Suzanne and I have been doing a lot of traveling recently. This past weekend found Suzanne at the 9th district convention in Wytheville, while I spent the day in Windsor visiting with activists from the 4th district. It is great to see so many activists engaged and actively working toward victory this fall.

I’ve been around campaigns all my life, and if there’s one political truth that can’t be ignored, it’s this: elections aren’t won at 30,000 feet. They’re won on the ground, really in the trenches. And they’re won thanks to support of people like you.

I’m running for Attorney General, but I can’t do it without your support – without knowing you support me.

So if you’re behind me in my bid to be Virginia’s next Attorney General, please just take a minute to let me know. The knowledge that I can count on your support will be crucial in the days ahead.

I’m not writing to ask for financial support; there will be time for that later. And I do not want to distract from the important work we must do this year to ensure conservative victories this fall, but I’ve got to know if you’re with me.

Like I said, I grew up around politics. My father, Dick Obenshain, is widely regarded as one of the chief architects of the modern Republican Party of Virginia. After he died in a plane crash in 1978, shortly after securing the party’s nomination for U.S. Senate, my mother found a well-worn piece of paper in his desk bearing this inscription:

“The most important goal in my life is to have some significant impact in preserving and expanding the realm of personal freedom in the life of this country.”

I’ve dedicated myself to continuing that legacy, and I’m running for Attorney General to continue to do my part to preserve and expand the realm of personal freedom for all Virginians. But to get there, I need you on my team. Won’t you please take just a moment to register your support for my campaign?

Posted May 3rd, 2012   No Comments         Read More »

Save the Date for Oysters with Obenshain!

SAVE THE DATE FOR

OYSTERS WITH OBENSHAIN

with special guest
Governor Bob McDonnell

Friday, April 20 at 4:30 PM
Rockingham County Fairgrounds

 

Posted March 14th, 2012   No Comments         Read More »

Join My Tele-Town Hall — and an Update on the Budget Impasse

Many of you received an email from me yesterday, and I don’t usually follow up this quickly, but I wanted to invite you to join my tele-town hall tonight and to share some news with you about why budget negotiations are being held up.

Join My Tele-Town Hall Tonight!

This evening at 7 PM, I’m hosting a tele-town hall to talk about the current session of the General Assembly and answer any questions you may have. And believe me, there’s a lot to talk about. If you want to participate, please complete this form today and we’ll make sure you are included on the call!

A Politically Motivated Budget Impasse

The clock may be winding down, but the rhetoric is still ratcheting up – and so are the tactics. With two weeks to go until the end of session, we’re at an impasse, with Democrats refusing to support a budget.

I don’t begrudge anyone the opportunity to oppose a budget; I’ve done it on multiple occasions when I thought that its provisions were not in the best interest of our Commonwealth. But my opposition to past budgets was always based on the contents of the budget. This impasse is about something else entirely: pride and power. {More beneath the fold}

Posted February 28th, 2012   No Comments         Read More »

Mark Obenshain’s General Assembly Wrap-Up!

 

You’re invited to a

General Assembly Wrap-Up 

with Senator Mark Obenshain

a free session wrap-up event in Richmond

 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7 at 7 PM

The SunTrust Building, Richmond

919 East Main Street, Richmond, VA 23219

 

This event is free, but please RSVP so that
we know how many people to expect!

Click here to RSVP

I hope to see you there!

Signature

Posted February 27th, 2012   No Comments         Read More »

My 2012 Budget Cheat Sheet!

Earlier today, the Senate Finance Committee and House Appropriations Committee met to adopt the preliminary budgets of the respective chambers. The flood of subcommittee reports released by each chamber can be a little overwhelming, so, like last year, I wanted to provide you with a “cheat sheet” my office prepared, which outlines the basic provisions of each budget side-by-side.

Don’t mistake this for a list of every budget amendment the two money committees adopted; it’s not even close. Instead, it’s a quick guide to the significant features of the subcommittee amendments.

Of course, budgets are layers atop layers. The baseline for these amendments is the budget Governor McDonnell proposed last December, which has been introduced as HB 30. Today, both chambers adopted their proposed amendments to that budget, and it is those amendments that this document compares. You’ve heard reports about the Governor’s budget for a few months now. My “cheat sheet” is designed to show you how the Senate and House budgets differ from the Governor’s budget, and from each other.

This is an unofficial document – an internal working paper I’ve chosen to share with you. There are still a lot of questions about what the committees adopted the other day, and some of these numbers could change. There are limits, moreover, to simplification. At best, this should be considered a quick sketch of the budget actions, not a complete account.

With those caveats aside, however, I do think that many of you might be interested in this glimpse at the first step of our budget process. You’ll find the document here – and remember, these are the committee recommendations, not my recommendations!

