Patrick McSweeney



What Happened to Tax Reform?

If his accomplishments so far this year are any indication, Gov. Warner may go down in history as the "sports" governor.


 

With all the problems Virginia Democrats insist the Commonwealth must address, principally by raising taxes, it surprised many that Gov. Mark R. Warner has spent most of the last month on only two items in his in-basket. One is assuring Virginia Tech that it will not be left out of an expanded Atlantic Coast Conference.  The other is pressuring Major League Baseball to award Northern Virginia a franchise.

 

Warner’s preoccupation with these sports-related issues shouldn’t come as a surprise at all. Simply by appearing to support these popular objectives, he has been able to score political points with sports fans at little or no risk.

 

If Warner had no aspiration for another elected position, he might have chosen to spend more time in recent weeks on public education, transportation or some other pressing state business. But appealing to thousands of Virginia Tech fans and major league baseball enthusiasts by throwing the weight of his office behind their interests was just too tempting, particularly when his putative future opponent, U.S. Sen. George Allen, R-VA, didn’t enjoy the same advantage. These two moves potentially give Warner a leg up against Allen in a 2006 senatorial contest.

 

For the moment, Warner can duck the really tough calls that must be made in finalizing the deal to allow Tech into the ACC fold or to finance and construct a new ballpark in Northern Virginia should the league approve a move by the Montreal Expos. The governor now seems to levitate above all those contentious issues.

 

The news media has given Warner a remarkable run of good press for his efforts on the sports front. This has come at an opportune time for the governor, who has thus far refused to divulge his thinking on what he has identified as Virginia’s highest priority — tax reform.

 

Warner has been too busy dealing with college football and major league baseball to get his thoughts together on any outline for the tax reform package he has promised to present to the 2004 session of the General Assembly. In fact, Warner says he won’t have his thoughts together until after the November general elections.

 

As every one of Warner’s predecessors, especially Thomas Jefferson, could attest, journalists can be as cruel as they can be kind to a governor. Warner’s prominent role in both of these sports matters virtually guarantees that the media will force him later to take a position as more contentious issues arise, such as the approval of a ballpark site.

 

And, as if the public needs reminding that life isn’t fair, Warner was also on the receiving end of a journalistic cheap shot last week when a prominent newspaper reported that he was “spotted” at a Washington, D.C. nightclub while his wife and children were traveling in Europe. The news media can be fickle.

 

Voters should keep Warner’s feet to the fire on the substantive issues confronting the Commonwealth. He shouldn’t be given a pass during this year’s campaigns for every seat in the General Assembly.

 

Although Warner isn’t on any ballot in November, he has said he views the outcome of the coming elections as vital to the establishment of his legacy, which is a comprehensive reform of the state tax code that will provide more money for public education. If he wants anything resembling a voter mandate to enact that kind of tax reform, he must exhibit true leadership by spelling out his proposal to the electorate before election day.
 

June 30, 2003


 

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