Bill's Blog

Last Tuesday, Virginians gave our Republican party a historic victory, historic responsibility and historic opportunity.

In the House of Delegates, Republicans added 7 seats, bringing our total to 68 Republicans – the highest number in Virginia history. In the State Senate, Republicans picked up 2 seats bringing our total to 20.  When you add in my tie-breaking vote, that gives us an effective Republican majority in the Senate as well.  This is only the second time Republicans have controlled the Governor’s Office, Senate and House of Delegates at the same time.

However, the number of seats we picked up in the House and Senate doesn’t tell the full story.  Statewide, our Republican House candidates received over 757,000 votes, or 61% of the votes cast in all House races.  Likewise, our Republican Senate candidates received over 771,000, or 57% of all votes cast in Senate races. We won 16 of 19 open seats, and every Republican incumbent seeking re-election won.

Through these decisive victories Virginians signaled their approval of the McDonnell/Bolling administration's common sense, conservative and results oriented leadership. They understood the importance of giving us the team we need to implement our vision for the future of Virginia.

This is a responsibility we do not take lightly.  As Governor McDonnell said last week, this is not a time for us to be arrogant.  It is a time for us to lead.  We will remain true to our conservative values and focus on fiscal responsibility, budgetary restraint, reforming government and providing economic opportunity for all Virginia families.  We will also apply these conservative principles to provide solutions to the education, transportation and health care challenges facing Virginia today.

As a result of Tuesday’s election, Virginians have also given me a unique responsibility and opportunity in the Senate.  With the Senate equally divided at 20-20, it will fall on me, as President of the Senate, to cast the deciding vote on many important issues in the months to come.  This is a responsibility I take very seriously, and I assure you that I will do so with the utmost respect for the responsibility placed in me by the Constitution of Virginia.

Finally, I want to thank candidates from both parties for offering themselves up for public service.  I want to congratulate all of those who were elected and re-elected.  I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.  For the candidates who came up short, I hope they will remain actively involved in the political process and public service.

I also want to thank Governor McDonnell, Attorney General Cuccinelli, Senator Norment, Speaker Howell, Chairman Mullins and all of our congressional and legislative allies who worked so hard to make last week’s victories possible.  Most importantly, I want to thank the thousands of grassroots activists who tirelessly made the phone calls, knocked on the doors and passed out the literature needed to deliver our positive message of common sense, results oriented leadership to every corner of the Commonwealth.  Clearly, none of our successes would be possible without their selfless dedication to our common cause.

Now, let’s get to work!

Very Truly Yours,

Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling

I am proud to announce that Governor Mitt Romney will join Governor Bob McDonnell and me at the Fairfax County Republican Committee (FCRC) Headquarters on Wednesday, October 26 at 10:30AM to greet and thank phone bank volunteers for all of their hard work to help elect our Republican team on November 8. 

Governor Romney understands these are important elections to Virginia and to the entire nation.  By electing a Republican majority in the State Senate and growing our majority in the House, Virginians will validate and enhance our conservative Republican, results-oriented approach to government, while repudiating President Obama’s failed policies and failed leadership. 

I encourage you to join Governor Romney, Governor McDonnell and me on October 26 at the FCRC HQ and volunteer your time to support our candidates in this fall’s important elections.

The FCRC is located at 4246 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax, Virginia. Please RSVP to Iris Somberg, isomberg@mittromneycom, if you will be able to attend.  You should plan on arriving by 9:45AM.

Thank you for your continued time and support and I look forward to seeing you on October 26th.

September 11, 2001 is one of those rare occasions when everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when they first heard that our nation was under attack.     

It was a day that changed the world as we knew it.  It was a day when time stood still.  It was a day when we were confronted with an experience that seemed surreal.  It was a day we will never forget.  

A sense of innocence was taken away from us when our nation was attacked by terrorists whose motives we still don’t understand.  We were shocked, surprised and outraged.

While this was the first major terrorist attack on U.S. soil, it was the latest in a series of terrorist attacks against American citizens and military personnel in other parts of the world. 

But it was the attacks of September 11th that crystallized the nature of the terrorist threat we were facing and galvanized our nation’s resolve to do whatever was necessary to defeat this faceless, cowardly enemy and keep our citizens safe.

