Gov. Bob McDonnell said he will continue to follow the same pattern he has over the past two years, using "conservative" revenue projections as he develops his two-year budget over the next couple of weeks.
Following a meeting with his Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates, McDonnell said revenue growth is expected to be 3.3 percent for fiscal year 2013 and 4.6 percent for fiscal year 2014.
He said he will be looking for ways to "reform and improve" the delivery of government services and Virginians should expect budget cuts when he presents his spending plan to the General Assembly on Dec. 19.
"They should expect ongoing conservative budgeting," McDonnell said. "People should expect some reductions in spending in certain areas of the government."
The governor said he has been reviewing reports from state agencies where he asked them to provide plans that would cut 2, 4 and 6 percent from their respective budgets. McDonnell said he will use some of those agencies plans as he puts together his budget.
While he said he is not looking at laying off state workers "per se," some could lose their job through the consolidation of some programs and agencies to reduce redundancy.
"To the degree that government reform efforts would cause a shrinking of governing, then there would be some," McDonnell said. "So if you consolidate agencies, you would expect the reason you do that is you want to save money. At least then an executive director, maybe a couple of support staff - so, yes, consolidations mean some reductions. Then again, we've got 103,000 state employees, but I am not looking at any major layoffs."
The governor said he plans to preserve the states core services and not "inflict to much pain in any one area."
"Unless it's an area we feel government shouldn't be involved in," he said. "And then we'll make more wholesale reductions."
When asked what areas he felt government shouldn't be involved in, McDonnell demurred.
"We're still going through all that, and the answer is there's a few," McDonnell said. "I'll report all that back when I release the budget Dec. 19."
The Governor's Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates is made up of legislators and private business leaders who meet with the governor to discuss revenue estimates with respect to the economic climate of the state.
Monday's meeting was closed to the press and public following McDonnell's opening remarks to the group.
The governor said closing the meeting is allowed by state law because he and the members of the business community discuss proprietary information including those companies revenue and employment estimates.
Members of the council include top representatives from the state's heavy hitters in the private sector, including Dominion Power, Hilton Worldwide, Northrup Grumman Shipbuilding, Verizon Virginia and Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield.
It must have been a rarified atmosphere in the meeting of the Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates. Closed to the public and closed to the press. Hmmm!
Heavy hitters is right! The little guy and small business is certainly getting the short end of the stick.
Posted by: Avery Sun | Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 10:40 AM