Sen. Mark Obenshain: Virginia needs to rein in spending

Sen. Mark Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg) today expressed his disappointment in Governor Tim Kaine's revised state budget calling for increased taxes after saying he would not do so to balance the budget:

This morning, Gov. Tim Kaine issued a revised budget addressing the serious budget shortfall for the current biennium. In this period of economic downturn, the Governor and those of us in the General Assembly face hard choices, and I commend the governor for his proposals to reduce expenditures. I remain concerned, however, that this latest round of cuts may be insufficient, and I am disappointed to see that the Governor has reneged on his promise to balance the budget without raising taxes. Perhaps even more troubling is the Governor's reliance on bond issues, "saving" $350 million this biennium by passing along even greater debt to another year and the next gubernatorial administration.

When faced with a revenue shortfall, increasing the tax burden has a certain allure in its seeming simplicity. The reality, however, is that tax hikes penalize economic activity and place recovery itself in jeopardy, and funds raised by taking on new debts are not "savings." To raise taxes and go further into debt is to compound folly; it is an extension of the mistaken policies that led us to this point.

Make no mistake: through new bond issues, deferred payment of principle on existing bonds, and the shifting of payments to non-general fund sources, the Governor seeks to pass the bill on to another biennium and another governor rather than doing what it takes to solve the problem. Accounting tricks and new debt obligations can only deepen the crisis. We need to rein in spending, not hide it, and a government concerned about the Commonwealth's bond rating and invested in economic recovery cannot afford to engage in a high-dollar version of balancing the budget by putting everything on a charge card.

Declining revenues were inevitable in a recession that knows no political boundaries, but the scope of Virginia's shortfall is directly attributable to unrealistically high revenue projections and a budget that increased spending in the face of unmistakable signs of economic decline. Even now, the Governor's latest proposal relies on a presumption of 4% growth in the upcoming fiscal year, and his revenue projections are based upon a constant unemployment rate - even though the governor's own budget office expects the rate of unemployment to climb.

We cannot afford to close the gap incrementally, going back to find more savings each time revenues fail to meet projections, nor can we content ourselves to find "efficiencies." The situation we now face demands a thorough, top-to-bottom review of the entire budget. We should always seek to eliminate inefficiencies, but that is not enough. Any viable, long-term solution requires an assessment of the Commonwealth's priorities and a review of the best, most cost-effective ways to achieve them - an analysis based not on existing programs, but on desired outcomes.

In addition to $167 million in tax increases and $350 million in bonded debt, the Governor seeks permission to tap $490 million from the Commonwealth's Rainy Day Fund. We owe it to the taxpayers of Virginia to ensure that they need not continue to pay for a storm of our own making. To the extent that the Governor's Department of Planning and Budget has identified hundreds of millions in unnecessary administrative costs, I applaud this progress, but am disheartened that wasteful spending was deemed appropriate, or at least unimportant, until we faced a fiscal crisis.

The budget proposal released by the Governor today is a start, but much work remains to be done. We cannot rely, as this proposal does, on unsubstantiated hopes of better days ahead, nor can we afford to delay the deepest cuts until 2010. Such tactics will only exacerbate the problem and necessitate more drastic cuts in the future. In times such as these, we cannot further burden Virginia's taxpayers - and we cannot push the hardest decisions down the road.

The time has come to restore the fiscal integrity of that Commonwealth. The decisions that lie ahead will require careful discretion, and the decisions we must make may at times be unpleasant, but I look forward to working with both Republicans and Democrats to adopt budget amendments that are both responsible and taxpayer-friendly.

Cross-posted at SixtyFour81.com

Will today be last day of General Assembly?

Maybe.

Delegate Chris Saxman: Repeated attacks on VA right-to-work law

By Chris Saxman

I wanted to take a moment to discuss an important issue that arose several times during the 2008 General Assembly session and will be addressed in the presidential race this year.

