Del. Marshall Wary of Boosting College Funding

By Erica Terrini of Capital News Service Monday, January 17, 2011

RICHMOND – Delegate Bob Marshall may agree with Gov. Bob McDonnell, a fellow Republican, on a lot of issues. But the veteran lawmaker from Prince William and Loudoun counties has raised questions about McDonnell’s call to pour more money into higher education.

In his State of the Commonwealth Address last week, the governor urged the General Assembly to approve the Virginia Higher Education Opportunity Act. The measure would provide “a new $50 million investment in higher education – much less than needed to fund our base adequacy model, but a start in getting there,” McDonnell said.

Marshall, who has represented the 13th House District since 1992, isn’t sold on the idea.

“Before we give more money to the colleges, we need to make sure they trim their sails and are more efficient with the money that we do give them,” Marshall said.

He agreed with McDonnell on some points, though: “Certainly we need to have greater competence with academic training in the higher level.”

In his 50-minute speech on the opening day of the General Assembly’s 2011 session, the governor urged legislators to “make college more affordable and accessible for our students.” He noted that over the past decade, college tuition has doubled in Virginia.

“That is unconscionable,” McDonnell said.

“I will not tolerate a system that prices our young people out of their futures. To fix the problem, we must reverse the decade-long trend of disinvestment, while requiring more accountability and innovation at our institutions.”

McDonnell wants Virginia to award 100,000 more college degrees over the next 15 years, with a focus on science, technology, engineering, math and health care.

“A college education gives more people greater access to the American Dream,” McDonnell said. “If you want to attract good jobs, you must have a well-educated work force.”

Also in his address, McDonnell outlined three other priorities for the legislative session. He called on lawmakers to:

• “Create new job-creating tools and resources to help start, grow, and recruit new businesses.” McDonnell said it is “unacceptable” that more than 280,000 Virginians are unemployed. He proposed $54 million in new state funding to help Virginia compete with Maryland and North Carolina as well as with India and China.

• “Reform state government” by eliminating certain agencies and boards, requiring state employees to contribute toward their retirement plans, enacting a hiring freeze, privatizing state-owned liquor stores and cutting spending for such items as public broadcasting.

• “Put $4 billion into transportation over the next three years to get traffic moving and new jobs created.” McDonnell wants to finance the plan by issuing bonds – a form of borrowing that he said is fiscally responsible and would not require a tax increase.

McDonnell said his bond proposal would fund 900 road, rail and transit projects across Virginia. They include the extension of HOV/HOT lanes on Interstates 95 and 395 and the widening of I-66 in Northern Virginia.

“Almost a quarter of Virginia’s major urban roads are congested, workers in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads now have some of the longest commutes in the nation, parents are too often stuck in traffic when they should be spending precious time with their children,” McDonnell said.

Delegate Ward Armstrong, D-Martinsville, gave the Democratic Party’s official response to McDonnell’s speech.

Armstrong, his party’s leader in the House, said Democrats share McDonnell’s goals of more funding for transportation, higher education and job creation. “Where we have serious differences is how to pay for them,” Armstrong said.

He said borrowing money is the wrong approach.

“In 2010, voters from around the country, including here in Virginia, went to the polls with a very simple message for their government: Watch your spending and stop mortgaging our future by spending more money than you are taking in,” Armstrong said.