Last Friday Senator Steve Harrison (R-Kanawha) stood for possibly the last time in the Senate chambers to say his farewell. After 14 consecutive years in the legislature, Harrison had many things to remember and victories to celebrate. While he admits he is not leaving fully satisfied – no legislator could – he is very happy that he departs as tax proposals he initially introduced in the house over 10 years ago are finally passing.

This was a job he took seriously. “I am also pleased that, if I don’t miss any votes over the next few days,” Harrison said, “as far as I know, I will have voted on every roll call vote during my 14 years in office.”

After discussing the three issues he fought for the hardest, he closed with a warm thank you to the friends and family gathered in the Senate gallery as well as Senate staffers and, of all things, the West Virginia Gazette.

Senator Harrison will be missed. After a standing ovation Senator Brooks McCabe (D-Kanawha), who probably voted contrary to Harrison more times than any, stood to express the sentiment shared by most. Harrison was a fine Christian man, McCabe said, who stood by his convictions and he will be missed.

“When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.” (Proverbs 16:7)

Below is the outline of his speech. The actual transcript varies.

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Thank you, Mr. President.

I know we have been here a long time and I want this to be remembered as a “fond farewell“, so my speech won’t be a long one but I do want to say a few words of reflection and thanks before I leave the Senate.

When I was first elected to the House in 1992, I had been out of college for less than three years and had just turned 26 years old. A couple of weeks ago, I turned 40 and have now spent more than a third of my life in the legislature. I believe when House and Senate service is combined, I am now the longest serving Republican legislator in the history of Kanawha County. And it is still more than two decades before I can start collecting Social Security!

For both my wife, Kristen, who married me three months before I was first elected, and me it is somewhat hard to imagine not being here in January. Many people have asked me, “Are you getting out of politics?” I tell them that I am leaving the legislature. It is certainly no secret that I may choose to run for some other office in the future but whether I do or not, I never plan to stop doing my part to help make our state and nation better. But for everything there is a season and, for at least a little while, it is time for me to focus on one job after 14 years of balancing two.

When I look back, am I fully satisfied? Of course not. I don’t think anyone can ever be fully satisfied with the results of the legislative process. But I can say that I have few regrets and very few votes that I would consider changing.

There are three issues where I probably focused most over the past 14 years and I believe significant progress has been made on each of them.

First, The Sanctity of Life: In the early 1990s, because of some of the legislators in leadership positions at that time, it was difficult to advance Pro-Life legislation. But in recent years, that has changed significantly. I, along with many of the other members of the Senate, was able to cosponsor both the Unborn Victims of Violent Act and the Women’s Right to Know Informed Consent Law and we now see Pro-Life legislation regularly pass by nearly unanimous votes in the Senate.

Second, Marriage: Beginning in the mid-1990s, I and others spent a significant portion of five legislative sessions working on legislation to help ensure that marriage would remain between one woman and one man in West Virginia, even if other states tried to redefine marriage. And even though I believe that a constitutional amendment is now needed to ensure that a court does not overturn our law, after many hours of work over many years, I am glad the Defense of Marriage Act was passed overwhelmingly by both houses and signed into law in 2000.

And third, the topic which I believe that I have spoken about the most during both my time in the House and the Senate . . . Tax relief. After the massive tax increases of the late 1980s and early 1990s, we have finally started moving toward tax relief over the past year and a half. Although I look forward to the day when the food tax is gone, after sponsoring or cosponsoring food tax relief bills for 11 of the past 12 sessions, I am pleased that we should soon have legislation in place to at least have it halfway gone.

And after introducing similar legislation to increase the Low Income Tax Exclusion during each of my years in the Senate, I am also very glad that we will soon see this exclusion increased to match the Federal Poverty Level.

Of course, more tax relief is needed but after coming into the legislature during a time of massive tax increases, it is good to know that I am able to leave at a time when we are now cutting taxes.

So, while I am not fully satisfied, I am glad that in the areas where so much of my time as a legislator has been spent, I have been able to be a part of moving West Virginia in the right direction.

I am also pleased that, if I don’t miss any votes over the next few days, as far as I know, I will have voted on every roll call vote during my 14 years in office.

I also believe I may have the unofficial record for the most times being the only “RED” vote on the board. And I see that they have replaced my red button.

Some may not have understood why I always voted against the Budget Bill. But to me, that was just one more way of trying to be consistent. Because as much as I talked about tax relief, I couldn’t vote for a budget that kept a high tax burden on our citizens.

Now for the “thank yous”. This is the difficult part because once you start naming names, you are sure to leave out several. So, I will apologize up front for not being able to thank everyone who has helped make it possible for me to serve our state here at the Capitol.

Of course, I thank the voters who have elected me and trusted me to represent them each time that I was on the ballot.

And I thank the many individuals and organizations that have supported my six campaigns.

I thank the Charleston Daily Mail for endorsing me every time that I ran.

And I should probably even thank the editorial board of Charleston’s morning paper for unintentionally helping me by criticizing me when I stood up for values which were important to a majority of my constituents.

I thank my Senate Assistants. After helping in my campaign in 2002, Will Stewart was my assistant in 2003 and 2004 before becoming Assistant to the Minority Leader. And Shari Kratz, who has assisted me the past two sessions. And even though she is technically the assistant for the Senator from Greenbrier, Shirley Means has also been helpful to me in our office for the past four years.

And speaking of the Senator from Greenbrier, I want to thank him and my other 2002 classmate, the Senator from Raleigh, for laughing and often groaning, at my many jokes and puns over the past four years.

I have enjoyed working with my fellow Sissonville High School graduate, the Senate Clerk, and members of the clerk’s staff.

I have three colleagues from my time in the House that I want to mention. I thank Delegate John Overington for his encouragement in December of 1991 which played a major role in my decision to run in 1992. And I thank Delegate Tim Armstead and former Delegate Dan Greear for their friendship and hours of conversation through the years.

My coworkers at the bank: As many of you know, balancing your legislative work and your profession can be a challenge in a Citizen-Legislature such as ours. I have been blessed to work for two banks which understood the importance of public service and allowed me to take a leave of absence each year for the session and also provided flexibility when other legislative duties took me out of the office. I thank Ben Robertson, CEO of The Poca Valley Bank, for not only being a good person to work for but also a good friend for the past 10 years.

And, of course, my family: I thank the ones who got me started, literally, my parents John & Gail Harrison. Not only did they get me started but they have provided such great support through the years. Mom has been my best P.R. agent, always telling everyone about her son. Dad has always been there to help, from the years when he threw the football to help me practice my pass patterns to the countless signs he has put up throughout the district for me. I thank my brother, Kent, and his family for their support and prayers from their home in Tennessee. And I thank my beautiful wife Kristen for her support, counsel and love through our years of dating and marriage.

Finally, I thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for how He has blessed me throughout my life and especially for the honor and responsibility of serving in the West Virginia Legislature.

Public service is truly an important calling and I still at times find it hard to believe that I have had this wonderful opportunity to serve Kanawha Countians, West Virginians and God in this place. For all of this, I am truly thankful.

Thank you, Mr. President.