RICHMOND – Virginia lawmakers on Wednesday rebuffed Gov. Bob McDonnell by restoring funding for public broadcasting and services for mentally ill youths, while agreeing to most of the governor’s other fiscal proposals.
Legislators returned to the Capitol for a single day to consider McDonnell’s 96 budget tweaks and 122 amendments to bills passed earlier this year. McDonnell had proposed no vetoes.
Wednesday’s votes finalize a $70 billion two-year spending plan that squeezes K-12 education, state pension contributions, public safety and health care while raising almost $100 million in new fees.
The GOP-controlled House killed one of the governor’s most contentious proposals, a $10 million cut in services for troubled children and teens, and rejected several other reductions to health care and human services funding.
Delegates agreed with the governor and cut about $600,000 from public radio and television, but balked at his proposal to pull $1.6 million from educational programming. The Democratic-majority Senate then rejected the first cut, essentially undoing McDonnell’s public broadcasting reductions.
That vote followed a heated debate in the House over state support for public radio and television, a long-standing target of Republicans who say it doesn’t represent a core government function.
“Personally, I’m going to support teachers, and I’m going to support policemen before I’m going to support Bert and Ernie,” said Del. John Cosgrove, R-Chesapeake, on the House floor.
The programming is more necessary today, said Del. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, to fill the gap left by the shrinking Richmond press corps.
The House and Senate accepted McDonnell’s amendments to restrict state funding for abortion, except as allowed under state and federal law. Opponents said the measure would have far-reaching unintended consequences, including preventing state employees from receiving health-related abortions through their insurance plans.
Both chambers also agreed with McDonnell in stripping Viagra and other prescription drugs for erectile dysfunction from public employee health plans, and agreed to bar local governments from requiring their employees to pay into their own pensions.
