House Republican Caucus » Lacey Putney

Governor Signs GOP Delegates Jobs Bills

VA HouseGOP — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 04:33:51 +0000

Governor McDonnell traveled to the Center for Innovative Technology in Herndon today to sign key job creation and economic development bills, many of which were carried by Caucus members:

Del. Sam Nixon's HB 523, which provides capital gains tax relief for investments in science and biotech startups.
Del. Jim LeMunyon's HB 792, which makes relocating to Virginia easier for businesses by providing temporary licenses to employees in regulated professions who already hold the equivalent license in another state.
Del. Joe May's HB 677, which established biotech research performance grants to spur development in that field.
Del. Barbara Comstock's HB 1372, which enhances the Virginia Economic Development Partnerships stature in the business community.
Del. Lacey Putney's HB 1396, which expands the flexibility of the Governor's Economic Development Opportunity Fund to attract major businesses to Virginia.

The Governor's press release is available at his website.

Dem Leader Armstrong Schooled in Parliamentary Procedure

VA HouseGOP — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:08:22 +0000

Welcome to a new feature on the House Republican Caucus Blog—the Puckish Parliamentarian, which will bring you entertaining notes from the House floor.

It seems appropriate to release this installment for the Democratic Party of Virginia's Jefferson-Jackson Weekend, which, according to the Washington Post, includes an address by Del. Ward Armstrong (D-Henry), but "no A-list speaker." With Armstrong getting dissed by the Post, we thought we ought to feature him here.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nywT-cMAYs

Check out the YouTube Video.

In the first installment of the Puckish Parliamentarian, Armstrong, the House Minority Leader, returns to his favorite grandstanding topic for the 2010 Session—electricity rates.

Seeking one more chance to talk about a bill Armstrong himself admits won't actually solve a problem, he offered a motion to discharge a committee, a rarely-used motion, which Del. Lacey Putney (I-Bedford), currently in his 49th year in the House, never recalls being agreed to.

House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith (R-Salem) handles opposition to the motion for the Majority. The real fun starts when Del. Joe Johnson (D-Abingdon), the Puck in this installment of the Puckish Parliamentarian, engages Armstrong in a series of questions.

Del. Armstrong's motion failed, 26-69. The Democratic Caucus has 39 members, only 2 out of 3 supported their leader.

Gov. McDonnell had already signed HB 1308, a bill by Del. Bill Carrico (R-Grayson), that actually provided immediate relief on electric bills.

Putney Reports Budget Conference Agreement to the House

VA HouseGOP — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:12:09 +0000

Today, Chairman Lacey E. Putney summarized the provisions of the State Budget conference report adopted by the House and Senate today. This press release includes his prepared remarks.

Chairman Putney Releases House Republican Budget Proposal

VA HouseGOP — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:40:24 +0000

At today's House Appropriations Committee meeting, Chairman Lacey Putney (I-Bedford), who caucuses with Republicans, released the House Republicans' proposed amendments to the budget submitted by former Governor Tim Kaine, which accomplishes the following 8 objectives:

Restore the Car Tax and reject higher taxes in a recession;
Eliminate Fee Increases embedded in Gov. Kaine's introduced budget;
Modify Kaine's "dealer discount" proposal on taxes collected by businesses
Mitigate cuts to law enforcement and public safety since these activities are among the primary responsibilities of government;
Invest in job-creating economic development;
Minimize the impact of cuts on the health safety net;
Provide school divisions maximum flexibility in implementing education budget reductions; and
Establish a substantial reserve to replenish the Rainy Day Fund and help ensure a more structurally balanced budget going forward.

Chairman Putney summarized the proposal, saying: "our committee budget recommendations will clearly and strategically focus state resources on keeping our promises to fund the core services of government in a structurally more balanced manner so as the economy recovers we can begin to make new investments and enjoy growing levels of opportunities and prosperity."

Chairman Putney's full remarks are available here: 20100221 - News Release - Chairman Putney Remarks on Budget Amendments Released by House Appropriations Committee

Caucus Leaders tell US Senators about unfunded costs of Obamacare

VA HouseGOP — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:27:58 +0000

Speaker Howell and House Appropriations Chairman Lacey Putney wrote to Senators Warner and Webb about the extensive costs that Obamacare would impose on state government (see letter text).

In addition to the impact of adopting so-called Health Care Reform on the Federal budget deficit, Howell and Putney detail the impact on Virginia's budget. Fearing that the Democrats in Congress will try to hide the true costs of this ill-considered Pelosi-Reid health care scheme, Howell and Putney did extensive research to document the costs that would have to be born by Virginia (which is to say Virginia taxpayers).

Howell and Putney close by noting that 54 percent of Virginians oppose the Health Care bill. They also recite the common-sense proposals for real reform that have been left out of this ill-considered legislation--medical malpractice reform, association health plans, and expanded health savings accounts.