Democratic Speaker Scott appoints Southwest Virginia Republicans to Tobacco Commission

In a bipartisan move, Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, has reappointed GOP lawmakers from Southwest Virginia to the Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission. Among those who remain on the panel are Del. Will Morefield, R-Tazewell, the current vice chair, and Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County.

The new members include Del. Israel O’Quinn, R-Washington County, and Del. Jed Arnold, R-Smyth County, who was first elected to the House of Delegates in a special election in August, succeeding Del. Jeff Campbell, R-Smyth County. Scott did not reappoint Del. Otto Wachsmann, R-Sussex County, and Del. Tommy Wright, R-Lunenburg, whose terms expired in January.

Morefield said in a text message Tuesday that he was honored to have been reappointed. “The commission provides vital resources for our region, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on the commission to continue our efforts to further diversify the economy in Southwest and Southside Virginia,” Morefield said.

Kilgore, who has served on the panel since its inception in 1999, also said that he was looking forward to serving another term. “It is my hope to continue funding projects that support the prosperity of Southwest Virginia,” Kilgore said in a statement.

The purpose of the commission is to promote economic growth and development in formerly tobacco-dependent communities, using proceeds from the national tobacco settlement. In 1998, 52 state and territory attorneys general signed the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) with the four largest tobacco companies in the U.S. to settle dozens of state lawsuits brought to recover billions of dollars in health care costs associated with treating smoking-related illnesses.

Since its creation, the panel has awarded more than 2,000 grants totaling more than $1 billion across Virginia’s tobacco region and has provided more than $300 million in indemnification payments to tobacco growers and quota holders. It has also funded higher education.

Of the body’s 28 members, six are state delegates appointed by the Speaker, and four members of the Senate are selected by the Senate Committee on Rules. One Republican likely to be replaced is former Sen. Frank Ruff, R-Mecklenburg County, who announced in December that he would retire for health reasons. Ruff’s term on the commission expired in January.

Scott’s decision to appoint a slate of Republican delegates to the commission is in stark contrast to a partisan shakeup in 2020, when the newly elected Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax County, stacked the panel with Democrats.

When Republicans regained the majority in the House of Delegates after the 2021 election, then-Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah County, restored not just the GOP control of the board but also returned most seats to lawmakers from localities considered part of Virginia’s tobacco regions.

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