Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
276-638-8801
Toll Free: 800-234-6575
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Tuesday, December 1, 2009
By GINNY WRAY - Bulletin Staff Writer
Gov. Tim Kaine said Monday he might look at alternatives on funding some parts of public education and other steps to handle the next round of budget cuts.
The state is facing a possible budget gap of at least $3.6 billion over the last six months of the current fiscal year and the following two years, Kaine said in an interview Monday in Martinsville.
That will be the gap if he takes the entire 2010 budget, which includes $6 billion he already has cut, and does not increase any spending except what is required for rising Medicaid enrollments, debt payments and other necessities, or account for inflation, he said.
Kaine said he “held pre-K-12 (pre-kindergarten through grade 12) harmless until a year ago” when education budget cuts were proposed but then avoided using federal stimulus funds. Now, he said, “I likely will propose different strategies for funding different aspects of pre-K-12.”
“We’ll look at more cuts, revenues, everything,” he said, but cuts likely will not be across the board.
In the last round of cuts, every state employee was required to take a furlough day, he said. “We may do a couple of things like that. The departments will be cut based on their value to citizens.”
In the end, decisions will be made based on “priorities and performance, to protect our AAA bond rating and core services,” he said.
Despite the budget gaps, Virginia is in better shape than most states, Kaine said. That is due to two factors, he said: its strong education system, including higher education, and its global connections, including Dulles International Airport, with 400 international nonstop flights daily, and the second most active port in the nation. “Most states don’t have either,” he added.
“The combination of a great education system and the global connections positions Virginia very well with respect to the global economy,” Kaine said.
On other issues he addressed during Monday’s interview:
• Winning approval of a ban on smoking in the state’s restaurants unless they provide a separately ventilated area, “is one high point” of his administration, Kaine said. Virginia leads the nation in many areas but not in several related to health care, which is why he focused a lot of attention on health issues. “I view the smoking ban as part of the big package,” he said.
• Upholding the death penalty was “very difficult,” causing him sleepless nights. But in the 11 cases in which he upheld the penalty, he said he had no regrets afterward.
When Kaine ran for election in 2005, his opponent, Jerry Kilgore, claimed that because Kaine is a Catholic, he would not allow the use of the death penalty.
Although he did not “feel conflicted in retrospect” when someone was executed, he said he still opposes the death penalty. “I don’t think we need it,” he said, and he hopes someday it will be barred.
• He expects Republican Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell to pay attention to the needs of Southside, despite the fact that he has no family connections in this part of the state. “I think he understands we’re a commonwealth ... we’re not working well unless there are notable gains and advances in all parts of the state,” Kaine said.
• Kaine supports federal health care reform that does three things: provides security for people who already have insurance; creates a way for the uninsured to have affordable, quality insurance, and he supports the public option to create competition; and contains costs. Once everyone has health insurance, he said, “we have to get serious about cost containment.”
• He has been surprised at the negative reactions to President Barack Obama’s administration. Kaine was an early supporter of Obama when he ran for president and now is the Democratic National Committee chairman.
Kaine said he “finds it troubling” that people did not want Obama speaking to children in schools at the start of the school year, challenged if he was born in the United States, questioned whether he should get an honorary degree from the University of Notre Dame and other things that “wouldn’t have been issues” with other presidents.
“It makes me even more committed to helping him be successful,” Kaine said of Obama. |
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