|
What's
Happening in the Region
2010
State Legislative Survey
On January 13th, the 2010 session of the Virginia General
Assembly will convene in Richmond. The Chamber is currently
working on its 2010 Legislative Agenda and would like your input
on several issues including transportation, education, energy,
taxation, health care, and economic development. Please
take a few minutes to complete the Chamber's Three Minute
Legislative Survey.
The deadline for completing the survey is October 30th. We thank
you for sharing your thoughts.
Down the Stretch They Come
With little more than a week to go until judgment day, i.e.
November 3rd, the 2009 campaign season has reached a fevered
pitch:
The gubernatorial candidates participated in a final debate on
Tuesday at Roanoke College. See more here
and here.
For video, click
here. A summary of recent polling data on this race can be
found here.
As in all campaigns, voter turnout will be the key factor as
Democrat Creigh Deeds will rely on the coalition that vaulted
Barack Obama into the White House in 2008. Noted election
prognosticator Larry Sabato senses a repeat of last year's
turnout is unlikely. See more here.
Still undecided? The Blue Ridge Business Journal recently
asked two prominent Roanoke business leaders to make the case
for their candidate. See more here.
Down ticket, the battle for control of the House of Delegates
continues with 69 contested races. So far, candidates have
raised around $22.5 million and some races could eclipse the $1
million mark. See more here
and here.
Updated campaign
finance reports for all of the House candidates can be
found here.
Update
Virginia's Economic Climate
While there are rays of hope in the broader economic climate
(see more here),
Virginia's Secretary of Finance was once again the bearer of bad
news as he presented the September revenue data to the House
Appropriations Committee on October 19th. Total general fund
revenue collections were down 7.5% as all major sources of
revenue were lower than forecast. A copy of the report can be
found here.
On Wednesday, Governor Kaine hinted that additional cuts to the
current budget which expires on June 30th may be necessary. See
more here.
According to James Regimbal, Jr., a former staff member of
Virginia Senate Finance Committee and co-founder of Fiscal
Analytics Ltd., Virginia's fiscal health is not likely to
improve anytime in the near future. In a recent article in The
Virginia News Letter, Regimbal claims more painful cuts are
inevitable as all of the low hanging fruit has already been
plucked out of the budget. Regimbal points out that painful cuts
to the budget have been mitigated by federal stimulus funds, the
rainy day fund, and other one time funding strategies and
transfers. Kaine's most recent cuts to the budget in September
did include cuts to higher education and public safety as well
as a round of layoffs for hundreds state employees. Because of
expected growth in Medicaid and other health and human service
related entitlements, Regimbal forecasts a minimum shortfall of
$1 billion per year in general fund revenues throughout the next
biennial budget period. The impact of additional cuts to
Virginia's budget will of course have wide-ranging implications
for local governments. To read the complete article, click here.
Virginia's sagging revenues are also reeking havoc on funding
for Virginia's already diminished highway construction and
maintenance funds. Earlier this month, Transportation Secretary
Pierce Homer announced yet another round of cuts to the state's
six-year highway program. VDOT must also trim $134 million from
this year's budget. See more here
and here.
Health
Care Reform - Patch Working Behind-the-Scenes
Last week, the Senate Finance Committee advanced its version
of health care reform on 14-9 vote with only Senator Olympia
Snowe (R-Maine) breaking party ranks in support of the bill.
Now, Senate leaders have to reconcile the Senate Finance bill
with an earlier bill passed by the Senate Health, Education,
Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Once these bill are
combined, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) will do a
revised cost analysis before final debate on the Senate floor. A
similar process is taking place in the House as Speaker Pelosi
is working to meld three different committee versions together.
The inclusion of a public option, a government run insurance
plan that would compete with private plans, continues to be a
sticking point between liberal and moderate Democrats in both
the House and Senate. Recently, an effort to re-brand the public
option as "Medicare for Everyone" has picked up
momentum as moderates believe that the term 'public option'
conjured up visions of socialized medicine in the minds of many
voters. See more here
and here.
Legislative Summary:
All 1500+ pages of the Senate Finance Committee bill can be
found here.
A comparison of the two Senate versions of health care reform
can be found here.
The Kaiser Family Foundation has developed an interactive health
care reform comparison tool which allows the user to evaluate
the components of each of the reform proposals. See more here.
Status:
The House plan may be unveiled next week with a vote on the
House floor as early as the first week in November. The Senate
Finance Committee bill was filed Monday and negotiators in
the Senate hope to have a merged bill soon though repeated
deadlines have already been missed. Floor debate in the Senate
is unlikely to be finished prior to Thanksgiving. With an eye on
the electoral calendar, the Democrats hope to have a final bill
ready before the end of the year. See more here
and here.
Position: While
the Chamber has not
taken a position on these specific bills, the Chamber opposes
legislation that would shift additional significant health care costs to businesses, especially small businesses, and
has further concerns about the potential impact of a new,
complicated regulatory scheme.
A
Clarification
Over the last few weeks, several articles have appeared
regarding the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its position on
climate change legislation. More recently, a contentious rift
has developed between some U.S. Chamber officials and the Obama
Administration. For background, see more here.
Hopefully, both parties will remember that a healthy democracy
needs competing points of view and that differences should be
settled in a reasonable and civil manner.
With this recent spate of media attention, we have received a
few questions about our relationship with the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce. While we share many of the same values and positions
with the U.S. Chamber, most notably a commitment to the free
enterprise system, the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce is
an independent organization and not a subsidiary of the U.S.
