On January 16, 2010, McDonnell was inaugurated as the 71st governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, succeeding Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine. This was the first inaugural ceremony to occur on the newly renovated steps of the Virginia State Capitol. In keeping with tradition, McDonnell signed executive orders after taking the oath. Instead of keeping with a 30-year practice by signing an executive order banning discrimination in state employment (which he later signed on February 5), McDonnell signed orders establishing a Commission on job creation and a Virginia Commission on Government Reform and Restructuring. Two of McDonnell's appointments drew criticism. On May 7, 2010, McDonnell appointed
Fred Malek to chair the 31-member advisory commission on reforming state government created by one of his initial executive orders. On May 10, 2010, several Democratic members of the Legislature criticized the appointment due to Malek's controversial actions while personnel director in the Nixon administration and due to a 2007 SEC investigation settlement. a remark which State Senator
A. Donald McEachin (D-Richmond) told
The Washington Post that McDonnell's claim was "absolutely stunning and, frankly, beyond belief." McDonnell also nominated Robert C. Sledd to Secretary of Commerce and Trade, but withdrew the nomination in the face of bipartisan opposition prompted by Sledd's refusal to give up paid outside corporate directorships. On January 27, 2010, McDonnell delivered the Republican response to President
Barack Obama's
State of the Union Address. The response was delivered to GOP lawmakers, and invited friends in the chamber of the
Virginia House of Delegates. Critics argued that the use of House chamber for McDonnell's speech did not comply with House Rule 82. Many of the donations came from industries regulated by the state. In April 2010, McDonnell renegotiated and extended a contract for outsourcing the state's computer operations to
Northrop Grumman. At that time, McDonnell proposed legislation, which was passed, to have the
Virginia Information Technologies Agency report directly to the governor instead of to an independent board. Subsequently, McDonnell was criticized when the Northrup computer systems experienced a week-long computer outage from August 25 through September 2, 2010. Over 4,000 people had to return to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get their photos retaken after an August 25 computer outage left their original photos unrecoverable. The system had also experienced a prior unrelated outage on August 9. The 2010 session of the General Assembly passed a bill exempting certain veterans' organizations from the registration and reporting requirements that apply to most charities that solicit donations in Virginia. The bill was introduced at the request of Bobby Thompson, director of the U.S.
Navy Veterans Association (USNVA), who made large contributions to certain Republican candidates. As a result, the organization, which was under investigation in New Mexico (which barred the USNVA before the Virginia bill was signed), Florida, and Missouri, as well as other non-profit veterans' organizations, did not have to report to Virginia on how they spend the donations that they receive. In August 2010, Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray announced that a nationwide arrest warrant had been issued for Thompson, who had stolen the identity and Social Security number of a victim who was not connected to the USNVA. Corday stated, "We know he bilked Ohioans out of at least $1.9 million, and we estimate that nationally he collected at least $20 million." Thompson was later arrested and identified as
John Donald Cody, a fugitive who had been wanted by the FBI for several years. On January 14, 2011, McDonnell issued a directive ordering the Department of Conservation and Recreation to cease enforcing regulations prohibiting the carrying of firearms in state parks. He also gave preliminary approval to amend the regulations to allow people to carry open or concealed firearms in state forests. The regulations were already amended in 2003 to allow concealed weapons on park property. On August 15, 2011, McDonnell was named chairman of the
Republican Governors Association. At the end of McDonnell's tenure, he had a 55% approval rating among registered voters. He was barred by the Virginia Constitution from seeking a second consecutive term.
Social issues Confederate History Month proclamation At the request of the
Sons of Confederate Veterans, and
James S. Gilmore, but unlike the two Democratic governors immediately preceding McDonnell, who did not designate such a month. McDonnell's initial proclamation omitted direct mention of slavery, drawing criticism from the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus and the
NAACP. When initially asked why he had made the omission, McDonnell stated that "there were any number of aspects to that conflict between the states. Obviously, it involved slavery. It involved other issues. But I focused on the ones I thought were most significant for Virginia." On April 7, 2010, McDonnell conceded that omitting slavery from his proclamation was "a major omission," apologized, and amended the document. McDonnell had previously refused to rule out the possibility that he would run for vice president in 2012; while news analysts Chris Cillizza, Mark Plotkin, and Teddy Davis speculated that the mistake may have a significant adverse impact on McDonnell's chances for a future vice presidential nomination, a May 22
Time magazine article described McDonnell as "a politician who inexplicably kneecapped himself is clawing his way back." On September 24, 2010, McDonnell addressed an academic conference on slavery and announced that he will declare April 2011 as "Civil War in Virginia" month rather than "Confederate History Month." He also called the April 2010 proclamation an "error of haste and not of heart."
