Virginia Tomorrow

Schools, Health, Public Safety Lose Millions in Virginia Budget

Assembly Passes $70 Billion Budget

State Will Dip Into Pension Fund, Repay with 7.5% Interest

McDonnell Shows Some Successes in First Session

McDonnell Advocates Toward Off-Shore Royalties

Cuccinelli Explains His Advice

Lawmakers Reach Agreement on Infant Life Bill

Albemarle Schools Won’t get $2.8 Million from City

Legislators Fail to Reach Deal on War Memorial Names

Athey Critical of Parker Vote Abstention

9th District Boundaries Will Likely Shift After Census

Pulaski Officials Consider School Consolidation

Danville City Council to Look at Plan for Modern Fire Station

1. The Session’s Surprise Issue

Was gay and lesbian rights. Who would have thought at the beginning of January that this would have been the issue dominating media coverage in the last week of the session? But the Cuccinelli Letter, McDonnell’s response and Democratic insistence that the GOP go further in prohibiting discrimination received as much attention as the budget did during the last 10 days. GLBT advocates did not get all that they wanted, but the bottom line is that they may have obtained more public expressions of support in the last 10 days than at time in recent Virginia history.

2. McDonnell’s Balancing Act

Governor McDonnell described his action this week on the GLBT non-discrimination controversy as a “balancing act.”  His Executive Directive explicitly mentioned that the the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. But McDonnell did not join Democrats in advocating that prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation be explicitly written into Virginia law. McDonnell clearly worked hard to defuse a matter that was threatening to dominate national perceptions about the Commonwealth and drew a major distinction between himself and the Attorney General. His move was widely applauded in elite circles. It’ll take some time to see whether it receives the same reception among party activists.

3. Cuccinelli and McDonnell

The evolution of this relationship will make life interesting for political observers in Virginia for the next 46 months. Who is going to define what conservatism really means in Virginia? Who will attract more national attention? And what will the GOP activist base say about issues where the two statewide leaders differ? Lieutenant Governor Bolling may, in fact, be the most interested observer of all. He cast his vote this week in favor of McDonnell and I suspect he won’t be changing it anytime soon.

4. Baliles Makes a Statement

Former Democratic Governor Jerry Baliles has not been in the middle of many political controversies since leaving office 20 years. So he (and Bill Broaddus) must have been quite surprised to find their opinions as Attorney General quoted by Ken Cuccinelli aa justifying the removal of sexual orientation from the list of categories in college and university non-discrimination policies. The former Governor made it clear that he wasn’t especially thrilled with the current AG’s interpretive referents. Baliles’ response argued that colleges are different than local governments, have more autonomy in their charters, and are not subject to Dillon Rule restrictions on their policies.

5. The Cuccinelli Letter and Legal Counsels for Public Universities

One item that has not received much attention in the debate about the legality and appropriateness of the public universities’ non-discrimination policies is the role and function of the universities’ legal counsels. As far as I gather, the  legal counsels for all Virginia public colleges and universities are appointed by the Attorney General and serve as Assistant Attorney Generals. They advise the Board and the President on all pertinent legal matters.  What role did the Assistant Attorney Generals at the colleges and universities play in vetting and approving the policies that the AG’s office itself says are not legal and permissible?  Did these Assistant Attorney Generals consult with the AG’s offfice at any time while these policies were under consideration? Should they have? I don’t have the answer to these questions, but given the confusion that has now arisen on more than one occasion about legal counsels at public universities, it is probably not a bad time to clarify their roles.

6. Donald McEachin

Has emerged as a media go-to person in the Senate on  a range of issues dealing with civil rights, the safety net and education funding. He has often got under the skin of the the Governor’s office this session, but the Democrats have needed someone to draw sharp contrasts with the GOP and speak assertively after last year’s election debacle. McEachin has been relentless in pushing the non-discrimination issue. If he get himself closer to where the money is allocated, he has the potential to become a genuine force in the chamber and a power broker in the Richmond region.

