General Election: Tuesday, November 8, 2022
Read below for the texts of the 3 resolutions drafted by Thornton Cooper
and adopted by the West Virginia Democratic Party on August 27, 2022,
with respect to proposed Amendment No. 1, proposed Amendment No. 2,
and proposed Amendment No. 4 that will be on the November 8, 2022,
general-election ballot. (The actual TEXT of each amendment will NOT
be on the ballot.)
RESOLUTION ON PROPOSED AMENDMENT NO. 1 ON THE NOVEMBER 8, 2022,
GENERAL-ELECTION BALLOT: THE “CLARIFICATION OF THE JUDICIARY'S
ROLE IN IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS AMENDMENT”.
WHEREAS, in 2018, the West Virginia Legislature conducted an investigation that led to
the commencement of impeachment proceedings against the five (5) Justices on the
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia; and
WHEREAS, one of those Justices, Margaret Workman, filed a petition before that Court
for relief with respect to certain aspects of the impeachment proceedings; and
WHEREAS, five acting Justices were appointed to review her petition; and
WHEREAS, on October 11, 2018, in the case of State ex rel. Workman v. Carmichael,
those acting Justices filed a majority opinion and a concurring opinion with respect to
the issues raised in her petition; and
WHEREAS, all five of the acting Justices in that case agreed that that Court has the
exclusive authority and jurisdiction under Article VIII, § 8 of the West Virginia
Constitution and the rules promulgated thereunder, to sanction a judicial officer for a
violation of a Canon of the West Virginia Code of Judicial Conduct, and that the
Separation of Powers Clause of Article V, § 1 of the West Virginia Constitution prohibits
a Court of Impeachment from prosecuting a judicial officer for an alleged violation of the
Code of Judicial Conduct; and
WHEREAS, a majority of the acting Justices in that case also ruled that the Due
Process Clause of Article III, § 10 of the Constitution of West Virginia requires the
House of Delegates to follow the procedures that it creates to impeach a public officer
and that failure to follow such rules will invalidate all Articles of Impeachment that it
returns against a public officer; and
WHEREAS, on February 11, 2021, a resolution, designated House Joint Resolution 2,
was introduced in the House of Delegates for the purpose of amending Article IV, § 9 of
the West Virginia Constitution to prevent any court in West Virginia from granting any
relief in impeachment proceedings in the House of Delegates or Senate; and
WHEREAS, under said House Joint Resolution 2, Article IV, § 9 of the West Virginia
Constitution would be rewritten, with strike-throughs used to indicate language that
would be stricken and underscoring used to indicate language that would be added, to
read as follows:
ARTICLE IV.
§9. Impeachment of officials.
Any officer of the state may be impeached for maladministration, corruption,
incompetency, gross immorality, neglect of duty, or any high crime or
misdemeanor. The House of Delegates shall have has the sole power of
impeachment. The Senate shall have has the sole power to try impeachments
and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the
members elected thereto. When sitting as a court of impeachment,
the President Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals, or, if from any
cause it be improper for him or her to act, then any other judge of that court, to
be designated by it, shall preside; and the senators shall be on oath or
affirmation, to do justice according to law and evidence. Judgment in cases of
impeachment shall does not extend further than to removal from office, and
disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust or profit, under the state; but the
party convicted shall be remains liable to indictment, trial, judgment, and
punishment according to law. The Senate may sit during the recess of the
Legislature for the trial of impeachments. No court of this state has any authority
or jurisdiction, by writ or otherwise, to intercede or intervene in, or interfere with,
any impeachment proceedings of the House of Delegates or the Senate
conducted hereunder; nor is any judgment rendered by the Senate following a
trial of impeachment reviewable by any court of this state.
and
WHEREAS, according to the Ballotpedia website, the West Virginia House of Delegates
approved House Joint Resolution 2 on March 2, 2021, by a vote of 78 to 21, and one
not voting, with 76 Republicans and 2 Democrats voting for, 21 Democrats voting
against, and one Republican not voting; and
WHEREAS, according to the Ballotpedia website, the West Virginia State Senate
approved House Joint Resolution 2 on April 9, 2021, by a vote of 23 to 11, with all 23
Republicans voting for, and all 11 Democrats voting against; and
WHEREAS, under House Joint Resolution 2, the title of the proposed amendment is the
“Clarification of the Judiciary's Role in Impeachment Proceedings Amendment” and the
purpose of the proposed amendment is summarized as a follows:
“Clarifying that
courts have no authority or jurisdiction to intercede or intervene in or interfere with
impeachment proceedings of the House of Delegates or the Senate; and specifying that
a judgment rendered by the Senate following an impeachment trial is not reviewable by
any court of this state”; and
WHEREAS, the West Virginia Secretary of State's Office has decided to number this
proposed amendment as Amendment No. 1 on the November 8, 2022, general-election
ballot; and
WHEREAS, in the opinion of the West Virginia Democratic Party, the ratification of
Amendment No. 1 would disrupt the existing separation of powers by improperly
expanding the power of West Virginia's legislative branch at the expense of West
Virginia's judicial branch, and by weakening the ability of the courts of West Virginia to
protect individuals who are the subjects of impeachment proceedings from being denied
fair hearings and due process.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the WEST VIRGINIA DEMOCRATIC
PARTY, through its governing body, the WEST VIRGINIA STATE DEMOCRATIC
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, hereby OPPOSES THE RATIFICATION OF AMENDMENT
NO. 1, the “Clarification of the Judiciary's Role in Impeachment Proceedings
Amendment”, and urges the voters of West Virginia to VOTE AGAINST Amendment No.
1 on the general-election ballot; and
IT IS ORDERED that copies of this RESOLUTION, as adopted, be transmitted and
distributed to newspapers and other media throughout the state of West Virginia.
RESOLUTION ON PROPOSED AMENDMENT NO. 2 ON THE NOVEMBER 8, 2022,
GENERAL-ELECTION BALLOT: THE “PROPERTY TAX MODERNIZATION
AMENDMENT”.
WHEREAS, as a result of the ratification in 1932 of the Tax Limitation Amendment, as
subsequently amended, West Virginia has some of the lowest property taxes in the
United States; and
WHEREAS, property taxes that are subject to the provisions of the Tax Limitation
Amendment, as subsequently amended, are a major source of revenue for county
boards of education, county commissions, and municipal corporations; and
WHEREAS, for years certain business interests have requested that personal property
directly used in business activity in West Virginia be exempted from taxation without at
the same time requesting a corresponding increase in tax revenues from other explicit
sources in a manner that would ensure that the effect of exempting personal property
directly used in business activity in West Virginia from taxation would be revenue-
neutral and would not reduce the overall tax revenues that support the services
provided by county boards of education, county commissions, and municipal
corporations; and
WHEREAS, on February 11, 2021, a resolution, designated House Joint Resolution 3,
was introduced in the House of Delegates for the purpose of amending the West
Virginia Constitution to give the Legislature much broader authority over property
taxation; and
WHEREAS, on March 26, 2021, the House Judiciary Committee reported out
Committee Substitute for House Joint Resolution 3, in which the language from the
original resolution was rewritten and replaced with language that would amend Article X,
§ 1 of the West Virginia Constitution to authorize the Legislature to enact legislation to
exempt tangible machinery and equipment personal property directly used in business
activity and tangible inventory personal property directly used in business activity from
taxation; and
WHEREAS, on March 30, 2021, the House of Delegates adopted a floor amendment
that would expand the scope of the resolution to include authorizing the Legislature to
enact legislation to exempt motor vehicles from personal-property taxation; and
WHEREAS, on March 31, 2021, the House of Delegates adopted the resolution, as
amended; and
WHEREAS, under Committee Substitute for House Joint Resolution 3, as amended,
Article X, § 1 of the West Virginia Constitution would be rewritten, with underscoring
used to indicate language that would be added, to read as follows:
ARTICLE X.
§1. Taxation and finance.
