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A
new governor, 17 new members of the House of
Delegates, a huge budget proposal and critical
issues facing our state set the stage for what
could be an exciting session of the General
Assembly.
Gov.
Mark R. Warner left office with a 70 percent
approval rating, having provided the
leadership and vision that the Commonwealth
desperately needed. His departure leaves a void.
Whether newly elected Gov. Tim Kaine or someone
else fills it, and how they fill it, will
determine the future of the Commonwealth over
the next few years.
Issues
are the core of political leadership, and those
who promote the right issues in a reasonable and
“user friendly way” can become major leaders
in our state. Here are some issues that can
make a difference.
The
proposed budget presented by Mark Warner as he
left town totals $74 billion, an increase of $22
billion or 42 percent since he was sworn into
office four years ago, and an increase of $11
billion over the last two year budget. House
Appropriations Chairman, Vince Callahan, said
recently that the state needs about $3 billion
more in this new budget just to keep up with
Medicaid and K-12 obligations. That leaves about
$8 billion on the table over and beyond the last
two year budget -- a great deal of money. It looks
like the General Assembly will again spend every
dollar that comes into the state treasury growing
state government.
A
new study by the Thomas Jefferson Institute, “Picking
Low Hanging Fruit from the State Budget,”
outlines a number of items that could be
eliminated from the budget, re-crafted to match
their original purpose or simply gotten rid of
altogether. It also outlines those items in the
Wilder Commission Report of three years ago that
still could be implemented.
Some
of these suggestions entail industry-funded
commissions that have no business cluttering up
the state budget. Let those industries police
themselves, as do the Bar Association and other
professional groups. Many of the suggestions
listed in this study deserve to be considered if
the General Assembly is serious about getting
spending under better control.
It’s
long past time for every agency to determine its
exact costs for delivering the services that their
mission statements detail. The Auditor of Public
Accounts has suggested this in the past and the
General Assembly should require it in this
year’s budget. At one time the Commonwealth
Competition Council had a computer based program
called COMPETE that the Auditor suggested be used
for this purpose. Will this requirement be added
to the state budget in order to finally know what
is the “real cost” of each agency?
Gov.
Warner has left our state with an Executive Budget
that is far superior to anything that has been
available in the past. This newly crafted budget
is much more transparent that any such document in
the past. The General Assembly should allocate
funds to make sure that this budget is available
in printed and electronic versions so that more of
our citizens can get a copy. With $8 billion in
“new money” being spent, if the General
Assembly doesn’t do this it will be a disservice
to the people of our state.
Transportation
will be the “big issue” in this General
Assembly. It should be confronted in a creative
and imaginative way if the issues surrounding
congestion and commerce are to be handled in a
credible manner. This means that new ideas
need to be considered and old projects
re-evaluated.
For
instance, is the expense of the proposed Dulles
Rail project in Northern Virginia the best use of
our money when there are transportation experts
who sincerely believe that a modern, bus rapid
transit system can do a better job for much less
money. This project needs to be thoroughly
reviewed.
High
Occupancy Toll Lanes, toll bridges, toll roads,
contracting out maintenance of our roads,
securitizing tolls over a period of time in order
to receive much needed monies for transportation,
selling transportation assets to the private
sector and an effort to take the spending of
transportation dollars out of the political
process and into a more realistic “what’s
really needed” process all need to be part of
the overall “Master Plan on Transportation.”
Giving
“at risk” K-12 students a better chance to
gain a solid education should be an issue that the
General Assembly takes action on this year.
Staunton Del. Chris Saxman’s Tuition Tax Credits
passed the House last year and should do so again
and the Senate should do the same. Del. Dwight
Jones, D-Richmond, is proposing to expand
educational options by allowing colleges to create
their own 'lab schools' -- authorized by the State
Board of Education -- to improve educational
innovation for at-risk kids. A dedicated voucher
program similar to what is available in Florida
for special education students is proposed by
Senate Majority Leader Walter Stosch, R-Henrico.
And the remedial reading budget should be
available only to those school districts that use
a phonics-based reading program in their remedial
reading programs.
Who
fills the leadership void left by the Mark Warner
moving out of the governorship could be determined
by who picks up these issues and runs with them.
We need creative thinkers who aren’t afraid to
“stir the pot” with ideas that really can
work. It will be interesting to see if anyone
takes this role.
--
January 16, 2006
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