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With legislators and transportation leaders by his side, Gov. Bob McDonnell announced on Tuesday a plan that would provide more than $3.1 billion in transportation funding for the Commonwealth over the next five years, tying transportation funding to economic growth and replacing the state’s outdated gas tax revenue model with a 0.8 percent increase in the state’s sales tax dedicated to transportation.
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As you may know, on New Year’s Day, the House of Representatives received a proposal from the United States Senate regarding the actions it wished to take to address the fiscal cliff. While I was pleased that the Senate finally offered a proposal of its own to address this crisis, I was disappointed that our colleagues in the Senate waited until the last minute and sent us a proposal that does not address our spending problem.
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The House of Representatives voted 257-167 late Tuesday to approve a bipartisan compromise leaving in place tax cuts for individuals with incomes less than $400,000 and families with incomes less than $450,000 and delays automatic spending cuts for two months.
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We have heard an ongoing cry from organizations claiming to represent all businesses that they oppose any government action on toxic chemicals in our products, warning of increased costs and job losses. Now, a new independent poll shows that when it comes to protecting workers and consumers from negative effects of toxic chemicals, small-business owners agree with voters in that both want to be protected by stricter regulations.
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Sen.-elect Tim Kaine announced on Wednesday the addition of several key members of his Senate staff. Mary Naylor will serve as Legislative Director, Kathryn Wilmoth as Director of Administration, and Sherrie Harrington, as Executive Assistant to the Senator.
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President Obama has proposed allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire above $400,000 as part of negotiations to avoid the fiscal cliff. U.S. Sen.-elect Tim Kaine had suggested during his campaign allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire on income above $500,000 per year, a practical compromise between the position of Senate Democrats and President Obama and the position of House Republicans.
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Virginia’s 13 electors met Monday in the House Chamber in the State Capitol to vote for president and vice president of the United States of America for the next ensuing term.
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With the campaigns over, our leaders must roll up their sleeves and get to work on the serious financial decisions facing the nation. Congress has known for more than a year that automatic budget cuts and tax increases loom in January, but they’ve left all the work to be done at the last minute. They need to hear from us that we expect them to make a balanced deal to preserve programs that strengthen our nation while making sensible budget cuts to programs that are wasteful or unnecessary.
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This week we saw another victory for American workers and freedom in the workplace. Just days ago, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law two right to work bills, making Michigan the twenty-fourth right to work state in our nation, including Virginia. This means individual employees can join unions voluntarily, but unions cannot force membership or force the payment of dues across entire worksites. The news out of Michigan comes just 10 months after Indiana became a right to work state and is a particularly significant trend in the Midwest.
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U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) released the following statement today after the Office of Management and Budget launched an improved performance.gov website, a key requirement of Sen. Warner’s 2010 Government Performance and Results Modernization Act signed into law by the President in January 2011.
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