Throughout the last few months people have been sure to tell me how they thought the so-called surplus Virginia enjoys ought to be spent – more money for education, more money for our beautiful state parks, more money for transportation projects, more money for human services like mental health, more money for healthcare, and the list goes on. I’ve consistently advised people that we will have to find a path forward that resolves the demand of the Governor for tax cuts with the need for funding other priorities. [Read more…]
Week 7: Final Countdown
The 2021 Session of the General Assembly is rapidly winding down. We are in the throes of the last week, and we have reached a budget agreement. Many bills remain up in the air.
For the second time in my legislative career, I was involved in the final budget negotiations. [Read more…]
Week 6: In the Homestretch
The 2021 Session of the General Assembly is winding down. We only have a week left in the regular session, which is anything but regular this year. We are in a pandemic, and we had to go through extraordinary means simply to meet for the normal 46 days. [Read more…]
2020 Special Session
The 2020 General Assembly Session seems so long ago. Way back when we were running a surplus and adopting a budget that funded so many critical priorities in the Commonwealth. [Read more…]
Sine Die
On March 12, 2020, the regular session of the General Assembly adjourned after adopting a budget for the next two years. It is a budget that will take us forward and that we can be proud of, but there are caveats.
The biennial budget is built on projected growth over the next two years of three percent. The February forecast showed Virginia experiencing about six percent growth to date, so three percent seemed to be a conservative estimate. However, the stock market has fallen more than 25 percent over the last few weeks. We need to be concerned about the economy at this point for several reasons. Major forecasts are predicting a recession this year, so there are a few things we need to take into consideration. [Read more…]