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As often happens in the General Assembly events have a way of overtaking the policies and the politics under debate.
When Governor Kaine introduced his budget proposal for the new fiscal year that begins July 1 and runs through June 30, 2010, many legislative leaders were concerned by his attempts to raid the “rainy day” fund to pay for new spending initiatives. Many legislators, myself included, questioned how the state could achieve a 6.7 percent rate of growth in the following year. While I have heard from many people in the district upset with the Governor’s budget proposal, particularly teachers, his rosy budget projections appear to be falling flat. After dismissing a request by the House and Senate Republican leaders to reconvene his budget advisory board, the Governor finally acknowledged last week that his advisors need to take another look at growth forecasts. I am not happy about that since it will make it harder to provide salary increases for teachers, state employees and sheriff deputies. But the General Assembly cannot properly execute its duty to write a two-year budget without a reasonable and legitimate expectation of what the state’s finances will look like in the next two years. You can’t figure out what to spend if you do not know how much revenue you will have. If the economy continues to slow, then the income will be tens of millions of dollars less than was expected. The governor’s recognition that he needs to develop a more realistic budget forecast is a good first step. But the public also needs to understand the state is facing difficult times ahead and many of the positive things we would like to do this year may not be possible. The passions generated by the recent debate concerning the proposed “gun show loophole” spilled across the capital grounds this past week as the Senate took up the measure and defeated the proposal on a bipartisan vote. One of the people who came to support the proposed change was a student at Virginia Tech who was wounded in the April 16 shooting. Because of his prominence in the debate, the media played up his presence at the capital. Unfortunately when he returned to school someone sent him an email that criticized him for his presence at the rally and then called him a coward for not standing up to Seung-Hui Cho. Worse this individual signed his email “Proud American.” I wanted to take the time in this column to say in unequivocal terms how disgusting this person’s behavior is and how far off the mark “Proud American’s” conduct is in relation to the great traditions of this nation. This young man showed great courage following the April 16 tragedy by focusing on his future goals and even leaving the security of the United States to help fulfill those goals. He is now back on campus continuing his studies. This young man journeyed to his state capital to lobby for a change in state law. In the process he had to relive those terrible moments in a very public setting. As reasonable individuals we may disagree on various policy proposals, but that does not diminish any person’s right to address their government for a change in policy. On Friday the chief of the Capital Police appeared before the House Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee on which I serve. During that meeting I raised up the concerns that I heard following the protests that anti-gun protestors and pro-gun protestors were placed in very close proximity to each other on the capital grounds. Some people felt intimated with this situation. Every year we have many competing protests on the capital grounds. Sometimes citizens in their passion for their cause can act in a way that does not completely respect the rights of issue opponents. It is very important for the capitol police to segregate these groups in such a way to allow them to “petition” their legislators while respecting the rights of others. Kimberly Lettner, chief of the capital police agreed and said that they were already undertaking a review to make sure this does not happen again. As always, if you have any questions or concerns about my legislation or any other action by the General Assembly, do not hesitate to contact me. My e-mail address is
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. The phone number for my Richmond office is (804) 698-1007. If you would like to send a letter, you may send it to P.O. Box 406 Richmond, VA 23219.
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