Friday, December 04, 2009
Virginia budget expert to keep post as finance secretary under McDonnell
Finance Secretary Ric Brown will continue working after Bob McDonnell takes office.
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RICHMOND -- Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell said Thursday that he will retain outgoing Gov. Tim Kaine's finance secretary on an interim basis, declaring that continuity is "critically important" as his administration inherits an ongoing state budget crisis.
But McDonnell also reiterated his opposition to tax increases, an option Kaine has not ruled out proposing as he works to craft a balanced budget before leaving office.
McDonnell announced he will keep on Secretary of Finance Richard "Ric" Brown, a veteran state budget expert, saying: "It is a time that requires ongoing, steady leadership in order to manage the state's finances over these next difficult months."
Kaine has cut about $6 billion from the state budget as Virginia copes with the effects of the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. State officials are projecting cumulative shortfalls of more than $3 billion for the remainder of the current fiscal year and the upcoming two-year budget cycle. Kaine, a Democrat, will deliver a budget plan to lawmakers on Dec. 18, and McDonnell, a Republican, can propose changes when he takes office next month.
Kaine has not ruled out proposing tax increases or eliminating some tax breaks to balance the budget, despite near certain opposition from McDonnell and a strengthened Republican majority in the House of Delegates.
McDonnell said he will wait to see what Kaine proposes, but added, "When families and small businesses are hurting like they are now, I'm not going to ask them to pay more taxes." Brown began working for state government in 1971 and joined the Department of Planning and Budget in 1976. He became the agency's director in 2001 and remained in that post until Kaine named him as finance secretary last year.
"I was flattered by the offer, especially in these turbulent economic times when so much is on the line and so many difficult decisions have to be made in the financial arena," Brown said.
Brown's appointment will be for an undefined period. McDonnell said he intends to appoint a new secretary "when I feel the time and the circumstances are right."
McDonnell, the former attorney general, also named two officials from his former office to key posts. Martin Kent, now the chief deputy attorney general, will serve as McDonnell's chief of staff. Marla Decker, the deputy attorney general in the public safety and enforcement division, will serve as secretary of public safety.
