GO Virginia Statement on GO Grant Legislation in Advance of Reconvened Session
Statement of John O. “Dubby” Wynne
Last Thursday, April 14, Tom Farrell and I sent the attached letter on behalf of the GO Virginia coalition to Governor Terry McAuliffe, Senator Thomas Norment, and Delegate Kirk Cox. In it, we summarized the state of executive-legislative negotiations on the GO Grant legislation (SB 449; HB 834), and proposed a compromise that would allow the legislation to take effect while respecting the positions of all parties. Our reasoning was set out in the letter.
Since that time, discussions have advanced to the point that we now believe our proposal enjoys the support of the Governor and the chief patrons of the bills, and we are hopeful that this compromise will receive favorable action in tomorrow’s reconvened session.
In addition, we now believe the same compromise will remove any remaining obstacles to passage of the companion legislation known as the Collaborative Economic Development Act (HB 846; SB 459).
Our coalition supports this proposed resolution, and we encourage our coalition members to communicate their support to our elected leaders in Richmond.
We especially want to thank the co-chief patrons— Delegates Cox, Torian, Hugo, James, and Minchew; Senators Norment, Howell, Ruff, and Saslaw—and Governor McAuliffe and his senior team for their constructive efforts to resolve the governance issues that have been the focus of post-session discussions regarding the legislation.
As noted in the letter, the GO Virginia bills are a product of extensive executive-legislative collaboration and have enjoyed overwhelming bipartisan support since their introduction. At no time during the recent discussions have leaders in either party or branch questioned the importance, viability, or urgency of the grant programs this legislation will create. While resolving governance issues is a necessary and important part of any new initiative, what is most encouraging to the thousands of business, education, and local government leaders who comprise our GO Virginia coalition is the way elected officials in both parties have come together over the past nine months to help make this vital job-creation initiative a reality for the people of Virginia.
We hope the General Assembly will act tomorrow to finish the work on this vital legislation so that implementation efforts can begin around the Commonwealth.
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