As a result of these attacks we have had to change the way we do business here at home, and we have had to go on the offensive by launching an aggressive war on terror in Afghanistan, Iraq and other places around the world.   

Today, as we remember the events of September 11th and those who lost their lives on that fateful day, we want to give thanks to hose who have acted decisively and effectively to keep our homeland safe from another domestic terrorist attack for the past decade.  

We especially pay tribute to the brave men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces, who have taken up arms to protect our way of life, and to all those who have lost their lives to keep our nation free and enable people in other nations to enjoy such freedom..

Make no mistake about it, we have remained safe from another terrorist attack because of the actions we have taken, because of the things we have done and because of the sacrifices so many have made.  

Had we not been willing to make these sacrifices there is no doubt that we would have been the victims of other terrorist attacks in our homeland.  So to all those who have given much to keep us safe we say…..thank you!

On September 11th terrorists sought to destroy our way of life by attacking symbols that reflect the greatness of our nation.

• By attacking the World Trade Center in New York City they sought to attack the financial strength of our nation.  
• By attacking the Pentagon in Northern Virginia they sought to attack the military might of our nation.  
• And by attempting to attack the White House or U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC they sought to attack the heart of our nation’s government.  

While the terrorists succeeded in destroying the World Trade Center, damaging the Pentagon and killing thousands of innocent people in the process, they failed to achieve their ultimate objective because they failed to understand that the greatness of America is not found in symbols, or in buildings, or even in the individual lives of American citizens.  

Rather, the greatness of America is found in the things we believe in and the values we embrace, and these things cannot be destroyed.  In fact, history has shown that those who seek to destroy these values only make them stronger, and so it has been in the days following September 11, 2001.

In years to come we will commemorate other important anniversaries of these tragic attacks, but on this 10th anniversary of these attacks we can take pride in knowing that our nation has not lost its resolve to stand up against those who threaten our way of life.

We will never forget those who lost their lives on that fateful day, or those who have lost their lives in the subsequent defense of freedom, but their sacrifice has made us better and stronger; and the world safer and more aware of the terrorist threat we face.  

My prayer is that we never lose our resolve to stand strong for the values we believe in, even if it means standing up against those who would perpetrate unspeakable acts such as these; and that we always stand ready to do whatever is required of us to share these values with others around the world.

Please find below a link to the latest video from the Office of the Governor.  This video highlights recent news coverage of the Governor’s historic transportation funding plan and the projects it will jumpstart across the Commonwealth.  

Check out this video from Governor McDonnell on the work he has done with Lieutenant Governor Bolling on job creation!

The General Assembly will reconvene today to begin a Special Session on redistricting.  Over the next few days, the Senate and House of Delegates will adopt plans to redraw Virginia’s congressional and legislative district boundaries. 

The redistricting process is never an easy one.  It is an “every man for himself” atmosphere as legislators seek to protect their districts and political careers.  The process almost always devolves into blatant political gerrymandering, as the majority party seeks to obtain an advantage in future elections.

The current process of drawing legislative and congressional district boundaries is broken and needs to be replaced.  That’s why I have supported a bipartisan redistricting process where legislative districts are based on a sincere effort to achieve objective criteria such as compactness, contiguousness and common interest. 

In my role as Lieutenant Governor, I also serve as President of the Senate of Virginia.  Because of this, I am more directly involved in the activities of the Senate and I tend to more closely monitor issues pending before the Senate.   That has been the case with the pending issue of redistricting.

Last week, Senate Democrats, who currently hold a majority in the Senate, unveiled their plan for redrawing Virginia’s 40 State Senate districts.  While I expected the Democrats plan to be based on political self preservation, they exceeded my wildest expectations.  Their plan may be the most blatant example of political gerrymandering in recent Virginia political history.

The plan introduced by Senate Democrats is an illogical and indefensible proposal that is designed to protect incumbent Democrats, weaken marginal Republican districts, place incumbent Republican Senators in the same district whenever possible, and draw new Senate districts in Northern Virginia that give Democrats the best possible opportunity of winning these seats.

The Democrats plan violates every acceptable principle of redistricting.   Their plan unnecessarily and inappropriately divides political subdivisions and results in districts that are impossible to comprehend.   For example, the Democrats plan divides 34 counties, 10 cities and 18 towns, and it includes three districts that are contiguous only by water. 

