Richmond, Virginia – Expressing his dissatisfaction with what he characterized as “a deliberate campaign of misinformation,” House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) today called on Governor Timothy M. Kaine to end radio advertisements and automated phone calls sponsored by Moving Virginia Forward PAC, the Governor’s political action committee.

“The Governor of Virginia has a responsibility to the citizens of the Commonwealth to tell it straight,” remarked Speaker Howell. “But the radio ads and automated calls now being sponsored by the Governor’s PAC are anything but honest. It is bad enough that the Governor fails to acknowledge in these promotions that he is advocating a massive $1 billion tax increase. But, the fact that he also provides false information in his own voice about the details of the House budget is unconscionable. As I’ve told Governor Kaine privately and now state publicly, this is not what Virginians expect of their leaders, and it certainly is not what they expect of their Governor.”

The radio advertisements, paid for by Moving Virginia Forward PAC, are currently running on stations across Virginia. The automated phone messages have been sent directly to people’s homes. Both the radio and phone advertisements include a request for citizens to contact members of the House of Delegates to express their support for transportation proposals supported by the Governor and members of the Virginia Senate. However, the advertisements and automated calls make no mention of the fact that the plans – being advocated by the Governor and Senate, and which listeners and recipients are being asked to support – are based on a whopping billion-dollar-a-year tax increase. Specifically, Governor’s and Senate’s plans would raise taxes on gasoline, home sales, vehicle purchases, and insurance policies.

“The Governor has a plan for transportation that would raise taxes, and he is now indicating his willingness to support the Senate’s plan that would also raise gas taxes,” noted Speaker Howell. “He should have enough confidence in the merits of these plans to accurately describe their effects on the citizens he is trying to enlist to help him promote them. If you support a tax increase, you ought to be straightforward enough to acknowledge it, and not play verbal shell games with the citizens you have been entrusted to serve.

“At a town hall meeting in Southwest Virginia this week, Governor Kaine indicated he will now support a gas tax increase. Since that’s the case, why isn’t that in his radio ad or robo calls? Where’s the reference to the 67% increase in the tax on car and truck sales he’s proposing? What about the fact that he wants to charge people more to register their vehicles? How about leveling with people about raising the cost of their insurance policies? Surely, there is enough time in a 60-second radio sot to mention the word ‘taxes’ at least once, especially when taxes are the cornerstone of his and the Senate’s proposals.”

The Speaker also took strong exception to false information in the Governor’s radio ads concerning the spending plan approved by the House of Delegates. In the automated phone messages, moreover, Kaine says the House plan “takes money from this region of the state and even cuts priorities like teacher pay…” Likewise, his radio ad, too, asserts that the House plan would “cut priorities.” The facts prove otherwise.

The budget approved by the House of Delegates increases transportation spending to $10 billion over the next two years. It also raises funding for every transportation district in Virginia. And, the House budget provides a $1.2 billion increase for transportation – double the amount proposed by then-Governor Mark Warner when he submitted the 2006-2008 Biennial Budget. In addition, the House plan includes funding for the state share of a 3% pay raise for public school teachers, an identical increase to the one proposed by Warner.

“The House has approved a plan that will increase transportation spending in every corner of Virginia,” Speaker Howell commented. “In doing so, our proposal does not detract from other important priorities. The House plan and the Senate plan both provide a 19% increase in funding to K-12 education. The percentage increases in our plan match those proposed by the Senate in other areas as well, with both providing 15% for public safety, 24% for mental health, 18% more for health care, and 38% more to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.

“To suggest, as the Governor does in these radio ads and robo-calls, that the House’s plan shortchanges any important priority or core service is factually wrong and blatantly misleading. Disseminating such misinformation is not worthy of Mr. Kaine or of the high office he currently occupies. Therefore, I respectfully call on the Governor to remove his disingenuous radio ads and bring a halt to these calls.

“It would be most helpful to all concerned if the Governor restrict his efforts in these discussions to accurate, factual, and honest information. The people of Virginia rightly deserve and certainly expect nothing less from their Governor. Like I said at the outset, the Governor should ‘tell it straight.’”