Yesterday, Gov. Kaine called for a package of spending cuts and the use of Virginia's "rainy day" fund in order to close a $600 million+ shortfall in the state's two-year budget. The Roanoke Times reports:
Kaine said he rejected proposals to cut funds for clean drinking water programs, children's mental health treatment, campus security and home-delivered meals for the elderly. But he warned that such programs could be in danger if lawmakers reject his plan to withdraw as much as $303 million from the state's revenue stabilization fund, usually called the "rainy day" fund.Republican legislators have warned Kaine to avoid dipping into the $1.2 billion account. If the General Assembly rejects the governor's plan, lawmakers will have to find additional spending cuts.
"The question is: Will we use the fund for precisely the purpose it was intended, or will we cut services more deeply for the most vulnerable Virginians?" Kaine said.
The bottom line here is that Virginia going through a drought, and not just the meteorological kind. The housing slump has crimped state revenues and led to this problem. Now, the options are to: a) raise taxes, as Maryland is looking at doing; b) dip into the "rainy day" fund; c) cut spending; d) borrow; or e) combine two or more of those approaches. Governor Kaine has decided to go with "b" and "c" -- use the "rainy day" fund and cut spending. Conservative Republicans, not surprisingly, want all "c" -- cut spending sharply, including for the most at-risk Virignians and the most crucial programs (meals on wheels? law enforcement?). Must be that "compassionate conservative" streak coming out again -- not!
One point where I tend to agree with Republicans, however, is that it's going to be very hard to justify new programs -- even great ones like pre-k education -- when we're slashing $10.7 million from the budget at Virginia Tech. But how many people want to see their taxes go up? Right, we don't see many hands being raised. Thus, the tough choices.
Do you think that people would support cutting complicated taxes in favor of a broad-scale tax "rebalancing" which pushed income tax rates up something like 0.5%?
I am thinking that we could save $$ from making the state tax code less complicated to administer, and a properly designed program could lead to no net change on the actual taxes paid by most people, while marginally improving our state revenues.
Maybe I'm just too wishful.
Or... think of the actual poor, $500 million is approx. the income of 40,000 minimum-wage earning Virginians.
This is absolutely pathetic.
Call me ultra-liberal, call me anti-capitalist, I'm still proud to say: TAX THE RICH AND GIVE IT TO THE NEEDY!