Press agenda for 2007

The West Virginia Press Association promoted its 2007 legislative agenda at a breakfast for legislators last Thursday. The agenda only had four points and we're happy to say that each one of them is good for the public, not just for the newspaper industry.

They are:

1. Making sure there's no trimming back of required public notices by government entities.

2. Opposing any sales tax on advertising, since advertising is a pre-sale cost.

3. Continuing to battle for open government and freedom of information.

4. Opposing the use of public funds to pay for lobbyists hired by associations of government bodies, like the Municipal League and various county officials' groups.

That final idea was one we pioneered in the early 1990s. If elected officials want to belong to associations and clubs, they should pay the dues themselves, as do the rest of us.

Since this isn't likely to happen, we believe that at a minimum, the public's dollars shouldn't be used to lobby for pay raises and other perks for elected officials.