Stewart said “When I was elected Chairman our country soon experienced the worst recession in our lifetime. Prince William was especially hard hit. Instead of raising taxes we reduced regulation to help spur job creation, invested in infrastructure and public safety and cut $143 million from our budget. We set an example for fiscal conservative governance as the only Republican-led jurisdiction in Northern Virginia.”

“Prince William County is a model for how to implement good conservative principles. Taxes are down, crime is down, and growth is up. I am going to bring to the Office of Lieutenant Governor the same conservative principles that I have led Prince William County with over the past 6 years.”

Stewart continued, “While the Virginia budget has grown by 15.5 Billion Dollars over the past 10 years, only 5% of the new revenue has been dedicated to transportation. We need to reprioritize transportation in the state budget. The life blood of any growing economy is infrastructure. If we do not find a solution now we are going to bring our economic growth across the Commonwealth to a halt. There is no more time to waste. In 2 years, the transportation construction fund goes broke and the highway maintenance fund goes broke not long after.”

“We do many things right in Virginia but we can and must do more. I intend to use the Lt. Governor’s position as a platform to push for much needed fiscal reform in the Commonwealth,” added Stewart.

Prince William County is located 25 miles south of Washington, D.C. and has approximately 425,00 residents. It is the second largest county in Virginia. Under Stewart’s leadership Prince William County has been upgraded to AAA bond status by all three major credit rating agencies, has consistently been ranked in the top 10 in the nation in job growth, and income levels have risen even during what has been the worst recession of our time.

Corey Stewart has been the At-Large Chairman of Prince William County since 2006 and was reelected in 2007 and 2011. In 2011, Stewart was reelected Chairman with 58 % of the vote. Corey and his wife of 17 years, Maria, reside in Woodbridge with their two sons Isaac and Luke.

Corey has media availability throughout the day and the remainder of this week. To schedule an interview please contact Kevin McNulty, 267-804-4510.

###

Next year’s high-stakes race for lieutenant governor has its first candidate: Corey A. Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors.

Stewart, a Republican who has served as the at-large chairman of Prince William’s board since 2007, will formally announce his candidacy on Wednesday in Woodbridge.

Much rides on what’s sure to be an unusually aggressive battle for the part-time post because of party parity in the state Senate. The lieutenant governor, who serves as the Senate’s president, breaks ties and because of the 20-20 split, ultimately determines which party controls the chamber.

This year, Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling broke 28 tie votes, most along party lines.

In a phone interview Monday, Stewart said the focus of his campaign will be economic growth, jobs and cutting overall state spending while increasing transportation investments.

“Virginia has done a lot well, but the one thing it has failed to do is to address our transportation needs,” he said.

In 2008, Stewart gained recognition for championing the county’s illegal-immigration law, which was briefly the toughest in the country before being altered by the board weeks after passing as concerns of racial profiling arose.

Last year, Stewart considered a bid for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Jim Webb before deciding against running; he then endorsed former Gov. George Allen.

No others have formally declared for the 2013 lieutenant governor’s race, but Aneesh Chopra, a Democrat who recently stepped down as the first White House chief technology officer, is expected to run.

Keith Fimian, a Northern Virginia businessman who twice lost bids to unseat Rep. Gerry E. Connolly, D-11th, was considering a run for the Republican nomination but confirmed Monday that he had decided against it.

“My wife made that request last weekend,” Fimian said by phone, “and my family absolutely comes first.”

Republican Pete Snyder of Alexandria, founder and former CEO of New Media Strategies, is also considering a run. Snyder was tapped last year by Gov. Bob McDonnell to head the Republican Party of Virginia’s coordinated campaign for 2012, focusing on the state’s presidential and congressional contests.

Stewart said he anticipates spending upward of $2 million if there is a primary and as much as $7 million in the general election if he’s the GOP nominee. He said he expects Chopra to be the Democratic nominee.

“He will be a very formidable candidate. He’s very likable, he’s a leader in the technology industry and he will be able to raise gobs of money,” Stewart said, estimating that Chopra could bring in between $10 million to $15 million.

Prince William County Supervisor Corey Stewart will formally announce Wednesday plans to run for lieutenant governor in Virginia in 2013.

Stewart, a Republican, serves as chairman of the county’s Board of Supervisors and has long indicated he would seek the office. He spent much of the last three months traveling the state to rally Republicans around his candidacy.

Wednesday’s official announcement will likely pit Stewart against Pete Snyder, chairman of the state GOP’s coordinated campaign effort in 2012, for the Republican nomination to replace Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling. Stewart flirted with the idea of running for the same job in 2009 but dropped out when Bolling sought a second term.

Snyder has not formally launched a campaign.

