Bailey was stepping down from his position as a
House member to run for Senate, Hall found the
opportunity to once again run for office. Almost
to his surprise, he won. “I think it’s funny how I
never thought I had a prayer in the world to win,”
he says, “well, you just never know how things
are gonna work out.” Hall firmly believes he had
divine help. “There is no way in the world I’m that
good,” says Hall, acknowledging that he is by no
means perfect. But he feels the same way about his
Senate run. “I know some people don’t believe that
God speaks to you…but I knew I had to do it.”
His experience in the legislature has opened
his eyes to a number of things. One, he now
appreciates the slowness with which things
move through the legislative process. A source
of frustration initially, he now sees that as an
advantage in helping to keep a lot of bad laws from
being passed. “Now I value this process…because
Democracy is fragile.” He points to 9/11 as an
example. “We instituted some laws because of
that, that we are paying a price for now.” He warns
against a ‘mob mentality’ and the need to consider
the long-term effects of legislation. And two, he
believes the power to appropriate monies has been
improperly taken from legislators over time and
given to the executive branch. “It’s nothing against
our current governor…I think he’s done a good
job…but our constitution specifically says it’s the
legislature’s job to appropriate funds, and that has
been taken from us. That’s the number one thing I
would change right now.”
Hall’s Ninth District is an area with a lot of
challenges. But it’s a dynamic district - from
Beckley, an area very much in a vigorous growth
stage, to Wyoming and McDowell counties, which
have seen tremendous population losses for the
last 30-plus years. Industries range from coal
and timber, which are presently in a downturn,
to natural gas, which is booming. Some county
governments in his district are fighting to maintain
basic services with a dwindling tax base to fund
them. Additionally, many of the residents in these
areas are retired, and therefore don’t contribute as
much to the economy as they would if they were
still part of the workforce. And there is also the
problem, as there is in much of West Virginia, of
talent drain. Many children born in the area leave
to find work, because jobs are simply not available.
“There is no Wal-Mart, there is no four-lane road,
there are no stoplights in Wyoming County,” says
Hall. “If you’re not a schoolteacher…if you’re not
the local physician or the local dentist…there’s just
only so much opportunity in rural counties. People
look for those opportunities in other places, and so
they leave.”
Hall also cites the difficulty presented by the
topography of the area. The lack of flat land
means that any building of infrastructure, such
as an industrial park, is extremely expensive, and
then only if the land is available. A significant
portion of southern West Virginia is owned by
land companies, and that is a double-edged sword.
It’s great that they are there and provide some
employment opportunities, but at the same time,
“they’re in the business to buy land, not to give it
away.”
The Senator thinks the district’s worst days are
behind it. Though he admits it’s a slow process,
he’s adamant that good things are happening. But
he’s quick to point out that things will not return to
what they were. “Some people get mad at me when
I say this, but Wyoming and McDowell County will
never be what they were. We mine more coal now
than we ever have…but we do it with fewer miners.
Technology, you know? It’s improved greatly. And,
most people like to live close to shopping, schools,
and so many coal miners live close to Beckley,
Bluefield, Princeton…and they drive to work.”
Hall believes the completion of a number of fourlane highway projects through the district will
provide opportunities for people to buy acreage in
rural areas and still be able to commute to work in
urban areas. The rural areas will become bedroom
communities for the larger cities. He thinks that
will bring working families back into the rural
counties, building homes and paying property taxes,
which will benefit the local economies. And it will
bring manufacturing, too, because companies will
be able to transport their goods to market.
The future looks good for the Ninth District –
and if Senator Hall has anything to say about it, it
will be sooner rather than later.
West Virginia Farm Bureau News 15