For IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, December 15, 2008

– SPEAKER HOWELL JOINS ATTORNEY GENERAL AND LT. GOVERNOR IN TIGHTENING OFFICE BUDGETS –

ALEXANDRIA, VA – As state governments across the country are looking for ways to address budget shortfalls, Virginia House Speaker Bill Howell announced his tightening of the House of Delegates operating budget prior to Democratic Governor Tim Kaine’s budget presentation to the joint money committees.  The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), the nation’s largest caucus of Republican state leaders, pointed out today the sensible guidance of the Republican leaders in Virginia, with the Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General and House Republicans all tightening their office budgets as part of an effort to address today’s serious economic issues. 

“Speaker Howell, Attorney General McDonnell and Lieutenant Governor Bolling have all stepped up to the plate to address the economic situation and the serious budget shortfall the Commonwealth is facing,” said RSLC President Scott Ward. “Just as Virginia families are tightening their household spending, the people of Virginia should be encouraged that their Republican leaders have tightened their office budgets, and are focused and prepared to do what is essential to address these serious issues.”

Speaker Howell has announced the following steps to tighten the House of Delegates budget, for a savings of over $1.1 million dollars:

Ø Member Salary:  Maintain current salary level at $17,640 annually.  Prior to 1991, delegates and senators were paid $18,000 annually.  In May 1991, delegates agreed to reduce House members’ salary by 2% to its current level.  That reduction has saved the Commonwealth a total of $630,000 over the past 17 years.



Ø Member and Legislative Assistant Session Expenses:  Forego session expense (per diems) increase allowed by federal IRS guidelines.  The current rate of $135 will remain in effect. 



Ø Member and Legislative Assistant Orientation:  Cancel legislative assistant orientation program for 2009 session.  Postpone Committee Chair Training for members until after 2009 elections.  



Ø State Plane:  Suspend use of the State Plane for weekend travel home by members who live in Southwest Virginia.  



Ø Conference Travel:  Dramatically reduce the number of members and staff who are reimbursed for attending regional and national legislative conferences.  

Ø Study Committees:  Eliminate the use of study committees during the interim to study certain legislation.  



Ø Carry Over Legislation:  Cancel meetings for the express purpose of considering carryover legislation.  



Ø Session Support Staff:  Eliminate more than a half dozen support positions and reduce hours for additional four positions.  Reduce hours for secretarial support staff.  Postpone any wage rate increase for session support staff.  Reduce training for various support staff.  



Ø House Clerk’s Full-time Staff:  Freeze hiring for any and all vacancies.  Eliminate any discretionary personnel costs.  Create job sharing opportunities for full-time staff to cover eliminated session staff job duties.  



Ø Printing of Stationery & Publications:  Reduce costs by 15% by modifying internal procurement practices for printing.  Review publications for necessity and print as many in-house as possible.  



Ø Discretionary Projects:  Postpone all discretionary projects, to include the legislative assistant e-mail initiative and renovation of office space to committee room space in the General Assembly Building. 



Ø Office Supplies:  Reduce office supply costs by 15% through the use of stringent purchasing policies.  



Ø Office Equipment & Furniture:  Freeze purchases of office equipment, furniture and food service equipment.

In September, Attorney General Bob McDonnell cut his office budget, his salary and returned his state vehicle; and Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling cut his office budget.

The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) is the only national organization whose mission is electing Republicans to the office of Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State and State legislator.  The RSLC is the largest caucus of Republican state leaders in the country – making a national impact one state at a time.

The RSLC has over 70,000 donors from all 50 states supporting the RSLC’s goals to pursue a pro-growth agenda, including: reforming the tax code, healthcare and legal systems; promoting a better educational system; encouraging sound energy initiatives; and advocating public safety through tough, crime-fighting policies.  During the 2008 election, the RSLC helped maintain the number of Republican Attorneys General and Lieutenant Governors across the U.S.  In addition, the RSLC was able to deliver new Republican majorities in the Montana, Oklahoma and Tennessee state senates, as well as an unprecedented majority in the Tennessee House of Representatives.