Public Square: The Hunt for Jobs

The newspaper's 28th Public Square, held Tuesday evening at our downtown building, focused on the top issue facing Virginia and the rest of the country: jobs. Moderated by Publisher Tom Silvestri, the Square began with an overview of Gov. Bob McDonnell's administration's economic and employment policies given by the commonwealth's new jobs creation officer, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling. After his opening remarks, Bolling spent the rest of the evening answering questions and listening to ideas from an audience of about 100 people, including 31 who came to the microphone to speak.

Normally 90 minutes long, Tuesday's Public Square went into double overtime -- the conversation with the lieutenant governor continued for an extra 40 minutes. Below is an edited transcript of the discussion. To see a video of the entire Public Square, go to TimesDispatch.com and search the keyword: Public Square.

Tom Silvestri, publisher: Tonight we're joined by Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, who has a new job, that of leading Virginia to find jobs in the commonwealth . . . .We'll open the program with the lieutenant governor. He can tell us how it's going, in his added role as a job-creation czar. Are you a czar yet?

Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling: We do not use the C-word in Richmond. It's only in Washington . . . .I hope that you have all chosen to be here because you believe in the cause of good government in Virginia, and you know that to get good government, you have to be a part of creating good government. And also because you believe, as we believe, that the No. 1 issue facing Virginia today is the need to get the economy moving again, and create jobs.

We've got some ideas about what we think we need to do, to do that. But we understand that not all knowledge rests at the Capitol. That there are lots of people all around the state that also have good ideas about what we need to do to help get the economy moving again -- and I'm really looking forward to getting your feedback on what we're doing, but also getting your ideas on what you think we need to do.

Are there things that we're doing that are helping? Are there things we're doing that are hurting? You know, I always tell people, the only bad idea is the one that you keep to yourself, and you don't share with somebody else. So, I hope that you'll feel free to do that tonight.

I thought I'd take just a minute at the outset and kind of paint a little bit of a landscape about how important this issue is. And certainly at this particular time, with the legislature in session, and all of the discussions that we're having about the state budget, it's a pretty good time to talk about how important it is for us to get the economy moving again, and create jobs. We are, as we sit here tonight, in the midst of the worst recession in 60 years in our country. We also, as we sit here tonight, have the highest sustained rate of unemployment in Virginia in about 25 years.

When the recession started three years ago, Virginia's unemployment rate was about 3.4 percent. Today, it is double that. It's at about 6.9 percent. Some parts of our state have double-digit unemployment rates. We're very focused, for example, on helping get the economy of Southside Virginia and Southwest Virginia going. The unemployment rate in the City of Martinsville is right around 20 percent. Now, that is an incredibly high rate of unemployment.

We have about 150,000 more Virginians unemployed today than three years ago, when this recessionary cycle started. And when you think about those statistics, they have an impact. This high rate of unemployment has an impact on families, a lot of whom are hurting today. They're having a hard time making ends meet, because one or both family members have lost a job, or they've had their salary or benefits cut back. It has an impact on businesses, many of whom are having a hard time keeping their heads above water, especially small-business owners, many of whom are shutting the doors or near shutting the doors. But it also has a big impact on government. And sometimes we forget about that.

You've read in the papers and seen on the evening news, we're facing a $4 billion budget shortfall in Virginia. And in large part, we're facing that budget shortfall today because of the economy. Because state tax collections are down way below where they were just two years ago, when we did our last budget. In fact, if you look at state tax collections as an indicator of economic vitality -- state tax collections in Virginia last year were down by about 9.2 percent. This year, the last numbers that we got last week, they're down 4.7 percent, on top of the 9.2 percent. So, as we head into this next biennial budget, the revenue -- the income coming into state government -- is about 14 percent less than it was just two years ago. And as a result of that, we're now faced with the need to cut spending back because we're -- just like in your household, when you're taking in less money -- well, you just can't keep spending like you used to. You've got to scale back. In your business, if revenue drops, you have to scale back. And in government, it's the same dynamic.

When the economy's growing and tax collections are increasing, we've got more money to invest in important programs. But when the economy's contracting, and revenues are going down, you're faced with budget shortfalls instead of budget surpluses. So one of the things I've tried to get across to folks is this need to get this economy moving again, and create jobs. It is a rising tide that will lift all ships. It'll help families. It'll help businesses. But it will help government itself, because this is where we get the money we need to invest in education and transportation and health care. One of the dynamics I've seen over the last couple of years is, I think people are starting to get that. They're starting to understand that business isn't a bad thing. That profit isn't a four-letter word. That it really is the rising tide that helps lift all ships.

So it's for all those reasons that we're so focused on doing everything that we can do to help position Virginia for a future economic recovery. Maybe just a couple other quick thoughts. We understand, No. 1, that we're not going to drive the economic recovery here in Virginia. The economic recovery is going to be driven at a federal level. But the states that make the right decisions today, to position themselves to take advantage of that future economic recovery, are going to be the states that take more advantage of it than other states. When the economy starts moving again, business will flow someplace. We want to make sure it flows to Virginia, by putting in place the programs and the policies that we need to attract that business, once the economy starts turning.

And, No. 2, we understand that government doesn't create jobs. The private sector creates jobs. While government can create government jobs, by and large it is the private sector -- and particularly small businesses -- that create the jobs that drive our economy. But we also understand that what the government can do is have in place policies that either make it easier for people to create jobs, or more difficult for people to create jobs. And what we're trying to do with our tax policies and our regulatory policies and our investment decisions is create an environment where it's easier for people to create jobs in Virginia, so that when this economy starts moving again, and businesses start growing and expanding and relocating, they're coming to Virginia as opposed to going to North Carolina or South Carolina or Georgia or Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana -- not to mention China or Korea or India or other places around the world.

