Great article in The Daily News Record today about a group of Delegates that are standing up for their constituents and not heading to Richmond to tax Virginians more:

Valley Delegates Oppose Tax Hikes
General Assembly Opens Wednesday, Faces Shortfall
By Jeff Mellott

ELKTON - Tony Ferrara went out in the rain Saturday with a handful of other local residents to talk to Del. Steve Landes, R-Weyers Cave, about the General Assembly Session that opens Wednesday.

His concern was higher taxes as lawmakers prepare to consider how to bridge an anticipated $3 billion revenue shortfall. The issue is expected to dominate this year's session.

The answer to the deficit, Landes said during the town hall meeting at the Elkton Community Center, isn't higher taxes, including Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's proposal to increase the levy on cigarettes.

Kaine Proposals

Kaine proposes a 30-cent-per-pack tax increase on cigarettes, which would bring the state tax to 60 cents.

The money raised would help offset planned cuts to Medicaid, the governor said in a statement released last week.

Kaine, a Democrat, said the proposed tax increase does not violate his earlier promise to balance the budget without a general tax increase.

"There are no proposed increases in sales or income taxes that would further strain families who are struggling to make ends meet," the governor said.

But Republican lawmakers, including Landes, have given any tax hike - general or otherwise - a chilly reception.

"In a recession, it does not make sense to add to the burden," Landes told Ferrara, of Elkton, and others at Saturday's meeting.

Uncertainty

Kaine is also calling for cuts in state aid for kindergarten through 12th grade. The Rockingham County School Board is trying to learn more about the proposed education cuts, board member W.R. Good said at the meeting.

"It's been a struggle for us to get our arms around this budget, or lack of a budget," Good told Landes.

Landes said he and Del. Matt Lohr, R-Broadway, hope to introduce bills that would delay the implementation of new regulations during the next budget year as well as temporarily freeze the Standards of Learning requirements, or SOLs as they are commonly referred to.

Local government leaders said the state continues to ask them to do more with less, Landes said.

Election Year Pressure

Lohr, in an earlier interview, said belt-tightening would be required.

"People pretty much know cuts are coming," Lohr said.

Lohr believes room exists for cuts in state spending that he said have increased faster than the rate of population growth in Virginia.

The state's balanced budget requirement will put more pressure on lawmakers to cut spending, he said. And this year's election cycle could up the ante even more, said Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg.

Voters in November will go to the polls to select a governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general. They will also select all 100 seats in the House of Delegate.

"Statewide elections are likely to increase the fortitude of members to fix this without raising taxes," Obenshain said.

Changing Forecasts

Part of the problem in resolving the projected revenue shortfall is that the amount of the shortage isn't entirely clear, lawmakers said.

Kaine has projected a shortage of about $3 billion. But Republicans have said the amount could be higher.

Landes, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said Saturday the revenue deficit could be more like $3.5 billion.

The next revenue forecast, he said, is due at the end of the month, a little less than halfway through the 46-day legislative session.

"I don't know how much concurrence we will get on the revenue projections," said Del. Chris Saxman, R-Staunton.

Obenshain said Kaine's past projections have proven optimistic.

Obenshain and other Republicans last year said Kaine's revenue projections were unrealistic.

"That has turned out to be the case," Obenshain said.

‘Shrewd Budget'

However, Kaine has proposed budget amendments that are politically skillful, said Robert Roberts, a political analyst professor at James Madison University.

The budget amendments also include early-release for some inmates at state prisons as a way to save money.

Kaine's proposal undermines Republicans' "no parole" stance taken under then-Gov. George Allen in the 1990s, Roberts said.

Republicans, he added, could find themselves on the wrong side of public opinion on Kaine's proposed increase to the cigarette tax. The tax increase is likely to be popular, he said, especially since it's a user tax, as opposed to a general increase in levies that would hit all state residents.

"What Kaine is betting on is that Republicans can't come up with an alternative and are forced to accept his," Roberts said.

Republicans could stonewall and force deeper cuts, he added. But, he noted, who would get the blame?

"[Kaine] has Republicans in a very bad situation," Roberts said. "It's a very shrewd political budget."