Last week, Governor Bob McDonnell addressed a joint session of the General Assembly and laid out his policy agenda for 2010. While there were a few strong points of disagreement, for the most part, he laid out a series of reasonable ideas to spur economic development and job growth in Virginia. For example, he noted the potential for a five-to-one return on investment if we increase state spending to attract the movie industry to Virginia. This was a good idea in 2008 when then-Delegate Brian Moran advocated it — and House Republicans mocked it — and it’s a good idea today. An even better idea would be to expand early childhood education, which has a return on investment of at least seven-to-one (and many times higher than that, according to some research) but has little political support among Republicans in Richmond.
Governor McDonnell also proposed a $500 per job tax credit for companies that create renewable energy jobs, which is nearly identical to the Renewable Energy Job Creation Tax Credit legislation that I developed and have proposed the past two years. Unfortunately, for all of the millions of dollars of new spending Governor McDonnell proposed, he also stated outright that he would veto any tax increases, and he has not yet identified what more he would cut from a budget that already guts core state services. As a newly appointed member of the House Finance Committee, I will be working not only to ensure efficient, effective use of our existing resources, but also to address the revenue side of the balance sheet, as sounds fiscal management demands. We cannot balance the budget merely by cutting, especially if those cuts threaten education and infrastructure, which are the keys to our future growth.
With those opening days of the General Assembly session behind us, we are settling in to the daily routine of committee and subcommittee meetings, constituent visits, and legislative work sessions. In addition to my new assignment to the House Finance Committee, I have been given a seat on the Natural Resources Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over regulations for clean air, clean water, and similar issues. This puts me in a strong position to help our community’s ongoing efforts to control harmful emissions from the coal-fired power plant on the Old Town waterfront. Additionally, it will give me an opportunity to weigh in on Virginia’s implementation of the Obama Administrations tougher clean air regulations.
While the Speaker removed me from the Privileges and Elections Committee (to stack it for next year’s post-census legislative redistricting), I remain on the Health, Welfare, and Institutions Committee. That has positioned me to work closely with various health care and equal rights advocates on House Bill 267, which will enable us to launch the Advanced Health Care Directives registry next month through a public-private partnership at no cost to users or taxpayers. This is the culmination of a two-year effort that began with my 2008 bill to establish the registry, so that health care providers and emergency responders will know exactly what your wishes are and who may make medical decisions for you, even if you are incapacitated far from home.
With nearly 2,000 bills in 60 days, plus the two-year budget, the General Assembly session moves very quickly. If you are interested in receiving weekly updates from me during the session, please sign up for my email list at www.davidenglin.org. As always, I welcome your ideas and your feedback at 703-549-3203 or DelDEnglin@house.virginia.gov. Thank you for the opportunity to serve.
