R. Creigh Deeds, the Democratic nominee for governor, is promising fattened jobless pay and health insurance for thousands who will be thrown out of work by the shutdown of a paper plant near Franklin.
Deeds, who visited the International Paper Inc. factory Thursday, said on a conference call with reporters yesterday that the closing is "just devastating" and will leave a "gap in the landscape of Isle of Wight County."
Deeds, whose Bath County-anchored Senate district includes a giant paper plant owned by MeadWestvaco, proposed for the 1,100 employees idled by the closing enhanced unemployment insurance as well as temporary health benefits.
Deeds, facing Republican front-runner Bob McDonnell, said that the package could be underwritten with $125 million in federal stimulus aid that the Republican-controlled House of Delegates blocked this past spring.
The office of Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, said the money could not be used for the Deeds plan without General Assembly-approved revisions in jobless benefits.
Deeds' proposal, aimed at blue-collar Democrats whose unions have plowed millions of dollars into his campaign, apparently is intended to draw a contrast with McDonnell.
As a member of the House of Delegates, McDonnell opposed similar relief in 1999 for more than 2,000 workers who lost their jobs after the sudden closing of Tultex textile factories.
McDonnell, who frequently depicts Deeds as a tool of organized labor, said through spokesman Tucker Martin that Deeds is wrongly attempting to capitalize on the misfortune of the Franklin workers.
"No one should try to play politics with such a tragic situation, and no one should be seeking a massive tax hike on working families in such tough times," said Martin. "Unfortunately, Creigh is doing both."
Deeds, who knocked down a Washington Post report that he has rejected campaign advice from the White House, posted a new television commercial featuring workers from the MeadWestvaco factory accusing McDonnell of lying about the Democrat's position on cap-and-trade anti-pollution proposals.
Deeds opposes them, but McDonnell depicts him as supporting the measure, which industry claims will kill thousands of jobs.
McDonnell's resistance to cap-and-trade continues to generate financial support, including a late, $10,000 contribution from the Virginia Coal Association, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
Contact Jeff E. Schapiro at (804) 649-6814 or jschapiro@timesdispatch.com.
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