By Samantha Cart
West Virginia Senate President Craig Blair is a husband, father, businessman, Class V certified water specialist, master electrician and master plumber.
A true jack of all trades, he decided to add public servant to his resume in 2002 when he was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates, where he served until 2008. In 2012, he was elected to the West Virginia Senate, and over several years, he has served in leadership roles such as chair of the finance committee, vice chair of the education committee, majority whip and chair of the government organization committee. A native of Martinsburg, WV, Blair is proud to be able to serve his home state and honored to have been entrusted with various leadership positions.
“When I was first elected to the House of Delegates in 2002, it would never have crossed my mind, or that of anybody else in the minority, that one day we would see the kind of political shift in West Virginia that we have,” he says. “I served four terms in the House of Delegates, and I was there for some pretty heavy, groundbreaking issues in West Virginia like the reform of our workers’ compensation system and medical malpractice liability. In 2012, I was elected to the West Virginia Senate, again, as a member of the minority, but in 2014, Republicans took control of the Legislature for the first time since 1932. I was very fortunate to be put into leadership positions by both former Senate presidents Bill Cole and Mitch Carmichael. I consider myself very blessed—from 1 of 100 freshman delegates in the minority party to the Senate president in just 18 years.”
These experiences helped form a great foundation to prepare Blair for his role as Senate president and lieutenant governor of West Virginia.
“There has to be a good understanding and respect between the two chambers of the Legislature,” he says. “As different as their goals may be on some issues, at the end of the day, the goal each and every one of us has—whether Republican or Democrat—is working to make sure the people of West Virginia have a great place to call home, work and raise their families. I think the years I spent in the minority taught me a lot about compromise, listening and leaving no ideas off the table. When I was chairman of both the government organization and finance committees, I didn’t look at sponsors of bills to see whether they were Democrats or Republicans. The only thing I cared about was whether that bill was going to move West Virginia forward and if it was good for the citizens of this state.”
As Senate president, Blair is the presiding officer of the Senate’s daily floor sessions, sets the agenda, appoints committees, leads the members of the Republican caucus and works with House leadership to coordinate on priority bills and resolutions.
“I spend a lot of time in communication with the speaker of the House and the governor’s staff to make sure we are all working together as a team to advance our goals,” says Blair. “I also communicate with a lot of executive agencies and their cabinet secretaries to hear their concerns on top of regular communication with constituents from my district. No matter what my responsibilities may be here in Charleston, I never lose sight of serving the people of the 15th District and the great people of the Eastern Panhandle.”
Upon accepting the position of president, Blair was tasked—alongside House Speaker Roger Hanshaw—with helping make the 2021 legislative session safe for all involved while ensuring it remained on track.
“The Senate was already a leader in terms of technology and live streaming audio and video of all our committee meetings and floor sessions,” he says. “Those meetings and floor sessions are archived, so people can always go back and watch them again or catch the replay if they missed them the first time. We’ve had that technology in place since 2017—little did we know then how much we’d need it in 2021. This year, we added the ability for committee meetings to have guests present remotely, and we’ve seen a great response. People have really appreciated the transparency and the ability to participate as much as they could, given the limitations of the pandemic. Our members have had to learn to do things differently, and for a great number of them, it was a bit of a learning curve to conduct meetings and business through video conferencing rather than face to face. I am incredibly pleased with how we’ve not only adapted but succeeded in light of those circumstances.”
Overall, Blair is pleased with how the 2021 session commenced.
“Out of 30 items I would describe as top-priority bills, 22 have already been signed, and I expect a couple more to be signed before it’s all done,” he says. “We’ve taken on some major issues this year. We came up with an amazing plan to cut the personal income tax for working West Virginians, and we did it in a way that protects our seniors on a fixed income. We passed the strongest COVID liability protection law in the country. We’ve just passed the most expansive education savings account program in the U.S. because we believe every child deserves an education that works for them, and parents have the right to make that choice. We’re working on major health care transparency laws. We’ve taken on significant reforms to contractor and occupational licensing to get more people working in the state of West Virginia. We showed our commitment to economic development and tourism by giving the governor the ability to make those cabinet-level departments so we’re on equal footing with other states when we’re at the table to compete for jobs and economic development opportunities to come. In the final days, we worked to usher through some of the most extensive broadband expansion legislation that this country has ever seen, because the way we get West Virginia moving forward is to get every home in this state connected. Looking back on it, it seems like so much, but I am so proud of my leadership team and the Senate as a whole for being willing to work hard on these issues. The people of West Virginia deserve the best, and we’re working to get it done.”
Blair sees broadband as the ticket to the Mountain State’s future.
“If we want to land companies that will provide thousands of high-tech, work-from-home jobs, we must compete with our neighbors when it comes to offering broadband,” he says. “Right now, we just don’t compete; it’s as simple as that. When we put more fiber on the poles, we can connect that fiber to homes and provide them with broadband service. With fiber on the pole, we can expand 5G technology throughout the state by bringing reliable cellular service to clusters of homes where service is subpar or nonexistent. We have to provide opportunities for our young people to want to stay in West Virginia.”
Blair knows there is a wealth of opportunity in Almost Heaven, and he would love to see West Virginia’s population grow by at least 400,000 people over the next 10 years.
“Population growth will bring with it more commerce, more opportunity and more ways for West Virginia to be a global competitor,” he says. “The expansion of broadband throughout the state can be an economic driver like no other. West Virginia already attracts thousands of visitors every year because of our unbelievably beautiful scenery and natural attractions. We have to find a way to get them to stay and call West Virginia home, especially in a post-pandemic world. The pandemic proved that traditional, brick-and-mortar offices aren’t required to get jobs done anymore. Reliable, high-speed broadband internet is. We have every tool at our disposal to become the best place in the world to live—it just takes a little courage and a little bit of faith to make the kinds of changes we’re proposing this year. Big ideas and wholesale changes are tough to embrace for a lot of people, but I truly believe that doing it piece by piece, one small step at a time, won’t change West Virginia. We’re past that. It’s time to go big.”