State health benefits for same-sex partners In December 2009, Governor Kaine had started a process to extend state employee health benefits to same-sex partners. At McDonnell's request, Attorney General
Ken Cuccinelli issued a legal opinion that this change to the coverage of the state employees' health plan could not be made without explicit legislation authorizing it, thereby halting the administrative process to make the change. However, McDonnell signed a law allowing Virginia employers to offer private life insurance coverage for employees' same-sex partners, after the bill passed with bipartisan support.
Death sentence for Teresa Lewis In a decision that drew controversy, McDonnell declined to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment in the case of
Teresa Lewis, who was executed on September 23, 2010. She was the first woman executed in Virginia since 1912. Calls had been made for leniency, citing her below average mental capacity.
Abortion In 2012, national attention was focused on a bill before the Virginia state legislature, controlled by Republicans, to require a trans-vaginal
ultrasound for any woman contemplating an abortion in Virginia. McDonnell initially supported the bill, but backed off after public protests. He persuaded the legislators to pass instead a slightly watered-down version requiring a less invasive abdominal ultrasound before an abortion and exempting women who were pregnant as a result of rape or incest, provided they reported it to the police. The redrafted bill was opposed by
pro-choice groups and a minority in the legislature, but McDonnell signed it into law on March 7, 2012.
Voting rights restoration for felons In April 2010, McDonnell drew criticism from black leaders and civil rights groups when a draft policy proposal was mistakenly sent to 200 felons, informing them of his decision to require a written essay from each applicant seeking to have voting and other civil rights restored. Previously, applicants were required to fill out a one-page application. Only Virginia and Kentucky require the governor to act on individual requests for restoring voting rights. On May 21, McDonnell announced new policies on the issue of restoration of rights, imposing a 60-day deadline for his administration to act on an application once all of the required documentation was received from the applicant and the courts; reducing the time nonviolent felons must wait to apply for restoration of rights from three to two years, and cutting the waiting period for reapplication if a request is denied from two years to one. Democratic Delegate David Englin commented, "By establishing a timely and more clearly defined process for non-violent ex-offenders seeking to have their rights restored, the Governor's new policy has the potential make an important step in the right direction." By the end of his term on January 11, 2014, McDonnell had restored the rights of 8,013 ex-felons; more than any previous governor in Virginia history.
Transportation On April 30, 2010, McDonnell authorized issuing $493 million in transportation bonds in May 2010 and an additional $1.493 billion over the five years to finance previously approved transportation projects. The bonds were a part of a transportation package enacted three years previously, but had not been issued while Republican State Delegate
Robert Marshall filed a lawsuit challenging their constitutionality while certain transportation notes issued during the
Gilmore Administration had not yet been paid off. Critics noted that Virginia lacked a revenue source to
amortize the bonds. On December 9, 2010, McDonnell announced a revised transportation funding plan which included both $1.8 billion in bonds that had been approved in 2007, as well as an additional $1.1 billion which he proposed to pay back from future federal transportation funds. He also proposed to spend $150 million of the 2009–2010 budget surplus and $250 million in reserves to protect against gasoline tax revenue shortfalls. On January 9, 2011, McDonnell proposed funding projects to address traffic congestion in Northern Virginia and Hampton roads by diverting 0.25% of the sales tax collected in those areas from the General Fund into the transportation fund. Legislation was required to implement the proposal, and Democrats responded that the revenues were needed in the General Fund for schools and public safety and that the projected revenues were insufficient to make a difference on highway needs. On May 10, 2010, McDonnell filed an application with the
Federal Highway Administration seeking permission to collect tolls on
Interstate 95 near the North Carolina border. The highway had been constructed with taxpayer funds, 90% from the federal government and 10% from Virginia gasoline taxes. However, Virginia claimed that they did not have sufficient revenues to maintain I-95 at a safe level and proposed the toll to raise a projected $30 to $60 million annually. McDonnell asked the Federal Highway Administration to authorize the toll under its "Interstate System Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Pilot Program". In 2008, the federal government and the
