Growls

Gary Emerling of the Washington Times reports Virginia’s General Assembly approved a $77 billion biennium budget, which enabled it to adjourn on-time. He writes:

“Disputes about Virginia's biennial spending plan took the state's 12 budget conferees until roughly midnight Friday to resolve, threatening to push the winter legislative session past Saturday's scheduled adjournment.

“But with the sixth overtime session in the past eight years looming, members of the Republican-controlled House voted 90-8 in the evening to pass a spending proposal containing key compromises between the General Assembly's two divergent chambers.”

In a companion piece in the Washington Times, the AP’s Bob Lewis wrote:

“Slightly more than $1.5 billion in federal cash was used to offset a $3.7 billion shortfall and restore many state health care, educational and public safety cuts Gov. Timothy M. Kaine proposed in December.

“Without the stimulus money, Kaine said, state workers faced "massive furloughs and layoffs."

"If anybody wonders whether the stimulus packaged mattered, whether the recovery package mattered, 7,100 people are going to have jobs with state government," said Kaine, who is also Democratic national chairman.”

Speaking of “stimulus” money, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports:

“A total of $365 million in stimulus money will go to K-12 education to substitute for declining basic-aid payments to education. The budget puts off until next year a decision on one of the more contentious proposals favored by Kaine and the House: limits on non-instructional staff at public schools.

“The largest chunk of Obama-initiated assistance -- $962 million -- will be used to plug a hole in Medicaid, which provides health care for the aged and poor.”

And on the importance of that federal money, the Times-Dispatch reported that Del. Ken Plum (D-Fairfax), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus said "The stimulus package is our salvation.” Sounds like political talk for “that sure saved us from having to make tough budget decisions.”

More on the budget (House Bill 1600), and the voting on the various amendments, is available at the General Assembly website. Here is the Virginian-Pilot’s take on the budget bill. Finally, the Washington Post reports, “Lawmakers agreed to put $160 million in reserve for future economic problems” and also “limited the number of support staffers at public schools next year, saving $340 million, and altered the timetable for large retailers to send sales taxes to the state, recouping $100 million."