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}

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}

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}

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}