KEY QUOTE
"The Senate’s plan provides for no pay increases for teachers or law enforcement officers, no bonus to state employees, and considerably less investment to the port and colleges.
And it leaves billions of Virginians’ federal tax dollars on the table in Washington, which Virginians have paid while receiving no benefit.
Few readers of this column would argue that Washington is more capable than Virginians of the prudent use of our tax dollars. Yet, through its budget plan, this is the argument that the Senate has chosen to make."
Morgan, Rust, and May column: The House budget is a solid fiscal plan
Richmond Times-Dispatch
by Former Delegates Harvey Morgan (R-98), Tom Rust (R-88), and Joe May (R-33)
We write as former Republican members of Virginia’s House of Delegates, privileged to have had more than 60 years of combined experience in the legislature.
Those years provided opportunities to advance fiscally responsible policies, and our records reflect a consistent effort to promote such plans through deliberative discourse and critical thought.
So, we were heartened by the initiative shown this session by Republican delegates to garner bipartisan support for a solidly conservative and fiscally responsible budget. The plan:
Provides funding to raise pay for teachers, law enforcement officers, and behavioral health staff members;
Designates funding for state employees to receive a bonus, contingent on the state hitting its revenue targets, later this year;
Invests significantly in the Port of Virginia and Virginia’s colleges and universities, major economic drivers in the commonwealth; and;
Utilizes federal tax dollars to combat the opioid epidemic, expands access to health insurance for Virginia’s working poor, and attempts to stabilize insurance premiums for other working Virginians.
These are worthy and important matters of fiscal policy, and the House budget plan is a testament to the diligence of the Appropriations Committee and its technical staff.
Consider that the House achieved its goals while using approximately the same Virginia tax revenue as a competing plan produced by the Senate.
The Senate’s plan provides for no pay increases for teachers or law enforcement officers, no bonus to state employees, and considerably less investment to the port and colleges.
And it leaves billions of Virginians’ federal tax dollars on the table in Washington, which Virginians have paid while receiving no benefit.
Few readers of this column would argue that Washington is more capable than Virginians of the prudent use of our tax dollars. Yet, through its budget plan, this is the argument that the Senate has chosen to make.
The current budget stalemate is largely a consequence of a coarsening political culture and hyper-partisanship that does not embrace “the Virginia Way.”
READ THE REST OF THE COLUMN HERE