Legislators from Central and Southside Virginia will try to shepherd key pieces of Gov. Bob McDonnell's nearly $50 million economic jumpstart plan through the General Assembly.
It will be a bipartisan effort, McDonnell and the legislators said.
"This is not a Republican issue, this is not a Democratic issue, this is about people being able to provide for their families so they can have a better life," said Del. Daniel W. Marshall III, R-Danville.
State Sen. Robert Hurt, R-Pittsylvania, will carry bills to provide tax credits for new businesses in distressed areas, as well as a measure that would waive fees for veterans starting their own business.
Hurt said Danville and Pittsylvania have experienced "decimation of our economy in terms of textiles, in terms of agriculture, in terms of tobacco. This package [by McDonnell] represents a tremendous step forward," Hurt said.
Del. Benjamin R. Cline, R-Rockbridge, will sponsor a bill providing tax credits for Hollywood moviemakers filming in Virginia.
About a dozen producers "are scouting locations now," Cline said. One of the upcoming movies is titled "Lincoln," an epic about the Civil War. "They are talking about shooting it in Massachusetts, which to me is a travesty," Cline said. "The Civil War was fought in Virginia and it should be filmed in Virginia."
Marshall will carry two job-creation bills.
One of the Marshall bills could waive a requirement that local governments match the funds Virginia puts into job grants if a new business moves in or expands in a locality. Another Marshall measure would ease the requirements for providing state grants for jobs in high-unemployment communities.
"In Danville, 10 percent of the housing is vacant," Marshall said. "So many people have left the area, so many manufacturing companies have left, so trying to match" state grants isn't easy, he said. "This bill will allow the governor to waive some of that money [local matching funds] so we can bring those jobs back," Marshall said.
Del. Donald W. Merricks, R-Danville, will sponsor a bill to create private funds to invest in small businesses.
The largest role of all falls to Del. Lacey E. Putney, I-Bedford.
Putney, along with Sens. Charles J. Colgan, D-Manassas, and William C. Wampler Jr., R-Bristol, will try to work McDonnell's dozen or more budget offsets and amendments into Virginia's roughly $75 billion, two-year budget.
While the governor offered nearly $50 million in amendments and offsets that aim to create jobs and promote economic development, McDonnell was vague Tuesday about how he plans to deal with a $4 billion gap between expected revenues and expenses.
Those budget-balancing changes will come later, he said, and they won't be straight cuts and slashes in spending.
McDonnell said he, Finance Secretary Ric Brown, and other staffers are developing strategies "to restructure and reform" government in ways that "lessen the impact on agencies and citizens."
Ray Reed is a staff writer for The News & Advance in Lynchburg.
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