So, we have put forth a pretty detailed proposal during this year's legislative session that embraces certain things we think will help. We call it our jobs and opportunity agenda. Essentially, we're focused on providing more incentives. Tax incentives for businesses that create jobs in Virginia. We're focused on improving the regulatory environment to make it easier for people to create jobs in Virginia, particularly small businesses. We're focused on making additional investments, even in these tough economic times. We've asked the General Assembly to invest about $50 million in proven economic development and job-creation programs. Things like the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the Tourism council, the Film Office, our Department of Business Assistance, and more.

And we're very focused on a number of strategic initiatives that we think hold great promise for Virginia. Things like advanced manufacturing and energy and small business -- and more aggressive domestic and international marketing and a more proactive economic-development strategy. All of those things are embraced and embodied in this jobs and opportunity agenda that the governor and I have asked the General Assembly to work with us on and embrace.

So, those are some of our ideas. I look forward to the opportunity tonight to talk about those things, if you have specific questions about anything that we've proposed. But more than anything else, I really look forward to the opportunity to just hear from you, about what you think is working, and what's not working. Are there things we're doing that are helping, or are there things we're doing at the state level that's making it more difficult for the economy to recover? And again, if you've got ideas of things we ought to be pursuing, I hope that you'll feel free to share those tonight. Because I assure you, we are not above stealing any good idea and implementing it for the benefit of Virginia.

Silvestri: How are you going to engage Virginians in this process? What are you thinking about doing?

Bolling: Well, first of all, we've really already started that effort. Back in 2007, in my first term as lieutenant governor, I really think probably the best thing I did during those four years -- in 2007, I kicked off a program called 100 Ideas for the Future of Virginia. The goal was to travel around the state and meet with groups in public squares and town forums like this to pick people's brains on what we needed to do to build a better Virginia. Out of that effort actually emerged a lot of the things that we talked about in our re-election campaign in 2009. And then during that campaign, we also did a lot of -- we called them Jobs for Virginians tours across the state, where we did the same thing.

So, between the 100 Ideas for the Future of Virginia and the Jobs for Virginians tours, a lot of what we're talking about today in our jobs and opportunity agenda really did directly emerge from the input and the feedback that we received from people all across the state. We want to keep doing that. I think forums like this tonight are very valuable. And when the legislative session is over, we're going to keep doing that. We're going to keep traveling around the state, looking for opportunities to meet with business groups and civic groups to pick their brains and talk about what we can do.

One of the other things, actually, was a column that Tom [Silvestri] wrote a couple weeks ago in

The Times-Dispatch . . . . One of the things that you mentioned, which we read and we said, "That's a good idea" -- we're actually going to be going out and meeting with the top business leaders in Virginia. We're in the process right now of putting together a list of the top 50 businesses in Virginia. And we're going to be going out one on one, sitting down. We're going to divide the list up. The governor's going to take some, we're going to go out and sit down with those business leaders and ask the question: What's working? Are we doing things that are helping? Are we doing things that are hurting? What can we do to help your business grow and expand in Virginia? . . .

When I sit down and talk with the head of the economic development partnership, the Tourism council, the Film Office, the Department of Business Assistance, our mines, minerals, and energies people, our work-force training people -- almost every single one of them, in more or less the same words, said that to me that for the last several years -- this is not a partisan criticism -- but for the last several years, economic development really hadn't received the kind of emphasis that they felt it needed.

There was a time when we recruited businesses to Virginia just because this was Virginia. We know what a great place this is to live and to work and to raise a family. And people wanted to come to Virginia just because it was Virginia. One thing I've learned is that those days are over. When businesses make decisions today about where they're going to be, they're looking at the bottom line. They're looking at: Where can I go in and build my capital facility in the most cost-effective way? Where can I operate in the most cost-effective way? And we have got to get in the game, when it comes to going out and competing against states like North Carolina and South Carolina and Georgia and Alabama and Mississippi and Louisiana. Now, we've done a pretty good job, sometimes despite ourselves, because of the great product that we have to sell. But, if we want to compete in this global marketplace of the 21st century, we've got to take it to the next level. That's one message that I learned through the transition, from our own state agency heads, and from business leaders around the state. We have got to take it to the next level, if we want to compete in this global marketplace.

Robert Baratta, Richmond: I'm with the Virginia Energy Independence Alliance. I want to talk to you a little bit about making Virginia the energy capital of the East Coast . . . .The most promising and most significant economic engine in Southside Virginia is still in the ground. And that is the 119 million pounds of uranium that's in Coles Hill [in Pittsylvania County]. It's worth about -- I guess the energy equivalent is about 3.7 billion barrels of oil. It's about twice the supply that we estimate's off the Virginia coast. Yet, it's still in the ground. It's a little frustrating. It's also jobs for Southside . . . .My question for you is: What can you do to help speed getting that out of the ground?

Bolling: As you know, there is a legislative commission that has been appointed to review this whole issue of uranium mining in Virginia, to look at both the positives that can come about from an economic development standpoint, and what environmental risks might be associated with that. So, what the governor and I have said is that we have not taken a position on whether we think uranium mining is a good idea or not, at this point. We're very open to considering it. We're also aware of the concerns. We want to see what the legislative commission produces by way of findings and recommendations. And then once we've had an opportunity to review that, then we'll be able to determine whether or not we think that is the best course for Virginia. I would say that I think your comments about the potential economic significance of the uranium deposits are right on track.

