After Virginia House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) assumed his powerful post last year, one of his sons called to ask about his vision for the job.
"I said, 'Vision, shmision. Speakers don't have vision,' " Howell recalled yesterday as he bantered -- and sparred -- with Northern Virginia executives over breakfast in Vienna.
William J. Howell says he envisions "a lot more privatization."
(File Photo)
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But nearly two years and a fierce, protracted budget showdown later, Howell said he has altered that view and can now distill his basic mission in Richmond in a couple of words: free markets.
"We can't afford to govern in the 21st century like we did in the 20th century. We don't have enough money," said Howell, adding that his objective at the pinnacle of Virginia government is "a lot more privatization."
In a Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce conference room full of chamber members -- some worried that snarled public roads are stifling commerce, others still smarting over Howell's push this year to repeal a series of business tax breaks -- the speaker's message received a mixed response.
"Even public-private partnerships require some public money to go into them," said David A. Edwards, a former head of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority. "What I'm concerned with is: Where's the money?"
Several of those gathered called for a gas tax increase to fund the transportation improvements that top their priority list. "No one wants to pay taxes. But sitting in a traffic jam each morning, I'm paying hundreds of dollars, thousands of dollars, and I'm not getting a new road. I'd rather pay some money and get improvements," Edwards said.
But Howell rejected that notion, saying high oil prices and a tax increase in this year's budget compromise make the already bad idea politically impossible. Instead, on roads and a range of other issues, Howell promised an aggressive campaign to fight stalling bureaucrats and entrenched private interests in an effort to remake state government with an emphasis on markets.
Many specifics of that program have not been announced or worked out, Howell said. He has asked the head of a political education group he created, the Virginia Reform Initiative, to survey think tanks such as the conservative Heritage Foundation and libertarian Cato Institute and what he considers model government departments in states such as Florida in search of free-market solutions.
But the thrust, Howell said, is clear.
Private companies should manage more of the state's road maintenance, Howell said. Problems with high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus streaming into the Chesapeake Bay, forming a massive oxygen-free dead zone, should be addressed by privatizing sewer services, as has been done in Texas, he said. Entrepreneurs should take over many state information technology systems, an effort he's pushed for years, and, he said, other areas of government should follow.
Howell also said Virginia laws allowing private companies to build public projects, such as roads and schools, must be made more "user-friendly" for companies by adding a trust fund and pushing state workers who might be reluctant to give up some of their turf. "If I were a bureaucrat, I'd feel the same way," Howell said.
Some of those listening, such as lobbyist Tracy M. Baynard, who represents technology, transportation and other clients at McGuireWoods Consulting, said Howell was right to broaden the political debate beyond the question of finding more government cash for important projects.
"There's the money part," Baynard said. "The other part is a lot of policy and process. In some cases, you have to fix that to make sure when you get the money you can actually do something constructive."
