Commentary on Virginia's tax reformers

Last week, the WaPo had this rollicking account of the coming showdown between Governor Warner and Speaker Howell over tax reform in the Commonwealth, which includes these characterizations:

"Republican moderates (and even some staunch conservatives such as Howell) know that such an overhaul -- which would end the convoluted reimbursements the state pays to counties for car-tax relief -- is long overdue and would generate more revenue over time than the current system."

"Howell and Warner are playing a bluffing game, each side nudging the other to act first on a tax restructuring plan for the 2004 General Assembly session."

"Warner, as is his custom, has been all over the map. As a candidate in 2001, he promised to make tax restructuring a top priority. Then he punted on it in 2002, when he had the more pressing challenge of a $6 billion budget shortfall to contend with -- and after it became clear that the General Assembly was in no mood to talk taxes.

This year, Warner has sent conflicting signals about what direction he wants to head in, saying soon after the assembly's adjournment that he would make a vigorous case for a new tax code that plows significant new sums into education.

Almost immediately, Warner sounded cool to his own idea, offering only generalities about his timetable and making it clear that he thought the General Assembly should provide the impetus for any tax reform. That will never happen, because the one paltry recommendation produced by a lengthy legislative study on the subject was the repeal of Virginia's estate tax, which Warner vetoed."

"In other words, it's not clear that Warner will stick his neck out anytime soon on an initiative that he promised voters two years ago to deliver on."

"When it comes to taxes, the problem may not be Warner's timidity or Howell's abiding aversion to taxes but rather their visions of government's role that keeps them poles apart. Warner sees a Virginia where government can, and should, do more; Howell sees a state fairly awash in resources that merely need more prudent management."