We are months away from the next regular session of the West Virginia Legislature, but the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s 2024 Campaign for Jobs Digest includes some ideas about what lawmakers should prioritize. (Hint: It’s not incredibly archaic socio-cultural agendas.)

Economic issues are still a struggle. The report shows West Virginia was one of only five states that showed a loss in non-agricultural jobs between 2013 and 2023. Here, West Virginia Public Broadcasting reports, employment opportunities fell by approximately 18,000 positions — more than any other state during that time. Fewer than 55% of working age residents were employed or actively seeking jobs in 2023. In 2022, the average income per resident was $49,169. Only Mississippi was lower.

Chamber President Steve Roberts spoke to WVPB about the numbers. It goes without saying he found room for improvement.

“What we see from this data is that household income in West Virginia needs to go up,” he told WVPB. “We’re at the bottom or near the bottom in our income statistics.”

Based on the data, the state chamber issued its 21st Century Competitiveness Agenda recommendations: improve state career readiness programs, simplify regulatory processes for businesses, create in-state work incentives for recent graduates and reduce income and insurance tax rates for companies. The report also mentions the need to address the state’s academic woes, and struggle with low test scores.

(As WVPB points out, the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy disagrees about the effectiveness of reducing taxes on businesses. But then again, the center is not working on behalf of the state’s businesses.)

Whatever approach they take, lawmakers know they’ve got work to do on many fronts, if they are to be part of the solution for improving West Virginians’ economic well being, rather than part of the problem.

“We have real challenges when it comes to job creation, improving incomes and educating our children,” Roberts told WVPB. “It’s going to take a great deal of focus and planning to address those issues.”

Imagine the possibilities if lawmakers, in this next session AFTER a significant election year, can step away from the political theater and backward crusading to do just that.