Virginia lawmakers are expected to go home Saturday without passing a budget after weeks of political wrangling dashed repeated efforts to advance a spending plan before the legislative session ran out.
It’s not the first time the clock has expired on the General Assembly before it could approve a budget, but the gap between what Democrats want and what Republicans are willing to concede is so great, it is unclear of when — or if — lawmakers will be able to strike a deal.
“I don’t want to stay here until June, or May, even April, but between these two bodies at the present time there is a ravine,” warned Sen. Chuck Colgan, D-Manassas, the longest-serving member of the Senate. “If we’re not careful, we’re going to make the ravine so wide, we can’t cross it. And that indeed will be a tragedy.”
The new fiscal year begins July 1, meaning lawmakers still have months to hammer out a budget that funds schools, police, roads and state agencies. It took weeks after the 2004 and 2006 sessions to pass a budget, with no real negative effect.
Still, never has the legislature come so close to the deadline without at least holding meetings between House and Senate budget negotiators, who usually work out differences between the spending plans each chamber proposes.
Before negotiators can meet, however, each chamber has to approve a budget, and the Senate so far hasn’t. Multiple budget bills have stalled at the hands of Senate Democrats looking to regain some of the power lost in last November’s elections.
The chamber is split between 20 Democrats and 20 Republicans, but Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling‘s tie-breaking vote allowed the GOP to organize the Senate in its favor and stack committees with its members. Bolling can’t vote on the budget, however.
Senate Democrats appear more willing to flirt with the deadline, refusing to move on any budget legislation until Republicans agree to share authority on key committees. They issued 15 policy demands last week ranging from boosting education spending to restoring funding for teen pregnancy centers.
Republicans insist that waiting to pass a budget will leave local governments at a loss for how to shape their own budgets and create uncertainty in the business community.
