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Published: February 03, 2010
By Ken Odor

As the General Assembly began to wrestle with the task of balancing a new two-year budget facing billions of dollars in revenue decreases, Goochland’s representative in the House of Delegates called the current situation “a tremendous opportunity.”

“I’m a hopeful person,” said Del. William R. “Bill” Janis. “I like a challenge.”

Janis spoke in a January 21 interview, the same day the House of Delegates in a 98-0 vote unanimously rejected a $2 billion dollar increase in the state income tax contained in the budget of outgoing Democratic Governor Tim Kaine.

Janis admitted that making the cuts necessary to balance the budget could be challenging.

Public education, public health and public safety are the core responsibilities of the state and consume most of its resources, said Janis.

Meeting those responsibilities without new taxes or fees will be difficult, he said.

“In some ways this is a tremendous opportunity to rethink from the ground floor up…how we spend money in the state budget,” said Janis.

Janis said other aspects of the Kaine budget also might be changed, such as the elimination of the dealer discount for retailers who collect the state sales tax.

“What we basically have to do now is start from the ground up,” said Janis, “where we’re either going to have to do significant cuts on the spending side or raise significant amounts of taxes.”

Janis noted that newly inaugurated GOP governor Bob McDonnell had pledged a veto of any tax increase legislation.

Asked what areas might produce savings, Janis, who chairs the Courts of Justice - Judicial Systems Subcommittee, mentioned several ideas, including a moratorium on electing new judges to replace those who retire in the next budget cycle and using substitute judges to help carry the extra case load.

Janis has also introduced a bill, HB 241, which would allow a judge reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70 to finish out his or her current term.

Another idea championed by the delegate would be to require defendants who require interpreters to pay for them if they are found guilty.

Janis acknowledged that each such reform would not produce dramatic savings, but emphasized that such actions taken across state government would add up to a significant amount.

On the subject of job creation, Janis has introduced HB 237, which gives a 10 percent tax credit to small businesses when they create and fill at least 10 new positions.

The new jobs must last for at least 24 months.

“The vast majority of jobs created in Virginia are created by companies with less than 50 employees, and in many cases less than 10,” said Janis.

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