On December 5, 2010, the House Republican Caucus elected Kirk to serve as the House Majority Leader, the second highest leadership position in the House of Delegates. Speaker Howell has noted, “Kirk is a tremendous asset to the strong Republican Majority in the House and a leader on the issues that affect the people of the 66th District.”

In addition to his new role as Majority Leader, Kirk serves as the Vice Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee’s Higher Education Subcommittee, and a Budget Conferee. He sits on two additional Appropriations Subcommittees- the Economic Development, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Subcommittee; and the Elementary and Secondary Education Appropriations Subcommittee. He serves with other senior lawmakers on the Rules and Joint Rules Committees and is a member of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

Kirk has worked tirelessly to make Virginia the best place to live, work, and raise a family through his leadership efforts on a wide variety of issues important to his constituents. A champion of quality public education, improved veteran services, support for citizens with disabilities, increased economic development opportunities, and job creation, Kirk has successfully advanced several legislative initiatives in recent sessions. He credits many of his major legislative successes to the suggestions made by constituents and their impressive presentations to key legislators and a score of committees. In particular, he is grateful for constituents who have proposed and testified for legislation to help support our military and veteran communities, provide better services to our fellow citizens with intellectual disabilities, and improve our environment. For Kirk, one of the most satisfying aspects of being a member of the House is to recognize the important contributions to a better Virginia made by individuals and organizations in the 66th District, and he has sponsored many commending resolutions to recognize their achievements.

Kirk has a strong record of achievement in a number of areas, including reducing unnecessary government spending, creating Virginia jobs, helping our veterans, supporting our families, and protecting our environment.

Reducing Unnecessary Government Spending

Kirk believes strongly in the philosophy that government should only focus on the core functions of government. Nowhere is this more evident than when he is working on the state budget. As the Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee and a Budget Conferee, Kirk played an active role in the development of a fiscally responsible state budget in 2010 – one of the most challenging years for our economy, jobs, and the state budget. He helped close a $4.2 billion budget shortfall without raising taxes on Virginia families. The structural budget changes implemented in the 2010 budget have not only resulted in savings for the current budget cycle, but also for all budget cycles going forward. He has also helped lead the effort to cut spending within the state legislature. Since 2003, the House of Delegates has saved the taxpayers over $5.5 million in spending on House operations. Currently, Virginia spends less on its state legislature per capita than 45 other states thanks to the efforts of Speaker Howell and Kirk. While many other states are still facing massive budget shortfalls, Kirk’s leadership to develop fiscally responsible budgets has helped to put Virginia in a position to succeed moving forward.

Creating Virginia Jobs

Kirk understands the vital importance of helping businesses create new jobs. He has worked to help bring new businesses and new jobs to the Commonwealth. In 2009, he helped create a tax incentive program to attract new businesses, economic development, and jobs to the Commonwealth. In 2010, he helped expand this tax incentive. This year, Kirk worked to eliminate the accelerated sales tax for 80% of affected retailers. For his work to help bring new companies and jobs to Virginia, Kirk was recognized in 2009 as the Legislator of the Year by the Virginia Economic Developer’s Association and the Chesterfield County Economic Development.

Protecting Our Environment

Kirk, a past Chairman and member of the Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee, has been a leader for legislation to protect the environment. He supported the need for funding to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. He introduced a budget amendment designed to curb pollution through a voluntary incentive-based approach. Since 2005, House Republicans have funded over $270 million for improvements in waste water treatment and have committed to dedicate more than $500 million to protect and preserve the Chesapeake Bay before 2015. In 2009, he introduced legislation to help protect children and pets from accidentally ingesting anti-freeze. His bill requires all anti-freeze manufactured and sold in Virginia to contain a bittering agent to deter children and pets from consuming anti-freeze.

A graduate of Colonial Heights High School, Kirk holds a B.S. in both Political Science and General Social Science from James Madison University. He is a government teacher at Manchester High School in Chesterfield County. Kirk lives in Colonial Heights with his wife, Julie Kirkendall Cox, and four sons, Lane Kirkland Cox, Carter Adkins Cox, Blake Patterson Cox and Cameron Reagan Cox. The Coxes are members of Colonial Heights Baptist Church where he is the Chairman of the Deacon. Kirk is active in the Colonial Heights community as a youth baseball coach.