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Now We Know What They Meant...

Over the last year, you have heard a lot about “tax reform” in Virginia. This week we found out what they meant by “tax reform,” they meant “more taxes.” This may not be a surprise, but there are times I'd rather be wrong...

The Best Part About Some Movies Is "The End"... But Not The Ending

The Virginia General Assembly finally came to an end on Friday, May 7th with the passage of the Virginia budget. That budget includes tax increases that are now estimated to be $1.6 billion – by far the biggest tax increase in Virginia history. A band of anti-tax Senators and Delegates did all they could to avoid this debacle, but we were thwarted by a coalition of Republicans joined by virtually all of the Democrats.

There were some regional elements to the tax hike. Once the tax ball got rolling down hill, as usual, Fairfax came out on the short end of things. The one tax program that benefits Fairfax County, the car tax cut, was capped. The result of this will be a gradual increase in your car tax bill starting in the next fiscal year.

It is interesting to note how important it was to those seeking to increase taxes that the cap on car tax relief will not go into effect until after the 2005 election. God forbid that we have accountability in our elections...

One amazing aspect of the final stages of the tax increase bill is that many delegates and senators voted for HB 5018 (the tax increase) without even knowing what portion of the sales tax increase would go where. It was intentionally left as an open question, yet they voted for it nonetheless! In Fairfax, the range of possibilities varies from approximately $24 million to $62 million! The unmistakeable conclusion is that the pro-tax delegates were fixated on raising taxes, and they were not concerned with how or where the money was going to be spent. This was a question about the size of government, and those of us that believe that government is too big or growing too fast lost to those that look to government to solve every problem.

My Version of Tax Reform

The same Senate Finance Committee that proposed a $3.7 billion tax increase in February, rejected my proposal to give Counties like Fairfax the ability to levy the same taxes as cities, so long as they reduced their real estate taxes by the amount of the new taxes (e.g., on cigarettes, admissions, etc.). In fact, it was voluntary for Counties – they only had to adopt the proposed tax diversification if they wanted to reduce the burden on the real estate tax – otherwise they had the option of continuing with their current tax structure. This was the only true tax reform proposal that I am aware of in the Senate this year.

The Responsible Faction

I want to make one last point on the budget and tax debate that has finally ended in Virginia. When the possibility arose that there would be no budget agreement, and that there could be a government shutdown, it was the anti-tax delegates and senators that put forward interim budget bills to bridge the gap. The anti-tax House of Delegates passed such a bill and Sen. Jay O’Brien submitted such a bill in the Senate, which I co-sponsored. The pro-tax Senate Finance Committee bottled up these bills. It was the pro-tax Senators that played a game of chicken with state government, threatening a government shutdown if they did not get their way. Interestingly, the Senate Finance Committee did not kill these bills. They kept them alive in case they changed their mind and needed the bills to keep the government operating.

It was the anti-tax delegates and senators that took steps to avoid a government shutdown, while the pro-tax forces used the threat as a bargaining chip.

A New Tactic?

This is the first time in history that the state budget has been held hostage to force tax increases. It resulted in almost doubling the length of the legislative session, and it ended with the biggest tax increase in Virginia’s history. For the sake of Virginia, I hope that this does not become a new tactic in Virginia, as it will destroy the citizen-legislature and wreak havoc with local government budgeting every time it is employed.

Perhaps a Constitutional Amendment giving the Governor the sole authority to write a budget in the absence of a budget bill from the General Assembly by the end of the legislative session would avoid this problem in the future. At the very worst, the Governor would (presumably) be writing a budget without tax increases, as those are supposed to be passed as separate bills...

NEW DATE!

We have rescheduled the legislative dessert (no tax increase indigestion jokes please). It has been moved from May 11th to Wednesday, May 26th. Please join us on the evening of May 26th! If you can't make it to the event, please make a donation to our campaign at https://www.visteva.com/edonations/ap/index.cfm?acctid=80807, but we'd love to see you there (I know many of you are too far to attend, but a contribution would be helpful!).

As was the case last year, the discussion will be MUCH more than a mere "legislative update."

Please join
Senator Ken Cuccinelli
for a

Legislative Wrap-up & Discussion of the 2004 General Assembly Session

with
Dessert & Coffee
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
at the Home of
Stan & Monica Reid
5464 Marlstone Lane, Fairfax, VA 22030

$25/person $40/couple
(checks taken at the door,
but please let us know you're coming)

Please R.S.V.P. to:
Meredith Quillen
by e-mail: Meredith@cuccinelli.com
or by phone: (703) 766-0635

ALSO, Volunteers are needed to help make this event a success! Please e-mail us today to help, as the volunteers are needed today, not just on the date of the event! Please call or e-mail today!

Don't miss it! You will want to hear the inside scoop... and I'm not just talking about the desserts!

Please Remember Our Clergy Breakfast

We are going to start an annual breakfast with clergy members in our area this year. If you are willing to help us put this event together, please e-mail Heidi Salkeld at HLSalkeld@hotmail.com. This is a new outreach program that we will gradually push forward in Northern Virginia in an effort to engage clergy members in issues of concern to them and their congregations. Additionally, we will provide them all the tools that they need to conduct voter registration drives in their churches.

We still need sponsors to make this new event a success.

We have several levels of sponsorship: $250 Platinum Sponsor (4 clergy members with special recognition during the event and in the program); $150 Gold Sponsor (3 clergy members with recognition during the event and in the program); $100 Pearl Sponsor (2 clergy members with recognition in the program); $50 Sponsor (1 clergy member with acknowledgement in the program); any amount below $50 would be a welcome contribution to the success of the event as well.

Those willing to be Benefactors of the event, with sponsorships above $250, are asked to contact Heidi Salkeld directly at 703-405-2141 or HLSalkeld@hotmail.com. To be a sponsor, all you need to do is to donate the appropriate amount by clicking here. The hyperlink is coded to tell us that you're sponsoring the clergy breakfast, and the amount of your sponsorship will tell us what level of support you intend. Thank you in advance for your generosity to insure the success of this special event.

It has been a long and unfortunate session. There is much more to lament than to celebrate, but I appreciate the support of every one of you during this year's session, and I look forward to continuing to work toward our shared conservative goals.

I will be in touch!

Sincerely,
Senator Ken Cuccinelli