Today is tax day.
People all across Virginia will write checks to Washington D.C., but even that won’t be enough to pay for all of Washington’s spending. The federal government will borrow about $4 billion today alone just to keep the lights on.
Deficits. Debt. Higher taxes. It’s become the new normal for the federal government. It’s costing us and it’ll cost our children.
We do things differently in Virginia.
First, unlike Washington, Virginia actually balances its budget. In fact, our state Constitution requires it. We can’t spend more money than we take in, we can’t print money like the federal government and we can’t borrow indefinitely without consequence. A lot like Virginia families, state government has to live within its means.
Because of our responsible fiscal management, Virginia is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s best states for business. The Commonwealth is one of just 10 states with a “AAA” bond rating from all three major credit monitoring agencies.
Second, unlike Washington, my colleagues and I in Richmond aren’t afraid to make the tough decisions. We won’t kick the can down the road. Since 2007, the General Assembly has cut $7 billion in proposed spending to address revenue shortfalls. Just last year, we closed a $2.4 billion budget shortfall without raising taxes. We closed big shortfalls in 2007 and 2009 without raising taxes.
We’ve also taken steps to address Virginia’s long-term unfunded liabilities. The 2012 reforms to the Virginia Retirement System will save taxpayers $9 billion in future liabilities. Compare that to Congress’ repeated inaction on entitlements.
All in all, general fund spending in Virginia is down 4 percent over the last 10 years when adjusted for population and inflation. We’re spending at or below 2009 spending levels in many categories.
Third, unlike Washington, we’ve kept taxes low. Since I became Speaker, the House of Delegates has consistently been a firewall against higher taxes. The tale of the tape speaks for itself.
Since 2003, the House of Delegates has defeated at least 26 different tax increases worth over $30.2 billion. That’s using a conservative estimate and not counting multiple iterations of the same tax increase. The number could be higher.
Just this year, the House of Delegates defeated an effort by Democrats to raise taxes by $500 million.
Virginia has the 6th lowest personal tax burden, according to the independent legislative watchdog JLARC. JLARC counts state and local taxes paid as a percentage of an individual’s personal income.
Balanced budgets. Cutting spending. Keeping taxes low. That’s how we’ve done it in Virginia and it works. The contrast between our approach and Washington’s repeated failures couldn’t be clearer.
Bill Howell is the Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates and represents the 28th District. He is running for the Republican nomination in the June 9th primary.
