Speaking on his monthly call-in show on WRVA Radio, Gov. Mark R. Warner counter attacked Republicans who, in response to the ever-growing budget surplus, have said the 2004 tax hikes were unnecessary. According to Michael Hardy’s recounting of Warner’s remarks in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Warner said:
Republicans, primarily in the House, “are quick to point out the surplus, but they’re quick to spend” the higher-than-forecast tax collections.” He emphasized that members of the GOP-dominated House budget committee sought more than $2 billion in additional spending requests last session.
Oh, come on. Every legislator submits spending proposals. Tallying up the price tag of all those proposals is a meaningless exercise. What matters is how much the House decides to spend after sorting through all the initiatives. In this case, the House followed the Governor’s lead and decided to spend almost all of the surplus (excepting only that portion legally required to go into the Rainy Day fund and a bit that would allow the state to reduce the sales tax on food earlier than scheduled). I dare say that virtually none of that “$2 billion in additional spending” made it into the House’s final budget documents.
What would Gov. Warner have said in January/February this year if the House had stuck to its convicinos and tried cutting taxes instead? The Governor and the state Senate would have have shut down any such bill before the ink had dried. Knowing that a tax cut was a political non-starter, the House leadership did what it had to do, which was spend the money in the most responsible manner it could — on one-time initiatives that didn’t add to programmatic overhead.
Having boxed in the House to spend the surplus, Gov. Warner now criticizes the House for spending the surplus. That’s a nice trick if you can get away with it.