The Out-of-Touch Budget Priorities of VA’s Liberal Majority

Last week, the General Assembly met for its one-day Reconvene Session to address Governor Northam’s proposed amendments to the legislation is passed this year, as well as his recommended changes to the state’s largest ever 2-year ~$130 billion budget. Much like every other aspect of 2020 has proven to be, the event was truly unprecedented, with the Senate meeting at the Science Museum spanned out across a large room, the House meeting in a tent on the Capitol lawn with major technical failures, all 140 legislators in masks, and even the Speaker fainting on the podium after hours of standing (she quickly recovered).

The House of Delegates met under a large tent on the Capitol lawn for the Reconvene Session.

But none of that was the biggest news of the one-day Session.

It was the budget decisions of the new majority, as proposed by the Governor in response to a crashing economy and greatly diminished fiscal forecast, that really took the cake. For critical context, the House Appropriations Committee met two days before the Reconvene Session, where among other data it was reported to them that “Virginia’s unemployment claims over the past 4 weeks total almost 411,000, roughly 9% of the state’s workforce.” As of April 23, the 5 week total was up to 493,501 and is still rising rapidly.

Not only does that mean unsustainable payouts in unemployment benefits (and likely other benefits like Medicaid with people out of work and now lacking health insurance), but that represents massive amounts of income tax the state won’t collect. Add on top of that the drastically reduced revenues from sales tax (retail shops closed & people quarantined at home saving their money), gas tax (oil prices at all-time lows & fewer people driving), tolls (few traveling to work), and corporate taxes (businesses closed or downsizing), and the General Assembly has a colossal problem on its hands, especially in light of Virginia’s constitutional requirement to balance our budget.

Bear in mind that the General Assembly wrapped up its Session on March 8, and then came back a few days later to finalize the budget. Meaning they completed all their budget work JUST before the economy went into total freefall mode triggered by the response to COVID-19. In response, the Governor pulled out nearly $3 billion of planned expenditures to “unallot” as a way of freeing up funds that will be desperately needed for core functions of government in the impending financial downturn.

So what did those things include? Maybe more telling, what sorts of items stayed in?

Some Items Stripped From the Budget

• Over $20 million for local police and sheriffs

• All raises for school teachers

• Millions in cash assistance to low-income families

• Millions for foster care and adoptions cost of living adjustments

• $5 million to fund local election officials

• Millions for pre-K access for at-risk 3 and 4-year olds

• Financial aid to in-state college students

Items That Remain Untouched (To List Just a Few)

• Every new state position (at least 15) created to enforce the majority’s new anti-business labor laws, including the enforcement of “SOGI” provisions against churches and religious schools

• $3 million for a “LARC” grant program that will substantially flow to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers

• A special line item to fund DMV’s implementation of new “non-binary” designations anyone will be able to select on their Driver’s License beginning in July

• Funding to create a training module on LGBTQ Cultural Competency that will be mandatory for all state employees

• $12 million to relocate birds’ nests in Virginia Beach

New Budget Item Added

• They also went along with the Governor's latest plan to keep the convenience store slot machines around for another year in hopes of swindling around $150 million in revenue from low-income folks during an economic meltdown purportedly for a COVID-19 Relief Fund. 

This is just a sampling of Virginia's liberal majority’s funding priorities in the midst of the greatest financial challenges our state has faced since Reconstruction. We could share our commentary on this state of affairs, but the facts speak for themselves.

Meanwhile, the General Assembly does plan to convene a special session later this year to deal with the economic crisis after the administration is able to fully develop a new revenue forecast. Perhaps some of the items on the second list will be on the chopping block by then.