Robert E. Kerney, Mechanicsville: Virginia has Adopt-a-Highway. Is it possible to have Adopta-Rest-Stop?

Bolling: We're looking at that right now. And in fact, one of the strategies that the governor has talked about as a possible solution to keep these rest stops -- that we're in the process of reopening right now -- going, is that very possibility. The possibility of looking at how some corporate entities might be able to adopt a rest stop and help pay for the rest stop. Frankly, one of the directions we'd like to seriously explore long-term is privatization of those rest stops, which a number of states along the I-95 corridor have done. Unfortunately, right now, there's a federal moratorium that prevents privatization of the rest stops. But we believe this concept of adopting a rest stop may be one of the ways that we can help generate some of the revenue that we're going to need to keep 'em open on an ongoing basis. And we are actively looking at that.

Richard Atkinson, Mechanicsville: I'm president of ObeTech, which is a small medical laboratory over in the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park. The first thing I want to do is thank you, because the legislature has passed some really pretty nice legislation favoring the biotechnology industry, and I think that will be helpful. And I know your office was very supportive of that.

I'd like to just talk for a second about the biotechnology park. I'm a tenant. I don't have any ax to grind, other than the fact that when I moved from the University of Wisconsin down here, I had options to go to Maryland -- and West Virginia was going to actually give money and space. North Carolina has a program to supply money. And Virginia really doesn't have much of anything. The biotechnology park is great. It has a lot of good things for the scientists -- not just at the medical school at the MCV campus, but the dental school. I have one of their graduates as my laboratory director. So, there's a lot of very bright people. But it's very hard to do research. Especially biotechnology research, which takes a whole lot of money. And the biotechnology park is not really set up to help much. There's not much seed money anywhere. There's not a lot of angel investing. But the big thing that I think the state could do that would make it very much more attractive and very helpful to entrepreneurs like me would be to supply the biotech park with some equipment.

An ultracentrifuge costs $80,000. You know, we can't do that. There are many different pieces of equipment that in total is a million or two dollars, but dozens of people could use those, and you could even charge back -- you know, you could afford the rent. So, that's a suggestion that I would have to bring jobs to Virginia. And utilize the smarts that are already here, to work in the biotechnology field.

Bolling: The good news is, help is on the way. When we sat down during the transition and met with our economic development professionals and decided what we wanted our strategic initiatives to be, one of them -- I mentioned there are five -- but one of them is biotechnology and life sciences. And your comment is an interesting comment, because one of the things I asked them was, who is really well regarded in this area? And one of the states, for example, they said was very well regarded in biotechnology and life sciences was Massachusetts. I happened to be in Boston back in November, and had an opportunity to sit down and talk with the Massachusetts people who put together their biotechnology and life sciences program. Now, when I tell you what I'm about to tell you, I want you to keep in mind what a fit this should be for Virginia. I mean, if you think about the academic research institutions we have, the medical facilities that we have, like MCV -- VCU. Excuse me, Dr. Trani -- VCU and others. If you think about where we are -- I asked them, "How do you view Virginia as a competitor in the field of biotechnology and life sciences?"

And they looked at each other, and there was this kind of deafening silence. And I said, "No, be honest with me. How do you view Virginia as a competitor?" And their answer was, "We do not view Virginia as a competitor in the area of biotechnology and life sciences." . . . So, we're going to be doing a lot more to help give ourselves the tools we need, like those that you talked about, to bring life sciences and biotechnology companies to Virginia.

Harry E. Gregori Jr., Henrico: I'd encourage you to set up regional forums. You talked a little bit about going around the state. Please do that. That is -- from a grassroots level -- that is going to be the way to make all of this really happen. Use the existing governmental business structures that are out there, so we're not creating new costs to the state. The Chamber of Commerce, the Virginia Manufacturers Association, the Department of Business Assistance. All those structures that already exist, they all have networks, so it's really -- it's great. Planning district commissions among those as well.

Facilitate job fairs. I'm working with three groups right now . . . . So many people have called me and said, "I've just lost my job." And these people are highly technical people, or skilled. And we have such a great opportunity to match those people up. And we could do that working together. Identify training initiatives. And that means getting out . . . .Meet with a lot of small businesses as well, not just those large ones, and identify those areas where training is needed. What is really needed out there? And then facilitate, through the existing state government programs. You've mentioned a number of agencies that have programs that are going on. And then let's use stimulus money to then enhance that, and get our people trained to go out and meet those jobs.

Linwood S. Russell, Richmond: I'm a business owner, small business owner, and I'm in the assisted living business. And I've been studying this and looking at it. I know the problem is from Wall Street to Main Street to Broad Street. At the General Assembly. I'm hoping that you and the governor will be looking at unfunded mandates, which is a very pivotal word that you use -- that's not creating a tax on the taxpayer, but it's on business. And in the assisted living business, we have been overregulated. We got jobs, but the people are not qualified. This law that they came out with was [Senate Bill] 1128. What it did was, it took the low-income people and put them back on welfare . . . .It required that individuals that's in the industry be licensed. . . . So, what happened was, a lot of these people just said, "We're out of the industry." So now, I've got openings, and that's all around the state. Now, what the state is doing is coming out and sanctioning you because you don't have qualified people. So I'm going to ask you, what are you going to do about that?

