Acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin spells out his reasons why the state should have an elected lieutenant governor in a Thursday news conference.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said Thursday he wants an amendment to the state constitution to provide for an elected lieutenant governor.

"We need to have some clarity in our constitution," Tomblin said during a news conference Thursday afternoon.

Tomblin announced that he will appoint a group to craft an amendment, one day after the state Supreme Court scheduled arguments on a legal challenge to demand a special election for governor this year.

As Senate president, Tomblin assumed the title of acting governor when Gov. Joe Manchin resigned Nov. 15 to become a U.S. senator. Tomblin believes the current state constitution allows him to serve in that position through the 2012 general election.

Tomblin on Thursday said having an elected lieutenant governor would provide clarity, even though he contended his transition to acting governor has been seamless.

"I don't think there's been any chaos at all," he said. "There's been no loss of service to the people out there."

However, he said that having an elected lieutenant governor would be a "much simpler process than what we've gone through recently."

Voters would have to approve a constitutional amendment. Forty-three states currently elect lieutenant governors.

Tomblin said he will tell the workgroup of state legal scholars to develop a job description for the new officer, possibly including requiring the lieutenant governor to fill a cabinet-level position, such as secretary of administration.

"I do not want to create a position that is simply a figurehead," he said.

Under legislation passed in 2000, the Senate president also has the ceremonial title of lieutenant governor.

The current state constitution provides that the Senate president is to act as governor when there is a vacancy in that office. However, Tomblin noted Thursday that the constitution does not differentiate between a short-term disability and a long-term vacancy in the governor's office.

Although the proposed constitutional amendment could be on the ballot in 2012, Tomblin said he was not setting any deadlines for the workgroup to come up with its proposal.

 "The one thing I want to make sure of is that we do not do this in haste," he said.

Before the amendment could go to the voters, the House and Senate would have to approve a resolution putting it on the ballot. Passage in each house would require a two-thirds majority vote.

House Speaker Rick Thompson, D-Wayne, called Tomblin's proposal, "certainly worthy of consideration by members of the Legislature," and noted that it resembles a proposal by Delegate John Doyle, D-Jefferson, to require the lieutenant governor to serve in a cabinet-level position.

However, Thompson said the proposal does not address the current "constitutional crisis" regarding gubernatorial succession.

"The acting governor's call for the formation of a working group to draft an amendment to create an elected lieutenant governor, one day after the state Supreme Court agreed to hear the case dealing with gubernatorial succession, is a clear recognition of the fact that the current system is not working," Thompson said. "In fact, the acting governor admits this when he says that he's doing this because there is a need for "clarity" in the succession process."

Likewise, state Republican Party Chairman Mike Stuart, who attended Tomblin's announcement Thursday, suggested it was a smokescreen to deflect attention from the Supreme Court case.

"There is a crisis of leadership in West Virginia today," Stuart said, adding, "Since this crisis began, we have been calling consistently for a special election and real leadership."

Reach Phil Kabler at ph...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1220.