VIRGINIANS OF INTEREST
Carthan and Brian have been friends for more than 30 years and share a passion for all things Virginia! They lost touch for many years, but reconnected in 2020 while Carthan was involved with the Economic Development Office for the City of Petersburg and Brian was working on the Medicines for All Project at Virginia Commonwealth University. Both talked frequently about various issues facing the Commonwealth and started kicking around the idea of a podcast. Both Carthan and Brian consider themselves a bit technically challenged, so when the opportunity to host a podcast at Blue Ridge PBS in Roanoke presented itself, they jumped in with both feet!
We hope you enjoy the conversations!
VIRGINIANS OF INTEREST
Ep: 10 Part 1 Virginians of Interest: George Allen, Former Governor of Virginia
In 1993, George Allen was elected 67th Governor of Virginia. Keeping the promises he made to Virginians, he successfully cut taxes by more than $600 million; instituted his high academic Standards of Learning and School Performance Report Cards; made neighborhoods safer with the abolition of parole through truth-in-sentencing; initiated historic, pro-work welfare reforms; enacted the nation’s first public-private transportation funding system; repealed or amended 71 percent of all regulations; reduced the size of government with greater efficiency and accountability; and grew the economy – making sure the world knew “Virginia is Open for Business.” With added revenues, Allen was able to freeze tuition rates at universities and community colleges. His administration recruited a record $14 billion in new investments and helped create more than 300,000 net new private sector jobs that helped transform Virginia into the “Silicon Dominion.”
A self-described “Common Sense Jeffersonian Conservative,” Allen had the distinction of holding Thomas Jefferson’s seat in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1983 to 1991, and represented Virginia’s 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1991 to 1993.
Elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000, Allen drove the passage of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, championed the Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology Opportunity Act and sponsored the bipartisan Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act that prohibited taxes on internet access.
In 2010, Allen authored his book What Washington Can Learn from the World of Sports. He and his wife, Susan, reside in Virginia Beach and have three children: Tyler (married to Harry Poole), Forrest (married to Katie Roddey) and Brooke.
https://www.nga.org/governor/george-allen/
