Cut, slash, chop

By Published by The Editorial Board

Published: August 20, 2008

Virginia’s politicians are once again squabbling over money. But this time, the slowing national economy has made the disagreements more about timing and specifics than about new money for road construction — the last big fight.

With a statewide drop in consumer spending and rising unemployment, Virginia’s government is receiving fewer sales and income tax dollars. That has led to speculation that the commonwealth could be facing a billion-dollar hole — if not larger — in its new budget.

The projected deficit, regardless of its size, will be quickly filled. Virginia’s reputation as a well managed state has been built, in no small part, on the willingness of the governor and the General Assembly to cut the state’s budget when times get tough.

What’s different now is Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s willingness to take a long, tough look at all state spending — what he called a “comprehensive review of all options” — to solve the problem.

“The need to engage in a third major round of budget reductions will mean, by necessity, that all programs — including those previously held harmless — and all available strategies will be on the table for review,” Kaine said in a news release. “… We will continue to do all we can to protect core services, but the need for tough decisions will require examination of all areas of state spending.”

Kaine specifically mentioned public education, which was part of the two-thirds of the state’s general fund that wasn’t subjected to cuts in the last round of budget slashing.

Here in the Dan River Region, that will have a profound impact on the public schools. State money accounts for 56.8 percent Pittsylvania County’s school budget and 48.8 percent of Danville’s school budget.

That’s just one area of state spending. We can only guess what will happen to the budgets for law enforcement, prisons and mental health care, among others.

Virginia budgets two years into the future, and the economic events that will occur over the biennial are tough to predict. Budgets developed during the early years of an economic boom create large surpluses. Budgets that passed as the economy was tanking produce projected deficits that are quickly filled with spending cuts.

The good news is that the red ink isn’t real. Virginia’s government hasn’t spent more than it has taken in. But with revenue slowing down, state government spending is going to have to be cut.