Bolling: Well, your industry is a tough industry. And on the one hand, it's hard to get people who want to do those jobs, because they are tough jobs. They are difficult jobs. And as you pointed out, the pay is not the best, because of constraints that you have on reimbursement through, for example, Medicaid patients and the like. On the other hand, the people who are in contact with patients on a daily basis, it is important that we make sure we have good people doing those jobs, and that there be an adequacy of regulation in place to protect the consumer. So, it is a constant balancing act that you have, to try to make sure that you're not creating an environment that is overly restrictive for the business or for the employees. But at the same time, it's an environment that's protective for people who are receiving the services. One of the things that we're going to be looking at -- in this area and a lot of other areas where it comes to state regulation -- is: Is that balance right? Now, the answer probably isn't doing away with all regulation and just letting people do what they want. But there may be changes that could be made to help make it more conducive, to increase your ability to be able to get workers and to keep workers, and to run a profitable business . . . . That's not going to be a quick process. That's not going to be something that we're going to be able to correct tomorrow. But one of the things, once the session's over, that you'll hear the governor talk a lot about is moving toward what we're going to call a government reform initiative. This is going be a part of the government reform initiative. And our hope is that over the course of maybe the next 12 months, when the General Assembly comes back in 2011, we'll have some substantive regulatory reform changes to recommend then to the General Assembly.

Russell: Well, I hope you do. Because we are governed by three state agencies. And that is overkill.

Bolling: You're lucky. Most people are governed by more than that. [LAUGHTER] And that's the problem we need to fix.

Russell: So, what do I do? I am the creator of jobs, trying to put people in jobs. You all pass laws. You all leave it to the bureaucrats. We go to their meetings . . . .How do business people get their concerns over to y'all? I just want to share that frustration with you, because I've been going through this for quite a while.

Bolling: And you're not alone. There are a lot of business leaders that share that, not just in your business, but other businesses that share that same frustration about the regulatory burden that is imposed upon them. And we hear that. We're aware of that. And we're going to be systematically trying to look at that. But it is going to take time to go through that process.

Russell: I understand that. Let me say this real quick. Nobody goes into business trying to go out of business. OK? And business usually drives business. So, I do get a little hung up, when I'm being micromanaged. And a lot of us are being micromanaged behind an office desk by a state worker that don't understand. Then you have people sitting on boards that don't have a clue about how to run a business. So, this meeting tonight's supposed to have been about, well, how do we create jobs? How do we deal? The question is to you: Are you all going to go back and look at some of those laws that you passed, that have put the restraint on business?

Bolling: We are. Absolutely.

Jonathan Logan, Richmond: I'm a playwright. Me and my colleagues, we create plays about the challenges of our society . . . .It's such a competitive industry that we're involved in. It's so important -- because we went through this a little bit last fall on a production we've done. It's so important to have the support of local media as well as our elected leaders . . . .It's important we had the support, so we'd be taken seriously in such a competitive industry. My question to you is that for us not to exit Virginia and go find opportunities in other meccas like L.A. and New York and Atlanta, how supportive -- I'll let the media speak for themselves -- but, how supportive are our elected officials willing to be towards entertainers and artists?

Bolling: I'm not sure that what I'm about to say is going to directly apply to playwrights. There may be ways to make it apply. But one of the areas where we've been focused right now is on trying to do more to expand the film industry in Virginia. You know, we are losing a lot of opportunities. The last major film production that was produced in Virginia was the John Adams miniseries on HBO. The commonwealth put up $1.2 million in incentives to have that project produced in Virginia. The project produced over $80 million in economic impact. Yet we have a big motion picture about to be made on the horse Secretariat, which was a born and bred Virginia horse, up in Caroline County, and the film is being produced in Kentucky and Louisiana, because we couldn't lure the production of that film to Virginia.

So, just this past week you may have seen in the paper that we had Sissy Spacek at the Capitol with us helping promote an incentive program that we've put forth to help get the production of more films in Virginia. There may be some similar things that we can do with playwrights, and other areas of the arts.

Isata Turay, Richmond: If we take a look at the sectors in the community that services are needed in, and take it into consideration, and develop from that point on, I think the whole network of job development will come up. Because if there is need in this sector, and we concentrate on that development, the whole area of the other job areas will work well towards it. And also, I want, lastly, to point out that we in Virginia need to use our resources well, that we have available in Virginia, for us to get jobs.

Bolling: There were a couple things in that comment that are important. One is, be strategic: Know where the opportunities are. You know, if you're fishing in a pond that doesn't have any fish in it, you're probably not going to catch anything. But if you know what you're going after and you go after it like a laser as opposed to a shotgun, you have more of a chance of getting to where you need to be. And then the other point of the comment was recognizing the importance of small business -- that 80 percent of the people in Virginia today are employed by small business. It's those businesses on Main Street that still employ most of the people in our state.

Ron Melancon, Glen Allen: We need to tell the businesses -- no new mandates, no new ideas, until our unemployment is at a certain level. Small businesses just want to make sure that they're going to be able to do what they want to do next year. Every week, there's something new coming out of Washington. It's about time we stop the nonsense.

Bolling: I wish I could control Washington, but I'm having a hard enough time with Richmond.

Melancon: We've got to tell the businesses here we're going to make it happen. We're going to fight Washington, make it happen, and leave you alone. Leave us alone. We'll create jobs.

