In a special appearance yesterday, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine spoke about his financial concerns and campaign goals to Prof. Larry J. Sabato's PLAP 101, "Introduction to American Politics" class in Wilson Hall auditorium.
Kaine started off the event by briefly relating his previous background and involvement in public service and politics, and then shifted the focus to the current condition of Virginia.
"Virginia is a great state of momentum," Kaine said. "We rank really high compared to other states but we have our challenges."
Kaine outlined his goals for his next three years in office. He said he hopes to emphasize health care for one year, spend another year working on environmental issues and energy initiatives, and a third working on education reforms.
Kaine's main concern for this year, his first in office, is transportation initiatives.
"Transportation is the most urgent issue because the state hasn't addressed it in a long time," Kaine said.
Kaine said his plan for transportation involves three main points, the first of which is the need for better financial management and accountability to taxpayers.
"There is a very, very poor record with stewardship of tax money, where the state is taking money out of the tax fund to be used for other things," Kaine said.
Currently, Kaine and his advisors are working on a proposal to separate funding for the transportation budget from the overall state budget.
He also expressed concern about growth outpacing the transportation infrastructure, a problem of particular concern in fast-growing regions of Northern Virginia.
Kaine said he hopes to fund transportation initiatives by raising automobile insurance fees and automobile sales tax so the state can avoid raising taxes on property, income, sales or gasoline any further.
"It's crucially important how we fund transportation [by] not invading education, health and public safety issues," Kaine said. "We don't want asphalt to be competing against school books."
After his speech the governor took questions from several students.
Each year since 1978, Sabato has managed to have Virginia's governor speak to his students. He has also hosted governors from out of state and three former presidents in his class.
"I do it to expose students to the real world of politics, to complement what they are learning from their textbooks," Sabato said. "I want students to see that most of our elected officials are knowledgeable, hard working and deserving of respect, as many people are exposed to criticism of them."
Second-year College student Megan Dhillon said that Kaine's speech was an eye-opening experience.
"I wasn't aware of the transportation issues until now," Dhillon said. "His idea of funding seems more rational than the House [of Delegates], and I got a really good sense of his personality, his philosophy."
Overall, Sabato said the event was a huge success for both Democrats and Republicans.
"I had Republican members of the class come down and tell me that they were impressed with the articulation of this young governor," Sabato said.
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