Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
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| Gas drilling would benefit whole state, Cuccinelli says |
Sen. Ken Cuccinelli |
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
By MICKEY POWELL - Bulletin Staff Writer
State Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican candidate for state attorney general, said Tuesday he thinks Southside is in a good position for economic recovery.
Virginia is a “right to work” state that is not as heavily unionized as some other states, and companies look favorably on that when seeking places to locate, according to Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax.
He also thinks the state will prosper if the General Assembly starts allowing offshore drilling for natural gas. Most natural gas used in Virginia now originates in the Gulf of Mexico, he pointed out.
If natural gas can be obtained off Virginia’s coast, transportation costs would drop, which would lower prices for the gas, he said. That would attract companies using the gas to the state, and that would result in many new jobs, he reasoned.
Southside especially would benefit, he indicated, because it would be easy to haul the gas up U.S. 58 from the coast.
During a visit to Martinsville, Cuccinelli said that if he is elected attorney general on Nov. 3, he will work to restrict government involvement in business matters.
While existing regulations on businesses are useful, he said, it seems the state is “reaching constantly” to try and have more authority. He said he wants to hold back that reach.
In a sports analogy, Cuccinelli said the state should be “calling the fouls when businesses step over the line, and staying away from them until they do.”
The fewer regulations that the state imposes on businesses, the more that companies look favorably on the state as a place to locate, he indicated.
Cuccinelli, 40, represents the 37th District that covers the western part of Fairfax County. He has been in the Senate since 2002 and is a partner in the Fairfax law firm of Cuccinelli & Day.
In the Senate, he is on the Transportation, Local Government, Courts of Justice, and Rehabilitation and Social Services committees.
Cuccinelli joked that he seems to be “covered by the Endangered Species Act up there” in his district since “I’m a little more culturally conservative than Fairfax has become” as its economy and population have grown.
“I feel more comfortable here” in predominantly rural Southside, he said, indicating that the values of residents in the region are more akin to his own. He said he visits the region often and plans to continue doing so.
Cuccinelli said that each region of the state has somewhat different needs, and when talking with other lawmakers, he has encouraged them to take the needs of each region into account in decision-making.
He added that wherever he goes in Virginia, people tell him their main concern — especially for the next few years — is the economy.
In April, the Republican-dominated House of Delegates rejected a proposed expansion of unemployment benefits to Virginians, as well as $125 million in federal stimulus funds that would have been used to pay for the expansion.
Cuccinelli favored that decision. Although he sees a need to expand jobless benefits, he said he had concerns about the plan allowing part-time workers who reject the offer of a full-time job still being able to collect benefits, as well as the plan not including anything to stimulate the creation of jobs.
He also said that under federal requirements, when the $125 million was spent, the state would have had to find a way to replace the funds so the expanded benefits could continue.
Cuccinelli said he is not anti-union from the standpoint of protecting the rights of workers.
Rather, he said, “my problem is with union leadership” that has a “more liberal agenda” than workers the unions represent. He said that leadership is pushing its agenda more and more in Virginia.
Along that line, he opposes the proposed federal Employee Free Choice Act. Under the so-called “card check bill,” instead of determining if a union would be certified at a particular company via a federally supervised secret ballot election, the union would be certified the moment it collected a majority of signed authorization cards, according to information on the Internet.
Therefore, the legislation would eliminate the campaign period and any legal requirements associated with campaigning, as well as workers’ ability to make informed decisions in private, that information shows.
The card check bill would be “a major invasion of Virginia’s right to work status,” he said.
On his Web site, Cuccinelli says public safety will be his “top priority” if he becomes attorney general. The site shows he has sponsored legislation that the General Assembly enacted to toughen laws related to sex crimes, gang violence, identity theft and illegal drugs.
He said the state’s criminal laws are “very good” now, but he would search for ways to make them even better.
Cuccinelli said he opposes abortion in all situations unless a woman’s life or health is in danger, and he wants to make sure women are fully informed on alternatives to abortion.
Also, he said he wants to see all state consumer protection efforts placed under the domain of the attorney general’s office. Currently, various state agencies are involved, and having one office overseeing all of those efforts would make it easier for consumers, he said. |
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