Decision Virginia

By: Ryan Nobles – bio | email

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine will make a tour of a series of Restaurants on the day one of his signature legislative accomplishments goes into effect. On December 1st, Kaine will make appearances at a number of different restaurants across Virginia in honor of the first day that  Commonwealth’s ban on smoking in bars and eateries will be enforced. One of his stops will be here in Richmond. The Governor will appear at the Home Team Grill on Main Street in the Fan at 4pm.

Kaine fought years of institutional loyalty to the tobacco industry to push through the ban, that had an overwhelming amount of public support. Despite spending the better part of 4 years fighting to get the measured pass, Kaine will leave the bulk of the enforcement of the new law in the hands of his successor, Bob McDonnell, who publically voiced opposition to the plan. Kaine told me back in February when the bill finally passed, that he wasn’t worried about the new law being enforced.

The brand new atmosphere at Virginia Bars and Restaurants begins on December 1st.

It wasn’t a surprise, but Tuesday, Gov. Tim Kaine announced his plan to address the Commonwealth’s growing budget gap. He announced $1.35 billion in cuts today. Those cuts will have a human impact. Close to 600 workers will be laid off and every state employee will be required to take 8 hours in unpaid furlough time.

NBC12 has been covering the story all day today. Andy Jenks will have a live report during our 5pm and 6pm newscasts.

You can see Governor Kaine’s entire press conference on the issue,  uncut, by clicking here.

During First at Four, I interviewed Ronald Jordan, the President of the Virginia Governmental Employees Association. He gave me a very frank assessment of the state’s situation. You can see that entire interview by clicking here.

Perhaps the most interesting quote from Mr. Jordan:

“The days of the cushy, permanent state job left about 15 years ago.”

Tonight we will look at the impact the cuts will have on higher education. The rollbacks could hit local institutions to the tune of 15%.

I’ll have more updates as they come available.

He put the Obama administration’s critics on notice, raised a bunch of cash for his party’s nominee for Governor of Virginia and only made one, minor but noticeable gaffe. All in a day’s work for the Vice President of the United States of America.

Joe Biden, the charismatic and experienced lawmaker charmed a crowd of close to 100 invited guests today at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College in Henrico. It was clear from the start of his speech that not only was the V.P. here to defend his team’s stimulus plan, but also to specifically target one of it’s chief critics, local congressman Eric Cantor.

During his nearly 40 minute address, Mr. Biden talked at length about specific examples of what he sees as progress that has resulted from the stimulus plan. From the protection of some 7,000 public sector jobs to the potential for local small business owner John Fernandez (pictured above with Biden) to add 25 jobs by the end of the year, Biden attempted to make the case that the expensive investment was worth it.

At one point Biden asked Central Virginians and the stimulus plans critics to step back and “look around” at the progress. Perhaps a tough sell to a community like Richmond that has seen the loss of a number of locally based companies. (Something we explored tonight on NBC12 news at 11.) But that wasn’t enough. Biden specifically went after Cantor by hinting that the Congressman was a hypocrite, for fighting against the stimulus, while at the same time begging for money to develop high speed rail from Richmond to Washington, D.C. (For his part Cantor called the Recovery Act a flop).

((Video from that section of Biden’s speech, plus more on the VP’s trip can be found after the jump)) Read the rest of this entry »

In a press release that arrived in most reporter’s inboxes, after 5pm on a Friday afternoon, Governor Tim Kaine responded to Republican Party of Virginia Chair Pat Mullins request to disclose information about his travel as the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

In a two page response, Kaine aide Lynda Tran explained that the request was denied because of the administration’s judgment of the rules pertaining to the Freedom of Information Act.  Tran cited a number of different sections of the law that supported her claim that Mullins did not have a right to the information.

Tran wrote that FOIA attempts to “balance transparency and disclosure against the the impact the revelation of specific information could have on the Governor’s ability to properly and effectively carry out the business of the public.”

After building the case that the law supported their claim that Kaine did not have to provide any information regarding his personal travel, Tran went on to write that the Governor is going above and beyond by providing the details of his travel when asked about a specific event.

