The government is the steward of taxpayers’ money. Justice Louis Brandeis once said that a streetlight was the most effective policeman and sunlight was the best disinfectant. Transparency is critical to achieving the most efficient use of taxpayer dollars.
Unfortunately, the Freedom of Information Act is very limited. Consequences for violations are minimal. Virginia has no laws prohibiting the destruction of documents and significant parts of the government such as the State Corporation Commission are completely exempt.
We also must ensure that we are collecting all taxpayer dollars. Tax fraud costs Virginia billions of dollars per year. The Virginia Department of Taxation collects $20 for every $1 it spends. Common sense suggests that if any part of our government was fully funded, it would be our tax collection system so we can ensure that all Virginians and paying their fair share of taxes.
Also, over a decade ago, Virginia adopted a mechanism to allow private actions to recover contracting fraud, but tax fraud was specifically excepted. President George W. Bush enacted reforms that allowed people who blew the whistle on tax fraud to receive rewards from successful tax collections. However, the state has no such program so that there is no incentive to blow the whistle on taxpayers who fail to pay state or local taxes such as sales taxes, gas taxes, or personal property taxes.
Virginia’s procurement system is also very deficient. The individuals running procurement often have close relationships with bidders, steer work to friendly companies which limits opportunities for other businesses, reduces bids and increases costs. Virginia’s procurement system needs better transparency, accountability, and significant reform.
All too often, government at every level does not innovate or manage its programs in a cost-conscious way that minimizes taxpayer burdens. There are several things we could do to reduce costs to taxpayers. For example:
- Require all court filing be done electronically. One-third of all courthouse space is used to store paper. Electronic court filing has been used in the federal system for over 10 years and would alleviate the need to expand courthouses across the Commonwealth for decades and improve efficiency.
- Support Seniors At Home – Most seniors would like to age in place and live independently in their homes with dignity. Studies have repeatedly shown that there are cost savings to taxpayers approaching 40 percent when people are cared for in their homes instead of moving to a residential facility like a nursing home. Nursing homes can cost up to $70,000 per year. Private insurance and Medicare provide minimal coverage of long-term care and people all too often must “spend down” and deplete their savings to get help paying for nursing home care. Medicaid, a state-federal insurance program, pays for 43 percent of all nursing home care in the U.S. Virginia should also license home healthcare workers.
- Rethinking Highway Medians – The Virginia Department of Transportation must explore planting our medians with native species that require less maintenance. In 1976, Virginia implemented its Wildflower Program at the behest of Lady Byrd Johnson partly as an effort to reduce mowing expenses. Maryland is looking at planting more wildflowers, trees and meadows in an effort to reduce mowing expenses. Colorado, Delaware, Nebraska, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Washington are also exploring this as well. There is no reason Virginia cannot lead.
In addition to promote transparency and accountability, the Commonwealth should:
- Invest more in tax compliance to ensure that tax cheaters get caught
- Ensure a robust Freedom of Information Act with minimal exceptions
- Apply the Freedom of Information Act to all levels of government including the State Corporation Commission and Court system
- Create a whistleblower program for individuals who commit state tax fraud
- Reform procurement to increase predictability, transparency, and limit governments’ discretion to steer projects to favored bidders based on highly subjective criteria.