Early VA House Democratic Message

Late last week the VA House Democrats made sure they were heard loud a clear.

They won't hesitate when it comes to raising taxes on Virginians.

Delegates David Englin and Joe Morrissey made this perfectly clear last Thursday and Friday.

Take a look below...

House Dems Give D.C and Maryland Authority Over Virginia

The new Minority Leader, David Toscano, and fellow House Democrats voted today to give Maryland and Washington D.C. more authority on the MWAA Board - NOT Virginia.

Chairman of the Transportation Committee, Delegate Joe May, introduced a bill, HB252, that would have changed the composition of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) Board giving Virginians more say.

This bill, having an emergency clause requiring an 80% vote for passage, received a 71% vote today.

This clause would have given the Governor IMMEDIATE authority to appoint two additional MWAA Board members for Virginia.

Yesterday, when the emergency clause was removed, Delegate David Englin tweeted:

dlenglin David Englin 

House just removed emergency clause from MWAA bill, virtually ensuring passage tomorrow. Victory for @VAHouseDems and friends in Labor.

TRANSLATED: "Victory for unions, loss for Virginians"

The House Dems knew the importance of this bill as evidenced by the letters below addressed to Delegate Toscano...




Letter from Secretary of Transportation, Sean Connaughton

Letter from MWAA Board Vice-Chairman and MWAA Board Member

Speaker of the House Howell's Statement on Governor McDonnell's Budget Plan

RICHMOND, VA – Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates William J. Howell (R-Stafford) today issued
the following statement after Governor McDonnell’s address to the Joint Money Committees of the Virginia
General Assembly:

“I whole heartedly support the reform measures and reprioritizations contained in Governor McDonnell’s
proposed biennial budget. The Governor has been a great ally in the fight for common-sense fiscal solutions,
low taxes and budgetary prudence for many years, and we look forward to championing many of the measures
contained in his budget,” said Howell.

The 2012-2014 biennial budget is the first and only budget completely within the control of the
McDonnell Administration. The Governor’s proposal is targeted to fund core functions of government –
transportation, education, public safety, economic development and employee retirement funding – and does
not raise taxes. Key investments include $2.2 billion in state and local contributions to the Virginia Retirement
System, $438 million for K-12 public education, $230 million for higher education and $100 million to
continue the Commonwealth’s highly successful economic development efforts.

“Tackling structural reforms to the VRS, transportation and education is an onerous task. The increase in
VRS employer contribution rates and adjustments to increase transportation maintenance funding will
significantly improve the long-term stability of these critical programs,” continued Howell.

The budget includes various measures to increase the liquidity of state assets, a step intended to address
lingering economic uncertainty and preserve Virginia’s triple-AAA bond rating. The investment of $300
million into the Rainy Day Fund will effectively double those reserves by the close of the biennium, while an
investment of $50 million into the newly created Federal Action Contingency Trust Fund and an unappropriated
balance of $31.4 million will help guard the Commonwealth against unforeseen financial challenges.

“Governor McDonnell’s budget proposal is a study in restrained spending and the prioritization of funds
to core government services. Fiscal prudence, liquidity and an aversion to government overreach are the basis
of Governor McDonnell’s approach to budgeting. The House Republican Caucus shares in these values and we
look forward to working hand-in-hand with the Governor on the ambitious reprioritization and reform measures
in his budget,” said Howell.

Democrats Changing Their Minds

Last Friday the Democratic party made an appeal saying that Lt. Governor Bill Bolling should not be able to break a tie...?

(That power was actually first given to a Democratic Lt. Governor by the Democrats in the mid 1990's)

Have a look HERE at what the Dems have to say.


VA GOP Caucus

vagopcaucus.blogspot.com

Congrats to the new Republican Caucus Leadership Team!

Congratulations to Speaker William Howell, Majority Leader Kirk Cox, Caucus Chairman Tim Hugo, and Majority Whip Jackson Miller for their elections to the House GOP Leadership!!!


VA GOP Caucus

vagopcaucus.blogspot.com

Strong Leadership in Senate

Congratulations to the new Republican majority in the Virginia Senate and its newly elected leadership!

Governor McDonnell even sent a congratulations from overseas once he heard the good news.

Check out the full list of Majority leadership here in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

VA GOP Caucus

vagopcaucus.blogspot.com

APCO Rebuttal

Former Minority Leader Ward Armstrong ran from Obama, used his commercial to mislead voters as to which party he represented, and did his best (losing) effort to take down Del. Charles Poindexter by bringing Appalachian Power into the race for Virginia's 9th House District seat.

Armstrong's ploy didn't work.

HERE is Appalachian Power's video rebutting the negative and misleading information brought forth during this past election.


VA GOP Caucus

vagopcaucus.blogspot.com