During the General Assembly session, the Governor and Democrats in the House of Delegates and the Senate were behind disturbing efforts to undermine Virginia's right-to-work law, a basic tenet of the Commonwealth’s business friendly environment. Though the measures failed in the House of Delegates, one would have allowed collective bargaining for public employees, while the other attempted to begin an irreversible trend towards compulsory organizing of employees.

Meanwhile, national Democrat presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama stumped in economically depressed states like Ohio demonizing free trade and extolling the virtues of mandatory unionism despite its devastating results on those very states.

Virginia has been rated the "Best State for Business" by Forbes Magazine for the last two years. Our state government routinely wins accolades, including "Best Managed State." A major factor behind these achievements is Virginia's right-to-work law. Businesses come to Virginia and other right-to-work states because they can do business without fear of striking unions jeopardizing their operations. Workers in right-to-work states are rewarded for their productivity and enjoy freedom and choice in the workplace without the fear they will be forced to join a union or participate in a strike. Not to mention the devastating fiscal impact on governments!

States that have right-to-work laws are quickly passing states without such laws when examining a variety of economic indicators including economic growth rates, per capita income, and manufacturing.

As noted by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, a recent study by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy compared the economies of Alabama, a right-to-work state, and Michigan, a state long dominated by union bosses. While automakers have dramatically reduced jobs in Michigan, the number of auto manufacturing jobs has tripled in Alabama. Between 2001 and 2006, Alabama has increased its workforce by 4 percent. Michigan's job losses were nearly 5 percent of its total workforce over that period. Per capita income in right-to-work states including Virginia, Florida, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, Wyoming and Texas is rapidly increasing and disposable income levels are higher than in states plagued by compulsory unionization.

Ohioans bemoan jobs losses and politicians blame free trade while advocating more unionism as a solution to a problem. In reality, forced unionism is a contributing factor to Ohio's economic troubles in the first place. Many foreign-owned companies, recognizing the plight of US automakers and industries in unionized states, are downright hostile, and for good reason, to locating operations in a state unless it has a right-to-work law.

According to the Wall Street Journal, “nearly 1,000 new plants have been built in Texas since 2005, from the likes of Microsoft, Samsung and Fujitsu. Foreign-owned companies supplied the state with 345,000 jobs.” Right-to-work states like Texas had far higher rates of job growth than Ohio between 1995 and 2005. The WSJ summed the situation up well, stating: “No wonder Texans don’t fear global competition the way some Presidential candidates do.”

Given these facts, it is hard to understand why Virginia Democrats are so intent on undermining Virginia's right-to-work law. When you consider the large amount of support, financial and physical, that Democrats take from labor unions, it becomes much easier to understand how the disastrous results of force unionization can be so easily ignored. If Virginia's economy is to remain vibrant and diversified, and if Virginia is to remain a best managed state with a business friendly environment, the right-to-work law must remain intact.

This issue comes down a choice between economic growth and economic stagnation, and is essential to our understanding of freedom in the United States. I am fully committed to protecting Virginia’s right-to-work law and ensuring Virginia remains a great place to live, work, raise a family and operate a business.

Cross-posted at SixtyFour81.com

Gun Show SB 109 defeated

With emotions running high as some families of Virginia Tech massacre victims joined others in the packed room, the Senate Courts of Justice Committee voted down SB 109, the so-called gun show "loophole" bill, by a vote of 9-6. The bill proposed that the government have a hand in individuals who want to sell firearms.

This has been written about extensively in the blogs. More info can be found at the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Cross-posted at SixtyFour81.com

Saxman bill limiting Party events during Session passes House...

... faces stiff opposition in Senate

Delegate Chris Saxman (R-Staunton) introduced a bill that would prevent legislators, the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and members of the Virginia congressional delegation from attending Party-sponsored fundraisers during a regular General Assembly session. His concern was the influence such events could have over legislators. The bill overwhelmingly passed the House 95-1.

It now goes to the Democrat-controlled Senate where it will likely face stiff opposition.

Cross-posted at SixtyFour81.com