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reform, education, growth, transportation and the environment.
High finance
“We must reform the way (the state government) is spending the taxpayers’ dollar,” he said TYiesday. “Not only is the money being misspent, it is being misapplied.”
Specifically, Fitch said that he recruited an expert on the subject to help him review the state budget. Upon doing so, he said that together they identified $1.5 billion in savings that could be realized by eliminating duplicated services and outsourcing state functions (such as mental health facilities) to localities.
Eleven states have already implemented a cap on spending, Fitch pointed out. He thinks Virginia should follow suit. Virginians would have paid $1,500 less in taxes (in recent years) if a cap had been in place here, he explained.
Savings realized through his proposals could be used to “finish the car tax” and restore full funding to the Secretary of Natural Resources, Fitch said.
“We could do more with l£ss,” he added.
Education reform ' “We must reverse the trend wjiere more money is spent outsine than inside the classroom,” he said. “It is shocking that in some schools there is an assistant principal for each grade, but there aren’t enough textbooks.”
In addition to reducing the layers of school bureaucracies, Fitch said the government should “assist” parents who decide to send their children to private of parochial schools. In
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