Growls

Last Friday, January 28, we learned about the efforts of Norm Leahy to halt unconstitutional spending in Virginia. At Black Velvet Bruce Li, Greg L wrote:

“There have been several of us over the years who saw annual appropriations by the General Assembly to charitable non-state entities as a flagrant violation of the Constitution of Virginia.  Today Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli confirms that the longstanding practice is indeed against the law.  The difference between my occasional whining and today’s immediate halt to the practice is the involvement of long-time blogger Norm Leahy, who pens at Tertium Quids, instead of me.  He got it done, while I ineffectually griped.”

Greg L, who blogs primarily from the Prince William County area, continued by saying that “every year, members of both parties blindly disregarded the plain language of the Constitution and handed your tax dollars out to all sorts of groups.  Chuck Colgan — a master at redistributive beneficence who called this “bringing home the bacon” — was one of the top spenders of your taxpayer dollars to be directed to non-state entities for many years, as was just about every other member of the General Assembly.

Let Norm continue telling the story at Tertium Quids, where he blogged last Friday:

“Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has issued an official opinion (from the Virginia AG’s website, requires Adobe) on whether the state government can provide grants to nonprofit organizations it neither owns nor controls: no it cannot.

“In a letter to Del. John O’Bannon, who requested the opinion on this writer’s behalf, Cuccinelli states that  while this charitable giving may be “…noble in purpose and salutary in effect,” they are also “precluded by operation of Article IV, § 16 of the Constitution of Virginia.”

“This opinion, while it does not make new law, can be cited in court and have typically guided state policy.

“The question now becomes whether the Governor will continue to press for the $1 million worth of grants he is seeking for two private nonprofits and even more, if the Senate will try to keep the nearly $6 million in grants it’s members are seeking for a variety of nonprofits.

[ . . . ]

“But my hope is that lawmakers will follow Cuccinelli’s advice and bring an end to a decades-old, bipartisan practice of handing out taxpayer money in clear violation of the state’s constitution. If they wish to continue doing so, the only option available to them is to amend the constitution. That takes a great deal of time and effort to do, and as Del. O’Bannon indicated to me, it’s not likely such a change would go anywhere (at least in the House).

Anita Kumar of the the Washington Post writes in her blog Virginia Politics.  "State lawmakers have for years gotten around the provision by classifying charities as 'historical' or 'cultural' agencies."

Thank you, Norm, for your efforts in stopping this unconstitutional spending in Virginia. While those taxpayer dollars may not be significant in the overall Virginia budget, it shows what the efforts of even one person is capable of achieving. Again, Norm, thank you for showing us the meaning of individual initiative.

P.S. Maybe the Virginia Tea Party should introduce the Virginia Constitution to members of the Virginia General Assembly, like they did on the opening day of Congress' 112th session. Ya think?