Joseph P. Andrews, Richmond: The challenge of creating jobs in a recession is an awesome one. In a normal business cycle, the economy recovers pretty much on its own. However, in times of severe economic stress like Virginia and the nation are going through now, we must not overlook the positive role that government can play in the recovery. One way government can help is by investing in public infrastructure. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, stated recently that every dollar invested in public infrastructure would result in $1.59 in gross domestic product, GDP. This compares to a GDP increase of only 67 cents for each dollar of tax reduction. But the public stimulus funding bill that was passed by Congress last year is one alternative that can be used to meet Virginia's infrastructure needs and provide construction employment. While we hear all kinds of complaints about the lack of stimulus effect of these funds on the economy, the truth of the matter is that nationwide, only 30 percent of these funds have actually been spent. It has not been given a fair chance to stimulate the job market and the economy.

Now, according to the U.S. government Web site, Recovery.org, it has been estimated that the stimulus funding available for Virginia could create 93,000 jobs in the state. The companion Web site, Recovery.gov, reveals that Virginia has been awarded a total of $4,350,260,000 through the stimulus package. However, only $1,063,880,000 has been received as of Dec. 31, 2009 -- or 24 percent of the total fundraising available for Virginia. Now, I might add that it's up to each state to take the initiative to come up with enough shovel-ready projects if they're to draw down all of the funding. I believe that Virginia should take full advantage of this resource, so they can realize that 93,000 increase in infrastructure jobs.

Another alternative which Virginia might consider to further boost infrastructure employment is to responsibly increase its bonded indebtedness. This is an excellent time to sell public bonds. So, what are the plans of the McDonnell administration to spend the remaining stimulus funds in Virginia?

Bolling: If you look at the federal stimulus package, there were parts of it that I liked and parts that I didn't like. There were some tax reductions and credits in it that I thought were good. The infrastructure spending, by and large, I thought was good. I think it can have a positive impact, and we do want to take full advantage of that. The problem is, and The Wall Street Journal pointed this out, those positive things accounted for about 15 percent of the stimulus package. The other 85 percent just went to growing the size of government, and that hasn't done much to help create jobs. So, the parts of it that actually do help create jobs, we want to take full advantage of. And that includes taking advantage of the infrastructure opportunities that are available to us. And we hope that there'll be more opportunities like that, frankly, made available to us.

Your second point on debt capacity: The truth is, we don't have any debt capacity left. You know, one of the things that I have been pretty critical of is, over the course of the past several years, we have fallen into a trap in Virginia of trying to spend money we didn't have to make promises we couldn't keep -- and then paying for it with budget gimmicks. And one of the budget gimmicks we've used all too often is taking cash that was set aside for capital projects, and funding those projects with debt. To the tune that in the last eight years, we have doubled the size of our state debt in Virginia from $4 billion to $8 billion. And we have literally no debt capacity left. Right now, our next ability to issue debt, if I recall correctly is, like, in the year 2013. So, you know, in the short term, our ability to issue a lot more debt to spur capital projects is almost nonexistent, because that debt capacity has been maxed out.

Brian Taylor, Henrico: I'm president of UE Local 160, Virginia's public service workers union. I'm also a Democratic candidate for Congress in the 7th District. And in my dual capacity here this evening, my question is kind of twofold. First, I just want to know: These jobs that you're proposing to bring in, are they permanent? Will they have a living wage that the employees won't have to go out there and get second, third, and fourth jobs just to meet basic needs? And will they have collective bargaining rights? And the other part of it is: To what detriment or what sacrifice do state, county, and municipal employees have to do to make sure that these jobs get here?

Bolling: I will be honest with you, at a time when we have a 6.9 unemployment rate, my view is that any job is a good job. And any job that we can create to help people support themselves and their family, I think that's a good thing to do. Now, by and large, the types of jobs that we're going after aggressively with our economic development efforts are higher-paying types of jobs. Jobs that are coming in as a part, for example, of advanced manufacturing initiatives, or biotechnology and life science initiatives. Energy initiatives. Those are going to tend to be better-paying jobs. But, in the midst of this effort that we're in right now, I will talk to anybody about creating any job in Virginia, because there are a lot of people out there that would just be glad to have any job right now that helps support themselves and their families.

The question about collective bargaining rights: By and large, what we're focused on is not creating government jobs. It's creating private sector jobs. Whether those jobs would be union jobs or non-union jobs, that's up to the business and it's up to the work force within the business. And then, there was another part of your question . . . .

Taylor: We have a $4 billion shortfall. And government's now laying off state employees and doing other things to state employees. Not just the layoffs. But then you said that you have $60 million to entice other businesses in. I'm not a mathematician, but that $60 million just got added onto that $4 billion shortfall. So, what more sacrifice are you looking for from state, county, and municipal employees?

Bolling: Well, we think that even in the midst of difficult economic times, one area where we need to be making additional investments is in the area of economic job creation. It's an area where we believe you have to spend money to make money. You know, this economy will turn. It'll be driven at the federal level. It may be six months, it may be a year. I think we're beginning to see that turn. But it will turn. And when it turns, these shortfalls that we're seeing today, these declines in tax collection, the opportunity's going to be there to get back to a more sustained rate of recovery. But it's the states that make the smart decisions now that are going to be able to take full advantage of those recoveries.

So, even in the midst of these challenging economic times, given the way that we have fallen behind some of our competitor states in investing in economic development and job creation, we think that is an area where we need to be spending more money, not less money. Because, as I mentioned in my opening comments, this economic development is the rising tide that will ultimately help us lift all of those ships. Now, in the short term, there's no question but this is a challenging time for anybody that depends in whole or in part on government support for jobs. You know, state employees. State-supported local employees. Private sector employees who were funded in whole or in part by public dollars. When you're cutting $4 billion out of a budget, which is what we have to do, that's going to have an impact on jobs. There's no question about that. And I would not suggest to you that it won't. But, if we want to turn this ship around in the long term, we've got to do two things. No. 1, we've got to balance the budget. Really balance the budget. We've got to base the budget on a solid fiscal foundation and reduce spending to make sure we're not spending more money than we're taking in. And then we've got to position ourselves to take advantage of a future economic resurgence.

