Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, the vice chairman of the Republican Governors Association, will deliver the Republicans’ weekly radio address on Saturday, the RGA announced.
The address comes days after the first anniversary of President Obama’s signing the federal health care overhaul into law.
Citing “billions of dollars” in unfunded mandates levied on the states as a result of the law, “we thought it would be instructive this week to hear from Gov. Bob McDonnell, who can give us a first-hand look at the impact the law is having on the Commonwealth of Virginia and the country,” said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
The address also immediately follows McDonnell’s first veto – a bill that would mandate an average of 150 minutes per week of physical education for K-8 students starting in 2014 that McDonnell said represented an unfunded mandate imposed by the state on local schools.
“While I strongly agree that we must encourage exercise and physical activity, I oppose unfunded mandates, whether they come from Washington or Richmond,” McDonnell said.
The governor is no stranger to the national spotlight – he delivered the response to Obama’s State of the Union address in 2010, and has been mentioned as a possible vice presidential pick in 2012.
