The Latest from VEA

Following months of closed-door negotiations, the House of Delegates and Senate came to an agreement on amendments to the state budget on June 1. The conference budget will now go to Governor Youngkin, who, because the General Assembly is technically still in session, will have seven days to approve it as is or offer amendments. Lawmakers would return to Richmond once more to consider any line-item vetoes or amendments added by Youngkin.  As a reminder, Virginia operates on a biennial budget system. The budget itself is developed in even-numbered years and amendments are enacted in odd-numbered years. This year, the General Assembly was considering amendments to the new biennial budget introduced by former Governor Northam last December. The introduced budget included $2.4 billion in increased funding for PK-12 programs. In February, the House and Senate money committees presented their budget amendment proposals, which were adopted by the full bodies. Relative to education spending in the introduced budget, the House proposal would have cut direct aid to localities by $637.9 million over the biennium and the Senate would have provided $277.5 million in additional direct aid. The House, in proposing new tax cuts to corporations and high-income earners, needed to fill a multi-billion-dollar hole.   A conference committee of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee and House Appropriations Committee members from both parties have been working since the General Assembly adjourned in March to negotiate a compromise bill. That bill became the conference budget that was unveiled over the Memorial Day weekend and has now passed both bodies and awaits the governor’s action.  READ THE FULL REPORT HERE.

ICYMI:  VEA President James Fedderman and the VEA Government Relations Team breakdown the conference budget for our members in the weekly legislative round-up.  CATCH THE FULL BREAKDOWN HERE.