Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
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| Education will drive economy, governor says |
Gov. Tim Kaine speaks Monday during an interview at the Martinsville Bulletin. The Democrat, who reflected on his term as governor, will leave office in January. (Bulletin photo by Mike Wray) |
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
By GINNY WRAY - Bulletin Staff Writer
Efforts of the New College Institute (NCI) to raise the educational level of local residents are critical to revitalizing the area’s economy, Gov. Tim Kaine said Monday.
When companies consider locating in an area, “you have to demonstrate to employers that the work force is highly skilled. Increasingly, this is about educational attainment levels” more than financial incentives, Kaine said during an interview in Martinsville.
Institutions such as NCI in Martinsville and the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in Danville are raising the levels of higher education among the work force, he said.
The governor praised NCI and its executive director, Barry Dorsey, for doing “a good job of spinning gold from straw.”
He added that when he considers budget cuts in the coming weeks, he will be “mindful” of their impact on NCI, because its state funds are matched by The Harvest Foundation. Any state cuts result in less Harvest money.
Also, Kaine said he will continue to support NCI after he leaves office.
“I’ll still be a Virginian,” he said. “There are things I care about — early childhood education, NCI, open space — that I will continue to be involved in.”
Still, Kaine acknowledged that Southside Virginia remains the “toughest economy in Virginia” with high unemployment.
His administration’s economic development staff has spent a lot of time working with this region, Kaine said, but the progress is “not to my satisfaction.”
Kaine reflected on his four-year term as governor, which will end in January. He said when he was elected in 2005, he set goals in three areas: executive, legislative and political. In all three, he said he feels good about his administration’s accomplishments but also feels there are things it did not get done.
• Executive. “It is not by accident” that Virginia often is cited as the best-managed state, has a AAA bond rating, has been named the best state to do business in eight times during his tenure and has been called the best state to raise a child in, Kaine said.
Such recognitions were the result of his administration focusing on performance, with agencies setting goals that drove his work to achieve results, he said.
The one executive issue that he called a “headache” was the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA), which is the only state agency that reports to a board, not the governor. Northrop Grumman missed a deadline under a 10-year, $1.9 billion contract with the agency to modernize the information technology infrastructure for executive branch agencies, according to a Northrop Grumman release in August.
However, Kaine said the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) has recommended that VITA’s structure be changed so it would report to the governor, and he hopes the General Assembly will approve that change.
• Legislative. Kaine cited as key accomplishments the passage of the higher education bond package, expansion of prekindergarten education by 40 percent, more career and technical education, more preservation of open lands, more support of the Chesapeake Bay, more prenatal care, reduction in infant mortality rates, increased health care safety net, more funds for nursing and medical instruction and the ban on smoking in restaurants.
He regrets that he was unable to get a transportation package for road projects approved, although funds for rail and public transportation have been increased.
“I worry that the General Assembly will decide that transportation should be funded locally or by going to Washington,” he said, calling that “getting someone else to pay for it rather than doing it ourselves.”
“Unless the General Assembly realizes it is going to have to come up with dedicated funding, there is not going to be” a transportation package for roads, Kaine said.
He also was disappointed that a nonpartisan redistricting plan was not approved under his watch, but he hopes it will be now that Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell has said he supports it.
• Political. Kaine had a goal of making Virginia competitive in presidential politics, and he feels he accomplished that with Democrats’ victories in two U.S. Senate races, winning a majority of seats in the House of Representatives and state Senate, and the state’s electoral votes for the first time since 1964.
“Obviously it would have been perfect if we had won the governor’s race,” he added of Democrat Sen. Creigh Deeds’ loss to McDonnell in November. He called that loss “disappointing.”
When he leaves office, Kaine plans to continue working as chairman of the Democratic National Committee to do all he can to help President Obama succeed, and he will teach one day a week at the University of Richmond.
He would not rule out another run for public office but said he probably will be involved in public service in other ways.
“In all areas, I feel good” about his accomplishments despite the worst recession since the 1930s, Kaine said. “We made a lot of painful decisions, but it’s been a real pleasure, and I feel good about where Virginia is relative to other states.
“... We’re leaving the state now truly a leader among states. It’s not just the mother of presidents; it’s a leader today.” |
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