This is the second post in a series that will expand our one question survey to races for the US Senate. The results of our presidential survey are available here.
The results of our first US Senate survey from Ohio are available here.
The Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act is the most important structural reform legislation to restore accountability to the federal regulatory process.
The bill, passed by the House in the 118th United States Congress with a vote of 221-210, would require any economically significant regulation to be approved by the House and Senate and signed by the president, or subject to a veto-override, before it could take effect. In other words, we would follow the lawmaking process defined by the Constitution for the country’s most important economic policies.
We wanted to know where the 2024 West Virginia candidates for US Senate lined up, so we asked all of the campaigns this simple survey question: “If elected, would you vote for the REINS Act?”
We have received the following responses, which are presented in alphabetical order. We will update this page if we receive additional responses.
Bryan Bird has not yet responded to our survey.
Don Blankenship is the first Democrat in our surveys to commit to voting for the REINS Act. Per our official survey question, he sent us this statement: “I would support the REINS Act or any ACT that stops wasteful spending.”
Glenn Elliott has not yet responded to our survey.
Bryan McKinney has committed to vote for the REINS Act. Per our official survey question, he sent us this statement: “I would support but I would go beyond and allow the states to have final approval on all and any regulations. For example, the citizens of my state would have the ability to approve or turn down any new federal regulation that would affect our state. We would on our end vote on how we would approve by either a referendum or to give the job to the state legislature with or without final approval by the governor.”
Governor Jim Justice has committed to vote for the REINS Act. Per our official survey question, he sent us this statement: “In the U.S. Senate, I will support the REINS Act and encourage my colleagues to pass this critical reform. We must prevent the Executive Branch from unilaterally wrapping our nation in red tape that stifles our economy, innovation, and job creation, drives up the cost of American energy production, and increases inflation. We must restore congressional oversight over the bureaucracy and tame inflation by putting a check on the flood of federal spending from the federal Executive Branch.”
Zane Lawhorn has not yet responded to our survey.
Don Lindsay has not yet responded to our survey.
Janet McNulty has not yet responded to our survey.
U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney has committed to vote for the REINS Act. Per our official survey question, his campaign sent us this statement: “Congressman Mooney enthusiastically supports the REINS Act, and he will fight to ensure it is signed into law as West Virginia’s next U.S. Senator. As a conservative member of the House Freedom Caucus, Congressman Mooney is a proud cosponsor of the REINS Act. Congress must reclaim the powers given to Washington bureaucrats, which have been abused to kill jobs and target West Virginia businesses.”
Zachary Shrewsbury has not yet responded to our survey.