Virginia lawmakers in each house of the General Assembly sent their counterparts a final batch of bills Tuesday, among them an expansion of the death penalty to accomplices in murders and a ban on smoking in a car with minors.
Referred to as “crossover day,” marking the halfway point of a particularly dreary session, Tuesday was the last day each house could consider its own non-budget legislation.
Both the House and Senate passed bills likely to see opposition from the other chamber or the governor.
The Republican-controlled House produced a right-to-work constitutional amendment, a bill that would make accomplices in some killings eligible for capital punishment, and a bill that eventually would eliminate waiting lists for Medicaid care for the mentally disabled.
The Democrat-majority Senate passed a measure that would fine drivers for smoking with a child or teen in the vehicle.
“As far as I’m concerned, if this isn’t child abuse, what is?” asked Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw, D-Springfield, in support of the smoking fine.
Virginia faces an at least $2.9 billion shortfall in its two-year budget, and likely much more, leaving lawmakers sharply curtailing their hopes for new initiatives this year.
“And they should be,” said Del. Kirkland Cox, R-Colonial Heights, one of the House’s budget negotiators. “To try and do new policy when people are being laid off, and everything is about jobs and economics is not appropriate.”
Gov. Tim Kaine told reporters on Tuesday he expects to increase his December shortfall estimate later this week to account for a further drop in tax revenue. Kaine said he hopes to balance that loss with an infusion of cash from a federal stimulus bill.
Both the House and Senate money committees delivered their proposed changes to Kaine’s budget cuts on Sunday, setting the stage for a battle over spending priorities.
