Disagreements Over Kaine Proposals Holding Up Budget Deal

By Tim Craig, Anita Kumar

Thursday, February 26, 2009

RICHMOND, Feb. 25 — Disagreements over whether the General Assembly should dictate details of local school staffing and whether some inmates should be released from prison early are among the key issues preventing agreement on a two-year, $77 billion budget.

A dozen negotiators — six from the Senate and six from the House — have been meeting daily since Sunday but missed an informal deadline Tuesday for striking a deal.

As they approach their Saturday deadline, when the legislature adjourns for the year, negotiators have been haggling over how much money to spend on treating mentally disabled individuals at home instead of in institutions and how much money to cut from public television and radio programs.

But the sharpest disagreements remain over a House-backed proposal by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) to cap the number of support staff members and aides that schools can hire. Under Kaine's proposal, schools would receive funding for one non-instruction support staff position for every four teachers.

Del. Clarke N. Hogan (R-Charlotte) said House Republicans agree with Kaine that the funding formula needs to be changed to make sure the budget stays balanced in future years. Hogan said the provision will save the state about $600 million in fiscal 2011 and 2012.

"If we don't take the action that the governor wants to take, we end up with a train wreck," Hogan said. "The Senate doesn't want to come to grips with that."

But negotiators from the Democrat-led Senate disagreed with the governor.

"We're really saying that should be up to the superintendents. The General Assembly should not be micromanaging the school system," said Sen. Charles J. Colgan (D-Prince William), chairman of the Finance Committee.

House and Senate negotiators also remain divided over another of Kaine's proposals: to make some nonviolent offenders eligible to be released 90 days early to save the state money.

The Senate has agreed to the plan, which could save up to $5 million annually. The Senate also wants to expand home monitoring to allow other nonviolent offenders to serve out their sentences at home to save money.

But Del. Phillip A. Hamilton (R-Newport News) said some House Republicans worry that the proposal would "allow pornographers and folks convicted of bestiality" to be released early.

"Cleary there is a difference of opinion here," Hamilton said.

The state is facing a shortfall of $3.7 billion, but state officials expect about $1 billion of that to be offset by the federal economic stimulus package. The two-year spending plan runs through June 2010.

State and local government agencies in Virginia are expecting about $4 billion from the stimulus package, but much of that money will be directed to specific programs and projects.

State lawmakers have tentatively agreed to use $345 million from the federal stimulus package for elementary and secondary education and $145 million for higher education. They also agreed to put $140 million in other funding in reserve for future economic problems.

Despite deep philosophical divides between the Republican-led House and the Democrat-controlled Senate, the dealing has been mostly amicable.

Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) said the enormity of this year's budgetary challenges — not to mention the looming election this November — has allowed Republicans and Democrats to prepare a compromise budget more easily than in years past.

"I think there certainly has been a much greater bipartisan spirit in the session," Bolling said. "I think some of that is a reflection of the seriousness of the challenges that we face. Given some of the challenges we face, I think people on both sides of the aisle understand it's not a time for bipartisanship, it's a time for solutions."

Staff writer Fredrick Kunkle contributed to this report.

Tagged: budget, general assembly, Gov. Tim Kaine, State news

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