Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
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budget priorities and fund the most important things first. The state government then goes down the list, most important items first, “buying down" with available revenues until it runs out of money. This ensures that vital sendees are being funded before less critical ones, and sendees not deemed of the highest importance are reduced or eliminated. Kitchen-table budgeting works this way, and there’s no reason the state shouldn't do the same.
Second, Virginia needs a rational process for estimating revenues. House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith recently told the Roanoke Times that state revenue forecasts “have been consistently overly optimistic," and he’s right. For example, in the fiscal year 2009-2010 budget, policymakers assumed a revenue growth rate well in excess of 4 percent, and this budget was prepared at a time when the bleak fiscal outlook was well understood.
The state needs stronger tools to ensure realistic revenue estimates, and a mecha
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