.jpg)
In his newsletter to constituents this week, state Sen. Creigh Deed warns that the General Assembly is heading toward a stalemate over Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed $1 billion in tax cuts. Deeds is worried that a legislative logjam is going to delay approval of a state budget for the second session in a row. Last year, a state budget impasse wasn’t resolved until June, creating havoc for local jurisdictions since they did not know what state funding to anticipate.
The Republican-controlled House of Delegates supports the Republican governor’s proposed tax cuts while the Democraticdominated state Senate does not. Last year, after months of indecision, legislators ultimately reached a compromise on tax cuts proposed by the governor. The hope here is that legislators cut to the chase this session and reach a compromise in a more timely fashion so the budget gets approved by the scheduled adjournment date of Feb. 25.
As it is, the governor’s proposed $1 billion in tax cuts would necessarily lead to a like amount in reduced spending. As Deeds points out, state funding for public schools is already $400 million below what is mandated by the Standards of Quality. Further exacerbating this funding shortfall for the schools, according to a report Monday by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, is a state calculation error that is leading to local school divisions getting $201 million less than they were expecting from the state.
The state is also underfunding mental health services by hundreds of millions of dollars. We fully support the governor’s proposal to spend $207 million on mental health services that would address crisis response issues. However, we believe Deeds is correct in characterizing this one-time infusion of cash as but a first step in bringing about a greater commitment by the state to fully fund mental health services.
The state budget is not, of course, the only thing in which House Republicans and Senate Democrats are at odds. Abortion, banning books at school libraries, access to the ballot box and gun safety are among hot button issues being debated by legislators. Because of divided government, controversial legislation is not going to be enacted this session.
This would likely include a couple of gun safety measures that Deeds has introduced. One would place restrictions on the possession of assault weapons and high capacity magazines and another would ban guns on college campuses. Both may make it out of the Senate but probably will be rejected by the House.
We are uncertain about the chances for a bill Deeds introduced that would allow Charlottesville and Albemarle County to hold referendums on local one-cent sales taxes to raise money for local school construction. We think it is reasonable to give localities the option of raising money to pay for their own school construction projects. In fact, this is an option that should be available to localities across the state, in our view.
We support a Deeds bill that would allow judges presiding over cases in Buena Vista Circuit Court to move trials, under certain circumstances, to the Rockbridge County courthouse, which has better security and courtrooms with a larger seating capacity. This is a measure specific to Buena Vista that won’t affect other jurisdictions so we don’t expect there to be any opposition to it being enacted.
The 2023 session of the General Assembly is nearing its halfway point, when each chamber will finish work on its own legislation that will then be considered by the other chamber. Whatever is accomplished this session – or, conversely, left unfinished – will provide a basis for which voters can render a judgment later in the year when all 140 members of the General Assembly will be up for election.
