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Thanks for
visiting my web site. The fact you are here shows you are
interested and concerned about the issues that face Mason and
Putnam Counties.
I am running
for the House of Delegates because WE deserve better than
what we've had over the past seven years. I am running to give
you a full-time legislator...not one who is only able to
represent you as time permits or when it is convenient.
I have a vision
for a better West Virginia and it includes everyone and benefits
everyone. With Debra Girimont, you will get laser-beam focus on
the issues that concern you, not some special interest group.
You also get someone who has the courage to stand up
to career-politicians and make the right choices.
I am running to
give us better communities, a better economic outlook and a
better way of life. We are at a crossroads with our economy,
healthcare and jobs - tough decisions need to be made now.
We cannot afford to wait or to simply do nothing. We need
progress – not empty promises.
If you support
me in 2010, I assure you I will work tirelessly to make you
proud that you voted for Debra Girimont.
Many thanks.
Debra Girimont
Economy, jobs
and taxes.
Our economy
runs on a pretty simple formula. Businesses supply jobs that in
turn supply taxes to our government. If jobs are lost, then taxes
paid become less. Government can either cut spending or raise
taxes to compensate.
The problem has
been that government has not been making the smart choices - it
poisoned the formula and it has harmed our business environment.
Now we have to resort to reversing the trend of liberal
legislative-overtaxing of our businesses and our people. We need
to provide incentives for businesses to expand or relocate to
West Virginia.
Even before
deciding to run for office, I was involved in discussions to get
new business to our area. I, along with other interested
parties, contacted several corporations in an attempt to get new
commerce here. We supplied demographics, transportation and
available real estate information needed to make these
decisions.
This is only
one example of how I will continue to try to enhance the quality
of life for our citizens. I have done these things as a private
citizen; imagine what I will do for you as your delegate!
Again, I have
long felt we have not gotten the effort and dedication WE
deserve from our past representatives or the legislature, so I
am taking it upon myself to start working on improving our way
of life and the local economy. And I will not stop, regardless
of the election outcome.
We need to
continue to bring new business to Putnam and Mason Counties in
order to increase our tax base. We need to be creative in
helping existing businesses not only survive and maintain, but
to flourish and grow.
Crime prevention.
It is time to get tough on crime. We need to
provide adequate funding to law enforcement to curb the increase
in crime in our communities. Drugs and illegal drug
manufacturing have permeated even our smallest communities. Just
watch the nightly news and you will see exactly what I mean.
Crime is costly to our local communities. Crime
increases both personal and business-related insurance costs
which, in turn, affect you through the increased cost of goods
and services. Crime costs you as a taxpayer because of related
expenses to convict and incarcerate offenders. Areas of high
crime hurt business and hinder our chances of luring new
industry to our area if it is allowed to go unchecked.
Putnam County is situated smack-dab between the
two largest metro crime areas in the state - Charleston and
Huntington. It is only a matter of time before this area becomes
a crime battlefield. We need to act now - in order to protect
our citizens, our property and our future.
Fire protection.
I believe the time has come to provide funding to
our local fire departments in order to have at least a minimal
amount of full-time employees and not depend solely on volunteer
fire protection. By providing funding for full-time employees,
emergency response time decreases, property and lives will be
saved, and insurance rates should also decrease. We don't
depend on volunteer police protection for our property and our
lives, so why depend on volunteer fire protection?
Volunteerism is the backbone of this country and
we all benefit from the work of individuals who give selflessly
of their time. But the time has come to provide for
full-time fire protection to communities that have population
that warrants it.
If you have ever had to summon one of the
emergency services, whether police, ambulance or fire, the wait
can be excruciating. Without paid firefighters,
your wait is even longer - jeopardizing lives and property.
It is time for a change.
Our firefighters respond to a myriad of emergency
calls, not just fires. Day in and day out, they risk their
lives to save ours. We need to ensure that we continue to
support them in order to continue to protect ourselves. By
supporting me, it will ensure support to our firefighters.
Education.
Nothing is more important to the future of our
state than the education of our children. I want to ensure that
our youth receive the best possible education and to safeguard
the stability of the Promise Scholarship for generations to
come.
Every student should have the opportunity to
attend college regardless of his or her economic background and
I want to ensure that continues.
Healthcare.
Affordable
healthcare is a major problem nationally and it affects our
citizens as hard as, or harder than, other rural states. This is
an issue that needs the immediate attention of the state
legislature. We need to create a partnership between government,
the medical community and pharmaceutical companies that allows
creative incentives to be applied to uninsured and under-insured
citizens. Uninsured West Virginians incur annual costs of $3.2
billion resulting in a bad debt deficit of over $900 million.
We need to
ensure that our children and seniors have healthcare protection
and are provided the quality of life they deserve. No individual
should be without healthcare.
There is
something wrong with a state system that spends $24.2 million
annually in the state budget to provide medical treatment for
inmates, when we have 286,000 uninsured West Virginians. This
needs to change.
Lawsuit abuse - tort reform.
I will work toward legislation that affords
defendants the opportunity to recover legal fees from those who
file frivolous lawsuits, in order to curb worthless legal
actions. By eliminating frivolous lawsuits, it will unburden the
already overloaded court system and allow them to deal with
legitimate civil and criminal cases.
For the sake of West Virginia business, we must
address some measure of tort reform to offset the negative
effect our litigious environment has fostered. Until we address
this matter, we will remain hamstrung in attracting new business
to our state. This, along with tax reform, is key to future economic development.
Government
waste.
The legislature
needs to take a hard look at over-bloated agencies, bureaucracy,
and wasteful spending. Government should not be the biggest
employer in the state. We need manufacturing, agri-business,
services and retailers to support our economy – not government.
We need to look
into adjusting the government bidding procedures to give
in-state businesses and vendors more preference in order to keep
our money rolling over within the boundaries of West
Virginia...not going out of state.
We need to
utilize non-violent offenders to perform work around our
communities in order to offset the rising cost of incarceration,
instead of allowing them to sit on their hands waiting out their
time behind bars. Let’s put them to work cleaning, painting,
repairing, or picking up litter.
Government has
become too large, too wasteful and bureaucratically cumbersome,
and we need to reevaluate its role in our everyday lives.
West Virginia has a Regressive Tax Structure, where the more
money you make, the less taxes you pay. This overburdens the
less-fortunate.
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