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Oops
Instead
of the "structural budget deficit" cited
to justify $750 million in higher taxes, the state
is running a massive budget surplus.
The failure of Virginia's political class is
complete.
Given
Governor Mark Warner’s poor track record on
predicting Virginia’s
financial condition just months into the future, one
would think he would be somewhat bashful about
projecting several years into the future. Yet he showed no hint of embarrassment
earlier this month when he announced a projected
$252 million shortfall at the end of fiscal year
2007.
During
the legislative sessions this year, Warner failed to
anticipate the state budget surplus that would exist
as of July 1. It
obviously would not have helped his case for higher
taxes if he had correctly projected during the
session that an extra $677 million would carry over
unspent to the current fiscal year.
The
news that Virginia
enjoyed such a large surplus had to be a bitter pill
coming as it did so soon after Warner had pressured
the General Assembly to raise taxes by approximately
$750 million a year. His most recent projections of out-year
shortfalls are clearly intended to counter the
argument that the tax hike was unnecessary or overly
large.
Warner’s
call for fiscal restraint was welcome, but he should
heed his own advice and begin cutting state spending
as he has insisted he could and would.
House
Speaker William J. Howell inexplicably joined Warner
in pointing to rank-and-file legislators as
profligate spenders who need to be kept in line.
According to Howell, the leaders — Warner,
Senate Finance Chairman John Chichester, House
Appropriations Chairman Vincent Callahan and himself
— had “to convince these guys to stay true to
their principles.”
The
problem is not with the rank-and-file.
The problem is with the state’s leaders.
The
governor talks a good game, but has not followed
through and has too often attempted to shift blame.
Much of the increased spending pressure is
directly attributable to his initiatives.
He promised $1 billion in annual spending
cuts almost two years ago, but refuses to answer a
simple request from the House to explain what has
come of that promise.
Chichester’s
notion of leadership is to call for even higher
taxes instead of exercising discipline over
spending.
Howell
and Callahan need to be reminded that they issued a
joint statement of guiding principles for tax and
budget deliberations to their Republican colleagues
in the House last January.
One of those principles was that every
reasonable option must be exhausted for balancing
the budget without a tax increase.
These two leaders must stick to that
principle if they expect the rank-and-file to do so.
The
Wilder Commission’s recommendations weren’t
unreasonable. It
also wasn’t unreasonable for Warner to promise to
implement those recommendations.
Howell
and Callahan should confront Warner on his refusal
to provide information on the status of those
recommendations. They
should demand that the governor comply.
If Warner doesn’t, they should schedule
hearings until they receive what a coordinate branch
of government is entitled to receive.
It
came as no surprise that 56 percent of those
responding to a recent Richmond
Times-Dispatch/NBC
12 poll said
they thought the recent tax hike was necessary.
Chichester
was insisting that even higher taxes were needed,
while the leadership in the House never held Warner
to account for failing to cut spending as he
promised.
Until
the GOP leadership in the House decides to confront
Warner and Chichester
on budget issues instead of rank-and-file members of
the House Republican Caucus, a majority of
Virginians will continue to believe that the problem
is one caused by House Republicans who tend to spend
without restraint.
--
November 15,
2004
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