Subject to the exceptions in this section contained, taxation shall be equal and
uniform throughout the state, and all property, both real and personal, shall be
taxed in proportion to its value to be ascertained as directed by law. No one
species of property from which a tax may be collected shall be taxed higher than
any other species of property of equal value; except that the aggregate of taxes
assessed in any one year upon personal property employed exclusively in
agriculture, including horticulture and grazing, products of agriculture as above
defined, including livestock, while owned by the producer, and money, notes,
bonds, bills and accounts receivable, stocks and other similar intangible personal
property shall not exceed fifty cents on each one hundred dollars of value
thereon and upon all property owned, used and occupied by the owner thereof
exclusively for residential purposes and upon farms occupied and cultivated by
their owners or bona fide tenants, one dollar; and upon all other property situated
outside of municipalities, one dollar and fifty cents; and upon all other property
situated within municipalities, two dollars; and the Legislature shall further
provide by general law for increasing the maximum rates, authorized to be fixed,
by the different levying bodies upon all classes of property, by submitting the
question to the voters of the taxing units affected, but no increase shall be
effective unless at least sixty percent of the qualified voters shall favor such
increase, and such increase shall not continue for a longer period than three
years at any one time, and shall never exceed by more than fifty percent the
maximum rate herein provided and prescribed by law; and the revenue derived
from this source shall be apportioned by the Legislature among the levying units
of the state in proportion to the levy laid in said units upon real and other
personal property; but property used for educational, literary, scientific, religious
or charitable purposes, all cemeteries, public property, tangible machinery and
equipment personal property directly used in business activity, tangible inventory
personal property directly used in business activity, personal property tax on
motor vehicles, the personal property, including livestock, employed exclusively
in agriculture as above defined and the products of agriculture as so defined
while owned by the producers may by law be exempted from taxation; household
goods to the value of two hundred dollars shall be exempted from taxation. The
Legislature shall have authority to tax privileges, franchises, and incomes of
persons and corporations and to classify and graduate the tax on all incomes
according to the amount thereof and to exempt from taxation incomes below a
minimum to be fixed from time to time, and such revenues as may be derived
from such tax may be appropriated as the Legislature may provide. After the
year nineteen hundred thirty-three, the rate of the state tax upon property shall
not exceed one cent upon the hundred dollars valuation, except to pay the
principal and interest of bonded indebtedness of the state now existing.
and
WHEREAS, according to the Ballotpedia website, the West Virginia House of Delegates
approved Committee Substitute for House Joint Resolution 3 on March 31, 2021, by a
vote of 84 to 16, with 76 Republicans and 8 Democrats voting for and 15 Democrats
and one Republican voting against; and
WHEREAS, when the resolution was reported to the West Virginia State Senate, the
Senate Judiciary Committee, at one point, offered an amendment that would have
completely rewritten the resolution to create a sales tax option for counties, but later
withdrew that amendment; and
WHEREAS, on April 10, 2021, the West Virginia State Senate, after all proposed
amendments were withdrawn, approved House-approved version, by a vote of 29 to 5,
with 22 Republicans and 7 Democrats voting for, and 4 Democrats and one Republican
voting against; and
WHEREAS, under Committee Substitute for House Joint Resolution 3, the title of the
proposed amendment is the “Property Tax Modernization Amendment” and the purpose
of the proposed amendment is summarized as follows: “To amend the State
Constitution by providing the Legislature with authority to exempt tangible machinery
and equipment personal property directly used in business activity and tangible
inventory personal property directly used in business activity and personal property tax
on motor vehicles from ad valorem property taxation by general law”; and
WHEREAS, the West Virginia Secretary of State's Office has announced that it is going
to number this proposed amendment as Amendment No. 2 on the November 8, 2022,
general-election ballot; and
WHEREAS, the effect of proposed Amendment No. 2, if ratified, would be to authorize
the Legislature to enact legislation that could remove hundreds of millions of dollars of
property-tax revenues per year from the total tax revenues per year that would
otherwise be flowing to county boards of education, county commissions, and municipal
corporations across West Virginia without at the same time requiring the Legislature to
replace these tax revenues with tax revenues from other sources; and
WHEREAS, for example, according to the website of the West Virginia Center on
Budget and Policy, information from the West Virginia Association of Counties indicates
that “2021 property tax revenue included $219 million from business machinery and
equipment, $84 million from business inventory, $26 million from other business
personal property, $136 million from personal vehicles, and $50 million from
‘supplemental’ property taxes, or taxes that were owed from previous years but paid in
TY 2021, summing to a total of $515 million“; and
WHEREAS, in the opinion of the West Virginia Democratic Party, the ratification of
proposed Amendment No. 2 (a) would probably lead to the enactment of legislation that
would jeopardize the ability of county boards of education, county commissions, and
municipal corporations to continue to provide the levels of service that they are currently
providing to the people of West Virginia, (b) would centralize more power in the state
government in Charleston and erode the powers of county boards of education, county
commissions, and municipal corporations in all 55 counties, and/or (c) conversely, might
also lead to the enactment of legislation that would greatly increase the amount of real-
estate taxes that the average West Virginia resident would pay per year.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the WEST VIRGINIA DEMOCRATIC
PARTY, through its governing body, the WEST VIRGINIA STATE DEMOCRATIC
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, hereby OPPOSES THE RATIFICATION OF AMENDMENT
NO. 2, the “Property Tax Modernization Amendment”, and urges the voters of West
Virginia to VOTE AGAINST Amendment No. 2 on the general-election ballot; and
IT IS ORDERED that copies of this RESOLUTION be transmitted and distributed to
newspapers and other media throughout the state of West Virginia.
