#gregthomas

#flashback to last week #boom @benzelbmore #drums #gregthomas #saxophone #dwayneblackbirdmcknight #guitar @ligedelic Lige Curry #bassguitar only a few feet away from these legends Thanks to @bellevillemelb and #eddiemac so lets #namedrop @parliamentfunkadelic #pfunk #georgeclinton #redhotchilipeppers @dannybedrosian #theheadhunters @herbiehancockofficial and the list goes on..... #jazzfunk #funk #funkrock #wegotthefunk and #theygotthefunk 🔥🎶💯🙏🏽☝🏼 (at Belleville Melbourne)

“The West Virginia State Senate has just concluded another sixty days of wasted opportunity. While the House of Delegates focused on an economic development package aimed at job creation, the Senate spent its time making life more expensive for West Virginia families. “From attempting to hike the ‘tort tax’ through expanded liability to voting for politically motivated mandates that drive up electric bills, the Senate’s priorities were clearly putting special interests first and taxpayers last. They even went so far as to do the bidding of out-of-state groups by banning food products and driving up grocery costs. West Virginians deserve a Senate that works for them, and we look forward to seeing a dramatic improvement in that body following this year’s primary election.” Read the full article

By Greg Thomas, Executive Director South Charleston, WV—This first week of October is Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week, during which legal reform organizations all over the country highlight how lawsuit abuse negatively impacts our economy, job opportunities, and access to affordable healthcare. “Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week is a time to focus on holding all elected officials, as well as attorneys, accountable for how they handle lawsuit abuse within our state’s legal system,” said Greg Thomas, Executive Director of West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse. “West Virginians deserve a court system that is balanced and fair.”For over a dozen years, West Virginia was on the American Tort Reform Association’s Judicial Hellholes® list. Over the past decade, West Virginia has made significant changes to our court system and passed dozens of legal reform bills to get off the list. However, during this past legislative session, personal injury lawyers were again on the offense, as 26 different bills were sponsored in the State Senate that either created new causes of action or expanded liability for job creators and healthcare providers. “While the personal injury lawyers in West Virginia aren’t splurging on accessory items like we’ve seen in the past, they are still spending millions of dollars to try and buy favor, and now the so-called 'Republicans’ in the State Senate,” said Thomas. According to a recent economic impact study conducted for Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, West Virginians pay an annual tort tax of $676.97 (estimated reduction in output on a per-capita basis). The report also estimated an annual job loss of 10,737 jobs due to excessive tort costs. “This Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week is as good a time as any to remind everyone that personal injury lawyers will be spending some of their ‘jackpot justice’ winnings to try and influence next year’s election here in West Virginia.” Greg Thomas, WVCALA Executive Director, live in South Charleston and works in politics in the state capital. Read the full article

Personal injury lawyer interests spent over $2,000,000 to try and elect Judges and Justices during the 2024 election in West Virginia, according to research done by West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse. Candidates for Circuit Court took the majority of those dollars by accepting $1,449,000 directly from personal injury lawyers. A total of $117,000 was contributed by personal injury lawyer interests to candidates for State Supreme Court and $90,000 for the Intermediate Appellate Court. Kanawha County candidates received far more than candidates from any other region of the state—Circuit Court candidates accepted $608,000 directly from personal injury lawyers, while another $500,000+ was spent on an independent expenditure effort to elect their candidates for positions in the Kanawha County Courthouse.  “West Virginia’s Judiciary is for sale, and everyone knows it,” said Greg Thomas, executive director of West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse. “There is no doubt that the personal injury lawsuit industry is the biggest spending special interest group in the state. They bought their local county courthouses in 2024, and now they are trying to buy the State Senate.” Personal injury lawyers are already giving big in State Senate elections, having given $28,000 to State Senator Laura Chapman at a fundraiser in Charleston in June. Senator Chapman is the first legislator to have a personal injury lawyer fundraiser in Charleston, but Senator Tom Willis had one on September 8th here in Charleston. Surely the first couple of many to come before the next election. West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse will provide an update after the next campaign finance reports are submitted in early October.  “Voters who want to see West Virginia get more jobs, build a better infrastructure, and see improved access to affordable healthcare need to carefully observe who is funding their legislative candidates in the upcoming election. If liberal personal injury lawyers from Charleston are the main donors to your local “conservative” State Senator, then maybe they aren’t quite as conservative as you think. The 2026 election is the time to tell the greedy personal injury lawyers that West Virginia is not for sale,” said Thomas. Read the full article