The Bolling Report

BOLLING RELEASES 2009 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA Lieutenant Governor’s agenda focuses on solutions to Virginia’s most important challenges and state government reform

January 24, 2009

Earlier this week I released my 2009 Legislative Agenda. This is the first time I have been able to begin discussing some of the new ideas that have emerged from the 100 Ideas For The Future Of Virginia program that we kicked of in 2007. These ideas reflect the effort we have made over the past two years to work together on a bipartisan basis to find realistic, workable solutions to the challenges facing Virginia. My 2009 Legislative Agenda offers specific proposals for getting Virginia’s economy moving again, beginning the process of solving our transportation challenges, improving the quality of the educational opportunities we provide to our children and making health care more available and affordable for more Virginians. In addition, my Legislative Agenda embraces a number of important proposals for reforming the way state government works. For a complete copy of my 2009 Legislative Agenda please click here. Highlights include: GETTING VIRGINIA’S ECONOMY MOVING AGAIN Providing an additional $10M to the Governor’s Economic Opportunity Fund Restoring budget cuts of $3.6M to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the Virginia Tourism Council Instituting a $2,500 per person ($5,000 per couple) tax credit for the purchase of a new home A comprehensive package of reforms to help promote the development of wind energy in Virginia Tax credits and sales tax exemptions to promote the expansion of broadband access in rural Virginia Giving Constitutional protection to Virginia’s right-to-work law “At a time when the nation’s economy is struggling, it is important for us to take action to position Virginia’s economy for a strong recovery. We can do this by pursuing these commonsense legislative recommendations this year,” Lieutenant Governor Bolling said. RESTORING TRUST, IMPROVING EFFICIENCY AND PROVIDING MORE MONEY TO SOLVE VIRGINIA’S TRANSPORTATION CHALLENGES Dedicating 10% of future revenue growth to highway construction and maintenance, beginning in the 2010-2012 budget Allowing Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia to retain future revenue growth from the Port of Virginia, Dulles International Airport and Reagan International Airport to help address transportation challenges in those regions of the state Passing a Constitutional Amendment to prevent money in the transportation trust fund from being transferred to other government programs Conducting an external, independent, top to bottom management review of the Virginia Department of Transportation to make certain that transportation dollars are being spent wisely “The most important issue currently facing Virginia is the need to direct more resources to highway construction and maintenance,” Lieutenant Governor Bolling said. “We can increase the amount of money that is available for transportation construction and make certain that our transportation dollars are spent wisely and for the purposes they were intended by passing this important legislation.” IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNTIES FOR OUR CHILDREN Requiring that at least 65% of educational expenditures be spent in the classroom, as opposed to the central office Providing more options for educational choice for parents and students “We must constantly be looking for ways to improve the quality of education we are providing to our children,” Lieutenant Governor Bolling said. “We can accomplish this by spending our educational resources more wisely, providing more educational choice for students and their families, and demanding more accountability from everyone involved in the educational system.” MAKING QUALITY HEALTH CARE MORE AVAILABLE AND MORE AFFORDABLE Allowing small business owners to purchase basic health insurance policies for their employees, policies that are free from the state mandates that apply to other policies and increase premium costs Providing tax credits for small business owners who provide health insurance for low income employees Reforming Virginia’s Certificate of Public Need laws to promote more health care competition “We must work to make quality health care more available and more affordable for more Virginians,” Lieutenant Governor Bolling said. “By making it easier for small business owners to provide health insurance for their employees and promoting more health care competition we can begin the process of addressing this important issue.” REFORMING GOVERNMENT TO MAKE IT WORK FOR THE PEOPLE OF VIRGINIA Creating an Efficiency Review Commission to systematically review every agency of state government to make certain that they are necessary and are performing their work efficiently and without redundancy Implementing a transparent budget website that enables the people of Virginia to access a clear, detailed and understandable version of the state budget Allow the General Assembly to increase contributions to the Revenue Stabilization Fund (Rainy Day Fund) from 10% to 15% of state GF revenues Establish a bipartisan Redistricting Commission to assist the General Assembly in adopting legislative districts that are compact, contiguous and of a reasonable common interest Conforming Virginia’s absentee ballot laws to similar federal laws to make certain that all absentee ballots from active duty military personnel are counted “Government is intended to work for the people of Virginia – to conduct its business in a cost effective manner, and to pursue programs that provide opportunities for the people of Virginia to enjoy a higher quality of life,” Lieutenant Governor Bolling said. “However, government doesn’t always work in the most efficient manner and we need to constantly be looking for ways to make government more efficient and more effective.” For more details on these proposals and a description of other proposals included in my 2009 Legislative Agenda please click here. I look forward to working with the members of the General Assembly to promote these issues during this year’s legislative session. By embracing these new ideas for Virginia’s future, we can find practical, workable solutions to the most important issues facing our state and build a better Virginia. Lieutenant Governor William T. "Bill" Bolling bill.bolling@billbolling.com