Richmond – Delegate David Englin (D-45) yesterday released the following statement in response to Governor Bob McDonnell’s briefing to legislators about his proposed biennial budget:
Governor McDonnell has proposed some worthwhile new spending in a number of areas, such as higher education and shoring up the state employee pension fund. Unfortunately, he pays for it with cuts to preschool for four-year-olds and cuts to public education in Northern Virginia. Governor McDonnell says he is prioritizing spending that will drive economic growth, but he proposes cutting $81.6 million from pre-kindergarden, despite all of the evidence that high-quality pre-k actually saves taxpayers money and is among the best long-term investments in economic growth. He says he is drawing a hard line against tax increases, but then he proposes cutting $65 million from money Northern Virginia needs to be competitive in hiring school staff, that is a $65 million real estate tax increase on our community.
While there are still many details that require review, the budget proposal unveiled today appears to be a continuation of an unbalanced, cuts-only approach that favors powerful corporate interests over regular people. I look forward to working with my General Assembly colleagues to do better than what has been proposed today.
Delegate David Englin was elected Nov. 8 to a fourth term in the Virginia House of Delegates, where he represents the 45th District, which includes parts of the City of Alexandria, Fairfax County, and Arlington County. He serves on the Finance Committee, the Health, Welfare, and Institutions Committee, and the Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources Committee. He is an Air Force veteran, a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and he lives in Alexandria with his wife and son.
For more information, visit www.davidenglin.org.
