Consensus in Crisis
What happens when a true leader, facing a crisis, honestly collaborates with all parties to find a group solution?
Read the following article. I don't think this is "spin" or positioning. It's the real deal. There were no dissenting comments posted on the Richmond Time-Dispatch news article as of this writing.
I recommend this pattern for any leader in any organization:
- Use your influence as a leader to be a catalyst for responsible consensus.
- What common ground can you find?
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What ideas does the "other side" have?
- Avoid finger pointing. Focus on issues, not people. (I think this article only scores a C+ for that.)
Bring all parties to the table, agree on the need, then figure it out together. Not only do you get a solution, but you get a solution people can believe in and implement with enthusiasm. And that makes all the difference.
"Tough, Responsible Choices Set Stage for Recovery"
Richmond Times Dispatch, March 7, 2010
By Guest Columnist Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell
Virginians need more good jobs. In this uniquely difficult economy, a top priority of government must be strengthening the free enterprise system and helping the private sector create jobs to get our economy back on track. This has been the focus of much of our efforts since taking office.
We have seen in Congress what happens when our leaders do not focus on economic growth, competitiveness, and job creation. They get pulled into partisan fights over other issues. Some of their actions have a negative impact on the capital markets, captains of industry, small business entrepreneurs, and consumers upon whom job creation depends.
I'm grateful to our state legislature that most of my economic development and reform proposals have passed one or both houses, most with large bipartisan majorities. The new tools we will have to promote small business, tourism, film production, wineries, and the energy industry will help to create the jobs and prosperity of tomorrow.
For the past seven weeks I have been working in a collaborative fashion with leading budget-writers in both parties and have made our budget priorities clear: First, new tools for job creation and economic development to foster future growth. Second, no job-killing tax increases. Third, generating a balanced budget on time that preserves our Triple-A bond rating and attractiveness to new private investment. Finally, protecting public safety and focusing reductions on those areas that had not received large cuts before.
Our work on the budget began in January -- facing a budget shortfall of $4.2 billion. Gov. Tim Kaine's introduced budget proposed to cover half of the shortfall with the largest tax increase in Virginia history -- a minimum 17 percent income tax increase for Virginians. Both houses of the General Assembly dismissed this plan on a bipartisan basis.
The inclusion of a tax hike proposal with no realistic prospect for passage left us with an unbalanced budget. It meant closing the remaining $2.2 billion shortfall in just a few weeks. It presented an unprecedented situation. Prior to this year, the most revisions an incoming governor ever made to his predecessor's introduced budget were $400 million (by Gov. Mark Warner in 2002). Our task has been more than five times greater.
Choosing a process of collaboration with my former legislative colleagues, I have been meeting regularly with leaders from both houses to help forge a balanced budget. On Feb. 17, I sent the General Assembly $2.3 billion in budget recommendations. Developing this package of recommendations was one of the most difficult undertakings in my 19 years in public office. Many cuts carry with them a human face, a personal story, and a real impact on fellow Virginians. But Virginians rightly expect their elected leaders to make the hard choices necessary to run government efficiently during tough times, just as they do in their family and business budgets. That means reducing spending to meet available revenues, conservatively projecting future revenues, and not balancing the state's budget with higher taxes.
According to Virginia's watchdog agency JLARC, the total state operating budget has grown by 73.4 percent from 2000 to 2009. After adjusting for population and inflation, it still grew by 28 percent. When times were good we adopted a high level of spending, not sustainable in today's economy.
Before I took office, Gov. Kaine and the General Assembly had already cut $7 billion from the budget over the past two years. Higher education, public safety, and transportation were all hit with deep cuts, while K-12 education and health care generally were not. Thus, our new spending reductions focused on those areas.
Reducing education funding is a tough choice. My sister is a teacher and all of my children graduated, or will graduate this year, from public high schools in the state. Over the past decade, direct aid to K-12 education has grown by 55 percent, faster than other areas of the general fund. In fact, education spending accounts for 39 percent of all general fund budget growth over the past decade. This has occurred while student enrollment has gone up only 7.6 percent.
Our budget proposal will still leave total K-12 spending in 2012 50 percent higher than it was in the year 2000. Our reductions are targeted primarily at expenditures outside the classroom. And the proposed reductions to K-12 can be offset in large part by the use of more than $500 million in additional revenue generated for localities through budget savings from the Virginia Retirement System payments, and through the utilization of nearly $280 million in additional revenues recently identified by our office.
The budgets of both houses have significant savings in the area of social services and health care. However, even if all of these cuts are made, Virginia will still be spending more on health care than ever before.
I have been heartened by the common ground we have found in crafting the final budget. Both the Republican House and the Democratic Senate rejected tax increases, preserved car tax relief, included funding for job creation and economic development efforts, and closed the shortfall through reductions in spending in areas not cut significantly before.
The collaboration with the General Assembly has fostered an atmosphere of candid dialogue. I have much faith in the senior leaders in the legislature to resolve their differences promptly and civilly. We stand ready to pass a balanced budget, in a bipartisan fashion, on time, and without a tax increase. These extraordinary fiscal times will bring about innovation and entrepreneurial management by both public and private sector leaders. The spirit of the people of Virginia to endure and recover from difficult times is outstanding, and I look forward to helping lead our state to brighter days ahead.
