Lawmakers have not given up hope that they can complete their work by Saturday’s scheduled adjournment of the 2010 General Assembly. However, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles J. Colgan, D-Prince William, publicly warned that the legislature may
FROM WSLS Channel 10 News
RICHMOND—Senators are retreating somewhat on fattened court fees to help balance Virginia’s recession-wracked budget, but delegates aren’t impressed.
Ahead of the assembly’s scheduled Saturday adjournment, the 13 budget negotiators missed their first deadline to reach a deal—midnight tonight.
The latest maneuvering came as the McDonnell administration reported that the state’s tax collections continue to lag.
In a written proposal that the House rejected as inadequate late this afternoon, Senate negotiators proposed cutting from $51 million to $38 million the cash on which the state would rely annually from higher costs for Virginians filing civil lawsuits.
Delegates and senators also discussed the possibility of putting off for another year a possible one-time bonus for state employees who have gone without a raise for four years.
The House and Senate budgets call for a 3 percent payment to workers in December 2011, but it could be delayed until Christmas 2012 if the necessary revenues—$82 million—don’t materialize.
Because both sides are quarreling over how much money is available over the two-year spending cycle that begins July 1 as well as its origins, conferees have yet to make significant progress on a compromise remedy to the state’s $4.2 billion shortfall.
“Once we agree on revenues, everything else should fall into place,“ said Del. M. Kirkland Cox, R-Colonial Heights, vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
Lawmakers have not given up hope that they can complete their work by Saturday’s scheduled adjournment of the 2010 General Assembly. However, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles J. Colgan, D-Prince William, publicly warned that the legislature may have to go into overtime—a common occurrence in recent years.
