An interview with Virginia Business
Transportation and education top Kaine's agenda

Virginia Business
January 2006

When a new governor moves into Virginia’s Executive Mansion, there’s speculation about what issues will move front and center. Not this year. For Gov.-elect Timothy M. Kaine, the most urgent matter facing his administration after he takes office Jan. 14 is finding a fix for Virginia’s transportation network that will position the state for continued economic growth in the 21st century.

The issue has been building for years as more Virginians sit in traffic and businesses clamor for efficient ways to move goods. In what will be an initial test of his leadership, Democrat Kaine says he wants to move the debate forward quickly. He’ll need bipartisan support in the Republican-dominated House and Senate, especially as he presses for a dramatic shift in policy: forging a link between transportation and land-use planning.

Local governments should be empowered legislatively to say no to rezonings for developments that would overpower existing transportation networks, Kaine told Virginia Business editors in late November. And if it takes financial incentives to get localities to plan wisely, the new governor is willing to entertain that approach. “We’ve got to be about long-term growth, not just short term,” says Kaine. “If we don’t grow the right way, then we’re going to see not just traffic congestion, but a whole series of things that I think will threaten our quality of life.”

While transportation alone could be all consuming, with billions needed to improve roads and rail, Kaine plans to be more than a one-issue governor. In a wide-ranging interview, he spoke with passion about expanding Virginia’s pre-kindergarten program to give more youngsters a strong start in life. “If I could do one thing, that would be new or different … ” Kaine says, he would enroll more of the state’s youngest in programs that help foster academic success. While expensive - one estimate is $300 million a year to enroll 80 percent of the state’s 4-year-olds - the payoff would come later, asserts Kaine, with a more educated work force and less money spent on remedial education.

The new governor also plans to follow through with a campaign pledge to make a dent in the number of Virginia’s uninsured by helping small businesses find affordable health care. In addition, Kaine - who ran as the heir apparent to outgoing Gov. Mark R. Warner - feels pressure to continue Virginia’s legacy as a well-managed state. The goal: Keep state finances solid while at the same time finding millions in new revenue.That’s a big order, even for a guy who’s not afraid to take a risk. Kaine outsmarted Republicans by taking a page from their playbook and running a faith-based campaign that stressed his Catholic values. Fortunately for Kaine, he begins his tenure with a budget surplus, which provides a little breathing room. How that $550 million or so a year for the next two years will be spent should spark heated debate. Another hot-button issue: the state’s position on helping Virginia Beach keep Oceana Naval Air Station and its more than $700 million payroll.

Excerpts from the interview follow. Hear the full interview.

You campaigned as Gov. Mark Warner’s partner and on the need to continue the Warner legacy. How will you move out of Warner’s shadow and establish your own imprint and legacy?

Kaine: I feel like I already have. Certainly I campaigned celebrating and taking partial credit for things that we’ve done the last four years. But I also ran a very different race than Mark’s. … And I focused on different issues than Mark. So, I feel like I’ve already been able to achieve a victory by a significant margin. … I did extremely well in the Republican suburbs. And so we reached out very, very strongly to Republicans. … As far as governance goes, I come in with the experience of having been the president of the Republican-majority Senate the last four years. I have very, very strong relations with the Republican leadership in the Senate, and I’ve already spent time [since the election shoring up those relations].

You have talked about linking land-use planning and transportation. Do you think that will require any kind of legislation?

Kaine: I think legislation will be part of it. The first thing I’m going to do when I hire a secretary of transportation, VDOT commissioner, secretary of natural resources [Republican Del. L. Preston Bryant, Jr. was appointed in December], and other key agency heads, I’m going to look for people who have an understanding of the connection between land-use planning and transportation needs. Second thing is I want to make sure that localities have clear authority when it comes to rezoning…clear authority to deny rezoning if there’s no adequate transportation infrastructure either in place or planned and likely to be in place in a reasonable future.

Have you talked with other states that perhaps are a little farther along on this issue?

Kaine: One of the things Maryland has done is put in place a practice of conditioning state payments and subsidies to local governments, having the subsidy be a more significant payment for jurisdictions that are adopting wise zoning practices, and a reduced subsidy for those that aren’t. I think financial incentives are very important in terms of producing the right results. You know, one of the things we did in Richmond … we gave any property owner a tax rebate if they renovated existing properties. … That is a very smart growth strategy, because every time you use and reuse existing infrastructure, you’ve already got a road and a utility line laid to that building. So if you continue to give people an incentive … you take advantage of existing transportation corridors, and you slow down the need for sprawl at the edges of the community.

What are your funding plans for the pre-kindergarten education you are proposing?

Kaine: Most of what I’ll do in the first year will be to put together what I call the Start Strong Council. … It will be composed of the state-funded pre-K program, Headstart and a lot of private, including faith-based, pro-viders because there is no way you can expand this program right now and do it all in the public school system without spending a lot of your money on classrooms. I don’t want to spend money on buildings; I want to spend money on teaching. And so the only way to get the biggest bang out of our dollars for pre-K is to include private providers as well. … So, the first year will probably see some incremental expansions building on whatever Gov. Warner suggests in his outgoing budget, with a strong planning effort in place so that when I can come back to it to really begin to build it out, it will be extremely well planned.

Bills are expected this session that call for new limits on condemning property. Do you support such limits? And how do you think the discussion will play out in light of the recommended closures and condemnations regarding Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach?

Kaine: I’ve very committed to Oceana staying. I’ve heard it argued both ways. But I’m convinced that Oceana is a significant economic plus to Virginia. … I am very willing to work as chief executive with local officials to find dollars necessary to provide appropriate buffer zones around Oceana, in exchange for long-term commitments that Oceana will be where it’s going to be. I won’t work with Virginia Beach to jump through a million hoops and then have them pull the plug in five years. … That’s going to be a big issue this legislative session because the BRAC [Base Realignment and Clo-sure Commission] said you have until March to tell us what you’re going to do.