The profile of the lieutenant governor’s office, long seen as a part-time gig with few duties and low pay, has increased under Bolling’s watch. With the Virginia Senate currently split between 20 Democrats and 20 Republicans, Bolling’s tie breaking vote came into play often in this year’s session, helping to advance some of the most controversial conservative legislation.

Bolling also serves as Gov. Bob McDonnell’s chief jobs creation officer, promoting his fiscal credentials ahead of next year’s election. Bolling is expected to run against Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli for the party’s gubernatorial nomination.

“We had the highest jump in median household income in the United States last year, rising to $92,000. We are now the ninth wealthiest county in the United States,” Corey Stewart reported in his state of the county address at the Jan. 10 meeting of Prince William Board of County Supervisors. Stewart is board chairman.

He pointed out that, “in an age of uncertainty and fear, Prince William County stands as a symbol of stability, growth and prosperity.” Stewart noted that four years ago, the country entered a depression and some other jurisdictions began to spend their reserves, hoping recovery would soon come.

“We reduced the size of our government by $143 million dollars, eliminating more than 300 positions. We reformed government regulations. We made it easier to start, to expand a business, to build a home in Prince William County,” Stewart said. He added that more importantly, the county focused on education, building public infrastructure and on public safety, the core essentials of government.

The chairman pointed out the county is among one-half of one percent of jurisdictions in the country that has a AAA bond rating, something that even the federal government lacks.

“As the county government was reduced to its proper role in our community, the private sector and our citizens flourished, making Prince William County number one in job growth in the Commonwealth of Virginia and number three in the United States of America,” Stewart explained.

He said the county has 82,000 students in its schools, has 410,000 residents, up from 400,000 a year ago.

The Washington Post

Prince William County has succeeded and gotten ahead through smart investments and a slimmed-down government, and by easing the way for developers to do business locally, the chairman of the Board of County Supervisors said this week.

Below is a guest editorial that I and the Chairs of the Board of Supervisors of Fairfax and Loudoun County wrote to talk about possible changes to devolution:
The Virginia General Assembly may soon consider a scheme that could cause a significant property tax increase for residents and businesses of Northern Virginia. This tax increase may come under the guise of transportation funding reform called “devolution.” Simply put, devolution shifts the cost of certain state responsibilities for transportation from the state to local governments. Although we are of different political parties, we are firmly united in opposition to devolution because of the massive property tax increase it will produce for the residents and businesses of Fairfax, Prince William and Loudoun counties.
After years of neglect, Virginia’s transportation construction and maintenance funds are nearly depleted. Our roads, particularly in Northern Virginia, are in deplorable shape. By the Virginia Department of Transportation’s own admission, 34 percent of secondary roads in Virginia are in substandard condition. This problem — long in the making by the General Assembly — must be addressed by the General Assembly. Local governments and taxpayers should not be expected to shoulder what is now a responsibility of the commonwealth.

Our three counties would likely need to spend hundreds of millions of dollars just to bring our roads up to the neglected statewide maintenance standards. The cost of this action alone could easily exceed $500 per household. Add to that the hundreds of dollars a year per household, per year, it would take to maintain these roads to those standards. It is important to note that once the state abandons this responsibility, it will never take it back.

Our success at the local level to reduce the size of government and focus on essential services while keeping taxes as low as possible has emboldened the commonwealth to continue passing along its failures in governance to localities. We should not be expected to cut back any further. We cannot perform what have historically been the responsibilities of the state and still meet the other areas of need for our residents.

Instead of making decisions on how to deliver essential services such as transportation, the General Assembly has repeatedly refused to act. Ironically, this comes at the same time as the governor has empaneled a task force to assess state mandates on localities, stating that he will support only “justifiable and reasonable mandates on localities.” Well, devolution is neither justifiable nor reasonable.

Over the past several years, the General Assembly has pushed its responsibilities and the financial burden for more than $1 billion in services down to local municipalities. While doing so, members of the General Assembly have claimed that they have not raised taxes. But their decisions have merely required residents to pay for state responsibilities through their local property taxes, saving taxpayers not one penny. Devolution of road maintenance would be more of the same — a shell game that does nothing to address the state’s nearly depleted construction funding.

Northern Virginia is home to some of the largest businesses and almost 25 percent of the residents of the commonwealth. We have a responsibility to protect our constituents from unreasonable actions that make doing business and raising families here difficult. We strongly encourage members of the General Assembly to meet their responsibilities and join us in doing the hard work of governing.

Sharon Bulova, a Democrat, is chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Corey Stewart, a Republican, is chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors. Scott York, a Republican, is chairman of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.

