Transparency News 3/8/13

Friday, March 8, 2013

State and Local Stories

Washington Post: On Monday, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) was touting a victory against the Environmental Protection Agency that he fought on behalf of Fairfax County over storm-water regulation of a local creek. The next day, Cuccinelli was on national television, promoting his new book and making the case for why he should be Virginia’s next governor. In deciding to remain attorney general while running for governor, Cuccinelli broke with a tradition started in 1957 and ended a streak dating to 1985. Since then, six straight Virginia attorneys general have resigned to run for the state’s top job. “He’s clearly breaking a tradition, and in that way, he’s going to be attacked politically,” political observer Bob Holsworth said. However, the practice of attorneys general stepping aside in Virginia is “an obsolete and outdated tradition,” Holsworth said. “People run for governor while being attorney general without resigning in most other states. People run for president while being governor.”

Washington Examiner: Fairfax County residents face a tax increase next year because the county insists that spending can't be cut any deeper. But at the same time, the county is rushing to spend nearly $500,000 in coming weeks on dress uniforms for firefighters who say they don't need or want them.