7. GLBT Non-Discrimination and Virginia Economic Development Efforts

This was the probably the most important connection that was drawn by GLBT activists and their supporters during the entire debate over non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. They recognized that, on this issue, the business community has been generally far more progressive than the government.  In general, business simply wants to attract the best talent. This is especially true of many of the high tech businesses that the administration is courting to relocate or expand operations in Virginia. A highly divisive, nationally visible fight about the legality of nondiscrimination policies has a real potential for damaging this effort. The GLBT community and its supporters were perceptive in raising the matter. Governor McDonnell was smart to recognize the potential liability.

Cuccinelli Not Giving In On Gay Bias Policy

McDonnell Rejects Calls for More Anti-Bias Rules

Budget Stalls Lawmakers Face Overtime

Bolling Says Senate Anti-Gun Panel Creation Broke Senate Rules

McDonnell Visits Budget Negotiators on Their Own Turf

McDonnell Turns Down Clemency Bid

Assembly Goes Slow on Tough Ethics Reform

Ethics Reform Moves to McDonnell

Marsh Stood in Way of Pro-Gun Legislation

Armstrong Upbraids Lawmakers Over Electricity Rate Hikes

Virginia Beach’s Lobbyist Game Plan: Offense

Experts Urge Caution on Uranium Mine

Portsmouth Schools Avoid Layoffs But Hurt Elsewhere

Attorney Says City Withholding Evidence in Norfolk Cheating Scandal

York-Poquoson Commonwealth Attorney Addison Refutes Misconduct Allegations

Nye to Hold Foreclosure Workshop

Roanoke Area Officials Decry State Budget Cuts

Budget Cuts Also Impact Private Colleges

Two Amherst Supervisors Seek to Reinstate County Attorney

Education Funds in Limbo

Applause Welcomes Shenandoah Budget

The written statement of former Governor Baliles:

STATEMENT OF GERALD L. BALILES, FORMER GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA, FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA 

            The Attorney General’s recent opinion to presidents, rectors and visitors of Virginia’s public colleges and universities has, unfortunately, created something of a political “firestorm” in the Commonwealth and generated unflattering impressions across the country about Virginia’s treatment of all of its citizens. 

             The opinion correctly states as, a matter of law, that only the General Assembly can create “legislatively protected classes” for purposes of nondiscrimination, and he cites, somewhat conveniently, a 1982 opinion that I authored as Attorney General regarding whether a local government could enlarge upon the statutorily created list of persons affected by the law for a “local government” in Northern Virginia.¹ 

            Under the long established “Dillon Rule,” Virginia’s local governments possess “only those powers which are granted expressly by statute, or which exist by necessary implication, and any doubt as to the existence of a power must be resolved against the existence of a power.”  Tabler v. Board of Supervisors of Fairfax County, 221 VA. 200,269 S.E. 2^nd 358 (1980): Commonwealth v. Arlington County Board, 217 VA., 558, 232, S.E. 2^nd 30 (1977).  (Much of the legislature’s time, by the way, is consumed with myriad requests by local governments seeking to undertake some new or different activity, although many of these legislative requests are clarifying in nature and relatively noncontroversial.)

             The Attorney General’s opinion, in my judgment, erroneously attempts to place colleges and universities into the same category as “local governments,” and therefore, subject to the Dillon Rule’s requirement of operating only within specific enumerated grants of power from the General Assembly. 

             For years - decades, even -public colleges and universities have operated pursuant to their “own charters.”  In the Educational Institutions title of the Virginia Code, the specific statutes creating the Commonwealth’s public colleges and universities, and amended over the years, including recent restructuring legislation, grant very broad powers to presidents and boards of visitors to “make all needful rules and regulations” concerning their operations and to “generally direct the affairs of their institutions.”  Thus, unless the General Assembly affirmatively revokes such powers, Virginia’s public colleges and universities may continue to engage in adopting rules and regulations necessary to their operations, including standards of conduct.

