Bill Bolling at Virginia Blogger Day conference.
Governor Bob McDonnell, like governors before him, issues a statement touting jobs created and capital invested every time the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) is involved in a corporate investment project. The closing paragraph of seemingly every press release notes that the deal was cemented by a contribution from the governor’s “opportunity” fund or some other government entity. When the giveaways get too extravagant, free market purists like Norm Leahy over at Bearing Drift and me erupt in ritual denunciation, even though we know that no one is likely to pay any heed.
Given the frequency of the press releases, one might be forgiven for thinking that no corporation makes an investment in Virginia without extracting its pound of flesh from the taxpayers. It is somewhat reassuring to discover that the subsidies are not as ubiquitous as I had feared.
Economic development projects receiving incentives account for only 13.7% of all “announced projects” of 20 jobs or more and less than half of all projects involving the VEDP since the beginning of the McDonnell administration, according to data released by Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling’s office. But they have a big impact, accounting for 25.9% of all net job creation in Virginia and 36.4% of all investment.
Bolling distributed the data and defended the administration’s track record on job creation during “Virginia Blogger Day,” an event for Republican and/or conservative bloggers (I’m not sure which category they had me confused with) that involved give-and-take with Bolling, senior legislators and political pundits, and was capped off by a reception in the governor’s mansion attended by McDonnell and several members of his cabinet.
“Our focus has been taking our conservative principles and applying them to things that need to be done,” said Bolling. The “McDonnell/Bolling administration” rolled back state spending to levels prevailing in 2006 even while re-prioritizing that spending, investing more than $100 million in economic development programs, raising funding for higher education and pumping $4 billion into transportation projects.
Tucker Martin, McDonnell’s director of communications, was on hand to confirm that the governor views Bolling, who faces a stiff challenge from Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli for the Republican nomination for governor, as an integral member of his team. McDonnell has anointed the lieutenant governor as the state jobs czar. Meanwhile, Bolling’s visibility has increased markedly since he has been called in as the tie-breaker on numerous votes in the state senate stocked with 20 Rs and 20 Ds.
Bolling vigorously defended the use of incentives as a tool to bring jobs to Virginia. “We are not throwing incentives at every economic development deal. We target them very carefully,” he said. Only 14% of major projects receive incentives, and corporations must commit contractually to create the promised jobs and investment or face clawbacks when they don’t deliver.
“In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have to incentivize anyone,” said Bolling. “But I don’t live in a perfect world . … We could do away with corporate incentives tomorrow but we’re not going to get these incentive-driven deals.”
Bolling came across as informed, well spoken, likable and a man who can be reasoned with. I expect that the Main Street business community wing of the Republican Party will be very comfortable with him. He is very much in the mold of Mitt Romney, whom he supports for president. But with his gray hair, extra pounds and low-key demeanor, he sometimes fades into the background. His blandness spares him the barbs and invective that Democrats hurl at Cuccinelli, but he lacks the intensity and charisma that enables the Cooch to fire up the GOP faithful. It will be interesting to see what mood Virginia Republicans are in a year from now and what kind of gubernatorial candidate they will be looking for.
