Country roads, let them drive

I hate to admit it, but “Country Roads” isn’t my favorite West Virginia song. I’m not even sure it would make my top 10, assuming I knew that many.

The song has, however, given a clever nickname to House Bill 4958, an amazingly good bill that passed the House and is up for consideration in the Senate.

The nickname is “Country Roads, Let Me Drive.”

The bill in question would solve some huge problems, including providing a boost to the state’s notoriously low workforce participation rate. Basically, it would end the practice of suspending drivers’ licenses for people who can’t afford to pay court fines and fees.

Instead, it would create payment plans for those who can’t afford to pay the full cost, while also allowing them to drive. It’s also retroactive, meaning that people whose licenses are already suspended for those reasons can be eligible to participate.

This makes sense for all kinds of reasons.

Let’s start with the basics: West Virginia is a rural state with over 24,000 square miles of territory and 39,000 miles of roads. Most people who live here aren’t in a position to walk to work, to shop, to pick up kids or to seek medical assistance.

There are some great public transit systems in the state, but there are huge areas without them. Even if you live in a place with public transportation, it may not synchronize with your work schedule or other family timelines. And it would be a bit awkward to carry a week’s worth of groceries on a crowded bus.

This is a huge problem nationwide. In an October story, ABC News reported that 11 million Americans can’t drive because they can’t afford to pay off fines and fees.

I assumed that the number of people affected by this in West Virginia would be pretty high, but I was stunned when the state Division of Motor Vehicles reported that this affected an estimated 100,000 West Virginians. That’s roughly one out of every 20 people, or 5.5% of the population.

It’s an even bigger chunk when compared with the state’s workforce, which last fall was reported to be around 763,000.

West Virginia has long had the unfortunate distinction of having the lowest workforce participation rate. Last fall, ours was reported to be at 54.8%, compared with a national average of 63%.

It’s a pretty safe bet to assume that most of the 100,000 West Virginians who can’t drive for these reasons are of working age. Passing HB 4958 would remove a major obstacle to work and would help break the cycle of poverty for many West Virginia families. It would ease the path to recovery and/or re-entry for people dealing with addiction issues or legal issues.

It would also be a winning proposition for courts and agencies that are owed fines. In the year after California ended the suspension of drivers’ licenses for nonpayment, the state reported an 8.9% increase in non-delinquent collections. This was attributed to creating payment plans based on ability to pay.

In West Virginia and around the country, there’s a growing consensus across the political divide that driving while poor should not be a crime.

I hope the state Senate seals the deal.

(This came out as an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette-Mail earlier this week. The bill's chances are pretty good at the moment.)

WV teachers: leading the way and passing the torch

A little rain didn't slow WV teachers and school workers down.

You never know when positive recognition can come from unexpected sources. A case in point is the recent release by Forbes of a list of "The World's 50 Greatest Leaders." In it, West Virginia teachers came in at number 31. Here's what Forbes had to say about them:

For years, it has been universally acknowledged that American public school teachers are woefully underpaid—and considered a given that it has to be that way. Late last year, thousands of West Virginia teachers rose up and said, “Enough,” mobilizing on Facebook and defying their union to strike for fairer pay and higher standards. (They did it thoughtfully; while not teaching, they made sure students who qualified for free at-school meals got fed.) After nine days, West Virginia’s legislature granted them their first raise in four years. The teachers touched off a movement now playing out nationwide, inspiring educators in Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Arizona to follow their lead.

Some others who made the list were Bill and Melinda Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Serena Williams, and the #MeToo movement.

(I would have bumped our people up a bit on the list, but at least they made it.)

It was a victory with legs. Aside from pay increases for teachers, school workers and all state employees and improvements in the insurance system, the strike inspired militant actions and concrete victories in other states.

Kentucky teachers won enhanced funding for education that included a $480 million tax increase, with legislators overriding a veto by a governor with a knack for putting his foot in his mouth. Oklahoma teachers didn't get everything they hoped for but won a $6,000 pay raise, increased revenue and a bit more in education funding. Arizona teachers voted last night to walk out. I wish them all the best.

On a personal level, the strike had a musical impact on me. For years, I never cared much for the song Country Roads, which geographically seemed to be more about Virginia. Now that it's become a labor anthem thanks to the teachers, I've had to rehabilitate it.

As for Twisted Sister, I've always been a fan...

A new state song

Readers of Goat Rope may recall that El Cabrero has launched an unofficial campaign to change the state motto of WV from "Mountaineers are always free" to "You can't make this **** up." I haven't gotten it on the state seal yet, but I'm told these things take time.

Earlier this week, whilst on a daylong road trip, an idea for another state song came to mind. Our main one is one I like, "The West Virginia Hills." Recently, "Take Me Home, Country Roads" as popularized by John Denver, gained semi-official status as well. Aside from the fact that the scenery it describes in the first verse applies mainly to Virginia, I'm not too crazy about that one.

My more serious nominee for at least semi-official song status seems particularly fitting when you consider our recent and more distant past, with things like chemical spills, mine disasters, industrial accidents, exploitation, and poverty. It's Bruce Springsteen's Badlands. Here's the chorus:

Badlands, you gotta live it everyday
Let the broken hearts stand
As the price you've gotta pay
We'll keep pushin' till it's understood
and these badlands start treating us good

I'm still pushing--and so are plenty of my friends and comrades. We haven't quite got there yet.

SPEAKING OF BADLANDS, here's an interesting essay on some and the economy that made them that way.

BAD ECONOMICS. Here's one from Krugman on how we took the wrong path.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED