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sembly for a vote at yet another special session and then sent to the U.S. Department of Justice for its blessing.
Earlier, the governor had inconvenienced political columnists such as myself by suggesting he would take a meat ax to the state’s $26 billion budget because he felt it contained too much non-essential spending.
That came about when Gov. Wilder sent down an unprecedented 84 budget amendments, which were approved by a narrow margin in the House of Delegates. However, the Senate, led by the aforementioned Sen. Gartlan and Majority Leader Hunter B. Andrews, turned down 59 of those amendments.
Just when it appeared a confrontation of historic proportions was about to take place between the executive and legislative branches, Gov. Wilder let out the news he had decided to cut just $800,000 from the supposedly pork-riddled budget, a minuscule amount in the scheme of things.
His reasoning was that he could not cut out some $14 million or more unnecessary spending without destroying whole programs that were worthwhile. If that were the case, then he certainly knew it earlier as he was suggesting he would strike new blows for fiscal responsibility.
In fairness, let me say I may be bothered more than most about such things because several columns I’ve written about Gov. Wilder have been outdated swiftly by events. Perhaps if the governor could wait a couple of weeks before changing his mind, I’d feel better about it.
(Editor's note: John Goolrick, a former political reporter, is now an aide to 7th District Rep. D. French Jr. Opinions expressed are his own.)
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