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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