|
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, shown here at a press conference in Richmond last November, says education, mental health reforms, open space preservation and a restaurant-and-bar smoking ban were major accomplishments during his term. |
Four years ago, Tim Kaine was planning his inauguration, proposing a transportation overhaul, and expecting, perhaps, to preside over four years of a relatively normal economy.
Instead, he got the worst recession since the Great Depression, a term full of largely unsuccessful fights with the General Assembly over transportation funding, and one of the worst school shootings in America.
Money for roads, or the lack thereof, is the biggest disappointment of his term, Kaine said.
"I fought with the legislature three out of my four years, and we do not have money for roads," he said.
Two of those years involved special sessions and protracted, bitter battles over increasing revenue. Kaine had allies among Senate Republicans, but found his proposals thwarted in the House, where Republicans opposed raising taxes.
Nevertheless, Kaine, who leaves office Jan. 16, says he has no regrets, and views his term positively.
"I tend not to think about things like that," Kaine said in an interview at the Governor's Mansion. "I would have loved to have had a great economy. But my lot was to be the leader of the state in the toughest economy since the 1930s."
Since taking office, Kaine says he's made about $7 billion in cuts to the state budget as the economy worsened. His outgoing budget contains another $2 billion in cuts.
Asked what he's most proud of accomplishing, Kaine lists expansion of pre-K programs, reforms to the mental health system (after one of the great tragedies of his term, the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech), open space preservation, and the ban on smoking in bars and restaurants.
That smoking ban, which took effect in December, was the result of a compromise with House Republicans, a not-very-frequent occurrence on high-profile issues in Kaine's term.
Kaine says his goal when he took office was to make Virginia the best state in the nation--for business, for education, etc.--and he believes that has happened.
"I feel like I can walk out of here and say, Virginia is leading the nation," Kaine said. "That makes me feel good."
He also claims as a success the changed political landscape in Virginia.
When Kaine took office, both houses of the legislature were led by Republicans, both U.S. senators were Republicans, and most congressmen were Republican.
Kaine gets some of the credit for Democrats now holding both Senate seats and gaining a one-vote majority in the state Senate.
He was at his most visible, however, in the 2008 presidential election.
Kaine endorsed Barack Obama early on, more than a year before Virginia even held a primary. He was considered as a possible vice president running mate, and even though he wasn't chosen, Kaine helped put Virginia in the Democratic column on Election Night for the first time in 40 years.
It was one of his happiest days, Kaine says.
"It was more than just a normal presidential election in Virginia," Kaine said.
Kaine is proud of helping make Virginia more competitive.
"Neither party will take Virginia for granted for a very, very long time," he said. "And both parties were taking us for granted to some degree."
Kaine's political efforts for Obama were rewarded by his appointment as chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
He's been doing the job part time for a year, and it's in that capacity that Virginians can expect to keep hearing from their former governor in 2010, through the mid-term congressional elections.
Kaine said he expects to be "very, very involved" in midterm elections, in Virginia and elsewhere.
"My main goal is to support [Obama] in his agenda and help support candidates who will support what he's trying to do to turn the economy around and put America in a great place," Kaine said.
He'll also be teaching a course at the University of Richmond one day a week.
Kaine says he and his family are looking forward to moving back home . They kept their house in Richmond's North Side.
He's leaving the state legislature with a less-than-popular parting gift: a budget that includes a tax increase.
Kaine's successor, Bob McDonnell, has already vowed to oppose any tax increases, but eliminating Kaine's proposal will require lawmakers and McDonnell to make about $2 billion in extra budget cuts.
How they do that will be up to them, Kaine said, promising not to be the kind of ex-governor that publicly disagrees with his successors.
"I'm not a hoverer," Kaine said. "All [McDonnell] has to do is call me and I'll do what I can, privately or publicly, to be helpful. But I'm not going to make a pest of myself and I'm not going to be opining a lot publicly, because you need room to do what you think's right."
Chelyen Davis: 540/368-5028
Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com
