Governor Seeks $50 Million for Economic Development

Photo courtesy of the Office of the Governor “Yes, we face a difficult budget cycle,” McDonnell said in laying out his “jobs and opportunity agenda” last week.

By Brittany Daniels
Capital News Service
 
Richmond, VA. -  Gov. Bob McDonnell says leading lawmakers from both parties will seek to amend the state budget to implement his ideas for creating jobs and boosting Virginia’s economy.
 
The proposals will be carried in the General Assembly by Sen. Charles Colgan, D-Manassas, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, and Delegate Lacey Putney, I-Bedford, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee.  Colgan and Putney will push for $50 million to fund tax incentives and other proposals that the governor hopes will spur business development.
 
“Yes, we face a difficult budget cycle,” McDonnell said in laying out his “jobs and opportunity agenda” last week.  “The budget that I have inherited is dire, and it is unbalanced … More spending cuts must be made. But even in the toughest of times – even now – we must have the vision and the foresight to invest in our future.”  
 
Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling said he is delighted to join McDonnell and legislative leaders in carrying out the agenda.  “This is the most important issue currently facing our state, and it deserves our full attention,” said Bolling, whom McDonnell has named as “chief jobs creation officer.  
 
These legislative initiatives and financial investments will send a message that we are serious about getting Virginia’s economy moving again.”
 
Colgan said the need to create jobs for Virginians is pressing. He said the governor’s proposals “represent smart investments.” Putney said jobs are created by people in the private sector. “Government can either make their lives easier or get in their way,” he said.  
 
He said McDonnell’s ideas “will facilitate job creation and economic development. They are exactly what a smart state should be doing in a tough time."  McDonnell is calling for $50 million in new investments over the next biennium, which starts July 1.
 
He is proposing: More than doubling the Governor’s Opportunity Fund, which provides assistance for new and expanding businesses; committing $5 million to a “state industrial mega-site fund” to attract new employers; establishing economic development offices in major growth markets in China, India and the United Kingdom; providing tax credits, tax exemptions and other incentives to businesses involved in technology and science; increasing funding for the Virginia Tourism Corp. and for the Governor’s Motion Picture Opportunity Fund, which provides incentives for movies filmed in Virginia; using revenues from the wine liter tax to promote Virginia’s wine industry; improving Virginia’s business assistance services.
 
McDonnell said the money for those investments would come from a variety of sources.
 
For example, $21 million would come from a “tax amnesty program” that would encourage delinquent taxpayers to pay up.