“..it is in the spirit of transparency and in the interest of Virginians that Governor Kaine is choosing to respond to questions pertaining his schedule during any of the numerous events that a regularly disclosed as part of his public schedule.”

Finally, on Mullins request for the costs associated with Kaine’s security detail, Tran pointed the RPV chair to the Executive Officers Protection Unit.

Meanwhile the RPV is still deciding how to react to the Kaine’s response. Spokesman Tim Murtaugh’s full statement can be found after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Senator Mark Warner, a close ally of Governor Tim Kaine and a former governor himself, weighed in on the attacks his successor is taking from Republicans regarding his travel as DNC chair. During an interview yesterday from Washington, Warner told me that while he is confident that Kaine will always put Virginia first, the Governor should not be surprised the attacks are coming.

“I am sure, Tim Kaine understands that he was going to take some shots,” said Warner. “I am sure the Democrats took some shots at former Governor Gilmore when he was RNC chair.”

Kaine has been dealing with an almost daily barrage of attacks from the Republican Party of Virginia regarding his travel as DNC chair. The party even released a web video, parsing his words and accusing him of abandoning Virginia in a time of crisis. Kaine’s staff defended the Governor and said his travel was only on his time and generally only on the weekends when his state business was complete.

But his explanation was not enough for various media outlets that criticized the Governor on their editorial pages and investigated his travel even further to learn that not all of it took place only on weekends. When pressed by the Washington Post, Kaine refused to say that he will release his entire travel schedule ahead of time, but will only answer questions truthfully if a reporter were to ask about a specific trip.

Senator Warner, wouldn’t say if he thought that Kaine owed it to Virginia taxpayers to release his complete travel schedule, but did say that he understands the Governor’s concerns over his security.  “I do know as a former governor, from a security standpoint the state police folks who provide incredible executive protection for the Governor and their families, like to not broadcast too much, ahead of time in particular,” said Warner. But the Senator did not go as far as to say that Kaine was handling the release of the information appropriately.  “I will let Governor Kaine and you folks work out all the issues on the travel.”

But while Warner did not emphatically defend the way the Governor is handling the questions about his travel, he was quick to say that under Kaine’s stewardship the commonwealth of Virginia is outperforming the rest of the country. He said that when he is on the clock, Kaine is making all the right moves.

“I think his first job, his 9 to 5 job and for that matter not just 9 to 5 but more like 9 to 9 everyday, is still Virginia first and foremost.”

Extended clips from my interview with Senator Warner can be found after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Ryan Nobles – bio | email

At least two prominent Virginia newspaper editorial boards have picked up on the Republican Party of Virginia’s questioning of Governor Tim Kaine’s travel as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Roanoke Times have printed editorials that pick up where RPV Chairman Pat Mullins left off. A fact, Republican Party leaders were all too happy to trumpet to reporters this morning.

Meanwhile the Washington-Post printed a very probing news story about Kaine’s travel and how it impacts his job as Governor.

Each one of the editorial boards are very specific in their request of Kaine. They all believe that the public has a right to know exactly where he is going and how much it is costing taxpayers.

The Roanoke Times said:
“..the governor has a duty to Virginians beyond just the letter of FOIA. The only way the public can verify that his moonlighting has not interfered with his gubernatorial responsibilities is if it knows where and when he traveled and on whose dime. If big Democratic donors who have business before state agencies have provided free flights, people ought to know.”

Meanwhile the Times-Dispatch takes it a step further, by connecting Kaine’s DNC work to Jim Gilmore’s ill-fated run as RNC chair and even going as far as to thank the Republicans for bringing the issue forward:
“Although the governor can keep his golf game to himself, a partisan gala in Muscatine belongs on the public record. Kaine’s staff also said the DNC had agreed to reimburse the state for the cost of his security detail. Payment should have been made at the start. Taxpayers should thank the GOP for raising the issue.”

You may recall that Kaine was very reluctant to take the DNC Chairmanship in the first place. It was probably because he wanted to avoid reading editorial pages like this. The Governor has worked hard over the past three years to present himself as a transparent executive, willing to answer the tough questions. It will be interesting to see if this round of criticism changes his approach to his job as Governor or Party Chairman.