Those who followed my old blog may recall that I spent a great deal of time talking about earmarks in the Virginia budget, including how state grants to private non-profit organizations was forbidden under the state’s constitution. One of the framers of that revised document, Dick Howard, said the prohibition was put in place to prevent an opening of the “floodgates” by a “vast number of private groups that would consider themselves equally entitled to share in the public largesse.”
Those plain words meant nothing to legislators, who, during the fat times of budget surpluses, eagerly donned their Santa costumes to shower gifts of public money on private charities. Lean budget times forced them to keep the red hat and knickers in the closet. But now, even as he scours the budget for additional cuts, Gov. McDonnell has revived the old, unconstitutional practice with a vengeance.