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority had reached an agreement for federal funding of $1.5 billion in capital improvements contingent on
Virginia,
Maryland, and the
District of Columbia pledging to develop dedicated funding for the Metro system. WMATA was created by an
interstate compact, a kind of agreement between states similar to a treaty or contract which must also be approved by the U.S. Congress, and founded in 1967 with a board of directors whose members are appointed by each local jurisdiction in its service area, including four from Virginia appointed by the
Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC). In June 2010, McDonnell threatened to withhold Virginia's WMATA funding unless the composition of WMATA's board was modified to allow Virginia's governor to appoint two of the seats. The interstate compact establishing WMATA specified that its Virginia members were selected by the NVTC. In turn, Virginia law specified that local jurisdictions appointed that Commission's members. Rather than proposing to amend either law, McDonnell merely threatened to withhold Virginia's "dedicated" matching funds if the NVTC did not appoint two people that he selected instead of appointing representatives from local jurisdictions. On June 17, 2010,
Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff required a formal commitment from Virginia to match its share of the federal funds if the federal funding were to continue. On June 24, 2010, McDonnell withdrew his request to appoint two members of the Metro Board as a precondition for making the scheduled "dedicated" payment under the 2008 agreement. On July 1, 2010, the WMATA Board of Directors approved an agreement with Virginia to provide matching funds without regard to McDonnell's request for board seats. Based on that agreement, the federal funds were reconfirmed, and WMATA signed a $886 million contract for 428 new Metrorail cars.
Health care In April 2010, McDonnell signed a bill seeking to nullify the insurance purchase requirement in the then proposed federal
health care legislation. On March 10, 2010, before Congress finished its final consideration of the package, a bipartisan Virginia Healthcare Freedom Act passed the General Assembly by an 80–17 majority, which McDonnell signed on March 24, 2010. McDonnell supported Virginia's legal challenge to the constitutionality of the final
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Although abortion funding was not debated during the regular session of the General Assembly, McDonnell raised the issue through the use of his amendatory veto power. During the April 21, 2010
veto session, the Virginia legislature passed restrictions on state public funding for elective abortion except in the instances of rape, incest, life of the mother, or life-threatening fetal anomaly. In April 2012 McDonnell vetoed HB 399, which sought to improve neonatal care by fast-tracking implementation of newborn screening for life-threatening congenital heart malformations.
Education In Virginia, public schools are funded from both local real estate taxes as well as state general funds under a formula that attempts to assure minimum statewide standards called "The Standards of Quality". Virginia also earmarks revenues from its state lottery for education. Outgoing Governor Tim Kaine proposed $11.4 billion for K-12 education in the 2010–2012 budget. On February 17, 2010, McDonnell proposed $268.8 million in cuts. McDonnell's cuts included changing the formula for measuring the ability of localities to pay for education, reducing funding for technology expenditures, and reducing funding under the Standards of Quality. The final, signed budget cut over $646 million for public schools. Because K-12 education comprised 37% of the general fund budget, critics noted that McDonnell's proposal to fund transportation bonds from the general fund would have resulted in further education cuts in future years. McDonnell disagreed, saying he could lean heavily on growth in revenues rather than pulling from existing money. Although McDonnell supported the
Race to the Top federal education funding program during his campaign for governor, on May 26, 2010, he withdrew Virginia from the second round of "Race to the Top". Virginia had finished 31st out of 41 states in the first round; McDonnell decided that Virginia should not file its application for the second round because he erroneously believed the competition required the use of multi-state education performance standards instead of Virginia's standards. However, the use of common performance standards were not required and counted for 40 points out of a possible 500 total points in evaluating state proposals. McDonnell later stated on MSNBC that the Race to the Top rules precluded participating states from adopting more rigorous standards in addition to whatever multi-state standards they join. However, the "Race to the Top" regulations award the points even if states adopt standards more rigorous than the optional, common standards.
