Perriello speaks in Lynchburg about stimulus bill

With the recent Senate passage of the newest economic recovery package, area business and community leaders are wondering when and how their slice of the pie will arrive, and with what restrictions.

Virginia’s 5th Congressional District Representative Tom Perriello stopped in Lynchburg to answer questions and allay fears about the bill in a town hall style meeting.

Perriello met with a few dozen community and business leaders Saturday evening, addressing concerns related to the bill and its impact on the state and the area.

“The package that just passed,” Perriello said, “is a bold, aggressive step to try to begin the process of economic recovery.”

He decried the party-line voting on the package, but praised the work ethic that went into the frenetic debating, editing and revising the bill that ultimately sent it to the president’s desk for approval.

“What everyone agrees on is how serious the economic crisis is that we’re in,” Perriello said.

Perriello spent the majority of the meeting addressing concerns and explaining how much say officials could have over their share of the funds.

He said the emphasis against federal legislators earmarking the bill was mostly positive, but that the buck has to stop somewhere.

“That’s a little bit of the Pontius Pilate approach to government,” he said, referring to the ancient Roman governor’s attempt to clear himself of Jesus’ crucifixion by “washing (his) hands” of the matter.

Lynchburg Ward I City Councilman Mike Gillette questioned Perriello on that score, wondering why the money had to be used for “shovel-ready” projects.

“It really does hamper the local community’s ability to make decisions, because that means that we have to have already found a way to fund it, put it into our capital improvements plan, and (be) moving on it,” Gillette said.

“If we could use some money to pull some things off the shelf that we had wanted to do but had to shelve because we didn’t have the money, then that would be true stimulus.”

Perriello said he agreed in part, and that he would have liked to see a longer-term commitment to infrastructure improvements than was put forth in the bill.

“I thought it would have been a more visionary approach to say we’re going to make a medium-term commitment to this so that localities can know that this isn’t disappearing tomorrow,” he said.

Other questions hit on concerns about stress on small businesses, the immediate impact the bill would have on senior citizens and improving area infrastructure.

Above all, Perriello stressed that the remedy would not be quick, despite the speed with which lawmakers pushed the bill through.

“The bill is done, but a lot of the decisions are yet to be made, and so we’re going to continue listening to what we should be fighting for to come out of this,” he said.

Perriello said the Lynchburg area has been insulated from some of the crisis’ wrath by recession-protected businesses like Babcock & Wilcox and Liberty University.

“Lynchburg and the surrounding areas (are) an example of doing everything right,” he said.

“There is still time to prevent this area from getting hit as hard as the nation, but only if we start to see the national trends turn around,” he said.

Perriello also cited Lynchburg’s readiness to pursue alternative energy options as a significant plus.

“Just the energy component of this bill is the largest energy investment that this country has made,” Perriello said. “That’s great for a community that I consider to be at the cutting edge, looking forward on energy.”

“Whether that’s nuclear, whether that’s decentralized power production by our farmers, grid technology, these are all areas where I think our region can thrive with this new direction.”

Gillette said he still hopes some of the city’s allotted money will be able to go to back-burner projects that have great long-term potential.

“I’m hoping that there will be a way that over time we will be able to bring things online that we have shelved,” he said.

Perriello said the package can only be judged by whether it works, but that the downturn which necessitated the bill has already produced something good in America.

“I think this has been a character check for American people” he said.

“We’ve had an instant gratification, I want it for me right now society, and what we’re seeing now is a level of patience and longer-term perspective from the American people.”