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Fmr. WV House Speaker Returning To Government Service

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A former speaker of West Virginia's House of Delegates is returning to government service.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin named Bob Kiss on Monday as his new Department of Revenue secretary.

The former Raleigh County lawmaker will join Tomblin's Cabinet on July 1. The governor's legislative affairs director, Jason Pizatella, will head the department during the interim.

Kiss served in the House from 1989 until 2006. He became House Finance chairman in 1993 before fellow delegates first elected him as speaker in 1997. He has practiced law in Charleston since leaving the Legislature.

Kiss will succeed Charles Lorensen, who became Tomblin's chief of staff when Rob Alsop returned to the private sector last week.