GOVERNOR'S VETO EXPLANATION

Pursuant to Article V, Section 6 of the Constitution of Virginia, I am vetoing House Bill 837.

I agree with the general concept embodied in this bill and, at the request of George Mason University, I agree that the bill should be introduced. The Secretary of Education, however, conveyed to the president of George Mason University that several amendments were required to make the bill acceptable to me. Regrettably, the university's chief executive has refused to accept one of these amendments and has declined to work with the Secretary of Education to address my concerns. Accordingly, with the concurrence of the patron, I am vetoing this bill and its duplicate, Senate Bill 620.

As Governor, I have advocated a broad range of measures to increase efficiency and economy through privatization, administrative flexibility, and decentralization in higher education, as in other areas of state government. The general purpose of this bill is consistent with those objectives.

However, certain protections -- specifically, those guarding against conflicts of interest, those providing citizens with access to public information, and those ensuring competitive procurement -- were not present in the bill as introduced, and I insisted that they be restored. The latter of the three concerns has proved to be the sticking point.

Specifically, while the support services corporation created in this bill should be exempt from state procurement restriction, I am unwilling to endorse a blanket exception for the university in its dealings with this corporation.

Were such an exception to be approved as provided in this bill, there would be little accountability on the part of the new corporation to provide support services to the university at the most competitive rates.

Entities receiving and spending tax dollars must remain ultimately accountable to the owners of Virginia's government -- the people. There is not sufficient assurance of accountability in this bill as enrolled.

The university's president has made it quite clear that he would rather see this bill vetoed than to agree to the accountability I view as essential. Accordingly, I have granted his request that the bill be vetoed.