Virginia is facing a fiscal fiasco, with the potential for an additional $1 billion shortfall in the two-year, $77 billion Commonwealth budget. As a consequence, Gov. Kaine is ordering agencies "to submit plans by the end of the month for cuts of 5 percent, 10 percent and 15 percent of their budgets." This is not going to be pretty, and it's certainly not any one individual's fault. In fact, a significant portion of this problem has nothing to do with anyone, it's simply the result of economic slowdown, plummeting real estate values, lower gas tax revenues as people drive less, etc., and it's affecting most states (note: it's NOT affecting Alaska, which is flush with oil revenues and has not had to make any hard choices in the last couple of years since Sarah Palin took office - but that's another story for another diary).
So here are the problems, in no particular order:
1. House Republicans refuse to raise taxes ("fees" are ok for Republicans, as is allowing specific parts of the Commonwealth to tax itself)
2. Gov. Kaine also has ruled out raising taxes, perhaps realizing that it's a non-starter with the flat-earth Republicans in the House of Delegates, perhaps opposing them himself, it's hard to say. But taking revenues off the table means it's all going to have to be budget cuts to programs we all rely on, or borrowing and debt, not particularly attractive options.
3. The estate tax repeal - passed by Republicans and foolishly signed into law by Gov. Kaine - is costing Virginia around $150 million per year, or $300 million every two years, which is about one-third the $1 billion deficit right there. All to benefit a couple hundred of the richest families in Virginia. That's insane, stupid, irresponsible, foolish...did I leave out any adjectives to describe the idiocy of repealing the estate tax?
4. The end result of all this is that we are facing cuts not just into fat, but into the muscle and bones of state programs ranging from education to environment to public safety to transportation. This is no way to run a state, that's all I have to say (speaking of which, how in hell do these magazines come up with their ridiculous "best managed state in the country" rankings - if this is the BEST managed state in the country, I'd hate to see the worst!)
In short, the fiscal situation is looking really bad in Virginia right now - "bleak" is the way that Gov. Kaine's chief of staff, Wayne Turnage, describes it. It's not all our "leaders'" fault, but I'd have to give them at least 75% of the blame for simply failing to do what state governments are required to do - balance spending needs with revenue inflows, make reasonable projections, anticipate problems to the degree possible, etc. Now, the people who are going to suffer most are - as usual - the elderly, the sick, the young, the most vulnerable (not to mention Virginia's infrastructure and environment). That's very sad, and in my opinion, it would largely be unnecessary if our "leaders" had done their job in the first place. Unfortunately, they didn't, and now we face the consequences. Heckuva job, guys!
Second, of course, you can hold your delegate accountable. The most important part of the entire budgeting process takes place in the General Assembly. Your delegate is accountable for testing and questioning the Governor's assumptions and proposals. Your delegate should have an idea for themselves whether good times or tough times are ahead for the state. And there are absolutely a ton of places (outside of the executive branch) for them to go and get that information. For goodness sake! the Regional Federal Reserve Bank is in Richmond. They prepare and approve a biennial budget. If they didn't have a clue what they were doing or weren't basing it on conservative assumptions, then whose fault is that? They passed it.
If you think you can't hold them accountable, then you are letting them off easy. And if they continue to fail to act fiscally responsible, then your absolution gives them permission.
If you want to give your delegate a free pass because they are freshman, that's up to you. And it very well may be valid that what they could do was limited by their inexperience. But they need to make that case to you. That is what accountability is about. If they tell you on the other hand that they were surprised by this, then you need to ask them how they will avoid that miss in the future or fire them.
If Republicans were blind to this eventuality, they really do need to be fired. I don't think they were. And now they will be faced with putting their money where the mouth is and cutting government services in an already low-service state.
This time, not so much with the partnering. In fact I note that most of the criticisms of Governor Kaine in this diary involve him agreeing to a proposal from the same General Assembly that wanted (and continues to want) nothing to do with any of his ideas. I'm not sure that in itself is a fair criticism, but I do have to express wonder at the fact that Governor Kaine is going to such lengths to work with a General Assembly that simply refuses to meet him half way. The abuser fees? I know he wasn't going to get any other plan through the General Assembly, but let's face it, even Sideshow Bob Marshall knew it was unconstitutional.
When the state was in the same situation during Mark Warner's term, he started by cutting the budget and then found partners in the GA who could help raise the revenues needed to fund what was left. Tim Kaine's going to continue slashing budgets, as Mark Warner did, but I fear that no one's going to step forward from the other side of the aisle and be the John Chichester of this administration.