RICHMOND — The Virginia House Appropriations and Senate Finance committees found some common ground in their respective budgets released Sunday, but differed sharply on how much they want to spend on items like education, transportation and the state’s pension fund. Legislators were cautiously optimistic regarding Virginia’s fiscal outlook following billions of dollars in cuts in recent years. Gov. Bob McDonnell recently revised the state’s revenue projections upward by $152 million in the current two-year budget. “The reality is that we will need to continue to show restraint if we are to match our budget to the constraints of our ongoing revenue stream,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Lacey Putney, I-Bedford.
The House and Senate agreed to fund a variety of items for Northern Virginia. The Senate included $11,000 for Care Coordination for the Elderly in Prince William County and new bond project authorizations for George Mason University. A House amendment would require Northern Virginia transportation officials to add the secretary of transportation or his designee to Metro’s board of directors.
