Virginia’s 140 state lawmakers return to Richmond in two days, tasked with an almost singular mission of sewing up the tattered state budget.
They arrive with little consensus, either on the size of the shortfall or on how to close it. They hold some of the lowest ambitions in years for proposing new spending items or expanding existing programs. Throughout the General Assembly runs a vein of deep uncertainty, as growing unemployment and stark holiday sales threaten to lead the state into a more severe crisis.
“This will be my 12th year, and it’s the worst budget situation that I’ve seen since I’ve been down here,” said Del. Robert Brink, D-Arlington, a member of the House Appropriations Committee.
At the very least, the hole in the $77 billion two-year spending plan has reached about $3 billion, based on Gov. Tim Kaine’s official estimate. Some legislators, especially in the Republican-controlled House, say Kaine should add another $600 million to that figure.
When the governor rolled out the latest series of budget cut proposals in December, his team of economists predicted general fund revenues to fall by effectively 2.8 percent this fiscal year.
“I think the governor is sincere in his position,” said Del. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Woodbridge, also an appropriations committee member. “But I think he’s sincerely wrong if he believes the gap is $2.9 billion.”
Kaine has proposed trimming about $400 million each from Medicaid and education spending, tapping the “rainy day” reserves, and raising the cigarette tax by 30 cents per pack, among a host of other measures.
One bright spot, Kaine said in a December interview with The Examiner, is President-elect Barack Obama’s economic recovery package, which could pump new spending into infrastructure or services. That potential infusion is not accounted for in Kaine’s cuts.
Lawmakers broadly expect the session, which officially runs through the end of February, to be dominated by budget negotiation. Del. Kristen Amundson, D-Mount Vernon, said the crisis was curtailing legislators’ plans for other bills.
“I’ve heard an awful lot of people say, ‘I was interested in putting in such and such bill, but I knew it was going to cost money, and I knew therefore it would never pass,’ ” Amundson said. “I think there’s some self-censorship going on.”
