A semi-retired reporter could accrue up to $20,000 in fines for not revealing his anonymous sources to a court overseeing a defamation law suit. (Ditto for this, too)

Hang in there Senators

Mike Shear and Chris Jenkins’ lead in The Washington Post sums it up: “Virginia’s lawmakers have not figured out how to spend the state’s money, but they know they can still collect it.”

Joe May begins his candidacy with a credibility problem. I attended a meeting of a Loudoun County school group a few months ago where he let school advocates know that he would favor a ½-cent increase in the sales tax. Now, he opposes it. Do we really want for Lt. Gov. a man who can’t keep his word?

The Hampton Roads Daily Press has a great editorial today pointing out that even the anti-tax zealots are conceding that the growth in the state budget over the last several years was in the non-general fund, which is for the most part mandated, and now point to the growth during the “dot-com bubble.” Guess who was governor then?

The Virginian Pilot says the House bill shouldn’t be “the final word.” Amen.

Bob Gibson at the Charlottesville Daily Progress points out the disingenuous poll by Del. Rob Bell (R-Albemarle County).

Even the New York Times editorial page is weighing in on the Commonwealth’s budget impasse.

Charlottesville police are asked to “cease your practice of detaining African-American men practically at random” for DNA testing. One woman asked police if they “would undergo widespread testing of white men if the rapist were white.”

Christian college acting like anything but.

The Inspector General position that Warner plans to sign on to will cost taxpayers $500,000 a year. (See previous post.) The devil will be in the details as to whether it becomes a political football.

Maybe Attorney General Jerry Kilgore was part of the eavesdropping scandal after all.

The 17 or so “mavericks” in the House are expected to help pass a “compromise” budget today. I’ve written before that my view is there are only a couple of real mavericks in the group; the others simply understand real politick.

Last night, 350 people showed up at the Waynesboro City Council budget hearing to advocate for more school funding.

Waynesboro’s population is just under 20,000. If the same proportion of citizens showed up at Fairfax County budget hearings, which already consume three nights with at least 60 speakers a night, there would be nearly 18,000 trying to cram into the county’s “board room.” It would be considered a revolution in the state’s most populous county. If the state cuts more funds for education, it may come to that. But it’s already happening in places like Waynesboro.

Listen to Waynesboro city resident David Dixon, as reported by the Augusta Free Press:

“I realize that some very difficult decisions need to be made by this city council. And I realize that the lack of leadership in Richmond is not making your job any easier. But the school system is facing the same kind of challenges that you are. And for the school system to be able to move forward, it’s going to need to get the level of funding that is necessary to allow it to meet the growing needs of the community.”

What does a recognition of the lack of leadership mean for the GOP in 2005?

Listen to school-board member Waynesboro’s Jonathan Lovelady, a school board member and pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church:

“This political posturing at the expense of our children has to stop. My hope is that every child, black or white, rich or poor, living in the Philippines or in Pelham, in the Tree Streets or on Rosser Avenue, every one of them, will have the opportunity to succeed.”

The problem for the GOP may be that just about everyone of those kids has a parent who can vote.

Governor Mark Warner has announced he will sign an executive order for an inspector general, a long sought addition to government by Del. Gary Reese, one of the 17 delegates considering the House compromise budget bill. The order presumably also calls for future budget bills “to set forth each agency’s mission, goals and objectives, objective performance measures and descriptions of (i) how the goals and objectives are directly related to furthering the agency’s mission, and (ii) how the agency is operating to achieve its mission, goals and objectives,” as outlined in Reese’s Budget Reform and State Inspector General Act of 2004.

Reese’s bill would provide for the IG to conduct “independent evaluations of the programs and activities of such agencies, and investigate complaints alleging fraud, waste, abuse, or corruption by state officers and state employees. A record exemption from the Freedom of Information Act is also provided for investigative notes, correspondence and information furnished in confidence to the State Inspector General during the investigation of a complaint.”

In many ways, a simpler budget would be a good thing, but I find it ironic that Republicans, many of whom complain about government administrative inefficiencies, would seek to smother government with another layer of review. And when you read Reese’s bill, it seems to require a lot from eacy agency, for better or worse.

Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy J. Longo will meet with the community to address concerns about racial profiling in search of a serial rapist. The meeting will be 8:00 tonight in Room 104 of Clark Hall on the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville.

Wonder where our tax money goes? Del. Harry Morgan (R-Middlesex) is one of the mavericks who has the facts. (I can’t find the web link, but here’s an excerpt from the Hampton Roads Daily Press story):

Since 2001, the state has enrolled 44,000 more people into Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the needy and disabled. It has 36,000 more children in public schools, 12,000 more students in state colleges and universities, 4,600 more state-responsible prisoners, 1,900 more kids in foster care and 15,000 more children in FAMIS, a health insurance program for children of working families.

