Posted on 03/04/2008 7:43:48 AM PST by Gopher Broke
Great news, friends: Once again, Virginia has earned top honors from the Pew Center's Government Performance Project. Today, the GPP released their "Grading the States 2008" report, the nation's only comprehensive, independent analysis of how well each state performs in serving the public.
We have achieved this together because we continue to focus on results: Virginia "avoids formulas and focuses on the harder work of asking why goals and targets aren't being met, then seeks to address the underlying problems."
My administration has worked hard to continue to improve the efficiency of government, and the Government Performance Project has recognized our efforts, saying, "Virginia proves that tracking data - and holding employees accountable - can work wondrous efficiencies."
Click here to see the Pew Center on the States Report on Virginia.
We know where your money is coming from, how it's being spent, where it's being spent, and how much its achieving for Virginia. When, like this year, the nation's economy affects the Commonwealth's budget, we understand how to prioritize spending in order to meet these challenges.
But, we still have work to do. While Virginia earned As and an A- in three of the four categories - People, Information, and Money - we received a B+ in Infrastructure.
This is a timely reminder that we need a long-term solution to Virginia's infrastructure and maintenance needs.
Virginia's future is incredibly bright. Last year, Education Week published a survey indicating that a child born in Virginia has a better chance for life success than children born in any other state in the nation. And, for the second year in a row, Virginia was named the best state for business by Forbes.com.
I am extremely proud of the work Virginia's state employees have done to earn these accolades, and I am especially proud of the recent recognition from the Government Performance Project. But, I am acutely aware that we can and must do even better. We have a bright future because we have shared a commitment to investing in an even better future for all Virginians.
I have no doubt that as long as we continue to place our faith in results-oriented leadership, we will continue to set an example for the entire country.
Best Regards -
Tim
Paid for and authorized by Moving Virginia Forward
I would say yes, since they stopped you from higher taxes and schemes like Universal Pre K......
Coming from Pew? Snort.
IIRC Virginia was rated #1 before he arrived. When Republicans were in power.
The primary reason VA is doing so well is that the federal government has grown so much during the Bush years, and when the federal government spends money, VA gets more than its share.
When you’re unfriendly towards illegal immigrants, good things happen.
Richmond ping.
Governor Gridlock taking credit for something he had little to do with....what else is new?
Another attempt to push his higher taxes for roads agenda.
This is not about how much federal money the state gets. It's how the state manages the money it has.
There's a difference.
“Another attempt to push his higher taxes for roads agenda.”
Being a Virginian who has to travel these increasingly crumbling and crowded roads, I’d be curious as to your brilliant solution.I actually thought raising the road user fee (gas tax} a penny a year for 5 years was a good idea. You use the roads a lot and wear them out faster, you pay more. The less you use them, the less you pay. Sounds like a pretty conservative principle to me. But, as usual, Morgan Griffith took care of that good idea.
BTW, stopping wasteful spending is not the answer. That should be done, but the result wouldn’t come close to solving the transportation woes we face.
Stormhands is right. There are other states that get plenty of federal money but they don’t rank as high because of the careless ways they use it.
The state is not managing the federal government’s money though. The federal government is.
Raising taxes in the face of an impending recession is a horrible idea. It will delay the recovery by months.
Sorry to say, but no sympathy from me about crowded roads. I’ve lived in No.Va., Roanoke and the Richmond metro area. Everybody everywhere complains about the roads. I have said time and time again on this forum that VDOT could pave over every single square inch of land in NoVa and Hampton and people would still whine about not enough roads. I’ve been listening to this song and dance since the mid-80’s when I lived in NoVa.
And I beg to disagree but cutting spending is a perfectly viable, and preferable, solution for finding money for roads. Warner, and now Kaine, prefer the raise-taxes-first, think-of-other-solutions-later school of government management. I’ve read the Appropriations Act (not recently but I have read it) and there is so much waste that if the GA did what they were supposed to do, there would be plenty of money for roads. And frankly, VDOT has a shameful history of wasting our hard-earned tax dollars. I’m not particularly in favor of giving them any more money until they can prove to me that they’re not wasting what they already get out of my pocket. The millions and probably billions of dollars that VDOT has pissed away makes me sick to my stomach.
Furthermore, paying for state services for illegal aliens is draining our budget.
User fees are ok. But I don’t think now is the time to implement them. We just had the biggest tax increase in the history of the Commonwealth that was ostensibly to fix the roads problems. I think the Gov and the GA needs to step up and do what they said they were gonna do when they raised taxes $1.4B.
One more thing, I forgot in my last post.
Cite some data for needing more roads. I’ve posted threads in the last couple of years that our roads, compared to others in the rest of the country, are in good shape. Average commuting time has actually decreased in the last couple of years.
So, honestly, I’m skeptical of the need for more roads. Yeah, I’d love to have a nice, smooth interstate all to myself for my daily commute but that’s just not realistic.
There is an upside to traffic. That means people have jobs and money to spend when they’re out and about.
Just looking for that silver lining....
You’re not making any sense.
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