Offshore drilling Previously, the General Assembly passed a bill in 2006 to allow offshore exploratory gas drilling outside a 50-mile limit. On March 11, 2010, McDonnell signed into law bipartisan legislation to allow the drilling for oil and gas in federal waters 50 miles or more off the Virginia coast if also permitted by the Federal government. (see
Offshore drilling on the US Atlantic coast). The plan was criticized by some environmentalists and Democrats who argued that tourism and wildlife would be threatened and that oil drilling would not make a difference in achieving long-term energy independence. Congressman
James P. Moran (D-Va), chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Interior Department, and others, argued further that most of the proposed drilling area was located in an area reserved for naval operations. McDonnell advocated drilling off the Virginia coast of the Atlantic Ocean as a possible revenue source for the state. However, according to the law, Virginia could not receive any revenues from drilling in federal waters, which included all drilling sites more than 3 miles off the coast. Congressman Moran issued a statement commending the decision. On May 18, Moran forwarded to McDonnell a
Department of Defense report finding that the proposed lease site would interfere with naval operations. On May 25, McDonnell reaffirmed his interest in having oil drilling off the Virginia coast notwithstanding the British Peteroleum oil spill and the inability of Virginia to get any of the royalty income. On May 27, President Obama announced that the offshore Virginia lease sale was cancelled. Subsequently, McDonnell proposed continuing a federal environmental study of drilling off the Virginia coast or drilling for just gas and not oil. However, a consulting firm said that liquids are almost always produced with gas offshore and so the proposed idea may not be possible.
Budget On December 18, 2009, outgoing Governor Kaine proposed $76.8 billion of expenditures for adoption by the incoming state legislature. Kaine's budget proposed to rationalize state revenues by increasing the income tax while lowering property taxes and other fees. As incoming governor, McDonnell refused to publicly recommend any modifications to Kaine's budget and instead worked with the House of Delegates to bring Kaine's plan up for a quick vote and defeat. Privately, McDonnell advocated cutting $300 million from health programs, $730 million from K-12 education, changing the state retirement system, and requiring 10 days of furloughs for state employees, to offset budgetary shortfalls for 2010–2012. On February 17, 2010, after political pressure, McDonnell publicly released his proposed cuts. The Senate adopted a budget which restored a number of cuts to education, health and human services, and a House–Senate conference managed to work out a compromise on March 14 containing about $250 million in cuts before the expiration of the legislative session. On April 14, 2010, McDonnell proposed 96 budget amendments to the two-year 2010–2012 budget resulting in $42.1 million in spending increases and $51 million in additional budget cuts, tax increases, and court fees for criminals. To boost revenue, McDonnell proposed raising $7.2 million by increasing the fines on motorists who exceed the speed limit. He proposed to cut an additional $9.9 million from state funded programs for at-risk and troubled children and proposed cutting $600,000 from state grants to public radio and television stations. McDonnell also issued amendatory vetoes on non-budget legislation. For example, although Virginia has provided free electronic filing of tax returns for years, his veto outsourced electronic filing to firms that charge a fee for that service. McDonnell also amended a bill to prohibit Planned Parenthood from spending funds raised from its affinity license plates on abortions. The Legislature met to vote on the Governor's amendments on April 21. A bipartisan majority accepted some of McDonnell's proposed cuts while rejecting others including those to public broadcasting, the funding for at-risk and troubled children, and the shifting of Virginia Medicaid mental health program to a managed-care plan.
Results from 2010 fiscal year The first budget enacted under the McDonnell administration took effect on July 1, 2010. Two of McDonnell's legislative initiatives increased the surplus for the 2009–2010 fiscal year. First, the budget bill accelerated the payment of state sales taxes resulting in a one-time shift of revenues to be collected in July 2010 into the previous fiscal year. Second, the budget bill deferred a $620 million payment to the
Virginia Retirement System to future years. The end of year surplus triggered the payment of a 3% bonus to state employees in December 2010. Members of both parties called on McDonnell to use the surplus to reverse the Virginia Retirement System deferral.
