The Virginia General Assembly’s conservative wing on Wednesday outlined its plans to fight aspects of both Gov. Tim Kaine’s budget proposal and the Democrats’ legislative agendas. Meanwhile, House Democrats vowed to defend education funding and advance renewable energy as part of their plans for the 2009 session.
The Virginia Conservative Caucus announced its opposition to a Democrat-initiated statewide ban on restaurant and bar smoking, as well as the governor’s cost-saving proposal to allow early release of up to 90 days for nonviolent felons. The caucus also said it would oppose bills that would write sexual orientation protections into anti-discrimination law and reinstate the estate tax, the repeal of which Kaine signed in 2006.
Conservative Caucus chairman Del. Ben Cline, R-Amherst, called the package “a positive agenda for change” on the House floor Wednesday.
At nearly the same time, Democratic House members rolled out a legislative agenda that includes a broad audit for legislative branch spending, tax credits to companies that create jobs in renewable energy, and — like their Senate counterparts — searches for onetime cuts in education to avoid more lasting reductions in K-12 funding.
The 2009 session, which began Jan. 14, is expected to be overwhelmed by discussions over how to close an at least $3 billion shortfall in the state’s biennial budget, though legislators have made little progress a week into the session.
Kaine’s proposed cuts include about $400 million to Medicaid and education funding, which, accompanied by automatic cuts due to drooping revenues, would pare about $700 million from K-12 funding, education officials say.
Kaine also is proposing a 30-cent-per-pack increase in the cigarette tax.
Emboldened by President Obama’s inauguration a day before, lawmakers pledged to reach across the aisle to work with each other on the legislative packets.
The show of good will quickly melted away, however, as the increasingly bitter spat over whether to seat a newly elected Democratic delegate resumed on the floor. The Republican-majority House again voted not to seat Charniele Herring, who won a Jan. 13 special election in the 46th District representing Alexandria and part of southern Fairfax County by a margin of 16 votes, pending a recount.
