Va. GOP candidates sell their jobs plan

The two men topping the Republican ticket this fall pitched their jobs plan yesterday, paying attention to the state's rural areas.

Bob McDonnell, the party's gubernatorial nominee, and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, who is running to keep his post, proposed appointing Bolling to serve as "Virginia's chief job-creation officer" and designating one deputy secretary of commerce to focus solely on rural economic development.

"In the past four years our unemployment rate has increased by 130 percent, from 3 percent to 7.1 percent," Bolling said.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee R. Creigh Deeds released a statement yesterday that said he would bring jobs to Virginia by "rebuilding our transportation system and investing in our educational institutions."

"My opponent has a long record of supporting Jim Gilmore's fiscal gimmicks and opposing Mark Warner's bipartisan economic recovery plan," he said. "So it's no wonder my opponent wants to appoint somebody else to be in charge of job creation."

McDonnell's plan would double the money in, and broaden the purpose of, the Governor's Opportunity Fund, which governors can tap to lure a company to the state. He would pump an additional $20 million over two years into the fund.

He also wants to expand the use of the fund, which carries an available balance of about $11.2 million, according to the campaign. It would include not just job creation and capital investment as criteria to qualify, but also allow companies that generate "significant additional state and local tax revenue" to participate.

In addition, McDonnell would expand a tax credit program to give a $1,000 tax credit per job to businesses that create 50 new jobs, or 25 in economically distressed areas. That's an estimated $14 million investment over two years, according to the campaign.

Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6812 or .