Chamber. We work on behalf of our 1,300 members to make things
better for business and to improve our region's business
climate. On a few occasions, we have followed the U.S. Chamber's
lead in addressing federal issues that would have a direct
impact on our members, such as the Employee Free Choice Act.
However, our role as an advocate for the region's business
community has traditionally focused on local and state issues
rather than federal policy. Please contact us anytime if you
have a question on these issues.
Local
Government Briefing
City
of Roanoke
Meeting on Downtown Projects -
October 27th
The City of Roanoke will host a public information meeting
on a number of downtown projects including the City Market
Building, Center in the Square, the Market Garage, and the
Historic Farmers' Market on October 27th at 6:30 PM in the
Science Museum Planetarium at Center in the Square.
Representatives from Downtown Roanoke Inc. and Center in the
Square will also be present. For more information, click here.
Last week, the City of Roanoke held the last of its public
meetings to seek input on what residents are looking for in a
new city manager. The application process will close Friday,
October 23rd and the firm coordinating the search is expected to
brief City Council on potential candidates on November 2nd. For
more information, click here.
Roanoke
County
Roanoke
County Board of Supervisors Chairman, Mike Altizer, will deliver
the annual State of the County Address on November 17th at the
soon-to-be opened Green
Ridge Recreation Center. For more information or to register
for this program, click here.
Franklin
County
Next week, the Franklin Parks and Recreation will hold the
final two public meetings on its recently drafted Recreation
Master Plan. After these meetings, the $81 million outline
of improvements will be presented to the Franklin County Board
of Supervisors. For more information, click here.
Public
Hearing on Western Virginia Water Authority
A joint meeting with Roanoke City Council, the Boards of
Supervisors of Franklin County and Roanoke County, and the Board
of Directors of the Western Virginia Water Authority has been
scheduled for Thursday November 5th at 10:00 AM at the Vinton
War Memorial. The purpose of the meeting is to receive public
comment on Franklin County becoming a member of the Western
Virginia Water Authority.
Update
on Quality of Life Projects
One
of the Chamber's priorities is to monitor the development of
quality of life projects in our region. Enhancing our
region's considerable amenities is vital to attracting and
retaining young workers, fresh capital, and innovative thinking.
Below is a list of recent developments:
A
New 'Superbranch'
Roanoke
City officials appear to be moving forward with plans to acquire
land for a new 'Superbranch' library near the intersection of
Cove Road and Peters Creek Road. Planning for this new facility
began with the Roanoke
Library Comprehensive Study approved by City Council in
2005. Funding for the 28,000 to 30,000 sq. foot facility would
likely come from the issuance of bonds. A five-year capital
improvement plan adopted in July 2009 includes $10.4 million for
the library master plan in FY 2012 and $2.8 million in FY 2013.
Speculation has begun on the future of the City's main library
branch adjacent to Elmwood Park on Jefferson Street. See more here.
Position:
The Chamber supported the passage of the bond package for
capital improvement projects in the City of Roanoke.
For
more information on improvements to the Roanoke City Library
system, click here.
Up
to Par?
On
Thursday, City Council voted 5 to 2 in favor of spending $1.5
million to improve Countryside's aging infrastructure. Council
members Gwen Mason and Court Rosen again declined to support
further investment into Countryside which was acquired by the
City in 2005. In a recent blog post, Rosen outlines his argument
against the majority's decision to be in the golf business. See
more here.
Negotiations with a private company to manage and operate the
course for a five to ten year period are likely to be finalized
in the next few days.
Position:
The Chamber is concerned about on-going subsidies that will
likely be needed to support Countryside Golf Course.
For
more information on Countryside. click here.
To
Protect and Conserve
Joined by members of Roanoke City Council on a beautiful
fall day, Governor Tim Kaine announced that more than 600
acres of Mill Mountain will soon be protected under two
permanent conservation easements. Following Governor's Kaine's
announcement, Roanoke Mayor David Bowers announced that the City
will pursue a similar conservation easement for Roanoke Mountain
currently under lease to the Blue Ridge Parkway. See more here.
Groundbreaking
A groundbreaking ceremony for the new South County Library
in Roanoke County has been scheduled for Tuesday, October 27th
at 10 AM. The construction is tentatively scheduled to be
finished by March 2011. See more here.
Design drawings can be found here.
For
more information on the South County Library, click here.
A
comprehensive list of these projects can be found on the
Chamber's website.
Last month's newsletter can be found here.
This listing is updated on a daily basis and your input is
welcome in the comments section.
Do
you have ideas on projects you'd like for us to follow? Send us
an e-mail or
write a comment on the Chamber's blog
on local and state public policy issues. RSS feeds are available
for both the quality of life projects page and the legislative
blog.
If
you have questions about any of the blog features on the
Chamber's Web site, please contact Tori Williams at twilliams@roanokechamber.org
Upcoming
Events
State
of the County Address, Tuesday, November 17th, 7:30 to 9:00
AM, Green
Ridge Recreation Center.
For
a list of more Chamber events, click
here
and
to access the Chamber's Community
Calendar,
click here.
If
you have problems reading this newsletter, you will find a copy
on our website: www.roanokechamber.org
If
you would like to be removed from our e-mail list, please
respond to this e-mail with "Remove" in the subject
line.
|
