Back to The Newsroom

MI's Granholm seeks meeting with President Bush, North Carolina best for business, NH's Lynch's approval keeps climbing

CAMPAIGN NEWS

NJ – Clinton Stumps for Corzine Former President Bill Clinton delivered a ringing endorsement of Sen. Jon Corzine for Governor last night in Jersey City, exhorting a packed crowd in Lincoln Park to get out and vote Tuesday. “The only thing that can keep Jon Corzine from being elected governor is if you don’t vote,” Clinton told the crowd of about 2,000 people in Casino-in-the-Park. “You will never have a chance to vote for a more qualified candidate for governor of New Jersey.”

VA – For Kaine, a Faith in Service Last November, Kaine and his wife, Anne Holton, celebrated with a trip to El Progreso, Honduras, where Kaine had spent nine months as a missionary in 1980 and 1981. Kaine, the Democratic candidate for Governor of Virginia, said that teaching at a fledgling Jesuit school in El Progreso gave his life direction, inspiring him to public service and rekindling his devotion to Catholicism. This fall, Kaine’s stand on the death penalty has attracted much attention. He says his Catholic faith leads him to personally oppose capital punishment but that as a public servant, he would place his hand on the Bible on inauguration day and pledge to carry out the laws of the state, including death sentences.

VA – Editorial: Pre-K with Kaine U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hasert, R-Ill., proposed further slashing of funding for Head Start, the early education initiative widely proclaimed to be one of the federal government’s most successful programs. Hastert’s proposal will result in 35,432 fewer classroom spots nationwide for pre-schoolers next fall. With the Governor’s race only days away, Virginians have a decision to make. If elected, Democrat gubernatorial candidate Tim Kaine has proposed to substantially change the nature of early education in Virginia by promising, through his initiative “Start Strong,” to make pre-kindergarten available to all Virginia four-year-olds. Republican candidate Jerry Kilgore’s Web site does not mention early childhood education in any capacity.

GENERAL NEWS

AZ – Napolitano Checks out Border Safety, Funding in Statewide Tour Gov. Janet Napolitano toured Arizona’s border counties Wednesday with key legislators to view how emergency funds were being used to secure the border. Though the Governor promised to continue pushing for more federal resources, she wouldn’t commit to giving more state money through emergency funding. On Aug. 15, Napolitano declared a state of emergency in Arizona’s four counties bordering Mexico. By doing so, she provided $1.5 million in funds for projects in Yuma, Santa Cruz, Cochise and Pima counties, with another $200,000 from the state Office of Homeland Security.

IL – Blagojevich to Ensure Health Care for All Children Preparations have begun to make sure that All Kids health care insurance will begin covering middle-class children throughout Illinois starting in July. Both houses of the General Assembly approved the program, an amendment to House Bill 806, last week. Gov. Rod Blagojevich championed the measure prior to the fall veto session. It passed 32-23 in the Senate and 79-28 in the House. It lacks only the governor’s signature to become law.

IA – Vilsack Stresses Competition Compete or retreat. Those are Iowa’s choices in the increasingly global economy, Gov. Tom Vilsack told employees at Genencor International Wednesday. Vilsack met with employees at the Cedar Rapids plant, which recently received a discretionary loan of $750,000 to assist Denmark-based Danisco in a $35 million addition that will create 17 positions and retain 80 jobs over the next three years as it expands the capacity of the bioproducts plant.

MI – Granholm Seeks Meeting with Bush on Manufacturing Issues Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm wants to convene a meeting of Michigan’s congressional delegation and automotive sector with President Bush and his economic team, seeking ways to help the troubled manufacturing industry. Granholm wrote Bush on Wednesday, seeking to “focus on possible federal administrative and legislative actions that will help American manufacturers better compete in the global marketplace and bolster this vital sector of our national economy.”

MT – Schweitzer tells American Indians to Seize Day Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer told hundreds of American Indians Wednesday that they can be at the forefront of revolutionary clean energy technology, as gas prices push Americans to look for energy alternatives. “It starts in Indian Country,” he said in a speech at the 62nd annual convention of the National Congress of American Indians in Tulsa. “We have the energy. We have the young people. And, yes, we have the tribal colleges. It’s time for Indian Country to take the lead.”

NH – Lynch’s Public Approval Keeps Climbing John Lynch continues to enjoy very high approval ratings as Governor of New Hampshire. Seventy-one percent approve of the job the Governor’s doing, and New Hampshire residents believe the state is headed in the right direction. John Lynch has been Governor of New Hampshire for less than one year, and he is nearly halfway through his two-year term. This poll reflects a 10 percent increase since July.

NM – Citizens, Richardson Support Higher Wages A poll of registered New Mexico voters finds that 75 percent support a higher minimum wage, 20 percent oppose it, and 5 percent are undecided or have mixed feelings, the Albuquerque Journal reported Wednesday in a copyrighted story. Gov. Bill Richardson supports raising the minimum wage and has said he will seek comments from business leaders about what a new minimum should be.

NC – Magazine: North Carolina Best for Business Site Selection magazine named North Carolina the state with the Top Business Climate for 2005, reclaiming the top spot from Texas, which unseated North Carolina’s three-year claim to first place from 2001 through 2003. In the November 2005 issue of the magazine, research based in part on a survey of corporate real estate executives identified North Carolina’s overall climate for capital investment to be tops in the United States. “We can do everything they can do about 25 percent cheaper in terms of labor capital expenditures and land acquisition,” North Carolina Governor Michael Easley told Site Selection.

OR – Kulongoski Leads Statewide Emergency Exercise Joined by state and local public health officials, Governor Ted Kulongoski participated in a statewide public health emergency exercise to test the capability of the state and local health departments to quickly respond and distribute medical care to Oregonians potentially exposed to a deadly disease. “The recent hurricanes have heightened awareness that states need to be ready at every level to respond to broad-scale emergencies,” said Governor Ted Kulongoski.

WA – Gregoire Seeks to Restore Roadless Rule Protections Gov. Christine Gregoire has formally asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to revive protections for roadless national-forest land in Washington that were scrapped by the Bush administration earlier this year. Gregoire’s request Wednesday is her first clear indication of how she wants to treat two million acres of federal land in Washington that have been untouched by roads. It allies her with environmental groups that embraced the sweeping Clinton-era “roadless rule” barring road building for logging, mining and other work on 58 million acres in national forests nationwide.

Copyright & Paid for by The Democratic Governors Association

A Bullseye Project