The next 30 months are going to be tough. Don't let anybody suggest otherwise. You know, the last six months of the current fiscal year, the 24 months of the next biennium, they're going to be tough. But what we've got to think ahead to is: What can we do today, from a standpoint of getting our fiscal house in order, and getting the tools in place that we need to grow the economy, so that when we get to this next budget, we're talking about surpluses, and we're not talking about shortfalls.

Linda Herman, Richmond: Supply and demand is what our country has always been run on. And until you have consumers coming in the door, businesses will have less reason to hire more people. One of my questions to you: Instead of a TARP, can we get a cure? Create umpteen real, equitable jobs. Shortterm, long-term. If you have people working part-time and they still can't maintain a job, businesses go under. You lend them money, and they can't maintain the business, they can't continue to hire employees or keep the ones that they have. So, how would you prioritize what products and services would be considered in Virginia in order to move the initiative forward?

Bolling: I'm not going to defend TARP. You know, I was not a big advocate of TARP. I was not a big advocate of the federal stimulus package, with the exceptions of the infrastructure and tax initiatives that I mentioned earlier . . . .The biggest thing right now that I hear from business leaders that Washington could do to help is quit sending mixed messages. You know, Washington is like the bouncing ball on the children's cartoons right now. There is a different message every day. And business leaders -- there are a lot of people out there today that are sitting on money. They've got capital. They could invest, they could hire people, but they're afraid to because of all these mixed messages that they're getting out of Washington. So if I had any message for Washington, it would be: Have a coherent, consistent policy that really focuses on things that'll help stimulate economic growth -- and not just grow the size of the government and the federal debt.

Herman: How would you prioritize the initiatives?

Bolling: Well, as far as goods and services and things, it's not up to government. That's up to the private sector. It is up to supply and demand to prioritize that. What our job, from an economic development standpoint is, is to figure out where are the sectors where Virginia can be the most competitive? Where are the sectors where Virginia can take the biggest advantage in creating jobs?

Breanne Armbrust, Sandston: I'm with an organization called Richmond Jobs With Justice, and the Virginia People's Assembly. And what I wanted to ask of you and the administration is that the jobs that are brought into the state are sustainable and pay a living wage. We don't need companies that come in and abandon the workers like we saw with Qimonda and some of the other companies that have been here. In addition, as far as the state workers go, they provide the infrastructure that supports the state. So, their rights and their abilities to pay their bills and to have sustainable wages is crucial, I would say, to the state, above anything else. Because if they can't support the infrastructure, then how will we survive?

There were two bills that were introduced into the General Assembly this session that would eliminate the corporation tax on the largest corporations in the state. With that being the case and the amount of revenue that comes into the state from these corporations, I wanted to know if the administration supports that. And how you think that that would benefit the state, if you do support it, and where the tax make-up would come from.

Bolling: The proposals to eliminate the corporate income tax are not a part of our jobs and opportunity agenda. Those were bills that had been put in by various legislators across the state. Having said that, I will tell you, my personal view is that eliminating the corporate income tax, or significantly reducing the corporate income tax, would have a tremendous economic benefit to Virginia. Because it would make our state much more competitive when we go out and try to recruit new business, industry, and jobs to our state. The problem with those proposals is that if you talk about eliminating the corporate income tax, or significantly reducing the corporate income tax, you create an even greater shortfall in the budget. So, at this particular point in time, it's not a feasible option. But it's not to say that it couldn't be a feasible option next year, or the year after that.

Anything that makes Virginia more competitive, from a tax standpoint, that makes it more profitable for businesses to operate here, is a good thing for Virginia. Because that will help bring new business, industry, and jobs to the state -- and ultimately create these good-paying jobs that you're interested in and I agree ought to be our focus.

Silvestri: Thanks for your comments. So, what are you Twittering about? And you've only got 140 letters to tell me.

Mary Fender (who has been Tweeting during the Public Square): I'm going try to keep it short, Tom. Thanks. I'm Mary Fender from Frame Nation. I represent a couple of my colleagues, also. We have Monica Horsley from By Invitation Only, Sarah Paxton from La Diff. We've all been Tweeting all evening the comments and appreciate the opportunity to do so. I think it's a wonderful idea that we've been invited to come do this. So, some of the comments we've gotten from the Internet are going to be brief, but we'll try to get them to the point for you. First thing that was kind of top of mind is health care costs. Keeping small business costs lower, so that the employees are able to employ more people and give them health care. So, that's top of mind. Tax breaks for small businesses that hire freelancers. That was a point. Unemployment is highest among people with disabilities. How can you level the playing field in hiring? And -- a little bit longer one, regarding a community-based system of green jobs using community gardens. Can the state jumpstart community-based initiatives, for which they could give tax vouchers for hours worked?

Bolling: I will pull one of those out, real quickly, when you talk about keeping costs down for small businesses. The issue of trying to keep health care insurance costs down is a huge issue for small businesses that you hear as you travel all across the state. We want small businesses to be able to provide health insurance for their employees. But to do that, we've got to be able to do more to help reduce those costs. And we have -- not as a part of our jobs and opportunity agenda, but as a part of our overall health care agenda -- we do have some ideas about ways that that can be done. And you can find some of that stuff, by the way, if you go on our Web site at BillBolling.com. You can find a lot of specific proposals that we've been putting forth in areas of health care, and lots of other things in addition to creating jobs.

