Recently, the General Assembly concluded its 2010 regular session. Facing the largest revenue decline in Virginia history, the House and Senate came together to adopt a lean and balanced budget that cuts billions in spending and includes no general tax increases. State spending has now been reduced to 2006 levels. At the same time, I worked with my colleagues in the legislature to minimize the impact of budget cuts to core priorities, such as education, public safety and health-care services to those who are most vulnerable.

One of my top priorities was to reverse the LCI freeze. A delay in recalculating the local composite index, the formula that determines how much state education funding is distributed to each locality, would have cost Loudoun County $34 million. I am pleased the budget amendment I introduced to restore this funding was adopted by the Senate and included in the final budget.

Of the 17 bills I introduced this session, 10 of them passed both the Senate and House of Delegates and will now make their way to the governor’s desk for his signature. Most of these measures passed with strong bipartisan support. Among the highlights is the State Government Spending Accountability Act.

This legislation requires state agencies to place their check register on their agency’s Web site. It also directs the auditor of public accounts to conduct a review of Commonwealth Data Point, the state’s online database for expenditure and revenue information, and to incorporate best practices used by other states to make the site more user-friendly and improve transparency of state agency expenditures. These are common-sense actions the state can take to ensure your tax dollars are spent wisely.

A bill I am particularly proud of is the Virginia Innovation Investment Act, which will encourage the investment of capital and promote the creation new of high-quality, high-paying jobs. This legislation provides a targeted, long-term capital gains tax exclusion for new investment in science and technology start-up companies in Virginia if the investment is made in the next three years.

As always, representing you in the General Assembly is an honor and a privilege. I welcome your input, so please do not hesitate to contact me if there is anything I can ever do for you. The telephone number for my district office in Leesburg is 703-729-3300. You can also contact me by e-mail at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). If you are on Facebook, you can receive updates on my page, which can be found at http://www.facebook.com/markherring33, and please remember to visit my newly redesigned Web site, http://www.markherring.org.

Sen. Mark Herring

Eastern Loudoun