RESOLUTION ON PROPOSED AMENDMENT NO. 4 ON THE NOVEMBER 8, 2022,
GENERAL-ELECTION BALLOT: THE “EDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY
AMENDMENT”.
WHEREAS, in 1958 the West Virginia voters ratified the Better Schools Amendment,
which replaced the elected position of State Superintendent of Free Schools chosen by
the voters with a State Superintendent of Free Schools chosen by a nine-member West
Virginia Board of Education; and
WHEREAS, as a result of the ratification of the Better Schools Amendment, the
members of the West Virginia Board of Education are appointed to staggered 9-year
terms by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the West Virginia State Senate,
with no more five (5) members of the Board belonging to the same political party; and
WHEREAS, the ratification of the Better Schools Amendment in 1958 and the
continuation of 55 nonpartisan county school boards have created a public school
system that has, until recently, been relatively immune from the pressures of partisan
politics; and
WHEREAS, in 1989, the West Virginia Legislature placed on a special-election ballot a
proposed constitutional amendment, called the Education Reorganization Amendment,
under which the State Superintendent of Schools would have been eliminated as a
constitutional office and under which the West Virginia Board of Education would have
been eliminated as a constitutional board; and
WHEREAS, at a special election held on September 9, 1989, the voters of West
Virginia overwhelmingly rejected the Education Reorganization Amendment by a vote of
220,286 to 29,776, according to the West Virginia Blue Book; and
WHEREAS, after that special election, the West Virginia Democratic Party, in its
leadership of the West Virginia Legislature, respected the clear will of the voters,
honored the nonpartisan nature of the West Virginia Board of Education, and generally
refrained from attempting to weaken that Board; and
WHEREAS, however, since its acquisition of supermajority control over the Legislature,
the West Virginia Republican Party has attempted to expand the power of the
Legislature into areas that for decades have been considered off-limits; and
WHEREAS, on January 13, 2022, a resolution, designated House Joint Resolution 102,
was introduced in the House of Delegates for the purpose of amending Article XII, § 2 of
the West Virginia Constitution to make the policies and rules of the West Virginia Board
of Education subject to legislative review; and
WHEREAS, under said House Joint Resolution 102, Article XII, § 2 of the West Virginia
Constitution would be rewritten, with strike-throughs used to indicate language that
would be stricken and underscoring used to indicate language that would be added, to
read as follows:
ARTICLE XII. EDUCATION.
§2. Supervision of free schools.
Subject to the provisions of this section, The the general supervision of the free
schools of the State is shall be vested in the West Virginia Board of Education
which shall perform the such duties as may be prescribed by law. Under its
supervisory duties, the West Virginia Board of Education may promulgate rules
or policies which shall be submitted to the Legislature for its review and approval,
amendment, or rejection, in whole or in part, in the manner prescribed by general
law. The board shall consist of nine members to be appointed by the Governor,
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for overlapping terms of nine
years. except that the original appointments shall be for terms of one, two, three,
four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine years, respectively No more than five
members of the board shall belong to the same political party, and in addition to
the general qualifications otherwise required by the Legislature may require other
specific qualifications for membership on the board. No member of the board
may be removed from office by the Governor except for official misconduct,
incompetence, neglect of duty, or gross immorality, and then only in the manner
prescribed by law for the removal by the Governor of state elective officers.
The West Virginia Board of Education shall, in the manner prescribed by law,
select the State Superintendent of Free Schools who shall serve at its will and
pleasure. He or she shall be the chief school officer of the state and shall have
such powers and shall perform the such duties as may be prescribed by law.
The State Superintendent of Free Schools shall be a member of the Board of
Public Works as provided by subsection B, section fifty-one, article VI of this
Constitution.
