Kaine's plan would cut millions in education funding in '09

RICHMOND

Legislators were unhappy Wednesday after Gov. Timothy M. Kaine revealed his plan to close a $2.9 billion hole in the state budget.

Republicans vowed to oppose Kaine’s proposal to double the state’s cigarette tax, saying it would destroy jobs in Virginia’s already-ailing tobacco industry.

And Kaine’s fellow Democrats, while lauding the governor for making tough decisions in a thankless time, fretted about his proposals to reduce education funding and freeze admission into the state’s Medicaid program, which provides health services to low-income Virginians.

“It’s very sobering,” said Del. Ken Melvin, D-Portsmouth.

Kaine laid out his plans for the remaining 18½ months of the current two-year, $76 billion budget during a morning speech to the General Assembly’s money committees. Lawmakers will act on the recommendations during a six-week session that will begin Jan. 14. Unlike the federal government, Virginia is constitutionally required to have a balanced budget.

“We have made tough decisions to keep the budget balanced without any general tax increase and without compromising core services,” Kaine said.

The governor said he is aiming a specific tax increase at smokers because they need to pay a greater share of their health care costs.

He cited estimates from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that cigarette smoking costs Virginia $400 million a year in Medicaid expenses. The state’s current 30-cents-a-pack tax – the third-lowest rate in the nation – generates $167 million.

Even at 60 cents a pack, Virginia would have the 13th-lowest levy in the nation. The additional tax, Kaine said, may spur some smokers to quit.

The cigarette tax may be dead on arrival in the Republican-controlled House of Delegates, however.

When word of the plan leaked out Tuesday, House leaders instantly assailed it as a “job killer” and an affront to Philip Morris USA, the world’s largest cigarette producer, and its parent company, Altria Group Inc. Both have their corporate headquarters in Richmond and have invested about $1 billion in the region during the past four years to modernize a cigarette manufacturing plant and build a research center.

Kaine’s proposal is “ sending Philip Morris a message that we don’t want their business in Virginia,” House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said on Wednesday. Kaine recommended $400 million in cuts to public schools, saying it is impossible to shield them from the damage of the national recession.

Most of the savings would come from cutting funding for schools’ support personnel, including psychologists, clerical workers and curriculum specialists.

Many legislators and educators voiced concern that the reductions would ultimately hurt classrooms. Even though local school systems would receive less money for support personnel, the governor cannot order school boards to make the exact cuts he recommends.

“We fear that this could lead to higher class sizes and less services for students,” said Kitty Boitnott, president of the Virginia Education Association, a lobby for teachers.

Some lawmakers fretted that Kaine’s proposals could compromise public safety.

To reduce incarceration costs, the governor recommended releasing some nonviolent felons from prison nine months before their sentences ended and cutting funding for local sheriffs’ and commonwealth’s attorneys’ offices by 7 percent.

State Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, criticized the proposed cut to sheriffs’ offices. “The result will be that there are fewer officers on the street, and I can’t support that,” he said.

Of the early-release plan, Stolle said, “It would be hard for me to support that unless there are specific requirements that the released inmate hadto have a job and a place to live.”

For all the bad news about Virginia’s budget, many Republicans predicted worse tidings are in store this winter. They said that Kaine’s projection of a $2.9 billion shortfall in revenues is rosy, and that the actual hole may be $3.5 billion.

“At some point, the governor is going to have to take his head out of the basket,” Griffith said.

Warren Fiske, (804) 697-1565, warren.fiske@pilotonline.com

Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com