McDonnell ready to take GOP heavy G.A. out for a spin

Governor Bob McDonnell always uses his State of the Commonwealth to push an ambitious agenda. This year was no different. But while the theme and the reach of his ideas were on par, what could happen after is much different. There are far more members of the Governor’s party in the General Assembly this year and McDonnell seems poised to take advantage of that fact.

More from my story on NBC12.com

RICHMOND (WWBT) – Governor Bob McDonnell laid out his agenda for 2012 tonight in his annual State of the Commonwealth. This will be the first session where the Republican Party has control of both houses of the General Assembly.

Control of the Senate is still doubt, but Governor McDonnell should have a lot more support in the G.A. this year. Wednesday night he said he will go after some controversial policy goals. They are goals that might be out of the question if democrats still held a senate majority.

The governor only mentioned the ongoing drama in the State Senate once.

“To the members in the majority I say: Don’t be arrogant. Don’t overreach. To the members in the minority: Don’t be angry. Don’t obstruct,” he said.

After that he launched into a long list of priorities, ones that would be difficult with a divided General Assembly and may still be tough given the 20-20 senate split. A challenge he asked they approach as professionals.

“Let’s be civil and productive,” he requested.

You can read and see the full story on NBC12.com

The Governor’s entire State of the Commonwealth can be seen here.

The entire transcript from his speech is below: