Virginia House, Senate pass amended budget
(The Center Square) – The Virginia House of Delegates and Senate passed a budget bill on Monday to allocate $4.3 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funds that contained some amendments to Gov. Ralph Northam’s original proposal.
House Bill 7001, sponsored by Del. Luke Torian, D-Dumfries, left most of the governor’s proposal intact. It contains $862 million to offset some losses to the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, about $700 million to accelerate broadband expansion, $353 million for small business relief and $250 million to help school districts improve air quality through improvements to their HVAC systems.
“This is as good as we could possibly get and I don’t think there’s any reason to not move forward,” Del. Barbara Favola, D-Arlington, said before the bill passed the House 78-20 with some bipartisan support.
The Senate approved the bill 23-16.
Under the amended version, some law enforcement officers and correctional officers will receive a one-time $3,000 bonus. The original proposal from the governor only would have provided a $1,000 bonus and the Senate had sought a bonus of $5,000. House and Senate lawmakers struck a deal near the middle. Northam also created a work group to look into potential raises for law enforcement, which lawmakers intend to consider during the next regular session.
Another revision includes language that would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to create a plan to bring back walk-in services. Current rules at the DMV only permit people to receive services after they’ve made an appointment. The department will have 30 days after the bill goes into effect to finish their plan.
The compromise bill also contained language, which would prohibit public colleges and universities from preventing student athletes from profiting off of the use of their name or their likeness. Although Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, the president of the Senate, ruled the amendment out of order when it was proposed last week, he changed his position and ruled the motion in order before the bill vote on Monday.
Lawmakers also added about $5 million for community-based gun violence prevention programs.
About $1 billion would remain unallocated.
Sen. Tommy Norment, R-James City, criticized Fairfax’s decision and opposed this inclusion in the budget bill. He said the decision to push this amendment through quickly because some universities requested it.
Del. Roslyn Tyler, D-Jarratt, said lawmakers had a lot of discussions over the weekend and said she is proud of all the amendments included, particularly the additional bonus for law enforcement. Tyler said lawmakers will continue to fight for higher salaries for police and corrections officers, adding that the budget bill shows Virginia cares about families and law enforcement.
Sen. Janet Howell, D-Reston, said the compromise bill affirms several Senate priorities that were not originally included in the governor’s proposal. She said the budget process was efficient to make sure the money goes to those who need it as quickly as possible.
“It provides additional, but much needed relief for individuals and businesses,” Howell said.
Some Republican lawmakers disagreed with her.
Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke said the compromise legislation only included some of the Senate priorities in part, but not in full. He said some of the law enforcement bonuses were removed and the lawmakers added new language on anti-gun-violence and changes to how colleges work with student athletes. He said he wished the Senate provisions would have prevailed, but that it looks like the Northam Administration prevailed.
The legislation will now be sent to Northam for consideration.
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