John L. Tuttle, Powhatan: I've been a businessman for 35 years and was in the Army for a while. And I also was raised by Christian parents that taught me some standards to live by, and I ran a business that way. And when I failed to do so, I failed. And I noticed that I failed as a child sometimes, I failed as a businessman sometimes. But I've turned to Him in my later years in wisdom, after being kicked around a little bit, business-wise. And I've noticed that I've been blessed. I think that one of the most important things we can do as a people, knowing that we are a creation of God, is to pray to Him, and to turn to Him during times that we need leadership -- in our own lives, or in our states' lives, and in our country's life. This country was based on His principles, and it's worked pretty good. But when we've turned away from those principles, I've noticed we've failed.

So, sometimes when we're running real fast and thinking we're doing it all, we're really failing. If we take time to turn to God, and turn to our maker, we start being successful, start getting the blessings that He gave us . . . .

Bolling: We need a lot of prayer in this process, there's no question about that.

Tyla Matteson, Richmond: There's a lot of good alternative ways that we can create jobs. And one particular one is wind. I attended the U.N. conference in Copenhagen in December, and while I was there, we took a tour of an offshore wind farm, which was very impressive. Denmark is No. 1 for wind, of all the countries of the world. They get over 20 percent of electric power from wind, and they have a commitment to be carbon-neutral by 2025, and Norway and Sweden have similar plans. We have seen maps showing the United States and the great potential for continuous wind off of our coasts, especially the Atlantic Coast, which could provide up to 20 percent of our energy needs in Virginia. And we're poised to build an offshore energy grid along the coast, which would dispense wind to large population areas which are on the Atlantic Coast. . . . Right now, there's some bipartisan legislation going through the General Assembly to develop a wind development authority. So, we need more leadership to move ahead with offshore wind. And the question is, how can we expedite investment in offshore wind power?

Bolling: We're strong supporters of wind energy. Our energy approach is a holistic approach. We're strong supporters of renewable forms of energy like wind and solar and biomass. We're also strong supporters of traditional forms of energy, like coal and nuclear and developing our offshore energy resources. We want Virginia to be the leader when it comes to developing new and emerging energy technologies, many of which we probably haven't even thought about today. That's one of the great opportunities I think we have. . . . We support responsible conservation measures. We just ask that they be based on sound science, and not political science. We think that's important.

Thick S. Chin, Glen Allen: We're all having a lot of problems nowadays because of our economy. And please remember one thing -- our children are our future. And education is the foundation of mankind. So, first of all, I respectfully ask our state government, please do not cut our school budget. A lot of us know that in this country, in many major cities, the crime rate had been declining. Thanks for the law enforcement efforts and their contribution. But I think we need to thank more to our country's education system. Because we are better educated, the crime rate dropped. The reason that Virginia is doing so well is because we have a great school system. We are well-educated, and we want our children to be well-educated. Please get rid of two things -- the bureaucracy in the school system, and the trailers, please. I was invited to visit a local high school, Henrico High, last year. I talked to five classes of local students. And I was in the trailer talking to them. With the blackboard on both sides, and a third of the class is not able to see it. It's wasting the energy of the teacher and the students.

Cheryl Cummins, Richmond: I'm one of about 1.5 million Virginians with disabilities. And what I wanted to bring up was the fact that a lot of us would like to work, but we're unable to, because we get our [Social Security disability payments] cut if we get a job and work more than 10 hours. And it's not really worth working if I can't work at least 10 or 20 hours a week. And most of us can't work 40. But I want to know what can be done as far as helping the disabled, because I would like to have a job, but I'm scared. I'm scared to get one, because I'm scared of getting my DSSI cut.

Bolling: That's a good example of the disincentives that are factored into some of these federal requirements. This is a good example of that: You'd like to work, but you're afraid to work. Because if you work too much, you'll lose this benefit. So it almost creates the situation where you can't work, in order to get the benefit. And there are a lot of illogical requirements. We have changed a lot of those at the state level. Not all of them, but a lot of them, as a result of the welfare reform initiatives that we did several years ago. But there are a lot of them still in existence, in connection with a lot of the federal programs that we would like to see changed as well. But a lot of those requirements are mandated on the state, through federal law and regulation. And to get them changed, it's not just a matter of us taking action, it's a matter of us working with Congress to get them to make changes in the applicable federal laws.

Richard Green, Richmond: I want to talk about roads and potholes. My thing about potholes is that we can fill potholes. But we've got to blacktop the roads. Once you fill the potholes, it'll come right on back, especially when automobiles are running over it and large trucks . . . .We can put everybody to work with the potholes around here. This can put people back to work. Put small business back to work. If you're going to fix potholes -- blacktop 'em.

Jamison Manion, Midlothian: We're going to need a motivated work force. . . . If we implement a program similar to what the United Kingdom has imple mented, called Ambition 2020, in which they create a coalition -- they call them the regional skills councils. And they work with educators and the local community, but also small businesses in other areas, to actually define the skills that are needed, that they can actually hire. . . . We need to encourage the development of technical skills, welding skills, other type of skills.

Part of this could be done through these regional skills councils. Another way they could do it is called regional development cooperatives. Arkansas has used some of these to quite good success, in that small businesses and other larger businesses collaborate, and their own people do some of the training and development, which allows them to bring their own people to train at a lower cost and reduced cost or no cost, and give them the skills . . . .

