Friday, January 15, 2010
Bob McDonnell takes office Saturday
Two months after winning a landslide election, Bob McDonnell is still getting used to the fact that he is about to become Virginia's 71st governor
JEANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times
Governor-elect Bob McDonnell talks with Warren Trucking President Richard Eanes and his wife, Vesta Eanes, during a visit to Martinsville last month.
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If you go
- Want to see our 71st governor take the oath of office? It’s too late to register for a reserved seat, but you can still attend. Here’s what you need to know:
- The ceremony: The swearing-in is at the state Capitol at noon Saturday in Richmond. Gates open at 9:30 a.m. and a large crowd is expected, so plan to get there early. Oversized bags, large purses, briefcases, book bags and suitcases are banned.
- Inaugural parade: 1:15 p.m., or immediately after the ceremony. Marchers will move down Grace Street between Fifth and Ninth streets, and into Capitol Square at Ninth and Grace.
- Weather forecast: The ceremony is outdoors, but the cold snap has broken and the weather is expected to be partly cloudy with highs in the low 50s. Wear comfortable shoes; if you don’t have a seat already, you’ll probably have to stand.
"There are so many mornings I still wake up and I think, 'I cannot believe that I'm going to have the opportunity to serve as governor of this state,' " incoming governor Bob McDonnell said during an interview last week. "I look at the list of the people who have served as governor, starting with [Patrick] Henry and [Thomas] Jefferson, and I think this is unbelievable that an average kid like me, Bob McDonnell, grew up to be governor. I still am in awe of this privilege."
When McDonnell takes the oath of office Saturday at the state Capitol, about 100 members of his extended family from across the country and friends dating to his high school days in Fairfax County will be among the 6,000 to 8,000 people who are expected to witness the proceedings. But McDonnell realizes that once the pomp and circumstance end, the heavy burden of governing falls on his shoulders. "I am also grounded in the fact that there are a tremendous number of tough decisions that I have to make," he said.
McDonnell will take charge of managing a state budget crisis that will test his leadership and his ability to get cooperation from a politically divided General Assembly. McDonnell, 55, campaigned as a pragmatic problem-solver. "I've talked about a nonpartisan approach and I really mean that," he said. "I do realize, whether it's Democratic Senate or Republican House, I've got to find ways to get people to work together."
McDonnell's experience in the legislature will give him a head start, veteran lawmakers said. McDonnell served for 14 years in the House of Delegates before his 2005 election as attorney general. He enters office with more state government experience than any governor since Doug Wilder, who took office 20 years ago.
"You really can't overstate how important that is," said House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem.
McDonnell has reached out to House and Senate leaders in both parties and said he hopes to meet with every legislator for at least 15 minutes during the next month.
"I do think we have a good working relationship, and we've actually talked a number of times since the election," said House Minority Leader Ward Armstrong, D-Henry County.
Asked if he expects McDonnell to govern in the same manner he campaigned, Armstrong said, "By the end of the session, we'll see if he meant what he said."
The stakes are high. Facing a two-year budget shortfall that exceeds $4 billion, lawmakers are bracing for cuts that will affect essential state services and have ripple effects on local governments.
Outgoing Gov. Tim Kaine last month proposed a two-year budget that calls for $2.3 billion in spending cuts and eliminating the state's car tax relief subsidies. Kaine also called for the elimination of the local personal property tax and an income tax increase that would generate new revenue for localities.
McDonnell said he had asked Kaine not to seek new taxes and called Kaine's proposal "bad economic policy." But McDonnell has been restrained in his criticism, saying he understands those difficult decisions.
"I think Governor Kaine did the very best he could, consistent with his principles, and this is what he believed was the right thing to do for Virginia, " McDonnell said. "He and I have had several meetings. We've had a great relationship for four years -- except for the eight months [during the campaign] he was trying to end my political career. Other than that, we've gotten along very well. ... We just have a different view of what we should do."
With McDonnell and the Republican-controlled House opposed to tax increases, more cuts will be needed to balance the budget. But McDonnell won't produce a budget-balancing plan of his own after taking office, instead letting legislators take the lead in overhauling Kaine's proposal. McDonnell must submit budget amendments to the General Assembly's money committees within five days of taking office, a timetable he considers insufficient for putting together an entirely new spending plan.
"Governor Kaine's taken six months to put a budget together," McDonnell said. "For me to try to rewrite a budget in a matter of weeks is not possible, not responsible. But we're still working through that."
But McDonnell will make his priorities clear, and he has retained Kaine's finance secretary, Richard Brown, to help him manage the budget.
McDonnell still intends to ask lawmakers to move quickly on approving a package of economic development and job creation incentives, which he has identified as a top priority.
He plans to reopen 19 closed interstate rest areas in his first 90 days, but he said he will need more time to develop and build support for a transportation funding plan, another pillar of his campaign platform.
The budget shortfall has forced McDonnell to readjust other priorities, but evidence suggests the regimented governor-elect won't lose track of them. McDonnell pulled from his desk a dog-eared chart listing each of the roughly 200 campaign promises he made, and what year he wants to pursue them. McDonnell said he will post the document online so that voters can hold him accountable.
"I don't want there to be any surprises," McDonnell said. "Everything I said I'll do, we'll make an attempt to do."
