Lynchburg News and Advance
Published: February 23, 2012
There are major challenges facing Virginia and its elected leaders today: an underfunded state pension plan, a transportation network in dire need of money, public schools that have endured four years of budget cuts ... the list just goes on and on.
Virginians are worried about the strength of the nascent economic recovery. Virginians are concerned about public schools that are facing multi-million dollar budget shortfalls that are forcing school boards across the state to consider laying off teachers and shutter schools. Virginians want a modern, well-maintained transportation network to continue serving as an engine for growth in Northern Virginia and Tidewater. And Virginians want a robust economy that is adding jobs and raising the living standards of all the commonwealth’s residents.
What is going on now in Richmond in the state Capitol is an unneeded distraction from the tasks before the General Assembly. On any number of hot-button social issues, the Republican-led Assembly simply seems to be out of touch with the majority of Virginians.