Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 13, 1995 TAG: 9501190024
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
... IF THERE is a metaphor for our moment in history, it is found in Robert Frost's well-known poem, "The Road Not Taken." There, he describes a traveler who pauses at a fork in the road and, instead of choosing the well-worn path, summons the courage to take the less-traveled, but more promising course. ...
We, too, stand at a fork in the road.
The General Assembly must come to terms with two contrasting philosophies - two conflicting visions - of what government should do, and what are the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
Will our state continue down the path of bigger government, increased spending and taxes, deepening dependency and declining values?
Or, will we make government smaller and more focused on core governmental duties - allowing you to keep more of your hard-earned money? ...
A year ago, I was elected by clear-thinking Virginians who sent a very direct and compelling message: Cut wasteful, bureaucratic spending; lower taxes; reduce the size and reach of government; and make state government more efficient and more effective in meeting its essential responsibilities.
A significant aspect of this new direction ... is our plan to cut taxes by $2.1 billion and reduce unnecessary government spending.
My proposal cuts the state income tax. Why? Because the income tax is a tax on work, a tax on productivity, and a tax on effort and self-reliance. ...
We hear the excuse that other states to the north of us have a higher total tax burden than Virginia's. Well, my response is this: If some members of the General Assembly find that fact somehow persuasive - if they really believe Virginians are not taxed enough - then I reckon they'll vote against my tax-cut proposals.
But for those legislators who care about helping working families, the facts are:
Virginia's individual income-tax burden, per capita, is among the top third in the country.
Virginia's personal exemption is the second worst in the nation. ...
I also have proposed to increase job opportunities for Virginians by phasing out a tax that is broadly acknowledged as a job killer - the despised gross-receipts tax. ...
Turning to other areas of the budget, the amendments I have proposed will ensure increased funding in this biennium for you people's top priorities and the government's primary responsibilities - education, law enforcement and job creation.
At the same time, it achieves savings by reducing the size of central office bureaucracies, and by decreasing spending on activities that cannot be justified as essential for Virginia's taxpayers to pay.
For every item in the budget, I asked two key questions:
``Is this activity, no matter how well-intentioned or entrenched; is it essential for state government and taxpayers to provide?''
``Is this activity more important than a tax cut for all of Virginia's working families and small businesses - or other priorities the citizens have in law enforcement, education and job creation?'' ...
As we embrace the people's vision of leaner, more efficient and more accountable government at all levels, we must forge a new partnership between the state and local governments in Virginia.
Before I became governor, unfunded mandates on localities were commonplace. To change that, I said that I would veto any unfunded mandates the legislature sent me. That's what I did. And I am prepared to follow through on that commitment again this year.
Despite the imperative of downsizing state government and meeting our citizens' demands for tax and spending reductions, my budget proposals provide more than a 13 percent increase in state aid to localities over this biennium.
And I propose to eliminate the job-killing gross receipts tax, not by leaving localities high and dry, but by cutting state spending in order to provide replacement revenue. This commitment extends to each of the budgets I will submit as governor. And, as I have stated before, if the General Assembly sends me a reasonable bill that continues replacement funding for the gross receipts tax beyond the next five years, I will be pleased to sign it. ...
Along with cutting taxes and reducing spending, there are other essential building blocks in the solid foundation for our new era of freedom, opportunity and responsibility in Virginia. One is welfare reform. ...
The welfare-reform legislation I will submit this session reflects our new vision of opportunity and independence.
It is a comprehensive, statewide plan to replace welfare with work. Able-bodied citizens will no longer receive benefits unless they are willing to work for them.
And even this assistance will be temporary. Since the objective is independence, our new program is designed to get people off of the welfare rolls and into productive, private-sector jobs. The only way to make that happen is to place a limit - and I propose a two-year limit - on welfare benefits for able-bodied recipients. ...
As we seek a renewal of private action to improve our communities, we also must change the way government treats the most important private institution - the family. ... We must recognize that parents have the right - and the responsibility - to guide the development of their children.
In this session of the General Assembly:
I will propose measures to strengthen our ability to establish paternity and enforce child-support obligations. Specifically, I propose to: deprive ``deadbeat'' fathers of their driving privileges, except to work; and, hold parents of fathers under 18 financially liable for child support, if the minor father is unable to meet his obligation.
I will ask the legislature to promote parental involvement in the sensitive decisions about abortion and sex education for minors.
And I will seek legislation requiring young welfare recipients to live with a parent or legal guardian as a condition of receiving temporary assistance.
The decline of the family has many devastating consequences, but none is more alarming than the rapid growth in juvenile crime. ... During the coming year, Attorney General Jim Gilmore will, at my request, chair a gubernatorial commission that will address the pressing problem of increased juvenile crime and offer specific solutions.
Our hope for the future lies in strong families. It also lies in quality education.
I firmly believe that more decisions about education must be made at the community level, where parents have an effective voice in the decisions that affect the schooling of their children. ...
Today, the most essential reform needed in public education is a return to high academic standards in the basics of English, science, math and history.
In less than three weeks, my superintendent of public instruction will present to the state Board of Education a comprehensive revision of the Standards of Learning. ...
This is the first step in a process that will give these high academic standards the force of regulations, measure student performance against these standards through regular testing, and provide a meaningful system of accountability and accreditation based on academic achievement.
I also will ask the General Assembly to embrace the charter school concept. ...
Finally, it accomplishes very little to talk about high academic standards when fear stalks our schools. ... It's high time to empower our dedicated and conscientious teachers, and to help them take charge of their classrooms without fear of reprisal or lawsuits. Therefore, I will submit legislation to grant teachers immunity from liability for the reasonable actions they may take to discipline or assist students, and maintain order in their classrooms. ...
Just as we seek to empower parents and local communities through education and other reforms, so, too, must we insist on the decentralization of power from Washington. ...
For the first time in our lifetimes, there is not only the possibility, but the promise, that pestering federal interference and federal mandates on state and local governments will be pared back and, in some cases, eliminated altogether.
Of course, we cannot stand by and wait for this change. We must defend Virginians' rights and prerogatives. That's exactly what Attorney General Gilmore and I did on Monday, when we went to court to challenge the constitutionality of the burdensome dictates of the EPA.
But the good news is that we are no longer in this battle alone.
In November, I hosted a second revolutionary gathering in Colonial Williamsburg. There, a majority of the nation's governors gathered, and we invited the newly elected congressional leadership to join us. Together, we are charting a new direction for our country - away from the failed approach of centralized power in Washington, and back to the founders' design of a true federal system of shared powers and dual sovereignty. ...
I call on the General Assembly to seize this unique opportunity and issue a ringing bipartisan endorsement of this new vision of federalism and self-determination, including participation in the historic Conference of the States to be held later this year. ...
If the General Assembly truly embraces this new vision of freedom - if they trust the people as I do - then they must understand that initiative and referendum is an idea whose time has come. It is high time to give Virginians this basic right to direct the course of their government. ...
In preparing this budget, I had to make many tough decisions and hard choices.
Now it is time for members of the General Assembly to choose - the stultifying status quo, or an invigorating new era of freedom, opportunity and responsibility for you, the people of Virginia. ...
by CNB