            Therefore, whether a college or university, acting through its president and board of visitors, chooses to specify codes of conduct, including honor systems and nondiscriminatory policies, such decisions would be made within the general powers of a college or university’s “statutory charter.”  

            Indeed, the Governor has just announced the code of conduct for his own administration that clearly states that any discriminatory conduct is impermissible and prohibited, thus continuing the protection, in different terms, but with similar effect, as his two most recent predecessors, against discrimination for those employed in the executive branch of government.

                                                                        Gerald L. Baliles 

¹ The 1982 opinion was based upon a 1980 Virginia Supreme Court decision, Tabler v. Board of Supervisors of Fairfax County, 221 VA., 269, S.E. 2^nd 358 (1980); Commonwealth v. Arlington County Board, 217 VA., 232, 558, S.E. 2^nd 30 (1977), as well as prior rulings of Attorneys General serving before 1982.  The 1982 opinion addressed the validity of certain amendments to Fairfax County’s specific authority to address discriminatory practices in housing, employment, access to and use of public accommodations, the availability of credit or credit-related services, the provision of educational services and retaliatory actions against those asserting their rights under local law.  The opinion held that the County, under its specifically delegated authority from the General Assembly, could create a Human Rights Commission, give it investigatory and related powers but could not enlarge upon the definitions or declare particular acts to be unlawful or provide separate penalties from those specified and delegated to Fairfax County by the General Assembly. 

Thus, the current Attorney General’s opinion did not involve the pending factual question regarding colleges and universities as implied in the opinion.

Florida Has Edge in Fight to Host New Combat Ships

McDonnell Could Scrap Privatization Bid for Ports

McDonnell Meets with Appalachian’s Top Brass

For McDonnell, Rights Directive is a Balancing Act

McDonnell’s Directive Carries Force of Office, Not Law

McEachin Urges McDonnell to Protect Gays In Law

Delegates Credit McDonnell with Small Step on Bias

Attorneys Seek Clemency, Ask McDonnell to Step Aside

Lawmakers Pass Car Titlte Lending Reform

Congressman Moran Pens Letter  on Offshore Drilling Royalties to Governor “McDonald”

Lawmakers May Agree on Budget Friday

Budget Talks Could Force Overtime

Protestors Oppose NOVA Imam Who Gave House Opening Prayer

Lawmakers Pay Immune from Budget Cuts

Church Serves as Lobbyists’ HQ

SCC Approves Dominion Settlemenet that Will Save Consumer $726 Million

T.C. Williams Called “Poor Performer”

Pick of Bush Administration Official for Fairfax Election Board Riles Democrats

Fairfax, Falls Church Pose Real Estate Tax Hikes

Henrico School Board Approves Budget with $22 Million Cut

Isle of Wight Speakers Oppose School Closure, Gifted Cuts

Some Layoffs Likely for Amherst Schools

Staffing Level Cuts Set for Bedford Schools

Gloucester Vehicle Owners Could See Bigger Tax Bills

Uranium Debate Hits Richmond

More Crime, Less Money a Challenge for Sheriffs

Governor Bob McDonnell, as he has numerous times before, stepped up as a leader and righted Virginia’s listing ship of state with his anti-discrimination edict yesterday.  Bravo!!!

Regardless of whether the Attorney General is right or not on the law (and focusing only on authority derived from the legislature, he is probably right), it was inevitable that his personal views on homosexuality would taint the public reaction to “The Letter.”

And it is likely that the tone and content of The Letter would have been less offensive if those views were different.  For example, he could have reminded the universities of the prohibitions in both the Virginia and United States Constitutions.  The impact was obviously exacerbated by the actions of the House GOP in not attempting to counter its effect legislatively.

The combination was lethal for Republicans.  Obviously not to some of their base and maybe not in the short term due to the abiding hostility to the national Democratic agenda and the hemorrhaging of our financial credibility through spending and deficits that are mind-numbing.

But in the longer term with independents, younger voters and others, such apparent willingness to relegate gays and lesbians to second class back-of-the-bus citizenship will tarnish the problem-solving image of the GOP that the Governor and others labor to build.

