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By ANDY GUEST
State Delegate
The budget Message delivered by the Governor this week had something for alniost everybody - something like a pizza with all the toppings, giving a little taste for everyone.
The tab at the door of the legislature, for the moment at least, is a whopping $22.5 billion - the largest two-year spending bill ever introduced in Virginia.
Increases in education and human services appropriations are the big ticket requests during the 198890 biannual budget cycle, with more money going to localities for Basic Aid to Education, teachers salaries, boosting the state’s share of medicaid payments for the elderly, and increased funding for mental health and local drug programs, among others.
While the Governor maintains there will be no new tax increases to pay for all the items on his wish list over the next two years, on closer examination I foresee some problems.
For example, he has recommended that we rely on revenues from the lottery to pay for future state construction projects. This puts these plans at the mercy of an unpredictable source of funding and, more importantly, allows for increased spending in other on-going
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Del. Andy Guest (R-31) represents Rappahannock County in the Virginia House of Delegates. Since 1986 he has also served as the House Minority Leader.
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