Bolling: You're not going get any business to come to Virginia if you don't have the work force that has the skills to support that business. One of the challenges that we have at a state level is that currently our work-force training programs are housed in nine different secretariats, and 22 different state agencies . . . .One of the first tasks that the governor has given me -- as a part of chairing an interagency task force of secretariats and departments and agencies that have economic development responsibilities -- is this whole issue of work-force training. In fact, we're going to be starting that process in a week or two, just to try to get a handle on what we're doing in Virginia. It's just totally unmanageable, the way that it's currently structured. So, we're going to be looking for ways to make it more efficient and more effective and more targeted toward helping promote the type of skills that we're going to need to satisfy the demands of these areas of strategic initiative that we've identified.

Lawrence D. Wilder Jr., Richmond: My question concerns something that you pointed out earlier about initiatives being taken to spur investment and job-creation in the private sector. Much has been made about the fact that banks are hesitant to lend, particularly to small businesses. But there was an article that appeared in

The Times-Dispatch, I guess a couple of days ago, that pointed something out that's a little troubling -- that many of the corporations are sitting on their cash. So, even with, say, tax breaks, etc., they're not necessarily spending it or investing it, more importantly, on job creation. They're either sitting on it or returning it as dividends. What steps or initiatives are being considered to help spur that investment by the private sector?

Bolling: That's a great point. If there's one issue that we probably hear more about than anything else when we talk -- particularly to small business owners -- it's their ability to get access to capital. It's their ability to get access to lines of credit. They're having great challenges working with the banks. So, there are things that we can do. We've got some proposals to help incentivize that investment, like tax credits for capital investment and the like . . . .We actually have a bill working through the legislature right now that will do this -- for the state to provide tax credits to some of these corporations that will take some of this capital that they're sitting on right now, and invest it in a small business investment fund. The state incentivizes the investment in the fund through tax credits, and then the fund is specifically utilized to give capital and operating loans to small businesses in Virginia . . . .

Carolyn O'Connor, Richmond: Prior to moving to Richmond, I lived in Massachusetts for seven years. And this was in a time frame within which Massachusetts experienced a very high exodus of both business and people. People left primarily because -- they voted with their feet because of high taxes. And businesses are also affected by high taxes, because businesses are comprised of salaried employees, which makes continuity of operations very difficult for a business when there's high turnover . . . .That's just a cautionary tale on how businesses move. Personally, I don't think providing tax breaks for businesses will help this commonwealth at all. Businesses will just merely pocket the money, because people cannot afford goods and services to support businesses. Therefore, they cannot generate more business on this stand-still basis. People must be enabled to have money in their pockets, in order to generate business.

Donque Cochran, Henrico: . . . For small business owners who want to hire new employees but are having fear of Obama's pending health care bill, what can ease their fear in terms of supporting it, or if you don't support it, what alternatives do you suggest for small business owners who want to hire?

Bolling: . . . A lot of people are very concerned about the health care bill, and the fiscal impact it could have on their businesses. And the best thing we could do to eliminate those concerns is defeat the health care bill. I think once that health care bill goes away, and people know it's not going to become law, it's going to help relax a lot of those concerns. And then maybe then we can get back to talking about some of the more incremental approaches that we can take to actually help increase access and affordability of health care without creating this thing that results in a federal government takeover of health care with higher taxes.

Ann Kahn, Richmond: It scares me when you say we're looking to compete with Alabama and South Carolina and North Carolina to bring business here to Virginia. Because I moved here seven years ago to raise my son, and I've traveled all over the world and lived all over the country. But I chose here, because I think there's so many great things that Virginia has . . . .I understand the snowbird -- those people from New England who travel down to Florida. And while we invite them to stop in Fredericksburg, there's no emotional invitation to come off and stop and see Virginia. Snowbirds go from Washington, D.C., to South of the Border in South Carolina, and then to Savannah, to get their first taste of southern hospitality. I would encourage you to look at I-81 and I-95 as arteries of cash and tax dollars, to bring money into the state, before you worry about commercials and all the other blitz. Virginia has a lot to offer.

Bolling: We want to grow Virginia businesses. But we also want every business that's in California and New York and Connecticut that is strangled by taxation and regulation and litigation -- we'd love to have them in Virginia.

M.D. "Doc" Bass, Richmond: . . . I'm wondering if, as a part of your strategic initiatives, if you intend to deal with this high unemployment rate that includes a high number of returning offenders, that recidivate when they can't get employment. You know the numbers. Does your strategic initiative have some effort to use your influence to break down this wall of disenfranchisement, and prevent this permanent underclass that is developing underneath the middle class?

Bolling: There's actually a couple things that we're looking at. One is the effort within the penal institutions themselves. Our jails and our prisons. To have more programs in place. A good example of which is a great program that Henrico County has in place for a lot of folks who are in there because of drug charges and things of the like, to help with rehabilitation. To help them come back into society and do so successfully. Sheriff Wade has had some incredible success with that program that we'd like to try to replicate in other institutions across the state.

And we do think that there is a lot of work that can be done, and success that can be achieved, working with organizations like Boaz and Ruth. I toured their facility over on the North Side probably about a year, a year and a half ago, and was incredibly impressed with what they're doing. So, one of the initiatives that the governor has tasked the new secretary of public safety with is looking at those kinds of programs, both within the correctional process, and then after folks come out of the correctional processes, to be able to find out which programs work, and what we can do to expand those programs more across the state.