So here’s the deal:

I know you’ve heard about all the horrible budget cuts they’re proposing up in Richmond. As the Pilot put it, misguided priorities target Virginia’s most vulnerable.

We’re talking about completely getting rid of the Virginia Commission for the Arts, and its some $5 million in funding it brings in art funding to the state. We’re talking about canceling health insurance for some low-income children. We’re talking about reducing remedial support for low-income students.

Yeah, it’s bad. But there’s still hope.

As I learned from the Virginia Department of Planning & Budget website, before the General Assembly adjourns for the session, a conference committee resolves any differences between the versions passed by the two houses. The committee will work together on a compromise plan, which would be sent back to both houses for a final vote, probably by the end of next week. The General Assembly then sends the budget bill to the Governor for his signature.

This process is far from resolved. The 2010 legislative session doesn’t adjourn until March 13th. There is still time, good people of the great state of Virginia.

So what do we do now? We do the only thing we can do in a democracy: We threaten our representatives with the promise that, if they should pass this budget plan, they will never again receive a dollar of contribution from us. They will never again receive our votes. That nice fancy job with the nice fancy title they’ve got? They can kiss that goodbye, because it’s our damn voice they’re representing, and if they don’t represent it right, they can take a long walk off a short pier.

(Deep breath.) (Okay, I’m better.)

The first thing you need to do is figure out who your representatives are. This page makes it easy. Turns out my delegate is Matthew James. His number is (804) 698-1080. His email address is DelMJames@house.virginia.gov. Easy, right? I just gave him a call and left a message of my feelings on the budget with his secretary. I made sure she knew that Delegate James represents me.

That's my Senator.

Yvonne B. Miller is my state senator. Her number in Richmond is (804) 698-7505. (Local numbers are available too.) Her email is senatorybmiller@verizon.net. After I finish this post I’m going to send her an email. I will be a part of what happens in this democracy (rather than just letting this government happen to me).

You should also know about an utterly amazing website called Richmond Sunlight. As they put it, Richmond Sunlight is a website that aggregates information about the General Assembly, the lawmaking body that governs the state of Virginia. It is an independent, volunteer-run website that is in no way affiliated with the Virginia General Assembly or the state government.

Maybe this is uber-geeky of me, but I kind of can’t get enough of this site. I look up my representatives, and it instantly tells me what bills they’ve sponsored (Senator Miller seems to find bills that “Celebrate the life of” someone particularly worthy of her time); it tells you how much they’ve fund-raised, and from whom; it leads you to blogs that mention them (a blog called “Bearing Drift” called her a “psycho-Senator”; it even links to the Senator’s Twitter (on 2/28 she Twittered “Good morning everyone, enjoy your day!”).

Isn’t democracy in the Google Age a wonderful thing?

Last week I called Peggy Baggett, executive director of the Virginia Commission for the Arts, to offer my support and to see what we could do to help.

“People are more than welcome to contact their people in the General Assembly,” she said. “At this point that’s probably the most effective.”

So that’s what I’m doing. And that’s what I hope you do too.