Roanoke Times: Bolling's Attacks "Utterly ridiculous"

Editorial: Tough choices ahead in Virginia

The governor has to make more budget cuts that will affect core services. Virginians can vote to protect services in the future — or not.

Last week’s grim news that Virginia faces another $1.5 billion revenue shortfall forces Gov. Tim Kaine to make the fourth round of cuts to the state’s general fund since September.

That means cutting deeper yet into the commonwealth’s core services: education, health (including mental health) and public safety.

Virginians should keep in mind during this year’s election campaigns that these already reduced services are what are at stake when candidates talk about shrinking government or avoiding new transportation taxes by tapping into the general fund’s revenue streams.

The former is conservative boilerplate in every campaign season. The latter is an integral part of Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell’s supposedly painless plan to salvage the wreckage of Virginia’s revenue-starved transportation department.

Tuesday, the day before Kaine briefed the General Assembly’s money committees on the new general fund shortfalls, Transportation Secretary Pierce Homer said the state is projecting an additional $900 million shortfall in its separate roads fund, bringing the total decline to an expected $4.6 billion over six years.

Raids on one pot of money to replenish the other will not work in these extraordinary times, when both funds are faltering.

Unlike in earlier rounds of budget cutting, Democrat Kaine will base the latest reductions on the most pessimistic revenue projections available. Lawmakers from both parties agreed caution is the wiser course, but the cuts will hurt.

To their credit, Republicans mainly tempered their reaction, perhaps reserving criticism until Kaine announces specific budget cuts, probably soon after Labor Day.

Still, GOP Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, who is running for re-election in November, insisted last week that Kaine’s earlier reliance on what proved to be overly optimistic budget projections has left the state in this fine fix.

Utterly ridiculous.

The blame lies with a historic recession. It has led to declining revenue projections for two years in a row, something unprecedented in Virginia, Kaine said. State revenues fell by 9.2 percent last year, the steepest dive in modern history. Despite signs the economy might be turning around, tax collections are expected to be down another 1.6 percent this year.

Kaine maintained needed services as much as possible in the not unreasonable expectation of a reversal in the state’s fortunes. He has made repeated, deep budget cuts, though, and in a carefully targeted way to minimize the damage to Virginians.

The state Republican Party chairman pooh-poohed the Kaine legacy as one the commonwealth cannot afford. Given the hard times and a hostile Republican House, though, Kaine has done quite well by Virginia.

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