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To
hear Gov. Mark R. Warner say it, he literally
accomplished the impossible: He cut $6 billion from
the state budget without raising our taxes. Quite an
accomplishment indeed!
In
his Oct. 15, 2002, Address to the Commonwealth on
Additional Budget Reductions, the governor said:
"We
cut state spending. We used half of the state's
rainy day' reserve. We authorized tuition increases
at public colleges and universities. We froze car
tax reimbursements. We reduced contributions to
employee retirement accounts. And we've shrunk the
size of state government by more than 3,700
employees since January."
Legislators
from both parties have repeated this mantra in self
congratulatory comments about having made the tough
decisions and cutting services across the board.
Following
these budget cutting proclamations, some elected
officials have issued comments on the need to
address areas that have gone neglected because of
recent budget cuts. Tax-and-spend liberals are
already crying for increased state revenues. Read:
new taxes.
In
an Aug. 5 speech
to the Virginia Foundation for Research and Economic
Education, Sen.
John Chichester, R-Fredericksburg, the chairman of
the Senate Finance Committee, beseeched his audience
about the need to increase Virginia's commitment to
the future. He
said that we must shore up our damaged
infrastructure, which we let go dormant.
We
all have to manage our family budgets, and when we
spend more than we make, we have two choices: Either
borrow money to meet the expenditures that exceed
our income, or simply cut spending.
Since
our state government has reportedly cut $6 billion
from its budget, one would expect that state
spending also would have been significantly reduced.
Alas,
that's not the case. Irrespective of the "budget
cuts," state spending has gone up each and
every year.
In
fact, according to figures from the state Senate
Finance Committee staff, state spending in Virginia
has increased by nine percent from Fiscal Year 1999
to FY 2000, 0.69 percent from FY 2000 to FY '01, 6
percent from FY 2001 to FY '02, and 4 percent from
FY 2002 to FY '03.
That's
a total spending increase of 21.83 percent over the
last four fiscal years -- the same period that our
politicians have been beating the budget-cutting
drumbeat.
This
follows historic increases in spending during the
mid-1990s, the result of the dot.com
bubble. These were the good times, and our state
legislators spent every cent that came into the
state's coffers like drunken sailors.
You
may be asking, how is it possible to continue
spending while we're in a budget-cutting mode?
That's
because budget estimates for future years are based
on overly optimistic revenue projections. When there
is an economic recession and estimated revenue
projections are not met, legislators lament the
shortfall and then take credit for cutting the
budget.
They
cry, "We cut, cut, cut" even while they
continue to spend, spend, spend!
This
is no different than if you wanted to buy a $50,000
luxury car, but later decided to buy a basic sedan,
which only cost $20,000, instead. Do you then
proudly proclaim that you just saved $30,000?
Of
course not, but that's exactly what our legislators
are doing by making cuts on inflated and unrealistic
budget projections.
In
fact, the Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance makes
the point that the current Virginia budget is $9
billion more than needed to cover population and
inflation growth since 1984.
One
legislator has been continuing to point out these
fallacies. Sen. Bill Bolling, R-Mechanicsville, has
been talking about these phantom budget cuts and the
state's runaway spending. He points out that we
haven't reduced actual state spending at all; all we
have done is reduce the anticipated rates of
increase in state spending from one budget year to
the next.
In
a recent e-mail exchange, Sen. Bolling told me:
The
point is simple. In tough economic times, businesses
and families have to tighten their belts and spend
within their means. Government should do no less.
The
economy will improve, and when it does, we can
increase spending on core responsibilities. But we
cannot keep spending money in tough economic times
like we did in prosperous economic times.
The
only way to support that bad habit is through higher
taxes, and people are already taxed enough.
Sen.
Bolling, who has gained a reputation for being a no-nonsense
politician, recently announced his candidacy for the
office of lieutenant governor in 2005. It's
refreshing to see a politician who aspires to higher
office, yet calls it like it is and doesn't repeat
the mantra parroted by the groupthink mentality that
permeates the Richmond establishment.
So
when your representative says that we cut services
or eliminated jobs, ask a simple question: How have
we cut anything when state spending has continued to
grow every year?
--
September 25, 2003
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