Return to Virginia Business - October 2001

Gubernatorial Candidate Questionnaire
Mark Earley (Republican)
Responses from Mark Warner (Democrat)

Cover Story: Trading Places

Virginia Business: Please identify the three most pressing issues facing Virginia today.

Mark Earley: Educational Excellence: I believe that our educational system is the foundation of all of our business development efforts. This starts not with our colleges and universities, but with our primary and secondary schools. My education initiative, Virginia’s BEST—Building Excellent Students and Teachers, will improve the quality of our educational system and increase Virginia’s national competitiveness. Classroom size is one of the best indicators of student performance and I am committed to reducing class sizes in Virginia. Virginia’s BEST will also provide tax credits, particularly for donors making charitable gifts, within a certain dollar value, to non-profit 501 (c) 3 organizations who in turn provide need-based educational aid or scholarships to low-income students. I am committed to raising teacher salaries to the national average and testing their skills with regular competency tests. I have proposed vigorous new training initiatives to encourage youngsters to consider the profession and help address the teacher shortage. I will also encourage state assistance for teachers continuing education needs. For higher education needs, I have proposed a $1 billion bond issue for the capital needs of our colleges community colleges and universities and proposed expanded research and development opportunities for our research universities.

Infrastructure Investment: Our challenge in the near term is the significant pressure new businesses and residents will place on our existing transportation, communication, education, and natural resource infrastructure. In order to secure a promising future for our children tomorrow, as Governor, I will be committed to creating a major infrastructure investment program today, which will provide the schools, roads, open space, and telecommunications resources we need for the next century. This can be accomplished through a program that combines fiscal discipline with innovative public-private and regional solutions. As Governor, I will submit legislation to create the INVEST Capital Fund (Investing in Virginia’s Economy, Schools and Transportation) to make these investments a priority. I will work with my former colleagues in the General Assembly to dedicate a fixed portion of Virginia’s revenue growth to the INVEST Fund.

Fiscal Discipline: Virginia’s commitment to creating an attractive business environment with low taxes and regulations has enabled us to increase spending over the last four years by $4.1 billion dollars on priorities while reducing the tax burden on Virginia citizens, allowing them to save and spend more of their own money. This spending was fueled in part by the double-digit revenue growth over the last several years. While we are still growing at about three percent—we must accept the fact that we cannot continue this rate of spending based on current market conditions. The bottom line is that like any business, government must set priorities. By setting priorities, we can restrain the natural tendency of government to spend every available dollar and returns to Virginia’s taxpayers the money that they need to make their own spending decisions. That is why tax-relief, combined with prioritized spending can be such a powerful fiscal stimulus. I believe that there is enough money in the budget to continue to support our education and transportation priorities while holding the line on increased taxes.

Virginia Business: A top priority in Virginia’s business community is to ensure sufficient funding for highways and education. Do you believe that current expenditures are adequate? If not, how much money is needed and where will you get it?

Earley: With my six children in Virginia’s public schools and as a graduate of William and Mary’s undergraduate and law schools, my commitment to excellence in education is personal. One of my proudest moments was to see my eldest daughter Rachel accepted at my alma mater. I share the educational commitment that many in the business community hold and strongly believe that the future growth and prosperity of Virginia depends largely on our commitment to a skilled and educated workforce and the strength of our transportation infrastructure. That is why I have proposed creating the INVEST Capital Fund. I believe that our colleges and universities need a dedicated funding source that allows them to engage in more significant long term planning. My transportation plan, which I will discuss further below, will commit $1.8 billion in increased investment without raising taxes, and bring statewide resources to bear on our most pressing transportation problems. The INVEST Fund will supplement those efforts and provide additional funds for key road corridors, rail and transit systems, transportation technology, and telecommunications infrastructure.

Virginia Business: Please summarize the key features of your transportation plans.

