RICHMOND─ Americans for Prosperity (AFP) praised Virginia house of Delegates Speaker Bill Howell for standing strong against the growing calls for a federal bailout of state and local governments, which AFP opposes as enabling fiscal irresponsibility at the state and local level while sticking federal taxpayers with the bill.

"Speaker Howell's strong opposition to a federal bailout is great news," said AFP Virginia State Director Ben Marchi. "Our state's budget challenges come from chronically overspending during good economic times, creating inevitable busts like we now face. The real, permanent solution is not to go looking for a bailout or to raise taxes, but limit government spending to a sustainable level so that this boom-and-bust cycle can finally end. Speaker Howell understands how harmful a federal bailout would be, and we look forward to working him to stop one."

Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity, added that Speaker Howell's stand has national implications: "We have been working with a broad coalition of activists and taxpayer groups to stop a federal bailout of the states, and we need more state leaders to join the fight. Governors like Rick Perry and Mark Sanford put principle ahead of easy money from the federal government, and now Virginia's House Speaker, Bill Howell, is stepping up as national chairman of the American Legislative Exchange Council and leading principled state legislators across the country on this issue. If we succeed in stopping or scaling back a federal bailout of the states, Perry, Sanford, and Powell will deserve credit for their leadership."