|
Virginia
history is stamped with the painful experience of
life under the autocratic rule of royal governors
during the colonial period. That experience
contributed to the break with Great Britain and the
adoption of the Virginia Declaration of Rights in
1776.
The
worst of the royal governors was undoubtedly Francis
Nicholson, who began serving as governor general in
1698, after having served as lieutenant governor
from 1690. He was given to threats of retribution
against anyone who opposed him, but it was his
repeated arrogation of power that most offended the
colonists.
Nicholson
claimed authority to select clergymen and give them
life appointments over the objections of vestrymen.
He tried to take control of the militia from the
Council established by the charter of the Virginia
Company of London in 1606. When that failed, he
organized his own military force to supersede the
Virginia militia.
There
are obvious parallels between Nicholson’s actions
and those of Governor Timothy Kaine, but the
comparison should not be pressed too far. Kaine is
not a Nicholson. And yet, his words and actions to
date raise concerns about future misuse of the
powers of his office. When Kaine’s nominee to be
the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Daniel LeBlanc,
was rejected by the House of Delegates in March, the
Governor angrily responded that the rejection would
complicate efforts to reach a compromise on the
state budget for the next biennium, although the two
matters are unrelated.
Kaine
has plainly followed through on that threat. In
recent days, he has said that he will assert broad
executive powers to prevent a shutdown of state
government in the absence of agreement on a state
budget before July 1. Some legislators insist that
the governor has no such powers.
The
Virginia Constitution provides that no money can be
paid out of the state treasury unless authorized by
an appropriation made by the General Assembly. It
would be a strange development indeed if a governor
could deliberately contribute to a budget impasse,
as Kaine is now doing, and then invoke extraordinary
executive power to avert the consequences of that
impasse.
The
only responsible course for Kaine is to prevent the
budget impasse from occurring at all. He should push
the Senate to separate its transportation tax
proposal from the state budget, as the Constitution
clearly requires. Also, he could urge the General
Assembly to enact legislation that extends the
current spending authorization under the 2004-2006
appropriations act until there is agreement on a new
state budget.
As
I noted in a previous column, a pattern of delayed
action on the adoption of a state budget will
undoubtedly have a negative effect on Virginia’s
prized credit rating. New York and California, for
example, have experienced a downgrading from rating
agencies because of similar experience. In 2004, a
former New York State Comptroller pointed to his
state’s history of late budget adoption as a major
factor in the rating agencies’ decisions to
downgrade New York’s bond rating.
What
Kaine and a majority of senators are doing with
their budget gamesmanship is not only a violation of
the single object rule of the Constitution, but also
a reckless ploy designed to force the House of
Delegates to agree to another massive tax increase.
The Senate tax proponents are hoping that the voters
will blame the House for the hardships that will
accompany a government shutdown.
Kaine
seems to relish the prospect that the budget impasse
will continue so that, despite his complicity, he
can play the bold leader willing to expand the
Constitution to avert the impact of a government
shutdown.
--
May 15, 2006
|
