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Tough Choices Thus the people of the state will probably find that the word most frequently used by their new governor will be “choices,” because Mr. Robb will be faced with some tough ones. They will not only be tough, -but for the Democrats, they could be politically explosive as well.
Many of his constituent groups may feel justified in hoping that with a Democrat in the Governor’s office, there would be some loosening of the purse strings, especially in the education and social service areas. This, however, is not likely to happen. It is not likely to happen because there is no money available in the proposed budget to permit it to happen.
And so it comes down to the critical choices. a _ These include the delicate decisions of where to spend the available revenues, how spending priorities should be ordered, and what further economies can be made.
Possible Tax Increase
They also include the possible option of a tax increase of some sort, although in the present political and economic climate, the possibility of persuading the General Assembly to go along with any kind of tax boost falls in the impossible dream category. After all, the members of the House of Delegates must stand for election next year under the new redistricting plan, and they don’t want a vote on a tax bill to further complicate their lives.
Thus it appears that, while Mr. Robb’s instincts may be directed more toward human concerns than were those of his two immediate predecessors, there is not much he can do about it in any substantive way.
His administration, like theirs, will be very much a creature of the fiscal and political realities and constraints under which he will be forced to govern.
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