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Now that the General Assembly has reached its half-way point, some of the most important work of the General Assembly now begins….the passage of a two-year budget for the Commonwealth and a major new bond proposal to improve facilities at our colleges and universities.
In December the Governor proposed a $2.2 billion bond package to fund construction of new buildings largely at our schools. While there are enormous building needs at our colleges and universities, the original proposal was long on concept and short on specifics. During the last 17 years the Commonwealth of Virginia has put forward two major bond construction programs. I have been a strong supporter of these projects, both in 1992 and in 2002, which I helped co-sponsor. The 2002 bond bill generated $900 million in funding for the new buildings at our colleges and universities. That is the good news. The bad news was that the Commonwealth experienced over $300 million in cost overruns on the $900 million project. No one is pointing fingers of blame, but clearly the Department of Management and Budget needs to do a better job in preconstruction planning. That period of time also saw a tremendous increase in construction on the global stage which helped drive up the cost of steel and concrete to record levels. That is why the House Bill 1547 moves the process of strategic planning along so much better than the Governor’s proposal. The legislation creates a process to move capital construction projects forward in a timely basis while allowing both the universities and the state to developed detailed cost projections on the buildings. This approach will allow Radford University to move forward on its most mission critical building project, a new business school. Planning monies are incorporated and the projects can move forward in a more timely fashion.
The House and Senate money committees reported out their versions of the state budget Sunday. These proposals represent each body’s view of the state’s funding priorities as originally proposed by the Governor.
When a Governor introduces his budget, about 75 to 80 percent of his proposal will remain throughout the legislative process. But each body also wants to put its stamp on the direction of state spending. For example, the House of Delegates was very troubled that the Governor has continued to push for funding for his Pre-K program, even as state tax revenues have fallen dramatically. Right now tax revenues are down over a $1 billion dollars. And as the old saying goes that’s real money. While the Governor has significantly pared back his original proposal, it is hard to justify this new spending when core services are being cut. The House did put an additional $25 million into keeping current the state’s existing Pre-K initiative, but it cut funds to expand the program that currently serves families whose income reaches up to $40,000 for a family of four. The House budget also proposes a two-percent pay raise for state employees, college faculty and public school teachers. Given the strong protest I heard from school teachers throughout the region about the Governor’s proposal this is welcome relief. Both the House and the Senate take funds from the state’s Rainy Day Fund, but by differing amounts. The Governor proposed taking $423 million and the Senate agreed to an equal amount. The House budget is based on accessing the fund by only $225 million. I am much more comfortable with a limited use of this money. While I agree that it is now raining, we don’t know what is over the horizon as far as the economy is concerned. A healthy rainy day fund may be the best insurance to a continued slow down in the state and national economy. As always, if you have any questions or concerns about my legislation or any other action by the General Assembly, do not hesitate to contact me. My e-mail address is
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. The phone number for my Richmond office is (804) 698-1007. If you would like to send a letter, you may send it to P.O. Box 406 Richmond, VA 23218.
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