After the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd died in 2010, virtual chaos in West Virginia politics resulted. It took until last fall to sort everything out.
Part of the problem was in the gubernatorial succession process, after former Gov. Joe Manchin left that office to become a U.S. senator. For about a year, Earl Ray Tomblin served as acting governor before being elected to the office last fall.
It has been suggested West Virginia should have a lieutenant governor, as do 43 other states. That person would be elected with the understanding that if a vacancy occurs in the office of governor, he or she would step in virtually seamlessly.
Our state simply cannot afford to pay a lieutenant governor to wait for his chance to ascend to higher office, however.
One proposal legislators are discussing is for West Virginia to elect a lieutenant governor who also would serve as a Cabinet secretary or head of a state agency. Candidates for the office would run on the same ticket as those seeking the governor's office.
The idea needs refining. One question is whether the agency or Cabinet post to be occupied by the lieutenant governor would be defined or left to the discretion of the governor. And, of course, there are many other issues, including salary.
For the state to have a lieutenant governor, two-thirds majorities in the state Senate and House of Delegates would have to approve a recommended amendment to the state constitution. Voters would have to ratify it.
That is-as it should be-a stiff requirement. For voters to agree, lawmakers would have to come up with a plan minimizing, if not eliminating, additional cost to establish the office of lieutenant governor. And, of course, the formula would have to exclude partisan political ramifications-if that is possible.
Legislators should pursue the idea only if all that can happen, and if doing so does not detract from energy they need to deal with other (hopefully) more pressing issues this winter.
