What do you foresee being your chief business initiative as governor?

Virginia Business
October 2005

Kaine: The key to growing our economy will be to adhere to fiscal discipline. Before Mark Warner and I took office in 2002, Virginia's fiscal situation had deteriorated badly. We built a bipartisan coalition inside and outside of government to forge a budget reform that restored Virginia's reputation for fiscal responsibility and laid the groundwork for economic growth.As a result, we were able to save Virginia's AAA bond rating and Governing magazine named Virginia the best-managed state in the country, and Virginia was put back on firm financial footing.

A stable financial environment for the state is good for business and for workers finding good jobs in a growing economy. Financial stability attracts new private-sector investments in the commonwealth because businesses want the reassurance of stability and predictability. As governor, I will continue to bring strong fiscal responsibility and accountability to state government.

In addition I will help small business grow by helping them account for a major cost burden — health care. I have proposed a detailed plan that would allow small business to gain bargaining power in purchasing insurance through pooling and creating a tax credit for businesses that offer health care to their employees.

Kilgore: As governor, I will be an active recruiter and ensure that we are always seeking ways to expand businesses and locate jobs here. I want to create a Commonwealth of Opportunity through my Honest Reform agenda. As a first-generation college student, I understand the importance of a quality public education to the future of our children and the overall health of our economy. We must also improve our intermodal transportation infrastructure to keep commerce and people moving. We must keep our communities and streets safe, and ensure that health care is affordable and accessible.

I understand and appreciate our commonwealth's special character, its unique heritage and values, and most of all its great promise.  My vision for Virginia focuses on helping people and expanding opportunity.  It is my strong belief that government should not be an obstacle to business, but rather provide a landscape where the entrepreneurial spirit of the businessmen and women of Virginia can create the opportunities of tomorrow.  We must continue to keep a business-friendly environment by keeping taxes and regulatory burdens low.

Potts: Transportation is the key to economic development in the commonwealth because without significant long-term investment in transportation infrastructure improvements, efforts to improve our educational system or provide incentives to attract business will be in vain. Virginians have the ninth longest average commuting time in the United States, while Virginia's transportation infrastructure has seen no major investment since 1986. To employees, longer commutes mean lost productivity, less time with family, and increased pollution in residential communities. The current transportation crisis provides a disincentive for companies to move to Virginia, while causing others that currently call Virginia home to look elsewhere. Virginia's economic prosperity will depend heavily upon our commitment to finding a comprehensive solution to this statewide crisis.