Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell wants to cobble together more than $50 million in cuts and revenues to pay for an ambitious economic plan he rolled out a week ago.
McDonnell has said he wants to pump money into a handful of funds used to attract major employers, promote tourism and boost wine and film making in the commonwealth. His initiatives also include funding to start economic development offices in Asia and the United Kingdom and to expand tax credits for biotech investment.
The plan is designed to spur job creation at a time of rising unemployment, with the hope of recouping the state’s investment down the road. But with Virginia facing a more than $4 billion budget shortfall over the next two years, any new spending will come under intense scrutiny.
To pay for his proposals, McDonnell said Monday he wants to use $21 million in revenue increases from Virginia’s tax amnesty program and $25 million from a planned increase in employee contributions to pension plans, among other sources.
McDonnell inherited a budget from former Gov. Tim Kaine that contained roughly $2 billion in tax increases that were quickly dispatched by the GOP-majority House, leaving the new Republican executive to find as much in new spending cuts.
“This is really minor league compared to what we’re facing,” said Sen. Dave Marsden, D-Burke, referring to the larger set of cuts facing the new governor. “Governor McDonnell is trying to cobble together money to do economic development, and that is a worthwhile goal.”
McDonnell also rolled out on Monday as a list of GOP and Democratic legislators who will carry his economic proposals in the legislature, which has the final say in approving them. Those lawmakers include the heads of the money committees in both chambers — Sen. Charles Colgan, D-Manassas and Del. Lacey Putney, I-Bedford.
“The proposals made by the Governor represent smart investments in the Commonwealth’s future,” Colgan said in a statement. “I am confident that we will find broad bipartisan support for them.”
