Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 5, 1993 TAG: 9301050438
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Staff
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
BUDGETEERS IN ROANOKE
MEMBERS of the General Assembly's money committees are on the road again, out listening to what citizens of Virginia think of Gov. Wilder's latest budget proposals.That's as it should be. The citizens, after all, finance state government. And they're the ones who will be affected by midterm adjustments to the two-year budget the lawmakers will make at their '93 session. Still, even if legislators are simply doing their duty, credit them for endurance.
Public hearings on the budget often resemble bluefish feeding frenzies. Everybody nibbling for more money; everybody wanting a bigger bite.
The one scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday at Virginia Western Community College likely will prove no exception. No exception, either, will likely be the lawmakers' response to most pleadings: We'd love to help you but there's just not enough money . . . .
It does appear that only about $242 million - not a lot in Virginia's $29 billion spending plan - will be available from existing revenue sources for new appropriations. Much of that will be gobbled up by required spending on Medicaid and, if Wilder gets his way, on prison construction. That will leave precious little for anything else.
The assembly may find a way to give public-school teachers a raise, though Wilder isn't recommending it. With all members of the House of Delegates facing re-election in November, they won't be inclined to snub teachers - a politically active group.
Regrettably, though, there are many other worthy causes and growing problems for which Wilder also has not recommended funding initiatives. These include modest proposals, coming out of two study commissions, to reduce poverty in the commonwealth and to aid victims of sexual assault. There's also a pressing need to support more equity in public-school funding and quality in higher education.
The governor and assembly have shown commendable fiscal restraint during the hard times of late, but it is counterproductive to keep shunting aside some problems. The shortchanging of public education and anti-poverty efforts, for instance, has compounded the need for spending on such programs as prisons and Medicaid.
As legislators gather at Virginia Western tomorrow, we remind them that their budgeting task is not simply to make ends meet. It is also to keep Virginia moving in the right direction - forward - and to gather the resources necessary to accomplish this.
There is no good reason, even in an election year, why subjects for serious discussion should not include a modest increase in the state's sales tax; or higher excise taxes on alcohol, tobacco and gasoline; or income-tax reforms that would have wealthier Virginians carrying a fairer share of the tax burden. Any or all of these could be accomplished without pushing Virginia into the dreaded column of high-tax states.
But expect, tomorrow, more pleas for funds than talk of wherewithal.