I realize that political gerrymandering has long been a part of the redistricting process, but that doesn’t make it right.   Even legally permissible gerrymandering can be carried to such an extreme that it offends the sensibilities and abuses the public trust.   

That is exactly what the plan proposed by Senate Democrats does.  They have completely discarded the best interests of citizens and replaced it with a blatant attempt to achieve the greatest possible partisan political advantage.

I have no doubt that the Democrat majority in the Senate of Virginia will pass their redistricting plan without regard to legitimate objections that will be raised by Republican Senators.  However, once this plan is approved by the General Assembly it must also be reviewed by the Governor and that’s where the real battle will begin.

Later this week, an Independent Bipartisan Redistricting Commission that was appointed by Governor McDonnell in January will issue its recommendations for redrawing Virginia’s congressional and legislative district boundaries. 

Governor McDonnell appointed this Commission in the hope of producing redistricting alternatives that are based on objective criteria of compactness, contiguousness and common interest, rather than raw political advantage.

I look forward to receiving and reviewing the Commission’s recommendations.  It is hard to imagine a scenario in which the Commission’s recommendations would not be preferable to those advanced by Senate Democrats.

Ultimately, Governor McDonnell will have an opportunity to offer amendments to the redistricting plans that are adopted by the General Assembly or veto these plans.  I look forward to working with the Governor to ensure that legislative districts are drawn with the best interests of citizens in mind.

Getting our economy moving again and creating jobs are the most important issues currently facing state government. Gov. Bob McDonnell has made me the point person in his administration for creating jobs, and my No. 1 priority is to make Virginia the best state in the nation in which to do business.

While we are targeting a number of strategic economic sectors as a part of our overall job-creation efforts, we want to make certain that Virginia continues to attract quality manufacturing companies. We need to be a state that makes things, not just a state that consumes things.

Virginia has a long tradition of supporting a thriving manufacturing industry. However, during the past decade, the manufacturing sector in America has shed 5.5 million jobs. Here, in the Old Dominion, our once thriving manufacturing sector has fallen on especially hard times.

Unemployment in manufacturing remains high, and our state trails only Ohio, Michigan and South Carolina in the number of manufacturing jobs lost in the past decade. We should be focusing our efforts on the re-establishment of these jobs with smart, pro-growth policies.

In the long term, we will reinvigorate manufacturing by taking a comprehensive approach. We intend to improve the tax and regulatory climate in our state so that we can better compete nationally and globally.

We also want to improve educational opportunities so businesses know that a skilled and educated work force awaits them if they invest in Virginia. And we want to provide the incentives that attract high-quality, advanced manufacturing business to the state.

In the near term, infrastructure investment is the quickest, most effective action we can take to restart manufacturing. By working with our partners at the federal level, we can invest in critical infrastructure by passing a federal highway bill that is responsibly funded, and we can do the same at the state level.

Infrastructure investment is a proven economic engine with lasting results. Not only does it drive growth, it creates lasting benefits. The U.S. Department of Transportation reports that 30,000 jobs are created for every $1 billion spent on highway infrastructure, yet we are spending less than 40 percent of what is needed to upgrade our surface transportation system nationwide. In fact, only 3 percent of the U.S. stimulus package was dedicated to rebuilding highways, roads and bridges.

By fast-tracking new construction projects, we can inject economic activity and create jobs in the building industry. Investing in infrastructure drives job growth, productivity and competitiveness in manufacturing. That's why I am supporting efforts like "I Make America" (www.IMakeAmerica.com) — a campaign by equipment manufacturers to urge Congress and the White House to work together to pass a federal highway bill.

For years, Virginia's leaders have talked about building a transportation system for the 21st century, but little has been done. We must improve our transportation infrastructure so our system of roads, rail and bridges can support the needs of Virginia businesses and residents.

This year, Gov. McDonnell has proposed an aggressive transportation plan that is designed to ease congestion and shorten commutes for working Virginians — and allow state businesses to take advantage of the economic opportunities afforded by a state-of-the-art transportation system.

Now is the best time in modern history for Virginia to get this done. Construction costs have fallen, interest rates are at historic lows and our residents need the good jobs that will come with infrastructure projects. The time to act is now.

Virginians need policies that will help them create jobs. Additional investment in transportation and infrastructure is essential to a healthy, growing economy. We must take these actions if we hope to put our families, friends and neighbors back to work.