“We are the center of the Northern Virginia labor force, we have streamlined our permitting processes to help businesses get to market faster, and we have some of the lowest taxes in the region,” said Corey Stewart, Chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors. “This is further evidence that our effort to create an environment that allows businesses to open and operate without the bureaucratic red tape is moving us in the right direction for job growth.”

Prince William County is located 25 miles south of Washington D.C. and is the second largest county in the Commonwealth of Virginia with a population of 425,00 residents. This is the second time in the last two years Prince William has been recognized as a leader in job creation; during 2010 Prince William was ranked #1 in Virginia, #2 on the East Coast, and #17 nationally in job growth according to CNN/Money.

The order signed by Mayor Gray is in direct contrast to the policy of Prince William County, VA. Since Prince William County law enforcement officials began checking the immigration status of everyone arrested, the county has seen a 35% drop in violent crime. Prince William County has also turned over more then 4,000 criminal illegal aliens to ICE.

Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart had the following comment: “The actions of Vincent Gray are disturbing and reprehensible. This order is a slap in the face to the law enforcement officials that work every day to protect the millions of people who live, work and visit Washington, D.C. I find it incredibly ironic that the immigration laws of the United States are not even enforced within the boundaries of our nation’s capital.”

Small-business owners have myriad views on all kinds of issues. But when it comes to Virginia’s so-called “BPOL” tax, there seems to be across-the-board disdain.

“It’s a completely oppressive tax that needs to be removed immediately,” said Rebecca Barnes, president of Prince William Living magazine, which has a print circulation of about 10,000.

Barnes and others praised Manassas and Prince William County for moving forward with an initiative to make the tax slightly less onerous for small businesses and start-ups. But business owners say they hope both localities go even further.

Manassas businesses that take in less than $150,000 in “gross receipts” — total revenue — are no longer subject to the Business, Professional and Occupational License tax, which is assessed based on how much money a company takes in. Prince William businesses taking in less than $200,000 will similarly get an exemption under the proposal. The county is expected to formally adopt the change after a public hearing, which has not been scheduled.

Neither the city nor the county, however, is expected to roll back the tax completely.

The BPOL tax has long drawn ire from some members of the Virginia General Assembly who say the tax — apparently implemented to pay for the War of 1812 — is burdensome and unnecessary. And the business community especially dislikes it because BPOL does not account for actual income — meaning businesses still pay even in years when they do not make a profit.

Local governments, though, have come to rely on the revenue. BPOL taxes fed Manassas coffers to the tune of $2.7 million in fiscal 2011, said John P. Grzejka, the city’s commissioner of revenue. The tax provided $21 million for the county during the same period. The city will lose about $100,000 this fiscal year with its BPOL change. The county expects a loss of $400,000.

Barnes’s business is one of those that would not have to pay BPOL this year under the new proposal. But she worries about the tax’s effect on her business down the road.

“If small business is welcome in Prince William, let’s make that a reality,” Barnes said. “Get rid of the BPOL tax.”

Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey A. Stewart (R-At Large) said the tax is “insidious [and] economically damaging.” But the county’s budget has been “cut to the bone,” he said, and getting rid of BPOL would mean a tax increase for homeowners that could compensate for lost revenue.

“We would have to increase property tax rates by 10 cents, and it would shift the burden from businesses to residents,” Stewart said. “That’s not something we think is fair.”

BPOL taxes especially hurt start-ups, said Brian Gordon, who sits on the Prince William Chamber of Commerce’s executive committee, which has advocated changing or eliminating the BPOL. He said he hopes the $200,000 threshold change encourages more start-ups in the county.

Stewart said there have long been rumblings from Richmond that BPOL could be replaced with a new revenue stream for localities.

He noted, however, that “the tax has been around since the War of 1812. I don’t expect any changes coming from Richmond anytime soon.”

With a median household income of $92,655, Prince William comes in at #9 in the nation. This should come as no surprise, a recent survey by CNN/Money ranked Prince William County #13 among all jurisdictions in the nation in job growth. This is up from the previous year when the County was ranked #17 nationally, #1 in the DC area and #1 in Virginia.

Corey Stewart, Chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, was delighted to hear this news. “This ranking reflects the pro-business reforms that the County has implemented. We have made a concerted effort to attract high quality jobs to Prince William County and the results speak for themselves.”

Despite the national recession, the County also invested over a billion dollars in new school, road, and park infrastructure projects over the past few years. It just earned its third AAA Bond rating status even as Standard and Poor’s downgraded the Federal Government. The County also implemented a tough crackdown on illegal immigration which Stewart credits for the 35% drop in violent crime.

“We are determined to make Prince William a place of prosperity and opportunity, that attracts hard working, law abiding citizens, said Stewart.” “We just didn’t realize that we would see the results so quickly.”