RICHLANDS, Va. — Health care was on the mind of Gov. Bob McDonnell as he made a stop Wednesday in Tazewell County to visit doctors and employees at Clinch Valley Medical Center.
McDonnell, who had just declared a state of emergency earlier in the day in anticipation of Hurricane Earl, said Virginia is now one of 20 states that is challenging the federal health care reform legislation passed by Congress earlier this year.
“This goes well beyond health care,” McDonnell told a crowd of doctors and hospital employees assembled inside a CVMC classroom. “It goes to the very heart and soul of our beliefs about the Constitution.”
McDonnell said the Virginia Healthcare Freedom Act adopted earlier this year with bipartisan support by the General Assembly declares that no resident of the Commonwealth can be required to purchase health care insurance. The state legislation argues the federal health care reform bill creates an unprecedented federal mandate on Virginia residents that violates the U.S. Constitution.
McDonnell was asked about the state’s health care challenge by Tazewell County Delegate James W. “Will” Morefield. McDonnell said Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is challenging the federal health care reform bill on behalf of the Commonwealth, adding a federal judge recently ruled against the Obama administration’s attempt to dismiss the Commonwealth’s lawsuit.
McDonnell also addressed Virginia’s economic situation, unemployment in Southwest Virginia and budget cuts ordered by his administration and former Gov. Tim Kaine. He also thanked Morefield, and Sen. Phillip Puckett, D-Russell, for a spirit of bipartisan cooperation in the General Assembly.
“We’ve got a 7 percent unemployment rate, but it has been much higher than that in parts of Southwest Virginia,” McDonnell said. “We’ve got a lot of people hurting. We are going to do everything we can to promote economic development in Southwest Virginia.”
McDonnell said painful cuts were necessary due to the impact of the Great Recession on the Commonwealth. McDonnell said both he and former Gov. Kaine were forced to cut nearly $10.5 million out of the state budget.
“I wasn’t going to raise taxes on you during this horrific recession,” McDonnell said. “So we had to make some very tough decisions this year.”
McDonnell said the state was able to end the fiscal year with a small surplus, but much of that funding is already committed.
In terms of the approaching hurricane, McDonnell said he declared a state of emergency in Virginia out of an abundance of caution. He said the declaration allows the Virginia National Guard to respond to areas impacted by the storm.
“At the moment we don’t expect any major impact issues,” McDonnell said.
However, McDonnell said the state’s entire emergency plan is based upon the prediction that the hurricane will take a turn to the north later today. If it doesn’t — then a major hurricane will be heading directly toward Virginia and North Carolina, he said.
– Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com
Local News
September 2, 2010
McDonnell talks Earl, economy, health care challenge
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