From what I can tell of the jobs plan released by Bob McDonnell yesterday, it seems to be one which uses government to invite private enterprise and increased investment into Virginia, including incentives to create jobs in rural and distressed areas of the state. Creigh Deeds jobs plan: build roads and schools. Key difference – McDonnell’s is wide-ranging and uses government to encourage competition and the free market; Deeds’ puts government in charge of the spending, hiring, and other business decisions – in other words, advocates a centrally-planned economy – and is narrowly focused.
The key components of McDonnell’s plan are:
- Expanding use of the Governor’s Opportunity Fund by roughly doubling the funding available and broadening Fund rules to allow companies that generate additional state and local tax revenue to qualify
- Appointing Lieutenant Governor Bolling to serve as “Virginia’s Chief Job Creation Officer” in the McDonnell/Bolling Administration
- Designating one Deputy Secretary of Commerce to Focus Solely on Rural Economic Development
- Providing a $1,000 tax credit per job to businesses that create 50 new jobs, or 25 new jobs in economically distressed areas
Altogether, the Opportunity Fund would increase $20 million over two years under McDonnell and the tax credit investment another $14 million. The gain, of course, is lower unemployment (which has soared to 7% during the Democratic administrations) and higher coporate tax revenue.
