Pierce Homer is going to have a long week...

State Transportation Secretary Pierce Homer is in for quite a week.

Tucked into the state budget is an amendment aimed squarely at his office, giving him a week deadline to come up with a "prioritized and comprehensive" list of projects that could get stimulus money. 

Lawmakers, elected officials and transportation experts have been asking for a list since President Barack Obama signed the package into law. The state is expecting to get $700 million is transportation money - which Homer has said would largely go toward paving projects and bridge repair.

But not all the rules on spending have been handed down from Washington yet, and legislators are expecting a slew of strings attached. So far the emphasis has been put almost completely on speed, so that the projects create jobs and get underway soon.

But the budget language says that Homer has seven days to provide a "listing of transportation projects that would be ready to be advertised if funding were to become available in the federal economic stimulus package, regardless of whether or not final criteria have been released."  

That means we might be in for a protracted battle over when all the pavement gets put down - Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia probably top the list. But the sheer amount transportation needs in the commonwealth is staggering, so the fight over money could get nasty.  

Virginia first state to build budget on stimulus foundation....

With a Senate vote of 35 - 5, Virginia became the first state in the nation to build a spending plan on the foundation of the federal stimulus package.

Out of President Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus package, Virginia appears ready to accept $4.8 billion worth. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said that the federal stimulus package has saved the jobs of more than 7,000 state workers.

"Anyone who wonders whether the stimulus package matters," Kaine said. 7,100 people are going to have jobs with state government, continuing to serve others, and not be out on the streets in the midst of the worst job market our country has seen in the last quarter century."  

House approved state budget...

After a prolonged debate centered largely on the merits of President Barack Obama's $787 billion federal stimulus package, House of Delegates lawmakers voted 90 to 8 to approve a state budget. 

The hyper-partisan back-and-forth was triggered when House Minority Leader Ward Armstrong heaped praise on Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's work and then Obama and Congress for coming to the rescue and saving the state from making more drastic cuts. Armstrong said that by some estimates the stimulus cash saved the jobs of 7,000 state employees. 

"If they had not passed the stimulus package think of where we would be," Armstrong said. "Teachers and fire fighters and police officers who without that money would have been unemployed."  

Republicans immediately began huddling around House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, and then a handful of GOPers stood to deride the stimulus.

It's tricky balance these days for Virginia Republicans. In Washington, no members of the House GOP sided with Obama - led largely by Minority Whip Eric Cantor. But state lawmakers are actively using the stimulus in the budget - which was crafted by Kaine but rebuilt by House GOP leaders. So the GOP wants the money, but they don't want to look like the stimulus was their idea - because they know the election trail looms and a conservative challenge could miraculously appear. 

Del. Dave Albo, R-Fairfax, said that stimulus was probably the biggest spending bill in the history of the world. 

"Washing D.C. borrows from my kid to spend money today," Albo said. 

In a typically fire-laced episode that drew support for neither side of the aisle, Del. Bob Marshall compared stimulus spending to the shackles around slaves' ankles and noted that Virginia is going to be the first state in the nation to approve a spending plan built on federal dollars. 

"We are accomplices after the fact to this hit job on the American public," Marshall said.  

Now on to the Senate - and only judges left to finish up.

Looming budget includes local goodies for HU, CNU and Fort Monroe

House Appropriations staffers are expecting to put voluminous budget documents on state lawmakers desk by 5:15 p.m. which means that we should have a done deal sometime tonight. Just don't hold your breath.

Staffers just laid out the details of the budget deal, which includes a handful of goodies for the Peninsula and Hampton Roads. The one's that just jump right off the page are:

$100,000 additional for Hampton University Proton Beam Research Project.

$12.2 million in federal and state funds to advance five major construction projects at Virginia colleges and universities. This includes work on the new Luter School of Business at Christopher Newport University which will house the Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance and the Department of Management and Marketing. 