Earley: I have proposed an eight-point transportation agenda, Let’s Move It, Virginia. It is a comprehensive approach to Virginia's transportation needs that focuses on investing in new and enhanced transportation infrastructure with $1.8 billion in increased investment over the next four years, setting forward balanced solutions to address congestion and other obstacles including alternative transit, accelerated highway construction, high speed rail, expanded telework programs along with a new initiative that focuses in on specific chokepoints to help ease congestion. I am also committed to moving forward critical changes at the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to ensure the agency remains mission focused and it’s first priority is the building of roads. I also believe that building consensus with local governments and our neighboring states, particularly Maryland, will leave Virginia positioned to lead the nation. This will take a multi-faceted approach focusing on investment, innovation, government reform, reducing chokepoint congestion, providing mass transit alternatives, employing technology and incorporating expanded telework opportunities.

Virginia Business: Virginia’s public colleges expect enrollments to increase by more than 38,000 over the next 10 years. How can the state help colleges accommodate that increase?

Earley: By almost every measure, Virginia’s commitment to higher education is leading the nation. The result of this success has been an increase in demand that our colleges and universities simply cannot keep pace with. In order to address these needs, I have proposed a $1 billion bond issue for the renovation, construction and repair needs of Virginia’s college classrooms, laboratories and other educational facilities at our colleges, community colleges and universities. I have also endorsed the findings of the bipartisan Joint Subcommittee on Higher Education Funding Policies chaired by Senator Chichester and Delegate Council, which developed a host of recommendations for improving the economic impact of Virginia’s colleges and universities.

We must also recognize that over 80% of this increased enrollment will affect public colleges and universities. Virginia’s private colleges continue to provide a valuable resource, but their expense relative to our public schools places them out of reach for many families. I believe that we can offset the cost between our public and private schools by increasing the grant money available under the Tuition Assistance Grant (TAG) program. With a significant increase in the TAG program, we can create much needed additional capacity for our public schools. I am committed to increasing our TAG grants to create those additional seats.

Virginia Business: Recently, the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee reported that Gov. Gilmore’s phase out of the car tax, combined with weaker-than-expected revenues, would create a revenue shortfall of from $400 to $500 million. Do you agree? If there is a shortfall, how will you deal with it?

Earley: When I was in the Senate, the old saying always was "What the Governor proposes and the legislature disposes." Having been a legislator, I know that the Executive and Legislative branches invariably have different budget priorities. The ability to advance any agenda depends largely on the relationships that exist between the Governor and members of the General Assembly. I have spent my entire public life forging those relationships. When I was elected to the Senate, I was only one of ten Republicans in the chamber. I was not even allowed to sit with my own party members. I learned early on that in order to get things done, you have to reach across the aisle in order to build consensus. Building these relationships was very important to me and by the time I left I was recognized as one of the most effective legislators in the nation, precisely for my ability to build consensus with members of both parties. I continued to develop these relationships with members in both chambers during my four years as Attorney General.

We are only about a month into the current fiscal year, so it is a bit premature to predict budget shortfalls, but I believe that there is enough money in the budget to continue to support our priorities while holding the line on increased taxes. Senator Chichester and I served together on Senate Finance and I look forward to working with him again as well as other members of the House and Senate in putting together a positive agenda for the future.

Virginia Business: How will you deal with the car tax and its proposed phase-out?

Earley: I am committed to finishing the car tax phase out on time and on target. I believe that with a 42% increase in government spending over the last four years, taxpayers are entitled to have some of their own money returned to them.

Virginia Business: What can be done to ensure that workers in all sectors of the economy master the skills they need to participate in the emerging, information-based economy?

Earley: Worker training and retraining has become the #1 location incentive for prospective companies looking to establish themselves in Virginia and among existing businesses seeking to update the skills of their employees. As Virginia moves to a technology-based and service centric economy, where more and more jobs involve the use of computers or require more narrowly defined skill sets, job training assumes a vital role. Aggressive job training programs will ensure that anyone who can or must work has the skills needed to compete in the job market. I have proposed a workforce development plan that directs more money for training to develop core worker skills and provides for continuous learning opportunities among workers already in the workforce. These services will be provided through community colleges and technical training and apprenticeship programs.

We must also recognize that the umbrella of "workforce" services as it is currently delivered, is widely dispersed and extremely unfocused, significantly denuding the impact of the state’s many great workforce programs. As Governor, I will appoint a "Workforce Czar" to help consolidate Virginia’s workforce programs and ensure that resources are focused properly, that there is no duplication of services and that clients actually know where to turn for workforce services. Under my administration, there will finally be a point person for businesses, education and community leaders to turn to for all of their workforce training needs.

