Senator Stover serving his fourth, and final, regular session

Mar. 1—West Virginia Senator David "Bugs" Stover, R-Wyoming, is completing his fourth, and final, regular legislative session in Charleston. With his term expiring Dec. 31, he will participate in the regular interim meetings until the end of the year.

In November, Stover made the difficult decision not to seek re-election due to health problems.

The beloved 70-year-old senator has been diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a progressive, inflammatory disease that causes extended periods of severe back pain and stiffness, pain and swelling in the hips, knees and ribs, and extreme tiredness. While symptoms vary from person-to-person, AS may also cause vertebrae in the spine to fuse, which leads to less flexibility in the spine.

He has other serious health problems as well.

"I don't want to serve if I can't give it 100 percent," Stover said at the time he announced his decision.

"I also want to spend more time with my family and I want to watch my grandchildren grow up," he emphasized.

"There are other things I want to do as well.

"I've decided it's time. It's just time."

Stover has wanted to serve in the West Virginia for more than half-a-century.

"Mom and Dad bought me a book for Christmas in the seventh grade titled "Advise and Consent" and, around that time, I saw and talked with Warren McGraw while he was campaigning for House of Delegates in my hometown of Pierpoint. I was hooked!

"During this time, I was also reading about African Americans winning elections and especially about a Republican, C. Payne, who in 1896, was elected to the West Virginia House from Fayette County.

"Then, I read a story about how a legislator named Daniel Webster could and did win a debate with the Devil," he recalled.

"I first ran for the House of Delegate while in high school," he said. "So, yes, it crossed my mind to be a legislator over 52 years ago.

"The law had just been changed to allow 18-year-olds to vote and run for certain offices. The law said that if one turned 18 before the general election, but was 17 during the primary election, they were qualified to run for the House of Delegates.

"My problem was I did not turn 18 until December — a month after the November general election. I tried to use the circuit court to challenge this by claiming that since I would be 18 before taking office that should count. I did not get to run," he explained.

"This year, I am staying in a tent at Kanawha State Forest and sleeping in the tent by a stream. It is very restful," Stover said. "I have an electric site, so I have an electric heater, my bi-pap machine, and an electric lamp.

"The morning the temperature dropped to 3 degrees Fahrenheit, my tent stayed at 54.

"Kanawha State Forest opened their winterized bathroom this year. A nice place to stay — if you like to camp."

And Stover does. He served as the naturalist at Twin Falls Resort State Park for several years and is an avid outdoorsman who believes everyone should experience Mother Nature in all her seasons.

"I'm up at 6 a.m., shower, then head to the Capitol to be a senator, and get back to the tent by 8 p.m. or so, sometimes much later.

"I'll wrap-up tonight around 11:30 and head back to the campsite," he said Wednesday.

"Today the senate passed a resolution honoring Billy Wayne Bailey and I had the honor of telling a few stories about him. Tomorrow, the resolution will honor Warren McGraw and I will tell a few more stories," he noted.

Both Bailey and McGraw, now deceased, were senators and served in several other positions in Wyoming County.

Stover's work day begins around 7 a.m.

"I usually arrive at the Senate around 7 a.m. We go into session — meaning the Senate as a whole meets to discuss, debate, and eventually vote on bills and other matters — usually at 11 a.m. These sessions usually flow smoothly and quickly as most of the work on bills, etc., takes place in committees.

"Everyone usually belongs to either the Finance or Judiciary committees.

"Other committees exist on particular topics such as education, natural resources, transportation, and several others. Most of of the work gets debated and worked out there, but bills must get to the Senate floor to be voted on.

"These committee meetings are where most of our work gets done.

"When we pass a bill, it is sent to the House of Delegates and is subjected to the same road. If passed there, the governor receives it and decides to sign it or veto it, and there are other possibilities."

Statewide, legislators receive thousands of requests from constituents for help on a wide range of issues.

"Most of these are not the main job of legislators — which is to make laws and provide funding for the other two branches of government as well as for the legislature," Stover said.

"Perhaps the real potential good a legislator can do is using what Teddy Roosevelt called a 'Bully Pulpit.'

"Being in the state Legislature means when you call an office like the DEP, or Department of Highways, etc., you can usually get through, and perhaps a bit higher up the chain-of-command than a citizen can get, while trying to solve a problem.

"Citizens call us and, perhaps, we can help them get help," Stover said.

"One of the few things I've been successful at is bringing back to the 9th District what is called LEDA (Local Economic Development Assistance) grant money.

"This money is actually the governor's money to distribute, and it replaced what, I believe, was called the Budget Digest, which the West Virginia Supreme Court declared illegal. Legislatures do not spend money on projects because that task belongs to the executive branch — think presidents and governors.

"The Senate and House appropriate the money, but the executive branch spends it," he said.

"This governor (Jim Justice) said, who better to know where money was needed around the state than those folks who lived out there.

"I believe I have successfully brought a little over a quarter-of-a-million dollars back to my district.

"All senators and delegates get this money and, after getting requests approved by the Finance Committee, then the senate president or the speaker of the House, the request is sent to the governor, who approves it."

Stover has been an elected official for the past two decades, but he's been in public service since high school.

He served as the Wyoming County Circuit Clerk for nearly 16 years. During that time, he served on the West Virginia Association of Counties Board of Directors and was board president for a year. He was also president of the West Virginia Circuit Clerks Association for two years.

Stover then became a state senator in 2020, serving the 9th District.

Before that, he taught school for 27 years.

Additionally, he's a well-known storyteller across West Virginia and has undertaken more than half-a-dozen widely-publicized protest walks for a variety of causes through the years.

—In 1977, Stover attempted to walk across America, see the country as pioneers did, walking west. An Achilles tendon injury, however, stopped the walk which actually did not have a cause.

