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Governor McAuliffe Announces Plan to Issue $2.5 Billion in Bonds, Mostly to State Colleges

It’s a budget year in Virginia -- meaning during this year’s legislative session the Governor and General Assembly will work to craft how the state spends its money for the next two years….

Governor Terry McAuliffe won’t reveal his proposed budget until next week, but Wednesday in Richmond he did announce a plan to issue $2.5 billion in bonds. Money from those bond sales will largely go to the state’s colleges. 

In the middle of MCV, Virginia Commonwealth University’s medical campus in Richmond, Governor McAuliffe announced that this school, along with others in the state, would get more than a billion in funding over the next couple of years.

“To renovate research labs, purchase equipment in order to attract the top talent that our higher education institutions demand,” said McAuliffe during a press conference.

If they make it into the final budget, those renovations would be happening at University of Virginia, Longwood University and Old Dominion University. The proposal also includes money for new medical research at Virginia Tech, and improving bio-tech programs at Blue Ridge Community College.

“If we’re going to have the smartest most educated workers on the planet, we need to make sure they have the infrastructure to compete in the global economy,” said McAuliffe.

In addition to investing in higher education, money from the bond package would also build two new juvenile correctional facilities, create a new veteran’s care center in Hampton Roads, and invest in the Port of Virginia

McAuliffe has been rolling out bits and pieces of his full budget leading up to the December 17th unveiling. He hopes most of his proposals so far will show that Virginia is open for business. 

Mallory Noe-Payne is a Radio IQ reporter based in Richmond.
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