Construction of phase three of the Intergrated Science Center at the College of William and Mary which will house Applied Science and Computational Science space and allow the college to secure additional research funding. 

$14.1 million to continue operations at the Southeastern Virginia Training Center, the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents and the adolescent unit at the Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institutes. This includes the construction of a 75-bed facility at SEVTC.

$1.6 million in second year funding for the Fort Monroe Federal Area Development Authority from the federal stimulus.     

Newport News Sheriff Gabe Morgan jumps from the GOP....

Newport News Sheriff Gabe Morgan had a big week, jumping from the GOP to officially join the Newport News Democratic City Committee to run for re-election.

Morgan bolted the Republican Party last year in April, but hadn't come into the Democratic fold until this past week. He is up for re-election this year.

Here's some Morgan exerpts from a story I wrote about black Republicans during President Barack Obama's campaign.

Six months ago, Newport News Sheriff Gabe Morgan was an unhappy member of a rare political breed at a strange point in history.

A black Republican, Morgan watched Democrat Barack Obama methodically push through primary victories to secure the party's nomination for president.

These days, the ranks of the black Republicans in Hampton Roads are at least one slimmer. Morgan left the GOP in April, he said, because of frustration with the direction of the country, anger over persistent partisan wrangling and fear that Republicans were squeezing out the last of the moderates.

Now an independent, Morgan said he no longer worries whether his words might upset someone, and he's not surprised that African-American members of the GOP aren't weighing in more heavily on Obama's historic run for the White House against Republican John McCain.

"The reason that you're not seeing a lot of black Republicans talking about it is because it's so tough," Morgan said. "They're struggling with the dogma of a party and the hopes of a race."

Morgan plans to spend the next few weeks absorbing the economic, education and foreign policy plans laid out by McCain and Obama, and perusing the resumes of the two vice presidential nominees - Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., and Republican Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

"Have I made up my mind yet? I can't tell you that I have," Morgan said. But "whether I agree with all of Obama's policies or not, that would be a huge step forward for  America."

Morgan remembers the overwhelming emotions he felt in 1989 when he watched Doug Wilder - an African-American - elected to the executive mansion in Richmond. Morgan said he did not agree with many of Wilder's political positions but was stunned by the symbolism of Wilder's victory.

"I lived long enough to see the capital of the Confederacy elect the first black governor," Morgan said, recalling his mother's assurances that he could be anything he wanted when he grew up. "I never, in any of my wildest dreams, believed the presidency was attainable because of the color of my skin."

(Ps. I almost forgot this story came together with the help of the illustrious Austin Bogues - if you don't jot that name down right now it's your own dang fault the kid's going places fast.)

 

Judge Melvin?

There was much sorrow and lamentation around the General Assembly when Del. Kenny Melvin, D-Portsmouth, announced this week that he wouldn't seek re-election. 

More than a dozen lawmakers rose to pay tribute to the Democrat, hailing his oratory and ability to change minds. Lawmakers dubbed him "the bill assassin" because he could sway so many votes even from the Republican side of the aisle. Among the folks praising Melvin were House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith and House Speaker William J. Howell, who said he was eventually forced to change seats by the GOP because sitting next to Melvin on a committee often changed his voting patterns. 

Hmmmmmm...what could an accomplished lawyer do with that kind of bi-partisan support?

The main gist of the speeches was that the House of Delegates is losing a powerful voice and a gifted communicator - but word on the street is Melvin isn't going to be looking for work very long. 

Apparently Melvin announced his retirement because Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has a judge's seat all warm and ready for him. So here's the fun part when you cxan start reading the tea leaves. Typically Melvin would announce that he wasn't running for re-election but continue serving as a General Assembly member until his successor is sworn in at the beginning of next year. 

But if Melvin is preparing to don a judicial robe, he's going to have to get out of the House a whole last faster then that. So watch for Melvin to officially resign his seat before his term wraps up - that's the biggest indicator that he's expecting a plumb assigment from Kaine. 

