Joe Rogalsky, The Examiner
2007-12-18 08:00:00.0
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Richmond -

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine rolled out a $78 billion, two-year spending proposal Monday that he said would keep the state “moving forward” despite a tight budget.

Kaine’s plan, which would take effect July 1, calls for new investments in K-12 public education ($1 billion), mental health services ($46 million) and prekindergarten programs ($54 million).

The most obvious effect the budget may have on Virginians’ lives comes from a provision requiring vehicles to be inspected every two years instead of annually. The fee would increase from $16 to $20, but the change would save residents $12 over the two-year period. Kaine is also proposing to raise by $10 the fee motorists pay every five years to renew their driver’s licenses.

Monday’s fiscal blueprint is $4 billion higher than the current two-year budget, which expires June 30. Increases in the costs of essential services, such as public safety and health care, ate up most of the new revenue available for Kaine’s proposal, but the governor also included $600 million in spending cuts and savings in his budget.

“If we want to continue to be successful, we cannot just stand in place because revenues are tight,” Kaine said Monday in a speech to legislators.

He also recommended keeping $180 million that was scheduled to be used for transportation projects in the state’s general operating account, where it would fund other services. The money was earmarked as part of April’s massive transportation-funding bill.

Republicans blasted the shuffling of the transportation funds and other aspects of the governor’s plans, which they said were too extravagant given the state’s economic uncertainty brought on by the slumping housing market. Approving new spending now, the GOP lawmakers said, only will postpone painful budget cuts.

“I can appreciate the governor’s desire to leave a legacy by completing all of the promises — including the universal pre-K initiative — he made during the course of his 2005 campaign,” said House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem. “But a successful legacy cannot be built by delaying the difficult decisions for future administrations and general assemblies.”

Griffith and his GOP brethren also criticized Kaine for proposing to withdraw $260 million from the state’s reserve account to help plug an estimated revenue shortfall in the current operating budget.

Kaine said Monday that the legal requirements governing withdrawals from the reserve have been met, but legislators said additional spending cuts should be found instead.

jrogalsky@dcexaminer.com