He finally gets it: Governor accepts growth numbers

After months of talking down data showing a long-term growth trend, Gov. Bob McDonnell finally seems to be getting it.

“Virginia continues to gradually recover from the extremely difficult economic period of the past several years,” the Republican said Tuesday in a statement on the news that state revenue collections grew 17.2 percent in February.

On a year-to-date basis, total revenue collections are up 5.0 percent over 2011, ahead of the revised annual forecast of 4.6 percent growth.

McDonnell has been loath to give positive attention to the growth news in recent months as state legislators have been debating the terms of the 2012-2014 state budget introduced by the governor, which has come under fire from Democratic Party critics for cuts in education and other core public services.

McDonnell took a shot at Senate Democrats, who have been blocking efforts to pass the austerity budget crafted by the governor and legislative Republicans.

“Our growth remains subject to many unstable factors, not the least of which is the uncertainty following Senate Democrats’ decision to reject both proposed budgets during the 2012 regular session,” McDonnell said. “Adding to that, the fragile national economy, persistent uncertainty in federal funding, and world and national events continue to leave us exposed to volatility that threatens our economic prosperity and growth.”