In his first State of the Commonwealth address on Jan. 18, our new governor punted on every issue except economic development, where he proposed to double the money spent on this program by adding $50 million over two years.
Otherwise he plans to meet a projected $4 billion budget deficit without any tax increases. In fact, he said that he would veto any bill that raised taxes. This reiteration of his position on taxes brought some members of the otherwise rather subdued audience to their feet for loud cheering.
He plans to conduct a full review of each government department and then balance the budget by slashing or consolidating programs, and eliminating associated staff. Obviously, no amount of staff cutting is going to balance the budget. Money for important services such as education, transportation, law enforcement and others will face severe cuts. On transportation, despite promises made during the campaign that he had a plan which he would reveal after the election, he said that funding options would be studied in the future. In other words, our tax dollars will continue to go to Richmond and even less of it will come back to us. No wonder the downstaters stood up and cheered. They continue to get a free ride at our expense.
TERRY PRIDEMORE
Gainesville
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