Virginia House of Delegates Republican Caucus
Posts tagged Kirk Cox
Speaker William J. Howell Heralds $311 mil. FY 2011 Budget Surplus
Jul 19th
RICHMOND, VA - Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates William J. Howell (R-Stafford) today issued the following statement in response to Governor Bob McDonnell's announcement of FY 2011 surplus figures. Since taking office, Governor McDonnell and the House Republican Caucus have worked side-by-side to eliminate unnecessary spending and enforce Virginia's constitutional balanced budget requirement without raising taxes.
"Over the last two years, our Caucus has worked together with Governor McDonnell to cut unnecessary government spending, reform duplicative programs and exercise general fiscal prudence. Frugal, common-sense measures, coupled with better than projected revenue collections, led to a budget surplus of $403.2 million for FY 2010 and another surplus of $311 for FY 2011," said Howell. More >
Delegate Kirk Cox Discussing the Differences Between the House and Senate Budgets
Feb 14th
In a morning hour speech on the House floor today, Delegate Kirk Cox discussed some the differences between the budget that passed the House of Delegates and the budget that passed the State Senate.
Delegate Cox’s “Top Jobs of the 21st Century” higher education reform bill unanimously passes the House of Delegates
Feb 3rd
--House Bill 2510 passed by a vote of 98-0--
RICHMOND, VA – Delegate M. Kirkland “Kirk” Cox’s (R- Colonial Heights) “Top Jobs” higher education reform bill, , unanimously passed the House of Delegates yesterday. The comprehensive legislation is aimed at conferring an additional 100,000 associate and bachelor’s degrees for Virginians over the next 15 years. The 26 page comprehensive bill puts the recommendations of the Governor’s Commission on Higher Education, Reform, Innovation, and Investment into Virginia law. The Commission, comprised of legislators, college presidents, and business leaders, worked for seven months to develop innovative approaches to ensure that more Virginians have access to a top-quality education at an affordable price.
“We must ensure that Virginia’s higher education system is preparing our children for the jobs of the 21st century,” said Delegate Cox. “The ‘Top Jobs’ legislation will increase access for Virginia students to our colleges and universities at an affordable price and ensure that Virginia will continue to have a well-educated work force moving forward.”
More >
Hugo Elected Caucus Chair
Apr 21st
Richmond, VA (April 21, 2010)--Today, the Virginia House Republican Caucus voted unanimously to elect (R-Fairfax) to serve as the Republican Caucus Chairman. The position, previously held by former Delegate Sam Nixon, was left vacant when Nixon resigned to become Chief Information Officer of the .
“As recognized leader within the Caucus, Tim understands the duties required of this position and has the right temperament and experiences to be very successful in his important new capacity,” stated . “During these tough economic times and need to reform state government to make it smarter and simpler, it is imperative that we have an energetic, dedicated and knowledgeable member like Tim joining our leadership team. Like so many, I am looking forward to working with him and our Majority Caucus will be better off because of his leadership.”
The position of Caucus Chairman is one of four leadership roles within the House Republican Caucus. Others serving in leadership positions include Speaker William Howell, , and .
“I humbly accept the responsibility that has been entrusted to me today,” Delegate Hugo said in accepting the position. “Since being elected, I have watched the Republican Caucus expand on its majority under our current leadership. I am thrilled to broaden my responsibilities within the caucus and relish the opportunity to serve the citizens of Virginia.”
Delegate Hugo was first elected to the House of Delegates in a special election in December 2002, filling a vacancy left by former Delegate Jay O’Brien. Delegate Hugo garnered over 67% of the vote in his first election. Now serving in his eighth year as a member, Delegate Hugo is a member of the Commerce and Labor, Finance, Transportation, and Privileges and Elections Committees. He represents parts of Fairfax, Centreville, Clifton, and Fairfax Station.
Cox Responds to VEA’s Bold-Face Lies
Mar 2nd
Del. Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights) addresses the dishonest propaganda being spread by the Virginia Education Association about the House-passed budget. The budget holds the line on taxes and responsibly funds core government services, including public education.
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Cox notes that the House budget decreases K-12 spending by around $100 million, not the $1.8 billion the VEA claims. The transcript of his speech follows:
Republicans Offer Real Solutions; Democrats Just Complain
Feb 26th
The House adopted its version of the Budget, , on a party line vote, 61-38.
Republican delegates produced a no tax, no fee increase budget by making tough choices about funding core government responsibilities.
Democrats had the opportunity to vote for former Governor Kaine's $2 billion tax increase on January 29 (), and voted "no."
Democrats had the opportunity to offer amendments to increase taxes or change the way spending reductions were taken. They offered only 1 amendment to strike a cut, which would have left the budget out of balance.
They offered no alternative to the Republican proposal, all they offered were complaints with no solutions.
Del. (R-Colonial Heights), House Majority Whip, first called out the Democrats during morning hour, losing patience with speech after speech of complaints about cuts with no alternatives presented in this speech:
Del. (R-Fairfax) and Del. (R-Fairfax) returned to this key them in their speeches in support of adopting the Republican amendments to the Kaine Budget: and .