FCTA Speaks at Pre-2024 General Assembly Public Hearing
-- on 01/06/2024
FCTA's Charles McAndrew -- Transportation
Good morning, members of the Northern Virginia General Assembly, my name is Charles McAndrew. I am a board member of the Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance. I am here today to speak on Transportation. As I understand, President Biden pushed through the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act and the Commonwealth of Virginia received $8.4 billion for various transportation projects throughout Virginia. However, Fairfax County only got $100 million in funding the Springfield Franconia railroad bypass. The Secretary of Transportation should have realized that Fairfax County has many bottlenecks especially during rush hours. For example, the Fairfax County Parkway is a traffic nightmare from I-66 through Reston during rush hours. It is bad enough that Fairfax County only gets back almost 25% of the tax revenue sent to Richmond. We have been gypped for decades! Why is this allowed to happen?
WMATA is facing a $750 million shortfall in its 2025 budget. Lately, we have learned that METRO wants to build on the Blue line just north of the existing tunnel in Rosslyn. METRO planners propose to extend the Blueline south into Prince George's County and then turn back into Virginia, making the line a circular line. This expansion planned for METRO will cost at least $30 billion! To justify the proposed expansion, METRO states that ridership will increase 35% in the next few years. Sadly, METRO cannot afford to operate the trains it has. METRO may have to cut services as soon as this Spring. Several METRO stations could be forced to close. I have not found in their budget the costs to repair the wheels of the latest 7000 series METRO cars plus the maintenance cost of trains that came aboard during the eighties. So where is the WMATA Inspector General in this process?
The Silver line cost $6.8 billion and was projected to handle 20,000 daily riders. After one year in operation, ridership is only one fifth of that which is 3,600 daily riders. I understand that for FY25 that $168 million is budgeted from the Fairfax County Government. Again, where is the Inspector General to audit and evaluate WMATA?
Thank you for your attention.
FCTA's Arthur Purves -- Taxes Subsidize Failure
Delegate Watts and members of the General Assembly,
I am Arthur Purves, president of the Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance. Thank you for holding this hearing.
In Fiscal Year 2022, the state spent $83 billion dollars.
The largest expenditure, for education, was $21 billion dollars, for a system that cannot even teach reading and arithmetic by the critical third grade. Statewide, the 3rd grade SOL reading failure rate is 34 percent, and only 11 percent score at the Advanced level. For Hispanics, the failure rate is 51 percent and Blacks 48 percent. The problem is not race, students, or money, but rather bad curricula and unaccountable administrators.
Moreover, Fairfax County Public Schools teaches students to become global citizens, not U.S. citizens. Instead of government getting its rights from "We, the people", the people would get their rights from unelected billionaires. Are students taught that the oldest, still functioning representative body in the Western Hemisphere, the Virginia General Assembly, began in 1619? That tjheritage.org has a 400-page study in which 13 diverse scholars unanimously agreed that Thomas Jefferson did NOT father Sally Hemmings children? That the Constitution passed only because the Northwest Ordinance guaranteed that new states above the Ohio River would be free states?
The second largest expenditure, on health, was $19 billion dollars. The result? Virginia is sick, because America is sick, with epidemics of diabetes, hypertension, strokes, heart attacks, and Alzheimer's. Why? Because in 1977 the federal government told America to eat high carb and low fat. Carbs raise glucose, glucose raises insulin, and sustained elevated insulin causes insulin resistance, which causes chronic disease. Happily, insulin resistance and chronic disease could be reversed if Virginians were warned to cut back on added sugar, as in sodas, candy, snacks, and cereals. We would save billions of dollars.
You should not increase spending for schools that can't teach reading and arithmetic but instead acclimate youth to tyranny nor for a health system that ignores chronic disease.
Dissolve the Department of Education, end school boards' veto powers over charter schools, and give vouchers for every child who tries public school for a year and then leaves for private or home schooling.
Implement Governor Youngkin's income-tax cuts but don't raise the regressive sales tax.
Thank you.
contact@fcta.org
fcta.org
FCTA's Bill Peabody -- Multiple Topics
Green Energy: Complete the nuclear sites at Anna and Surry. The reactors canceled in the 1980s could double the 29% of electric power they provide now. Since the sites have reactors running increasing capacity is less prone to the NIMBY resistance a new site creates. There is space for four additional reactors. Each reactor produces more power than two million solar panels.
Keep Virginia Right to Work (RTW). As seen in the How Money Walks IRS data, union states are losing money, and in most cases population to RTW states. Relocating businesses avoid unions. As for government unions read FDR's warnings and study Illinois. They've had 48 teacher strikes in 10 years. Illinois has the worst percentage tax wealth and population outward migration with the worst state credit rating. Government unions rule Illinois.
Replace pensions with defined contribution plans. Young people seek portability and have trouble committing to a 30-year career horizon. Other than utilities and government, pensions no longer exist. Pensions are strangling the finances of many states. The cure is for government workers to have defined contribution plans like the rest of us.
Roads, not rail! The SilverLine is a 6.8 billion dollar boondoggle. In 2016, Sharon Bulova finally admitted the Silver Line was a development project and less of a transportation solution. It's usage was projected for 20,000 daily riders. One year after opening Dulles and offering $2 rides, readership is about 3700 a day. The two VRE parking lots near Burke are 70% empty. Focus on roads, not transit.
Lower the corporate tax rate. North Carolina will be claiming the #1 spot for business continually as they lower their corp tax rate to zero. NC has learned that the corporate tax collection is dwarfed by the revenue from new and robust businesses.
Unconditional School Choice: Offering parents a $6000 voucher would save the state and county money. Twenty-three states are offering various vouchers and tax credits for school choice -- most more generous than a $6,000 voucher. Local school boards could determine their level of involvement. FCPS last quoted a marginal cost per student of $27,000, with the average cost over $18,000. $6,000 offered to an exiting student is a bargain for taxpayers.
Bill Peabody
703-302-0041
w.t.peabodysr@gmail.com