Liquor sales In August 2010, McDonnell embarked on a promotional tour advocating legislation to sell
Virginia's liquor stores to private owners. McDonnell held eight town hall meetings around the state to discuss the plan. He argued that retail alcohol sales is not an appropriate state activity and proposed that any sales proceeds could be used to finance transportation needs. Opponents noted that the liquor stores generate $248 million per year for Virginia's general fund. On September 8, 2010, McDonnell presented his plan for auctioning liquor licenses to his government reform commission. He proposed tripling the number of stores selling liquor to 1,000, with the licenses to operate these new stores being auctioned. According to the
Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Of the 1,000 licenses, 600 would be available to big retailers, whose lawyers and lobbyists helped craft the governor's proposal. An additional 150 licenses would be reserved for package stores, with 250 for small retailers, such as convenience-store operators." McDonnell proposed to call a special session of the Virginia legislature in November 2010 to consider the proposal. The plan drew immediate opposition from conservative lawmakers as a "tax increase". It was also opposed by the Virginia Retail Federation, The Baptist General Association of Virginia and the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy opposed the plan out of concerns that it would increase alcohol consumption. The plan was endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, the Virginia Transportation Construction Industry, and the Virginia Retail Merchants Association and the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce. On the eve of McDonnell taking the plan to the restructuring commission for their endorsement,
The Washington Post reported that he modified it by dropping the restaurant tax and certain other proposed fees. He also proposed to set aside over 100 licenses for companies that employ less than 50 people in order to help small family owned stores, and wanted to give small businesses several years to pay off their auction bids. The
Post suggested that "he might call off plans for a November special session" of the General Assembly. On October 4, the Malek commission voted 22 to 3 to endorse McDonnell's modified plan. The Commission proposed a number of cost savings in government operations to offset the projected $47 million annual revenue loss from selling the ABC liquor stores. On October 22, 2010, McDonnell decided not call a special session, but to instead appoint a "working group" to further refine the plan so that implementing legislation could be on the first day of the 2011 legislative session. McDonnell's working group of Republican legislators, wholesalers, distillers, and retailers sought to develop a compromise designed to win adoption by the legislature. On November 23, 2010, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee released a report which found that the McDonnell proposal had overstated the expected proceeds of liquor store sales and licenses. In response, McDonnell's spokesman said that he was committed to privatization and was considering alternative plans. McDonnell hired a consultant at a cost of $75,000 to formulate a new privatization plan prior to the legislative session in January 2011. The auditors found that McDonnell's proposal would have increased the retail price of distilled spirits 11 to 26 percent, which in turn would have led to a drop in liquor sales that could have resulted in a loss of as much as $15.4 million in sales tax revenues. In what
The Washington Post described as "the biggest legislative defeat of his tenure", both houses of the Virginia General Assembly refused to hold hearings on McDonnell's plan during the 2011 legislative session. Both the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-controlled Senate killed the bill implementing McDonnell's proposal without a vote. McDonnell's director of policy, Eric Finkbeiner told the
Post, "Whether we do it this year, next year or the year after, it's going to get done in this administration."
Job creation McDonnell amended the budget to increase the incentives that a governor was able to provide employers to relocate to or remain in Virginia. He campaigned to have
Northrop Grumman move its 300-job headquarters to Virginia, but stated that the renewal of Virginia's computer outsourcing contract was not linked to the relocation decision. When Defense Secretary
Robert Gates announced the closing of the 6,000-job
Joint Forces Command in August 2010, McDonnell sought private meetings to seek to preserve the jobs. However, McDonnell was disappointed that Secretary Gates did not meet with him to discuss the issue. McDonnell was later included in a meeting between Gates and Virginia's congressional delegation on November 23, 2010. The state's unemployment rate declined 2.2% from 7.4% in January 2010, when McDonnell took office, to 5.2% in December 2013, compared to the 3.1% decline in the national unemployment rate from 9.8% to 6.7% during the same period.
Redistricting McDonnell played a significant role in the redistricting conducted in response to the 2010 census. In a special session of the General Assembly, the redistricting of both the House of Delegates and the State Senate were passed in single bill that was approved by the House with an 86 to 8 vote and the Senate with a 22 to 18 vote. The bill was developed without regard to the advisory commission's recommendations. Although McDonnell had the power to amend the bill with his veto, he simply sent it back for the General Assembly to either over-ride the veto or adopt a different bill. Because the Democrats lacked the 2/3 majority necessary to override the veto, the State Senate had to adopt a new plan. At first, Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw promised to merely readopt the vetoed redistricting map, but then began negotiations with the governor's office about a new plan. Republican members of the House and Senate criticized the Governor for overturning the timetable for approval of new districts prior to the 2011 elections. After lengthy negotiations, on April 28, both houses passed a revised set of district maps and McDonnell announced that he would sign the revised bill.
Executive mansion spending In June 2013, McDonnell and his wife were the subject of a critical article in
The Washington Post detailing their improper spending at the
Executive Mansion, for items such as
energy drinks, dog food, and a "detox cleanse". Following the report, a McDonnell spokesman explained that energy drinks were a standard part of their breakfast routine. In July 2013, according to
The Washington Post, McDonnell reimbursed the state about $2,400 for the food and other items that the governor's children had removed from the Executive Mansion to take to their college dorms. ==Federal corruption charges==