Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin to Serve as 2006 CSG Chair

West Virginia  legislator assumes post January 1

Earl Ray Tomblin, West Virginia’s Senate president and lieutenant governor, will serve as 2006 Chair of The Council of State Governments, a national nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that serves all three branches of state government.

Tomblin was elected Sunday to the organization’s top legislative post by the organization’s executive committee and governing board during CSG’s Annual Trends and Leadership Forum meeting in Wilmington, Delaware. State officials from 49 states attended the meeting.

As chair, Tomblin will serve with Gov. Jim Douglas of Vermont, who was elected CSG’s president for 2006. They will assume their posts January 1, 2006.

Tomblin is the longest serving Senate President in West Virginia's history. He was first elected to the legislature in 1974 while still attending West Virginia University. He later earned an MBA at Marshall University.

He has been an active member of CSG. He served as 1999 chair of CSG’s Southern Legislative Conferences and nationally has served on CSG’s Finance and Executive committees.

"CSG provides state officials with opportunities to learn about innovative ideas, emerging trends and programs going on within all 50 states," Tomblin said. "The organization also provides us with a showcase for West Virginia’s progress and innovations."

To assist states with multistate and regional solutions, CSG has regional offices in Sacramento, Calif.; Atlanta; Chicago and New York. A Washington, D.C. office tracks federalism issues and serves as a watchdog for states’ rights. The organization’s headquarters are located in Lexington, Kentucky.

For more information on CSG, visit our Web site.

For information on Sen. Tomblin visit his Web site at www.legis.state.wv.us/Senate1/President/president.cfm.

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The Council of State Governments is the nation’s only organization serving every elected and appointed official in all three branches of every state government. CSG has championed excellence in state government since 1933 by advocating multi-state shared problem solving and states’ rights, by tracking national conditions, trends, and innovations, and through nonpartisan, groundbreaking leadership training and support.