Group, said PERC databases now include more than 100,000 individual campaign contributions made since 1996.

The database shows that campaign contributions from special interest groups increase dramatically, Steenstra said, whenever those groups get concerned about specific legislation that affects issues such as mountaintop removal mining, expansion of racetrack slot machines, coal truck weights, or tort reform that restricts financial awards in medical malpractice suits.

Steenstra predicted political contributions from “payday lending” company executives will increase in the immediate future. At least two companies hope to legalize short-term loans in West Virginia to allow them to charge high rates of interest for short-term loans to borrowers who need cash immediately.

In 2002, 67 percent of all contributions to legislators went to winning candidates. But some losing incumbent candidates also raised and spent considerable sums.

Former Sen. Oshel Craigo, D-Putnam, received $408,587 in contributions for his losing race against Sen. Lisa Smith, R-Putnam. Smith raised $296,091, of which $258,000 was her own money.

Delegate Mary Pearl Compton, D-Monroe, spent $211,364 in her unsuccessful campaign for a Senate seat.

The special interest groups that contributed most to legislative candidates in 2002 were:

-- Hospital executives, physicians, chiropractors and other health-care professionals, who gave $475,650 (14 percent of the total).

-- Labor leaders and political action committees, who gave $285,558 (8 percent).

-- Coal operators, who gave $223,576 (7 percent).

-- Consumer lawyers, who gave $171,897 (5 percent).

-- Real estate agents, who gave $160,650 (5 percent).

Janet Fout, of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, said contributions from environmental leaders ranged from $8,550 to $9,300 between 1998 and 2002, while contributions from racetrack executives and other gambling interests ranged from $180,000 to $240,000 during those years.

Fout also noted that while campaign contributions rise, voter participation rates drop. In 1968, 71 percent of eligible voters went to the polls in West Virginia. In 2000, just 46 percent of eligible voters cast ballots.

After Thursday’s press conference, PERC leaders visited the West Virginia State Archives to donate copies of all PERC studies and computer databases for use by researchers, students and scholars.

Doris “Granny D” Haddock, who walks across the nation urging election reform laws, attended Thursday’s PERC press conference at the state Capitol.

“By examining the corrosive effects of money on your political system, dollar by dollar,” she said, “you can move toward elections where anyone can run for office. We need to clean out the money changers from the halls of our democracy.”

Many candidates already are working to raise money for next year’s gubernatorial, legislative and judicial races. But no candidate is required to report any of the money they raise until April, just weeks before the primary elections.

To contact staff writer Paul J. Nyden, use e-mail or call 348-5164.

This news story originally provided by The Daily Mail

10/31/03

Special interests donate most when their issues come up

Study also shows campaigns getting more money now

Deanna Wrenn
Daily Mail Capitol reporter

Friday October 31, 2003; 10:30 AM

Special interest groups often contribute more money to politicians right before a big issue they are fighting for comes up, a new study shows, and more money than ever is being poured into campaign funds.

More than $6 million was given to people running for the Legislature in 2002, according to a report released Thursday from the People's Election Reform Coalition.

Norm Steenstra, executive director of the West Virginia Citizen Action Group, said the study shows peaks in donations when a hot topic comes up in the Legislature.

"It's a radar screen," he said.

Of the 10 special interest groups who donated the most money to lawmakers in 2002, four were fighting major issues in the 2003 legislative session.

Heath care lobbyists were the top donors, giving $475,000 to lawmakers, according to the study. Those groups were fighting for medical malpractice changes. Coal lobbies, which were fighting for higher weight limits for coal trucks in 2003, gave $223,000 to legislators in the 2002 election cycle. Labor groups gave $285,000 in 2002 and were debating major workers' compensation issues in 2003. Trial lawyers, who gave $171,000 in 2002, were dealing with tort reforms in 2003.

If campaign contributions are any indication, payday lending could be the next big fight in the Legislature, Steenstra said.

One company has already donated $8,000 to various campaigns, Steenstra said, and another payday lending company that has never given to politicians in West Virginia just started donating this year.

Steenstra said the companies are giving money to members of committees dealing with banking and insurance.

"I bet my bottom dollar there'll be a huge increase (in contributions from payday lenders)," Steenstra said.

Another group donating larger amounts than usual was a billboard company. Steenstra said he still hasn't figured out why it would start donating to politicians, but that he wouldn't be surprised if an issue came up during the next session dealing with outdoor advertising.

"We catch some of these things, but how many are we totally ignorant of?" Steenstra said.

The People's Election Reform Coalition is pushing for a "clean elections" bill that would use taxpayer money to help fund politicians' campaigns. Supporters of the bill say it would help take the influence of special interest contributions out of politics.

The study shows that while campaign contributions are on the rise, politicians still get the majority of their contributions from themselves or family members. Legislators contributed more than $680,000 to their own campaigns in 2002, the study shows.

Janet Fout, with the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, says that means most people running for office have to be either independently wealthy or take campaign contributions from special interests.

She also said when special interests contribute so much money, fewer people vote because they feel it's a waste of time.

"That's the sad part," Fout said.

Writer Deanna Wrenn can be reached at 348-1796.