—In 1980, he walked to Washington, D.C. with a bucket of coal to support a bill that would have caused power companies to use domestic energy or prove it was too prohibitively expensive before importing foreign supplies.

—In 1998, he again walked from Mullens to Washington, D.C. to protest Kyoto Protocol, which he believed would impact the coal industry and cost the county jobs. America did not sign Kyoto.

—In 2006, Stover walked from Welch to Charleston to bring attention to the need for the Coalfields Expressway, especially in Wyoming and McDowell counties, neither of which had a four-lane at the time.

—In 2011, Stover again walked to Charleston to bring attention to the unfairness of the state's redistricting plan.

—In 2012, he walked for the third time to Washington, D.C. in an effort to meet with President Barack Obama about the future of coal, or lack of it, he believed, under the Obama Administration. He did not meet with Obama, but did meet with then U.S. Rep. Nick Joe Rahall.

—In 2019, he again walked from Welch to Charleston, 134 miles, to bring attention to the need for the completion of the Coalfields Expressway to the Virginia state line — across Wyoming, McDowell and Raleigh counties. He met with Gov. Jim Justice and state highways officials at the end of the week-long walk. "He gave me his personal guarantee that the road would be finished to Pineville and, if he's re-elected, all the way to Virginia in the next five years," Stover said Gov. Justice after the walk.

—In 2021, despite serious, ongoing health problems, he once again began the 350-mile walk from Mullens to Washington D.C. This time he wanted to bring attention to the need for the U.S. Congress to pass an infrastructure bill.

The House of Representatives passed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill later on the same day Stover began his walk, which included nearly $6 billion for West Virginia projects. As a result, Stover ended his walk after nearly 15 miles, from Mullens to Sophia, and an entire day of tortured walking.

"I came to Charleston to keep the Coalfields Expressway moving, to protect state parks, to get Daylight Savings Time to run year-round, to get land companies to pay their fair share of taxes," he said.

"The Coalfields Expressway is moving, though all I've done is a bit of a nudge in the right direction," Stover said.

The Coalfields Expressway will fuel an economic boom across the county once completed, Stover believes. Since opening in Mullens in 2020, the first four-lane segment in Wyoming County has indeed spawned an increase in tourism for the small town. Construction is moving forward on additional segments to Pineville as well as on to Welch.

"This year, I thought we would make Daylight Savings Time permanent, but the president of the senate, Craig Blair, has a plan to have several states in our region do so at the same time. A much better arrangement.

"I have helped protect state parks, but the struggle continues, Stover emphasized.

"Senate Bill 688 came out as a bill affecting all of West Virginia's publicly owned forest land. It required any company to have experience managing 60,000 thousand acres of mountainous forest land, which seemed to me like an attempt to pick a particular company for the job. That was removed," Stover said of the bill.

"It was putting up land in our state forests, state parks, and wildlife management areas and giving the right to decide — who, what, and how much — to the heads of Forestry and Commerce to make these decisions, perhaps with no bid," Stover explained.

"Wildlife management areas contain the most land of the three and are managed under the jurisdiction of the DNR, and state parks plus the three rail trails contain the least.

"The parks are obviously under the jurisdiction of the DNR. The curious thing about this suggested bill was that the director of the DNR wasn't even mentioned in the bill. That was changed and the director was added.

"I tried to amend the bill to exclude the 10 percent of the land that is in state parks and the three rail trails as too precious to risk — in case this all turned out wrong. If it turned out well, then parks could be added in a year or two," he explained.

"The bill will have companies actually paying the state in some form for the right to remove biomass — dead brush that forest fires love, tree tops, branches left over from logging, and invasive species like autumn olive that can take over whole areas — and turn this into products that can be sold for a profit, all worthwhile things," the senator said.

Biomass companies gather the organic material and burn it to create energy.

"The amendment failed by just a few voice votes. Then, the final bill only received three 'no' votes to pass overwhelming," Stover said.

During last year's session, Stover was happy with the outcome of Senate Bill 468 which allowed the continuation of the Cabwaylingo State Forest Trail System and prohibited trail systems on other state park managed properties.

The Cabwaylingo Trail, the first Hatfield-McCoy trail to be located within a state forest, provides nearly 100 miles of trails, parking for trucks and trailers, along with a trailhead facility where riders can purchase trail permits.

The 8,296-acre state forest is located in Wayne County and named for the four connecting counties — (Cab)el, (Way)ne, (Lin)coln and Min(go).

Initial legislation provided the trail system would stay put in the state forest for four years. The bill passed in 2023 continues the trails inside the state forest for another four years, Stover said, providing extra income for the facility.

The same bill prevents ATV trails on other state parks and forests.

State parks provide tranquil, natural settings with fragile plant and animal life that would be easily disrupted by just the noise from ATVs, Stover said.

"I very much support trail systems, but in different locations than state parks," Stover emphasized at the end of the 2023 session. "It took decades to create these state parks and some of them have been built on historic sites."

Several versions of the bill traveled through both houses during that 60-day session, with unrelated amendments attached at various times.

The final version was a replica of the very first bill, Stover explained, and passed unanimously with only 15 minutes remaining in last year's session.

"I also came to Charleston to help teachers and public employees get pay and benefits sufficient to keep them working and others wanting to become teachers," he said.

"I believe such will occur in the last days of the session to go along with the former advances," he said.

"I came here to work on many, many items — won a few, lost more.

"Overall, I give myself a C+. Not a bad grade."

As the current session winds down, Stover sees the end of his days in the West Virginia Legislature as bittersweet.

"I will miss the Senate and the friends I've made here — a lot," he emphasized. "It is indeed bittersweet."