VIRGINIANS respectfully disagree when asked what the appropriate role of government should be in their lives. The current budget battle in the General Assembly's House of Delegates demonstrates that Virginia has transitioned into a new era of fiscal radicalism that challenges even the most conservative eras of her post-Reconstruction history.
Gov. Mark R. Warner's tax reform proposals were killed in Committee yesterday by the Republican majority. While the outcome is likely unsurprising to many, the stakes in this battle over the fiscal future of the Commonwealth illustrates an important transition in political culture in the Old Dominion. As the Virginia's suburbanites occupy a growing political majority, the nature and realities of suburban life are slowly transitioning the state away from traditional support of key areas of infrastructure in favor of a laissez-faire system of government minimalism. Simply put: The era of state government services is over.
Two weeks ago, an internal memo to House Republicans quoted Tuesday in The Washington Post ("Governor Announces Specifics Of $1 Billion Va. Tax Overhaul") made clear that balancing the budget without any attempt to increase revenue (i.e. increase taxes or user fees) will result in substantial cuts to local governments and funds for education, transportation, health care, public safety and other popular programs. This offers a strong retort to those who would advocate that state government simply "cut the fat" from the budget. It would appear that the cutting has penetrated deep into muscle and bone. And yet House Republicans balk at the notion of even reviewing the fine print of Warner's proposal. In reference to material provided by the governor's office, House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, scoffed, "I'm not even going to read it."
Indeed, the Republican majority knows what side of the bread its butter is on. After regional sales tax defeats in the largest metropolitan areas of the state -- Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads -- in 2002 that would have provided large pools of cash for regional transportation improvements, it is clear that the public will not stomach taxes of any kind even for vital services. These defeats sent a vibrant message that revenue increases, even when earmarked for the most necessary of improvements, are not politically acceptable to suburban regions of the Commonwealth.
This is a relatively new political phenomenon. Even as late as 1988, a special session of the General Assembly convened to overhaul the transportation system and approve an infusion of capital that sustained Virginia's transportation network for over a decade. Nor can the current fiscal conservatives hark back to Southern Democratic ancestors in order to legitimate their cuts. Gov. Mills Godwin, arguably the last Southern Democrat to hold Virginia's highest office, levied the state sales tax in order to create the state's community college system.
Today's new fiscal radicalism is a breed of politics forged out of the booming suburban communities that have grown up in the last 50 years. Cities such as Chesapeake, Virginia Beach and Suffolk, along with counties like Henrico, Fairfax, Prince William and Loudon, have all seen dramatic development. Low property values and economic prosperity led to a rapid rate of growth in the swath of development between No.Va. and Tidewater.
As Virginia transitioned from the industrial and agricultural economy to a new service and technology-based economy, the voters have changed too. More voters live in cul-de-sacs which require long commutes to work. They don't discuss politics at the barber shop or bowling alley. Virginians move more often, without developing a sense of investment in a community. While these changes reflect the accelerating pace of today's globalized economy, the effects at the local level are pervasive. This is not to argue that things would be better if everyone lived on a farm or in a city. Instead, without a strong connection to a community, the commitment to funding government services beyond those used by a majority of voters disappears.
Virginians will continue to put off investing in the infrastructure of society as long as the barest of services can be maintained. And yet, even as schools become overcrowded, roads become gridlocked, jails fill beyond capacity and colleges turn away qualified students, delegates in the House of Delegates will spar against any and all proponents of tax increases, not because it's the right play, but because it's the smart one. Spoiled by the tech boom of the late 1990s, when we had our cake and ate it too, taxes were cut and spending ballooned. Of course, after the bubble burst, Warner entered office with a several million dollar shortfall in what he had expected.
Conservatives can celebrate. The era of government services in Virginia is over. But without investing in the engines that drive the economy -- education and transportation, for example -- we welcome a new era in which Virginia is left behind.
(Preston Lloyd's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at plloyd@cavalierdaily.com.)
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