06/04/2002
Dear fellow NFIB members,My first session in the Virginia General Assembly was a very exciting time. Most people that I ran into saw this as such a horrible year to be in the legislature. When I asked why it was so awful, they replied because there was no money to spend. That always reinforced what I thought government had become -- a spender of our money and not watchdog of our liberties and property.
I welcome the opportunity to be one of the few who viewed this past session as an opportunity to bring some common business sense to Richmond. Our first mission must be attitudinal in nature. We have to fundamentally change the thinking in Richmond. They truly believe that any money is theirs as long as they can create a "good reason" to spend someone else's money. Well, when the "good reason" has ZERO accountability and ZERO measurements, they really don't care if that "good reason" produces good results. In business, that would be called a profit. Government is not a business and should not be run like a business; however, we can apply some dynamic business principles and run government MORE like a business.
There were some good reform measures that, I think, would help save up to 20 billion dollars in 12 years. First they have to passed and implemented. HB 252 -- Government Performance and Results Act -- requires strategic plan with measurable results for each state agency; passed House (100-0), Senate Finance carried over 15-0. HB 398 -- Financial and management audit of all state agencies; passed House General Laws 22-0, carried over in House Appropriations. SB 681 -- Public Private Education Facility and Infrastructure Act -- allows private developers to build schools. This passed both bodies with large majorities and signed into law by Governor.
Remember that our government was built to be slow so that our liberties are protected. Unfortunately, our liberties have been eroded to the point where we look at an 8 percent increase in VIRGINIA government spending as the worst possible time ever to be in the legislature. In Richmond, 8 percent growth of revenue and, of course, spending is called a cut. Yes, they have that backwards and a whole lot more.
Chris Saxman
Virginia Delegate - District 20
