Attorney General Darrell McGraw wants the Legislature to fund a satellite office in Martinsburg to address an explosion in consumer complaints in the Eastern Panhandle over the past four years.
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Attorney General Darrell McGraw wants the Legislature to fund a satellite office in Martinsburg to address an explosion in consumer complaints in the Eastern Panhandle over the past four years.
McGraw told the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday that the Manchin administration did not include the $332,000 funding request in its 2009-10 budget proposal.
Joe Clay, fiscal affairs director for the attorney general's office, said he presumed it was one of many projects left unfunded in the governor's zero-based budgeting plan.
He said complaints from Eastern Panhandle residents to the office's consumer protection division have jumped from 257 in 2005 to 583 last year.
Most of the cases involving predatory mortgage complaints are from the Eastern Panhandle, which was one of the few areas of the state to experience a housing boom, he said.
"It was a hot real estate market for a time," Clay said. "Most of West Virginia was sheltered from that."
He said the region is also susceptible to consumer scams, because scam artists can operate in multiple jurisdictions - four states and Washington, D.C. - in a relatively compact area.
The attorney general's office is asking legislators to provide $332,000 a year for the satellite office, which would be staffed by one deputy attorney general, a paralegal, an investigator and a secretary. Salaries and benefits would account for about $272,000 of that amount.
For more politics news, click here
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Attorney General Darrell McGraw wants the Legislature to fund a satellite office in Martinsburg to address an explosion in consumer complaints in the Eastern Panhandle over the past four years.
McGraw told the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday that the Manchin administration did not include the $332,000 funding request in its 2009-10 budget proposal.
Joe Clay, fiscal affairs director for the attorney general's office, said he presumed it was one of many projects left unfunded in the governor's zero-based budgeting plan.
He said complaints from Eastern Panhandle residents to the office's consumer protection division have jumped from 257 in 2005 to 583 last year.
Most of the cases involving predatory mortgage complaints are from the Eastern Panhandle, which was one of the few areas of the state to experience a housing boom, he said.
"It was a hot real estate market for a time," Clay said. "Most of West Virginia was sheltered from that."
He said the region is also susceptible to consumer scams, because scam artists can operate in multiple jurisdictions - four states and Washington, D.C. - in a relatively compact area.
The attorney general's office is asking legislators to provide $332,000 a year for the satellite office, which would be staffed by one deputy attorney general, a paralegal, an investigator and a secretary. Salaries and benefits would account for about $272,000 of that amount.
Clay said it is difficult for the attorney general's office to represent consumers in the Eastern Panhandle from Charleston. Also, he said, "Most citizens like personal contact."
Also Wednesday:
McGraw said his office is complying with a 2008 law that requires that the House speaker, Senate president and governor be notified of any litigation that could produce claims in excess of $250,000 - but he isn't happy about it."That bill was offensive to us," McGraw said. "We have to prescribe to the legislation, but just because we prescribe doesn't mean we don't find it offensive."
The legislation resulted from critics who said McGraw's office frequently structured multimillion dollar legal settlements with specifications for how the funds are to be spent, rather than turning the lump sum over to the Legislature to appropriate.
McGraw said the notification requirement is unneeded.
"Anything we do is a matter of public record," he said.
McGraw said he has little authority under state law to address complaints of price gouging by oil companies.State law imposes restrictions on gasoline price hikes only in times of national or state emergencies, he said. During states of emergency, gasoline retailers may not increase gas prices more than 10 percent in any 30-day period.
"These are the only limitations on the sale of gasoline in West Virginia," McGraw said.
Reach Phil Kabler at ph...@wvgazette.com
or 304-348-1220.
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I do agree we need to pass a law on price hikes on gasoline when the price for oil dropped to $34 a barrell and the pump went up 16 cents on the same day. Price goes down, up the cost at the pump and make MORE money what a novel thought. Also they need to include no upward change until the gas tanks are filled again - I buy at (example) a $1 a gallon ofr 10,000 gals, sell 1,000, jump price 16 cents with a potential $1,400+ profit on the backs of people loosing their jobs and hurting.
Nation's Capital more quickly than to Charleston. That disconnect is problematic in many aspects of
State Government. The best way to ameliorate the
issue is to finish Corridor H NOW! That road will
finally connect the Eastern Panhandle to the rest of
West Virginia, including our State Capitol.