Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine announced Wednesday he will trim $1.4 million from his office’s budget with measures that include cutting eight positions and curtailing his mansion’s grocery and dry cleaning bills.
The 10 percent cuts come a day before Kaine is expected to unveil both the size of the shortfall facing the commonwealth over the next two fiscal years — projected to be as high as $3 billion — and the steps he intends to take to close it.
The plan rolled out on Wednesday also include a moratorium on the purchase of bottled water, travel restrictions for both the governor and first lady, using e-mail more frequently to send invitations, and reducing costs for staff cell phones and newspaper subscriptions.
The eight positions will be eliminated through a combination of layoffs and turnover, the governor said. He said almost 25 percent will be lopped off the grocery bill for official events at the governor’s mansion, which will also see a smaller dry cleaning tab for the linens used at those events.
“If Virginia families and businesses have to make difficult spending decisions in tough times, we need to show them we’re doing the same,” the governor said in a statement. “Taxpayers trust us to run a lean government. All these cuts — big and small — add up, and they all count.”
The reductions save $900,000 for the rest of fiscal 2009, which ends in June, and expand to $1.4 million the next year, according to Kaine. Both Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and Attorney General Bob McDonnell have taken similar belt-tightening measures.
The cuts come as the commonwealth faces a protracted period of austerity. Virginia’s economic slump, sparked by the depressed housing market and constrained consumer spending, is causing a dramatic slowdown in the two largest sources of state revenue: payroll and sales taxes. State economists are projecting a $2 billion biennial shortfall that could expand by another $1 billion if the economy worsens.
