Gov. McDonnell intends to launch 'big ideas' this year

By Michael Sluss

RICHMOND -- At the midpoint of his four-year term, Gov. Bob McDonnell is beginning what could be the most important year of his political career.

The Republican governor has introduced the only two-year state budget that he will write and largely oversee. With state tax collections growing again, McDonnell has asked lawmakers to increase spending for state colleges and economic development, shore up the state's underfunded pension system and shift some money from the state's general fund to cover rising road maintenance costs.

With more Republican allies in the General Assembly, he will try again to win support for state pension reforms and a plan to give tax credits to businesses that contribute to scholarships helping needy students attend private schools.

And as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, he will have a national platform to promote his party's candidates and keep his name in the conversation as a possible GOP vice presidential candidate.

McDonnell, as he has for months, shrugged off talk about his national political prospects in an interview last week and said he intends to focus on the 60-day legislative session that begins Wednesday.

"All I've said is if any governor or, frankly, any other elected official gets a call from a presidential candidate who says, 'Hey, you can help my candidacy and you can help our country,' of course you're going to be interested," McDonnell said. "But I'm not anticipating that. I'm not waiting for a call. I'm anxiously awaiting the General Assembly coming back so I can get a bunch of things done."

McDonnell last week outlined initiatives to strengthen job creation and economic development programs and encourage offshore wind energy development. He also plans to pursue education reforms that, he said, "focus on accountability, rigor, administrative improvement."

McDonnell said he will outline "a pretty bold policy agenda" in his State of the Commonwealth address Wednesday night. He will make his case to a Republican-dominated House of Delegates and a Senate that is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats.

Republicans intend to function as the majority party in the Senate. If they do, McDonnell could have a better chance to win support for proposals. But the governor still will need Democratic votes for his budget priorities. And Senate Democrats have vowed to fight his proposal to shift $110 million in sales tax revenue from the state's general fund to transportation over the next two years.

McDonnell said the move is needed to cover rising road maintenance costs, which eat into the state's highway construction budget. Democrats argue that McDonnell's proposal will drain money from public schools and human services programs and want new, dedicated revenue for transportation.

"For legislators to say we can't squeeze another $50 million a year for transportation, I don't buy it," said McDonnell, noting that his $84.9 billion budget is the state's largest ever. "I think I've shown that it can be done. They'll have some other priorities. But nobody argues that transportation maintenance is not a priority. It's draining over $400 million a year from the construction fund."

McDonnell said he plans to advance "big ideas" in this legislative session and will ask lawmakers from both parties to embrace them.

"If people want to find common ground and want to fix those or have some other ideas, let's work together," he said. "If people in the minority just want to oppose those ideas just to be partisan, then they'll be acting just like Washington. We don't need any more of that."