Accountable and Efficient Government

Taxes in Virginia have remained low – especially relative to neighboring states. We need to keep taxes low and control spending to remain competitive and attract business in this economy. Last year, we succeeded in repealing the unfair death tax, but we have much more work to do. I advocate exposing state spending to public scrutiny and reforming the tax code to make state government more efficient and accountable to voters.

Northern Virginia and Fairfax County receive a disproportionately small return on tax revenues paid compared to other areas of Virginia. I am the only Senator to propose changes to the state education funding formula to bring more dollars back to Fairfax for K-12 education.

Spending restraints are essential to meaningful tax reform. I support:

  • Creating a Virginia version of usaspending.gov so that individual citizens can monitor government expenditures and expose government waste;
  • Limiting spending growth in the state budget so that legislators are legally bound to control their appetite for spending;
  • Better prioritization of spending so that the Commonwealth lives within its means. Programs that do not effectively accomplish their missions should be eliminated;
  • Returning tax surpluses not required to fund necessary Commonwealth departments and services directly to taxpayers;
  • Requiring local governments to provide taxpayers with an annual statement of how their taxes are being used.

I do not support earmarks as the means for funding non-governmental organizations. In my tenure in the State Senate I have never submitted a request for an earmark.

I have been a leader in opposing efforts to increase real estate taxes, income taxes and sales taxes. I believe in tightening accountability systems, controlling the government’s appetite for spending, and insisting on efficiency at every level of government.