and
WHEREAS, on February 22, 2022, the West Virginia House of Delegates initially
approved House Joint Resolution 102; and
WHEREAS, on February 28, 2022, according to the Ballotpedia website the West
Virginia State Senate approved House Joint Resolution 102 with a technical
amendment, by a vote of 23 to 11, with 22 Republicans and one Democrat voting for
and 10 Democrats and one Republican voting against; and
WHEREAS, according to the Ballotpedia website, the West Virginia House of Delegates
approved House Joint Resolution 102, with the technical amendment, on March 3,
2023, by a vote of 74 to 20, and 6 not voting, with 73 Republicans and one Democrat
voting for, 20 Democrats voting against, and 5 Republicans and one Democrat not
voting; and
WHEREAS, under House Joint Resolution 102, the title of the proposed amendment is
the “Education Accountability Amendment” and the purpose of the proposed
amendment is summarized as follows: “The purpose of this amendment is to clarify that
the rules and policies promulgated by the State Board of Education, are subject to
legislative review, approval, amendments, or rejection.”; and
WHEREAS, the West Virginia Secretary of State's Office has decided to number this
proposed amendment as Amendment No. 4 on the November 8, 2022, general-election
ballot; and
WHEREAS, in the opinion of the West Virginia Democratic Party, the ratification of
proposed Amendment No. 4 would disrupt the existing separation of powers by
improperly expanding the power of West Virginia's increasingly partisan legislative
branch at the expense of the nonpartisan West Virginia Board of Education, which is
part of West Virginia's executive branch, would severely weaken the ability of the West
Virginia Board of Education to supervise the state's 55 county school systems, and
would erode the stability of, and public faith in, West Virginia's system of public
education.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the WEST VIRGINIA DEMOCRATIC
PARTY, through its governing body, the WEST VIRGINIA STATE DEMOCRATIC
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, hereby OPPOSES THE RATIFICATION OF AMENDMENT
NO. 4, the “Education Accountability Amendment”, and urges the voters of West
Virginia to VOTE AGAINST Amendment No. 4 on the general-election ballot; and
IT IS ORDERED that copies of this RESOLUTION, as adopted, be transmitted and
distributed to newspapers and other media throughout the state of West Virginia.
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Thanks for visiting ThorntonCooper.com
Thornton Cooper is a native and
resident of South Charleston, an
attorney, and a retired state employee.
Between 2006 and 2015 Mr. Cooper
served on the Kanawha County
Democratic Executive Committee
(KCDEC), as a committeeman
representing Executive Committee
District 2-B. Since 2011, he has also
been serving as a committeeman for
his ward on the South Charleston
Democratic Executive Committee
(SCDEC) and as the Secretary of the
SCDEC. He is currently the Acting
Chairman of the SCDEC.
ISSUES
For decades, Thornton Cooper has, as
a private citizen, taken public
positions on dozens of matters of
public interest. He has also
commenced, or intervened in, several
court proceedings on such matters as
redistricting, gubernatorial succession,
the Charleston “user fee”, school
consolidation, and the proper
procedures for amending the West
Virginia Constitution.
Following the 1980, 1990, 2000,
2010, and 2020 Censuses, he
developed proposals for redistricting
West Virginia's congressional
districts, and following the 2010 and
2020 Censuses, he also developed
proposals for redistricting the State
Senate and the House of Delegates.
He has supported raising the minimum
wage, protecting the safety of the
state's drinking water, and preserving
state laws relating to the disposal of
solid waste.
He campaigned against a law passed
in 2014 that allows concealed
weapons to be brought into city
recreation facilities in Kanawha
County. He believes that city
governments should have the right to
ban concealed weapons in such
facilities.
EDUCATION AND FAMILY
Mr. Cooper, now 72, was born and
raised in South Charleston. His
brothers Tom (now deceased) and
John and he attended public schools
there. After graduating from South
Charleston High School in 1968, he
attended Yale University. In 1972, he
graduated from Yale with a B. A. in
Political Science. Between 1975 and
1978, he attended the West Virginia
University College of Law, where he
received his law degree (Juris Doctor)
in 1978.
His parents, now deceased, were
Thomas R. Cooper, Sr., an electrical
engineer and draftsman at the Union
Carbide Technical Center in South
Charleston, and Virginia Watson
Cooper, who taught English and Latin
at South Charleston Junior High
School, Stonewall Jackson High
School, and George Washington High
School.
Thornton Cooper has two sons:
Jeremy, 40, who graduated from
Charleston Catholic High School,
Oberlin College, and the West
Virginia University College of Law (J.
D. 2013), now practices law in West
Virginia and Pennsylvania and lives
with his wife Lacy, daughter Virginia,
and son Jude in Pittsburgh. Timothy,
36, a composer who graduated from
George Washington High School and
West Virginia University, received his
master's degree from the University of
Tennessee, and worked on his
doctorate at the University of
Hartford, now works for a music
company and lives with his wife Pam,
daughter Larkin, and son Zane in
Ohio.
PUBLIC SERVICE
Thornton Cooper worked for over 29
years for several state agencies,
including the West Virginia
Department of Highways, the West
Virginia Human Rights Commission,
and the Public Service Commission of
West Virginia. For nearly 25 years of
this period, Mr. Cooper was an
attorney and administrator for the
Public Service Commission. At the
end of 2005, he retired as an employee
of that agency. During 2006, he also
worked for the Commission as an independent contractor.
During the last 40+ years, Mr. Cooper
has appeared before the state Supreme
Court in about 30 cases. He has also
appeared in federal court several
times.
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