Virginia Business: While Virginia has come far in building a high-tech economy, it lags in research and development activity at the corporate and university level. Is this a matter of state concern? If so, what can be done?

Earley: I think we need to look at this issue in three ways, each of which should make it clear that the state must provide strong leadership and commit to significant research and development activities in order to increase Virginia’s competitive position in the global economy.

First in terms of federal research dollars for our colleges and universities, we are getting out-hustled by other states. Virginia’s colleges and universities are incubators for the growth of our technology industry. Job creation and research and development fuel this growth. Virginia institutions receive far fewer federal research dollars than some of our counterparts. As Governor, I will be committed to working with our congressional delegation and the Administration to ensure that Virginia’s preeminent institutions of higher learning have access to increased federal resources.

Second, I believe there is much that we can do in Virginia to improve the standing of our institutions of higher education. I am committed to a $1 billion higher education bond issue to ensure that our colleges and universities can compete with some of the premier research institutions in the nation. The Virginia Research and Technology Advisory Council is an important new endeavor that will strengthen the research ability of the public research universities and create closer linkages between Virginia's research universities and the private sector. Improving the climate for technology-based laboratories and businesses, both established and startup will also be aided by this effort and it was my pleasure to serve as one of its founding members. As Governor, I will continue to rely the work of this important commission.

Third, growth of Virginia’s technology industry, particularly in the biotech sector is key to the continued dominance of the Digital Dominion and key to generating additional research and development interest in the Commonwealth. Biotechnology firms often need a steady source of capital until they complete the lengthy product approval process and can generate revenue from product sales. I am committed to attracting biotech companies and related businesses with tax and investment incentives to help companies through the early stages of product development. As Attorney General I proposed legislation to create a research and development tax credit for technology and biotechnology companies. To successfully attract technology companies that are building substantial production facilities, Virginia will need competitive incentive programs in order to compete with other states. As Governor, I will remain committed to these initiatives.

Virginia Business: Are you concerned by the hopscotch, land-intensive pattern of development commonly known as "suburban sprawl"? If so, how do you propose addressing it in Virginia?

Earley: The bottom line is, local governments, developers and state officials need to start communicating. Many local governments often do not even take major road projects into account in their zoning decisions. Instead they rely on after the fact zoning adjustments to limit home construction creating real problems by significantly restricting the uses to which the land can be put, making the land much less valuable. This instantly creates a conflict between developers, businesses, property owners and local governments. As Governor, I will be committed to a partnership with Virginia's metropolitan planning organizations and local governments to find innovative solutions to land use problems such as planning grants for communities and regions so that we may work together to address important regional issues; environmental, development, transportation, energy, etc.

Virginia Business: Certain sectors of the state’s economy are in trouble, namely apparel, textiles, furniture and tobacco. What can be done to help workers in those industries?

Earley: Rural Virginia needs infrastructure development—plain and simple. We can build all the shell buildings that we want but no company is going to make a significant commitment to rural Virginia without the necessary, water, sewer, telecommunications, transportation and educational infrastructure. Those are the incentives that are needed to draw business and investments into the region. My INVEST initiative will concentrate on the educational and transportation infrastructure that is critical to the development of the Southwest and Southside Virginia. INVEST also makes a commitment to preserving the quality of life across Virginia by preserving open space and devoting substantial funds to drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities. In addition to infrastructure investment, my commitment to rural Virginia will be:

• Adequate telecommunications systems in Southside and Southwest Virginia are critical if all regions of the state are to succeed in the new economy.
• Access to capital remains a critical concern, particularly for small business. As Governor, I will be committed to increase the availability of capital to boost business and economic activity in rural Virginia.
• Create a New Secretary of Agriculture to raise the profile of the agribusiness community and give agricultural interests a seat at the table, rather than competing against other economic development interests.
• As I mentioned above, workforce development is critical for economic growth. Providing businesses with skilled and ready employees is a powerful incentive for companies looking to relocate.