At our core Americans by and large are decent, fair-minded individuals.  Like every nation we have our historical darkness and cruelty.  But I believe in our basic goodness.

From everything I know Attorney General Cuccinelli is a good, decent and caring man, and unlike some, I attribute no malice to him.  But his stated views on homosexuality must inevitably influence his policy decisions at some level and the effect is most assuredly hurtful to our fellow human beings.

Discrimination because of one’s sexual preferences offends notions of fundamental fairness that lie at the core of who we are and over time those who fail to recognize that will not be chosen to lead Virginia or the nation.

To his credit, Governor McDonnell’s decency and fairness have shown through and Virginia should be grateful.  Kudos too to Senator Norment for his efforts in the Senate, and to Delegates Plum and McEachin in the House.  

The entire House should follow the Governor’s lead if another chance to do so surfaces before Saturday’s adjournment, as well it might.

 It is clearly the right thing to do.

Mims Selected for State Supreme Court

Governor Issues Directive Against Discrimination

UVA Grateful for McDonnell Move

Kaine’s Office Had Role in Quashing Findings About State Children’s Hospital

Virginia First State to Approve Bill to Bar Health Insurance Mandate

McDonnell Signs Offshore Energy Bills

Boycott Urged for Muslim Imam’s Prayer in House

State Budget Negotiators Making Progress

Senate Panel Votes to Add Non-Discrimination to Northrop Grumman Bill

Bill Benching Student Athletes With Concussions Okayed

Governors Propose Common School Standards, Virginia is Cautious

Yogis Will Not Be SCHEV Regulated

City Council Says All Norfolk Schools Need to Be Investigated

ODU Hopes Norfolk Groundbreaking is Just a Start

Hampton Residents Says Emergency Workers More Important than Arts and Museums

York Supervisors Continue Scrutiny of Upcoming Budget

Newport News School Board Member Proposes Pay Cuts

Montgomery County Residents Criticize Proposed Tax Increases

Appomattox Town Manager Placed on Unpaid Leave

Albemarle Okays University Plan for Research Park

Fredericksburg Budget Includes Cuts

Proposed Tax Increase Fails in Front Royal

Bob McDonnell’s Executive Directive this afternoon noting that ” discrimination based on factors such as one’s sexual orientation… violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution”  is not only an effort to distance himself from the furor that has accompanied Ken Cuccinelli’s letter to state colleges and universities, but to reverse the political hemorrhaging that threatened the extraordinary gains that the GOP has so recently achieved.  

Here’s what I think that McDonnell is trying to accomplish.

1. Reasserting Gubernatorial Priorities

In a very significant way, politics  is about establishing priorities that people can understand and embrace. Bob McDonnell was elected Governor on a conservative platform that highlighted pragmatic measures such as job creation, economic development, and opposition to tax increases.

Virginia has made national news numerous times over the last three weeks, each time for reasons that have nothing to do with the major themes of the campaign. If one was simply reading these reports, you might have thought that the Virginia election was about limiting gay rights, repealing one gun a month, and suing the federal government over climate control.

In essence, Cuccinelli’s agenda seemed to be more prominent than McDonnell’s. Today’s statement is an effort by the Governor to reassert his primacy in shaping the political agenda of Virginia and the state Republican Party. 

2. Extricating Himself from the Pelosi Maneuver

Invented by the national GOP, the Pelosi Maneuver occurs whenever a political figure is attacked by linking her or him to a less popular member of their own party. In 2010, all Republicans will  be certain to label their opponent a Pelosi Democrat.

In Virginia, however, the Democrats are trying to turn the tables on the GOP and have been relentless in criticizing the GOP, linking McDonnell to Cuccinelli at every turn. Donald McEachin has reemerged as a statewide figure and go-to person for the media, claiming that “Cuccinelli is implementing the thesis.”

Today’s statement is McDonnell’s effort to extricate himself from the Democrats’ version of the Pelosi Maneuver.

