VIRGINIA BRIEFING
VIRGINIA BRIEFING
Virginia Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell, right, and other attorneys in his office will reduce their salaries for six months.
(By Steve Helber -- Associated Press)
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PUBLIC PRAYER
Kaine Blasts House Leader Over Police Policy
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) sent a sternly worded letter to House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith (R-Salem) late yesterday, accusing him of spreading misinformation and inaccuracies about a new Virginia State Police policy about public prayer.
Griffith and other House Republicans blasted Kaine on Wednesday for a directive that bans troopers serving as chaplains from referring to Jesus Christ in public prayers.
"If you were truly concerned about this issue, I would have thought that you would have called me before issuing a press release containing such inaccuracies," Kaine wrote.
State Police Superintendent Col. W. Steven Flaherty said his decision was in response to a recent federal appeals court ruling that a Fredericksburg City Council member may not pray "in Jesus's name" during council meetings because the opening invocation is government speech. Six troopers have since resigned their voluntary jobs as chaplains.
-- Anita Kumar
STATE BUDGET
Attorney General Cuts Salary, Expenses
Virginia Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell (R) announced yesterday that he will return his state car, reduce his salary by 2 percent for the next six months and trim his office budget by 9 percent after this week's news of a possible $3 billion state budget shortfall.
"These are difficult times," he said in a statement. "This economic downturn, and sustained uncertainty, is forcing Virginia families and businesses to make hard decisions, and Virginia's government must do likewise."
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) will begin implementing statewide cuts early next month after releasing a new forecast for the rest of the two-year, $77 billion budget period that began July 1.
