Gov. Kaine's Priorities

Governor Kaine sent a letter to his supporters today. In it, he discussed his priorities for the remainder of his term.

The upcoming legislative session will present challenges. State revenues have slowed as the national economy cools off, but we must still innovate to move ahead. I am particularly interested in further expansions of early childhood education and reforms to our mental health system. Do you know that 50,000 children have to repeat a grade in Virginia every year at a combined cost of over $400 million? For a fraction of that cost, we could make sure that all at-risk kids get a year of high quality pre-kindergarten so that they will be prepared to succeed in school and in life. In the area of mental health, the tragic events at Virginia Tech in April showed us that we must have more effective community mental health services. I look forward to working with the General Assembly on these and other important priorities. - Gov. Tim Kaine

It was during the aftermath of Virginia Tech that I truly came to respect and admire the Governor. The contrast between our Governor's response to that tragedy and President Bush's response to tragedies on his watch was remarkable. Since then, his actions have only burnished his reputaion.

The effort for early childhood education is typical of Democratic ideas for the good of our community. The plan sees an increasing cost and seeks a way to mitigate the future cost increases, thus paying for itself over time. In this case, Virginia currently spends $400 million re-educating students in grades they did not pass. If we spend $40 million today, and ten percent of the students go on to not repeat grades they would have otherwise repeated, the program has paid for itself.

This kind of virtuous cycle of effect is the characteristic of programs we should be pursuing for our state. Governor Kaine clearly understands this in his own efforts at early childhood education.

The Democratic Party is the party focused on solutions and getting things done. At the end of the day, America trusts Democrats to clean up the messes Republicans leave behind.