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Featured: Del. Bob Marshall, Sen. Robert Hurt, Sen. Walter Stosch

Bob Marshall: Virginia, the president and Congress
www.delegatebob.com

Congress is attempting to make Virginia and other states mere administrative agents for dubious public policies that the Congress either lack the money to enforce or the authority to enact. Congress has seen states pay for the programs or fail to challenge their legitimacy because of the financial and legal difficulty of doing so.

Rights are not kept secure by silence or timidity in defending them. For too long, state legislators have been intimidated from challenging members of Congress to abide by the Constitutional limits on their enumerated powers. And for too long, citizens have allowed their state representatives to do nothing in defense of their rights against predators in Washington, D.C.—until now.

The Ninth and Tenth Amendments clearly reserve to citizens and states the power to challenge and reject over-reaching policies of the national government such as National Health Care, Global Warming, Cap and Trade and civilian trials of military terrorists.

I have introduced HB 10, the Health Care Freedom Act so you (and not an Obama Health Czar) will make decisions for your family. HB 1319 exempts Virginia from enforcing the federal Clean Air Act and Copenhagen Accords. And HB 15 bars the use of Virginia jails or prisons for federal terror prisoner detention.

Please contact your state delegate and state senator NOW and urge them to support these bills to restore the rightful balance of dual sovereignty and power in our federal system. And please share this memo with your friends across Virginia. Persons may find contact information for their representatives at http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform.

 

Robert Hurt: The Jobs and Opportunity Agenda
www.roberthurt.org

We have now concluded the second full week of the Virginia General Assembly here in Richmond. During this week the legislation that has been approved by the individual Senate committees has begun to make it to the Senate floor – which is where legislation is ultimately approved or defeated by the full Senate. There have been only a handful of controversial bills; however, there have been an increasing number of floor speeches concerning the bleak budget outlook and the best way for Virginia to navigate through these dire economic straits. The week was also punctuated by Gov. McDonnell’s delivery of the response to the President’s State of the Union address on Wednesday from the Hall of the House of Delegates at our historic Capitol.

On Tuesday, Gov. McDonnell held a press conference at the Capitol and formally unveiled his Jobs and Opportunity legislative agenda. I was proud to be invited by the governor to join him at the press conference along with Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and Del. Danny Marshall to talk about the critical importance of this legislative package to the Commonwealth and to the people of Southside Virginia.

In my remarks at the press conference, I spoke about the devastating losses that we in Southside have suffered over the last two decades with unparalleled losses in the textile industry, the furniture industry, and in the tobacco industry. I reminded those assembled that it was not long ago that the city of Danville was home to manufacturers like Dan River Mills and to a thriving tobacco business – and now these icons of Southside are gone and we face chronic unemployment rates of more than 11 percent. I shared with the audience my commitment to working with Gov. McDonnell and the members of the General Assembly to be sure we do all we can to promote an environment in which businesses will create new jobs for Virginians and be able to thrive.

Among the bills I have sponsored as a part of the governor’s legislative package are the Major Business Facility Job Tax Credit bill, which would create a lower job creation threshold of at least 25 jobs for the Major Business Facility Job Tax Credit in those localities that are economically distressed and a bill which would encourage veterans to start small businesses by waiving certain fees that are required when establishing and operating a small business.

On Wednesday, I spoke on the Senate floor and reinforced my support for Gov. McDonnell’s legislative package, and I made the point that the governor’s commitment to economic development in Virginia is especially important in light of the message that the president and the Congress in Washington have been sending to businesses across the country – the message that businesses are now facing even more taxes and even more regulation with adoption of cap and trade legislation and of a government takeover of healthcare. Fortunately our governor understands that such policies are job killers and it will be the small business that will lead this country out of this economic recession – not more government spending, not more government debt, not more government regulation, and not more new taxes. With Governor McDonnell’s leadership, I believe that Virginia and her people will ultimately emerge from this economic downturn stronger than ever.

Once again, I am looking forward to working with Gov. McDonnell and our local legislative delegation to promote economic development in Southside Virginia and across the Commonwealth.

 

Walter Stosch
www.walterstosch.com

Capturing the headlines and the attention of many this past week were the State of the Union Address by the president and the response from our governor, Bob McDonnell. Both focused on the economy and the federal budget deficit. Public opinion polls I have seen detect widespread skepticism over the effectiveness of these federal actions. I share that skepticism.

However, I would urge Virginians to take a close look at what we are attempting in Richmond. Doing so will reveal a much different approach being taken here and one I believe will be effective in the long run.

The governor’s formal package of economic development bills includes two of my measures among the 21 proposals. One, SB455, would have the state waive administrative fees for permits for small businesses submitted by veterans. I have taken a keen interest in veterans’ affairs and believe the state should do all that is practicable to assist them. Aiding veterans, should they choose to start up a business in these tough economic times, is certainly appropriate.

Another bill, SB181, would reward businesses that develop public-private partnership projects with grants paid for from a portion of the growth in state taxes and fees attributable to the project. The best way to speed up our state’s economy and get our people back to work is to spur private investments. This bill will do just that with the private entrepreneur and the state government sharing in the success.

On the budget front, the subcommittees on which I serve have begun to examine our sections of the budget, item by item, as we do each year. I can assure you there will be cuts, many of which will be painful. But what we will not do is engage in any budgetary tricks, impose a superficial “freeze” or leave a debt for our children and grandchildren to pay. That is not the Virginia way.

As we consider each bill we must take into account its impact on state and local spending. Sometimes a careful and accurate analysis by outside experts confirm expected cost savings or benefits. Such is the case with SB649. This bill of mine would provide financial assistance to the parents of students with autism who enroll their children in nonsectarian private schools equipped to meet their special needs. An analysis by Dr. Susan L. Aud of George Mason University found that the average school division would save roughly $10,000 for each student who takes advantage of such a program.

It was 240 years ago that John Adams coined the now-popular phrase “facts are stubborn things.” As someone who spent his career as a CPA, I can attest to the fact that if we are diligent, we can with precision determine costs and values. If my fellow legislators look past the slogans of the critics and examine instead the “stubborn facts,” we can get the families of autistic children what they need and deserve.

  

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