In a recent Roanoke Times Article, we learned about Jerry Kilgore's plan to create a permanent watchdog commission. This commission would be tasked with monitoring government efficiency and regulations, as well as determining what government operations could better be performed by the private sector.While there is nothing wrong with the idea of having a commission looking at areas of government waste (Gov. Mark Warner created such a group in 2002, and even implemented some of its proposals), there are worrisome powers ascribed to Kilgore's commission. First, Kilgore wants the commission to review all regulations to determine which are burdensome to businesses. We can all see where that is going -- even the modest labor and environmental regulations that exist in Virginia could be in jeopardy. This would be a huge boon to big businesses who spend their time sucking money out of Virginia.
Kilgore also wants this commission to study private sector alternatives to some state services. Which state services exactly is he thinking of? That isn't spelled out in the article, but I cannot think of any that could possibly be better managed by a for-profit company. The last thing we want is for our roads, our schools, our health care, or our institutions of higher learning to be operated for profit. Every other attempt by other states to do this has been met with disaster. So my question is this: which state services is Kilgore thinking of privatizing?
No matter what the answer, the sort of commission Kilgore proposes is the last thing we want to see put in place here in Virginia. Sure, such a commission's ideas are unlikely to pass -- even Republicans in the General Assembly will probably not want to touch them. But by simply talking about them, they could put down roots that might take years to dig up. Unfortunately, Jerry Kilgore likely will get away with talking about this idea because proposing a commission aimed at getting rid of government waste is always treated as a good idea.
But the devil is in the details. And with Jerry Kilgore, you always have to look very carefully at the details.