Usually it is a risk taking an appointment from Kaine because governor's appointees only last for a single year and the judge would have to come back and get the approval of the General Assembly to stay on the bench. But with Griffth, Howell and all the Democrats sending Melvin into "retirement" with a bushel of love letters - it's hard to imagine that they would block him from getting that sweet robe.   

Judge Melvin?

Anyone willing to bet on how long we're going to have to wait to find out about that?

Any Portsmouth prosecutors out there?

Budget deal coming quickly...but how quickly?

If you learn anything in Richmond during the General Assembly, it's to aggressively doubt every single rumor you hear.

Even the most informed folks up here miss the mark repeatedly, it's nothing nefarious usually but mostly stems from the simple fact that deals and negotiations are always fluid and changing constantly. So now it looks like House and Senate negotiators are preparing to present a state budget and trying to get 140 lawmakers to vote on it today. 

Sure we thought that the General Assembly was wandering toward overtime for the sixth time in eight years, and you can't really argue with the logic because the House Appropriations and Senate Finance staffers have been logging long hours and jumping through hoops trying to get a deal done too - and they're the ones who have to print proof-read and sort out everything before lawmakers say grace over the budget. 

And with a host of judges to appoint the General Assembly appears headed for a long day - and probably a long night.  

Saslaw zings newspapers...

Budget wrangling is going on in small groups scattered all over the General Assembly building right now, with legislators increasingly optimistic about a deal but less sure they'll leave Richmond on time. 

State lawmakers are supposed to have a budget deal signed, sealed and delivered to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine by midnight Saturday. But more than a few folks are talking more frequently about staying until at least Sunday - and perhaps later. With a deal close but not imminent and newspaper deadlines looming, reporters are hounding budget negotiators about the potential for an 11th hour compromise. 

Senate Majority Leader Richard "Dick" Saslaw, D-Fairfax, was talking about the potential for a deal when he got off a well played shot about the trials and tribulations of the struggling newspaper industry. One reporter - who shall remain nameless - asked Saslaw "well what do I tell my editor?"

"Tell him to get out on the corner and sell some newspapers," Saslaw quickly replied. 

Ouch, can't really argue with that.     

McDonnell teams fires back...

Republican Bob McDonnell's campaign team and the state Republican Party are slamming Democrats for trying to stir the pot about President Barack Obama's stimulus plan.

They are pointing to McDonnell's published statements regarding the stimulus as proof that 55 elected officials didn't need to trot themselves out this morning to ask McDonnell what he would have done.

This from a weekend story in the Virginian Pilot:

Republican Bob McDonnell is the lone critic, saying "This bill contains significant categories of spending that may do little to help the economy."

McDonnell has praised GOP congressional members who voted against the plan, saying the increased debt "is not going to be good long-term for America," but he says he believes Virginia should collect its share of the stimulus anyway.

From campaign spokesman Tucker Martin. (Shadplank emphasis added).

"The Democratic Party of Virginia should apologize to the local leaders they embarrassed today by sending them out to make a partisan attack that was factually incorrect. Bob McDonnell believes the stimulus bill was poorly written, should have had much more in the way of tax cuts, and been more  focused on infrastructure improvements. However, the bill has been passed and signed into law and he has stated on the record multiple times that he believes Virginia should get its share of the money. We are paying for it and we should get our part of it. This lazy and false attack by Virginia Democrats today is an exaple of the reckless partisanship that voters hate, and that does nothing to move Virginia forward. I hope they will learn from their mistake today"

Humane Society honors Norment and Griffith...

The Humane Society of the United States is giving its 2008 state legislative awards to Sen. Thomas K. Norment and House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith for their work against cockfighting and animal fights. 

Norment, R-James City, and Griffith, R-Salem, both proposed tougher animal fighting laws in the wake of Michael Vick's arrest on dogfighting charges almost two years ago. The awards come down the pike just as Vick moves to home arrest on the Peninsula because the halfway house is too over-crowded.

Click below for the release: