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The
2005 session of the Virginia General Assembly was
largely supportive of business interests.
Virginia
FREE
applauds the legislature for its strong, often
unanimous backing of a host of wide-ranging issues
that promote prosperity and enhance
Virginia’s
favorable business environment. Legislators
demonstrated overwhelming support for many measures
that encourage economic development, business
investment, job creation, and the efficient,
productive use of resources to promote free
enterprise. They rejected, for the most part,
measures that would threaten
Virginia’s
tradition of sound financial management and the
long-term economic health and competitiveness of the
state.
Virginia
FREE’s
Incumbent Evaluations reflect this strong support
for business with average ratings noticeably higher
than in recent years.
There
are concerns about the future, however, and
transportation is chief among them.
Legislators
acknowledged this year the pressing need for greater
investment in transportation and made measurable
progress toward funding solutions. Roughly $850
million in transportation spending was added to the
budget by this year’s General Assembly.
Significantly, it
also dedicated the tax on rental cars to a new fund
to assist with rail projects, a first for the state.
Yet
most of the money added for transportation this year
is a one-time infusion of cash and does not address
structural transportation funding shortfalls over
the long haul. Progress this year, while
substantial, represents just a “critical first
step,” as Speaker Bill Howell acknowledged, toward
addressing the enormous, fast-growing unmet
transportation needs of the Commonwealth.
Business
location, expansion and retention depend heavily on
our transportation systems. Companies need a
seamless system of highways, railroads, seaports and
airports to conduct business efficiently, to grow,
prosper and create jobs. Transportation is and
always has been a core governmental function, and
the General Assembly faces an enormous challenge in
providing adequate long-range funding solutions to
meet
Virginia’s
21st-century transportation demands.
Development
of a long-term strategic vision also remains
unfulfilled. Virginia
FREE
renews its challenge to the governor and legislative
leaders to articulate a clear direction for the
state’s future. This must include an emphasis on
efficiency, effectiveness and a streamlining of
government as proposed in numerous studies to allow
still greater focus on the core functions of
government so crucial to business prosperity and
economic development. The bi-partisan Council on
Virginia’s Future
holds great promise for providing a blueprint for
this much needed long-range strategic plan.
Virginia
is a
wonderful place to do business and it remains a
well-governed, low-tax state. We boast a diverse
wealth of natural beauty and resources, a strategic
geographic location, top-notch public education,
well-developed infrastructure, and a
business-friendly environment. The quality of
government administration is high, and lawmakers
typically reject bills harmful to free enterprise,
business growth and economic development. This
provides a wonderful foundation on which to build an
even brighter future that will enhance Virginia’s
attractiveness to business and help make our state
the best in the nation. To build upon that
foundation will require leaders with vision, courage
and the understanding that
Virginia’s future
extends well beyond the next election.
--
May 9, 2005
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