3. Controlling the Virginia Model

The explosion of hot-button, Virginia-based items onto the national media scene had threatened to transform McDonnell’s “Virginia Model” (which commentators widely cited as a template for GOP candidates in 2010) into something quite different.

We already saw in the past few weeks requests that companies thinking of relocating to Virginia such as Northrop Grumman consider the lack of protection for gays and lesbians in state policy as a factor in their decision-making.

It was only a matter of time before national Democrats started pointing to a presumably “benighted Virginia” asking that “if you want to know how the GOP will govern if it regains power, look at Virginia.”

McDonnell’s Executive Order places the highest office in Virginia on record as noting that discrimination based on sexual orientation is inherently protected by the U.S. Constitution and, by implication, suggests that the Governor has reconsidered his own previous statement that “Cuccinelli’s legal reasoning” was accurate.

Even more importantly, it is a message to both the broader business and political communities that Virginia remains a forward-looking state that can be a model of where conservatism is moving.

How will this play out?

In the short term, it will surely defuse both the visibility and some of the anger that accompanied The Letter, though the Democrats will certainly try to argue that McDonnell is not blameless.

It also makes sure that McDonnell’s economic development initiatives will not have to occur in a context of a culture war  in which Virginia’s stance toward gays and lesbians is highlighted every time a major business recruitment in underway.

But it will also be fascinating to see how this plays out inside the Republican Party where Ken Cuccinelli has a large base.

In addition, I do not believe that the Attorney General will shy away from other controversial matters where his office believes that major principles are at stake.

The evolution of the McDonnell-Cuccinelli relationship will remain one of the key factors in understanding Virginia politics over the next 46 (yes 46) months.

Marshall Asks Cuccinelli If Proposed Fees Would Violate Constitution

Bolling Enters Debate Against Fee Increases

McDonnell Pledges Not to Discriminate, Backs Cuccinelli’s Legal Reasoning on Gays

McDonnell 2007 Letter to CNU on Protections for Gays

W&M’s Reveley Letter on Cuccinelli

VCU Speakers Assail Cuccinelli

Gay Community Awaits UVA Response

McDonnell Wants VITA-NG Deal By End of Month

Senate Passes McDonnell Education Bills

Senate Delays Ethics Bills for Amendments

Sheriffs Support Senate’s Public Safety Fee Hikes

Senate Trims Fees Slightly in Budget Overture

Putney Speaks Up as House Okays Soering Resolution

Chesapeake’s Stimulus Money Created 2 Jobs

Fairfax to Propose Higher Residential Property Taxes

“Surreal” Arrests Disrupt Family, Muslim Community

Isle of Wight Worries that Surry Coal Plant Would Hurt Economic Development Efforts

Roanoke School Board Considers Legal Action Over State Funding

Localities Use New Technology to Get Feedback on Budget Cuts

York Supervisors Consider Spending Reserve Fund on Computer Upgrade

Capital Abuzz About Armstrong’s Statewide Ambitions

Bill to Protect Gays Apparently Dead for Session

Cuccinelli’s Position Praised and Panned

Students Irate at Cuccinelli

VCU to Hold Forums On Cuccinelli Opinion

McDonnell’s School Reforms Pass Despite Spruill’s Objection

Bills to Expand Death Penalty Pass Senate Committee

House Approves Fee to Combat Internet Crime Predators

Efforts to Revive Gun Bills Fails

Tea Party Targets Budget, Democrats’ Gun Bills

Dems Select Dave Mills as Executive Director

Speaker’s Crown Cork Relief Bill Killed

Byron’s Tax Filing Bill Passes Senate Test

Lobbyists Stop Anti-Loophole Bill on Hotel Taxes

Hurt Slows Congressional Campaign But Not Fundraising

Loupassi Lines Up Behind Richmond Charter and Asks Cuccinelli for Ruling

Norfolk, Portsmouth Pre-School at Risk in State Budget

Newport News City Center Still Stirs Debate

Are School Sports Worth Saving

Albemarle May Ax Library Cut