Last year, the state closed a $2.1 billion gap by leaning on one-time fixes – nearly 45 percent of the actions that it took can’t be duplicated this year.

The required and high-priority items for the next two years carry a price tag of nearly $1.5 billion. That doesn’t include pay raises or three new prisons to be built in response to mandatory sentencing guidelines.

Sen. Brandon Bell (R-Roanoke) has an answer for Virginia’s budget problems.

Christina Nuckols of the Virginian-Pilot has a good story on sales tax exemptions.

Who’s taking taxpayers money because of the budget impasse?

Here’s an idea how to pay for goods schools: Fatten our kids

Virginians are singing the same sad song.

*Virginia’s state/local tax burden percentage ranks 37th in the nation, substantially below the national average of 10.0%.
*Virginia’s top state income tax rate ranks 13th lowest among states levying one.
*Among states levying corporate income taxes, Virginia’s rate ranks 9th lowest nationally, making Virginia’s business tax climate 21st in the nation.
*As we well know by now, Virginia levies the second lowest sales tax and lowest cigarette tax in the nation.
*Virginia taxpayers receive more federal funding per dollar of federal taxes paid compared to the average state, making Virginia a beneficiary state.

See here for the latest data from the Tax Foundation

Is the House a workable compromise? Probably yes. Will it solve our long-term problems. It probably won’t even solve our short-term problems.

Some have called the 17 GOP delegates who’ve supported HB 5018 as courageous and mavericks. The only true maverick in the bunch is Del. Jim Dillard (Fairfax). From the get-go, he’s advocated higher taxes for core needs. Others are to be respected for their work, Preston Bryant (Lynchburg) for crafting the compromise and Phil Hamilton (Newport News) for some creative thinking.

But the rest are simply responding to the wrath of their constituents. And I don’t see Del. Joe May (R-Leesburg) among them.

Here’s what the Hampton Roads Daily Press Editorial page thinks:

Mavericks? At what point did fulfilling legislative responsibility – which entails reaching agreement on the budget between the two legislative chambers – justify characterization as a “maverick?”

It’s taken hundreds upon hundreds of mad-as-hell citizens at town hall meetings to move most of the 17 off the anti-tax dime.

As the Roanoke Times put it:

Excuse us, but when shouldn’t conscience constitute a higher priority for a self-respecting lawmaker than caucus loyalty?

Kerry Dougherty of the Virginian Pilot says the Assembly has done nothing meaningful this session.

The Easter weekend recess is designed to garner support for HB 5018 as the end of the discussion and to position the House as the ultimate winners, as the Staunton News Leader suggests:

The House’s hand-off to the governor smells like more buck-passing to us. It sets up a scenario whereby if the House and Senate cannot achieve consensus, it is the governor’s fault for not giving the House compromise a ringing endorsement. If, on the other hand, the governor was to give the measure the thumbs up, the delegates could take the political heat off themselves and blame the governor.

As House Finance Chairman Harry Parrish (R-Manassas) said, HB 5018 won’t solve the long-term, fundamental problems in Virginia’s budget. And it doesn’t adequately address tax reform. The folks making $2 million a year will still pay the same rate as those making $20,000.

Meanwhile, localities make up the difference. And tuitions continue to rise. Adding insult to injury the General Assembly is demanding tuitions go up:

Last year, [Virginia State U]niversity had the third lowest combined tuition and mandatory fees for undergraduates among all 15 of the state’s public institutions of higher learning. Its in-state undergraduate and graduate tuition rate was the lowest in the Commonwealth. The General Assembly has therefore directed VSU to increase its rates, according to a report provided to the Board of Visitors.

Meanwhile, we’re still paying the price of former Gov. George Allen’s “no-parole” edict.

While some localities tax-base shrink, the “compromise” compromises their ability to grow.

And the no-taxers beg credulity:

“I sent out a mailer to my area to see what they wanted me to do. Fifty-to-one said not to raise taxes but to cut spending.”
–Delegate Terry Kilgore, R-Gate City (“The evil twin”; the other one is “the other evil twin”)

God bless the fearless Democrat:

“The problem with Democrats … it depends on your perception. Some people say they have no ideas. Others say they have 100 ideas. Either way, the party is sinking in the quicksand, and they will never be able to represent the people if they don’t stand up and say, ‘This is who we are. This is what we are.’

“’It says a lot about the state of the Democratic Party in the Sixth District that you can make a two-minute speech and get asked if you want to run for Congress.’”

A journalistic note: Having written columns myself, I’ve sometimes cringed when I see the headline the papers put on them. I don’t know what to think of this one. If being responsible means you’re this, then count me in.

The Commonwealth Commonsense blog has a new web address (although the old one will still work just fine). It’s www.CommonwealthCommonsense.com

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