From the Governor via email:Dear friends:I've completed nearly six months as Governor of this Commonwealth. +é-á With your support, it has been an exciting, productive and challenging time, and it seems like the right moment to start a periodic report about our progress in moving Virginia forward.
We had a tough fight to get a budget this year, and we're still trying to find common ground on transportation solutions for the long-term good. +é-áBut, the general fund budget includes hard-won gains that will help Virginians in meaningful ways.
EducationIn education, I won significant teacher pay increases to get Virginia nearer the national average for teacher salaries. +é-áWe passed a bill mandating that every classroom teacher receive regular, meaningful and comprehensive teacher evaluations - a measure I have championed for years. +é-áI've taken the first steps towards establishing my Start Strong Pre-K initiative so that our youngest citizens can begin their education on the right foot. +é-áIn higher education, the budget significantly increased basic funding and focused new energy on the research capacity of our universities. +é-áFinally, I worked with legislators to begin the New College Institute, which will bring four year public education to Southside.
Environment
Many of you know how much I value Virginia's outdoors. +é-áOur budget made dramatic gains in funding Chesapeake Bay and river cleanliness. +é-áI announced an ambitious goal of preserving 400,000 acres of open space during my term, and my natural resources team is already focused on making this happen. +é-áWe also became one of the first states in the nation to receive federal permission to begin broad efforts to protect our national forests.
Smart Tax Relief
In the area of smart tax relief, we created a sales tax holiday for Virginians buying school supplies in August. +é-áWe reduced a tax on technology service contracts that put our tech firms at a disadvantage to those in other states. +é-áI began efforts to reform property tax with a measure that will ensure that citizens receive accurate information about how assessment changes will affect their total tax bill. +é-áAnd, as I write this letter, I am working with the General Assembly on a bill to repeal the estate tax and protect tax incentives that help preserve open space.Other key achievements of the session include a bill allowing small businesses to band together to buy health insurance, a measure opening up greater competition for cable television services, and a group of bills to make sure that veterans, members of the Virginia Guard, and military family members receive services they deserve.
The Road Ahead: Transportation
The issue still on the table - the needs of our transportation system - is critical, and we will need your help when we return to it later in the summer. +é-áBut, we continue to ensure fiscal accountability in transportation - in addition to my pledge to veto any raids attempted on the transportation trust fund during my administration, we have made significant progress with the legislature towards permanently locking the fund up. +é-áWe also passed significant legislation to fundamentally link land use planning with state transportation needs. +é-áNever again will local land use decisions be made without considering their impact on road congestion.We have a wonderful Commonwealth, and it is an honor to serve you. I look forward to hearing your ideas and thoughts so we can keep the progress going.
Sincerely,
Tim Kaine
Yeah, Kaine gives lip service to his opposition to the amendment some times. When it's convenient to do so. When seeming gay-friendly will do him no harm.
But everything is sunny in his recent missive. Frankly, that bit of pretense is offensive to gays and lesbians in Virginia, and to people who send their kids to underfunded Virginia schools, and to people who see the environmental degradation in Virginia, and to anyone who waits or bounces along on Virginia's crumbling highways, and to poor people making minimum wage, and to -- well, to a lot of other people living right here in our home state.
Prove that you mean it when you say "it's an honor to serve you," Governor. Prove that you care for ALL Virginians.
Tim Kaine knows better than to call that "smart" tax relief. It's only "smart" if it's a political sop to the wealthiest 1% at the expense of the other 99%.