Getting some press now. Rumor is that Chap Petersen is being set up as the fall-guy for the Northern Virginia Democrats.
Published: Friday, March 2, 2012
Democrats’ action makes state budget future uncertain by Kali Schumitz
Staff Writer
The future of Virginia’s budget for the next two fiscal years is up in the air, now that Senate Democrats have killed both the House and Senate versions of state budget bills.
Democrats made good on their promise to use the budget to retain some measure of control in the Senate after fall elections led to a 20-20 split in the chamber. Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) is able to serve as the tie-breaking vote on many matters, but not on the budget.
After Republicans used Bolling’s vote to change Senate rules and overhaul committee assignments — putting their party fully in control of the chamber’s business — Democrats began raising the spectre of a budget showdown.
On Feb. 23, Democrats defeated the Senate version of the bills amending the current fiscal year’s budget and implementing the fiscal 2013-14 budget. On Wednesday, they did the same with the House of Delegates’ versions of those bills.
This move prevents the budget discussions from moving to a conference committee, where budget impasses have been resolved during the past decade.
Republicans criticized the move as a partisan action that is unprecedented in Virginia.
“They have put their committee seats ahead of our communities’ needs,” Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) said in a statement Wednesday. “This is unprecedented, and it is unacceptable. It is not the Virginia way.”
Senate Democrats, on the other hand, say their objections are based on substantive philosophical concerns about the state’s spending priorities, not on pure politics.
The Republicans’ version of the budget in the Senate fell short on funding for education and transportation, said Sen. Mark Herring (D-Dist. 33), who represents portions of western Fairfax and eastern Loudoun counties. It also did not contain needed funding for the Dulles Metrorail extension, he said.
It also failed to fully restore the so-called “cost to compete” funding, which helps school districts in Northern Virginia pay the higher teacher salaries needed to account for higher cost of living, Herring said, adding one of his Republican colleagues threatened to remove additional funding.
“That is budget blackmail and it is the kind of partisan maneuvering that is preventing us from moving forward,” he said. It is the kind of political gamesmanship that is preventing Democrats and Republicans from having a truly bipartisan discussion about our Commonwealth’s priorities.”
Sen. Barbara Favola (D-Dist. 31), whose district includes McLean and Great Falls, also said the combination of the budget proposal and other policy changes, such as forcing shorter teacher contracts, is undermining public education in the state.
“The Republican Senate budget funds yesterday’s education system, not tomorrow’s,” Favola said. “The current Senate budget proposes to fund K-12 education at $400 million less than we spent in 2007.”
With the General Assembly session slated to end March 10, legislators have little time to craft a budget agreement. McDonnell and other Republicans are urging Senate Democrats to play ball.
McDonnell said, to the best of his knowledge, it would be the first time in modern Virginia history that the legislature failed to pass a budget.
“For me and my colleagues in the House of Delegates, it is frustrating to see our hard work rejected in the Senate,” House Speaker William Howell (R-Dist. 28) said in a released statement. “I join my Republican colleagues in the House and Senate in urging the Senate Democrat Caucus to work together towards a budget solution."
kschumitz@fairfaxtimes.com
© 2012 Post-Newsweek Media, Inc./FairfaxTimes.com