Special thanks to my Legislative Director, Jared Walczak, for his tireless efforts and hard work on this project! I hope that you find it helpful. Let me know what you think, and if anything is unclear, or you think you’ve spotted an error, tell me!

Posted February 20th, 2012   No Comments         Read More »

Working Together for a Better Virginia (Week 6)

Yesterday, I took to the floor to talk about consensus and bipartisanship. If you’ve read recent newspaper coverage, you would think that these words are entirely alien to the General Assembly. Fortunately, that’s not quite true.

Sometimes, however, there is a tendency for hot button issues–like human life, animal rights, Second Amendment rights, and even the Equal Rights Amendment–to overshadow the many other important matters on which members of the General Assembly link arms and seek to work on together, across party lines. Disputes make better news copy, but good government often doesn’t. So indulge me, briefly, in a review of some of the ways the Senate has come together to work for all Virginians.

Job Creation

We did it on job creation. Take two bills by way of example: the extension of the telework tax credit, patroned by Senator Mark Herring (a Democrat) and the expansion of the Virginia Investment Partnership Act, patroned by Senator Steve Newman (a Republican). Both were bipartisan victories. More importantly, by helping to keep Virginia a pro-jobs, pro-growth state, they are victories for all Virginians.

Education

Or consider education. Republicans and Democrats worked together to advance two innovative approaches to improving and supplementing public education, advancing legislation to improve virtual school programs in Virginia-the bill had Newman, a Republican, and George Barker, a Democrat, as chief co-patrons-and enabling private colleges to operate “college partnership laboratory schools,” in partnership with local school boards, just like public colleges and universities can now do. That bill, SB 475, was patroned by Senator Mamie Locke, a Democrat, and enjoyed unanimous support in the Senate. {More beneath the fold}

Posted February 17th, 2012   No Comments         Read More »

Where We Stand: A Crossover Report from the Senate of Virginia

As Yogi Berra said, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over” – but with crossover just around the corner, the time for the Senate to take action on its own bills is almost at an end, so now is a great time to take stock of where we are and what has been accomplished thus far. This year we have pursued an aggressive agenda, seeking to create jobs, increase educational opportunity and make government operate more effectively and efficiently through government reform.

Economic Development
There’s no question of this year’s top priority – protecting Virginia’s position as the best place in America to do business. To that end, the Senate has passed legislation extending the sunset on tax credits for companies creating at least 50 new jobs (Senator Bryce Reeves’ SB 368) and expanding the Virginia Investment Partnership Act to cover a broader range of job creation and growth opportunities (Senator Steve Newman’s SB 338).

Other legislation and budget items still pending would create a small business investor tax credit (Senator Ryan McDougle’s SB 344) and expand the Commonwealth’s investment in job training and placement, economic development assistance, and various other efforts to attract businesses to Virginia. {More beneath the fold}

Posted February 12th, 2012   No Comments         Read More »

Fighting On: Week 4 in the Senate of Virginia

The fourth week of the General Assembly has been filled with hotly contested battles over the basic rights of every Virginian. We’ve taken huge strides in some areas and suffered setbacks in others, but on property rights, fiscal responsibility, and family values, the biggest fights loom ahead.

Right to Work Victory with PLA Bill

Last week, I told you about SB 242, my bill banning government-mandated project labor agreements. These are public contracts that are open only to union closed shops. I believe in the free market and see no reason why Virginia should ever close bidding to non-union shops – especially when 96% of our construction workforce is non-union. The best bid should win, whether union or non-union.

I’m pleased to report that the Senate passed the bill on a 20-20 vote, with Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling breaking the tie. (Later in the week, another one of my bills (SB 57) required the Lieutenant Governor to break the tie, thus far the only two bills on which he has voted.)

Virginia Property Rights Amendment Victory – Followed by Peril

The Virginia Property Rights Amendment moved one step closer to ratification this week. It cleared committee on a bipartisan 13-2 vote earlier this week, with support from all eight of the committee’s Republicans and five of seven Democrats. The committee recognized that the protection of private property from the abuses of eminent domain is extremely important to Virginians, and I was grateful for the strong support of several Democrats, including Senators Creigh Deeds (a chief copatron) and Phil Puckett. This remains an issue that unites Virginians across party lines.

That’s why it’s all the more alarming that there is now a move to kill the amendment by referring it unnecessarily to the Senate Finance Committee, where it would be left to die. The amendment deserves an up or down vote on the Senate floor- and if you click here, you can tell your Senator exactly that! I am tremendously grateful to the nearly 600 Virginians who have already done so following my urgent email on Thursday night. This issue should come to a head in the next two or three days. {More beneath the fold}

Posted February 5th, 2012   No Comments         Read More »
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