The
diversity, energy, innovation and network themes
played out in Kaine’s remarks across a range of
familiar state issues, including transportation,
immigration and health care, on the first evening
of the newly convened 2008 session of the General
Assembly in Richmond. But Gov. Kaine singled out
education for particular attention and linked it
directly to Virginia’s economic future.
He
highlighted the accolades gained in 2007 from
Forbes.com and CNBC that Virginia was the best
state in the United States for business. He
reviewed Virginia’s low unemployment rate, high
wages and recent corporate investments, including
over $750 million of new foreign investment in
Virginia that will create over 2,000 new jobs. But
he also pointed out the need to adjust to broader
economic shocks and to take significant steps,
particularly in education, to ensure that Virginia
remains a preferred place to invest.
Included
in his education package are expanded pre-school
programs, a re-benchmarking of the K-12 Standards
of Quality, a teacher pay raise of 3.5 percent and
a $1.6 billion bond package for higher education
centered on engineering, science, business and
health professions.
“This
is the smart strategy for government today,”
Gov. Kaine said. “We secure our place in a
hyper-competitive world by paying attention to the
whole spectrum of our educational system.”
Legislators,
of course, have many questions about the Kaine
budget package and the assumptions underpinning it
that will drive many of their decisions in the
60-day session. Some are questioning why Virginia
can proceed with some economic confidence when the
U.S. economy seems to be slowing rapidly. Others
ask about taking on more bonded indebtedness. Of
great interest, therefore, are the latest economic
figures and forecast from Chmura Economics &
Analytics, which seem to support Gov. Kaine’s
positive spirit and investment-minded budget
recommendations.
Chmura
figures show that Virginia continued to add jobs
in every economic sector in the 12 months ending
September 30, 2007. Virginia even added jobs in
manufacturing and construction, two sectors that
lost jobs nationally. New business and
professional services jobs led the way (+19,049),
followed by retail jobs (+11,179), education and
health services jobs (+8,659) and leisure jobs
(+6,804).
High-paying
high tech jobs in Virginia also increased by 3.5
percent, well above the national average of 2.4
percent high tech job growth.
On
top of that, Chmura Economics & Analytics
forecasts a 1.8 percent growth in Virginia jobs
and 5 percent growth in wages and salaries in
2008. How can Chmura be so sure? One reason is the
firm’s revelation that high tech jobs in
Northern Virginia have grown between 3.1 percent
and 3.9 percent a year since 2004 regardless of
what the national economy is doing. These are the
trends that underpin the Kaine budget.
The
Governor acknowledged in his remarks the
differences on policy and budget priorities among
members of the General Assembly on issues, such as
dealing with undocumented aliens in Virginia. But
he asked for balance in the legislature’s
response to illegal immigration challenges to
avoid punishing law-abiding businesses that create
jobs, building hostility toward New Americans or
giving the world “the impression that Virginians
are not willing to engage with people from other
countries in global commerce.”
On
transportation, Gov. Kaine asked the Assembly to
send him a bill fully repealing the abusive driver
fees that were a part of a 2007 transportation
financing package, saying the fees had not
increased revenues or highway safety.
“No
one person, no one region, no one party, holds all
the right answers,” Gov. Kaine suggested to to a
House of Delegates with a Republican majority and
a state Senate with a newly minted Democratic one.
“We should advance the best ideas, no matter
where they originate. The art of compromise and
working together is not a weakness. It is a sign
of our dedication to getting things done.”
Normal
politics within and among party caucuses in
Richmond do not appear ready to provoke budget
gridlock as in 2006. Veteran observers nod
confidently that the Assembly and Governor, in the
end, will work together to agree on a new two-year
budget and advance new investments within the
60-day session. By mid-March, in Star Wars
shorthand, Virginia officials most certainly will
have navigated a field of rocks, as Han Solo’s
Millennium Falcon did when it exited hyperspace on
its way to Alderaan, but most seem hesitant to
disable the hyperdrive altogether.
