The Virginia General Assembly special session is set to convene this coming Monday and the House Republican leadership is seeking an answer to when the Senate plans to act upon its spending plans, which will allow the upper and lower chamber to resolve their differences before the end of the state’s fiscal year. On Tuesday, Speaker of the House Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights) asked Senate Republican leaders for, “a specific date at which we can expect the budget bills to be returned to the House for further consideration.”
In a report from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Cox sent the letter to Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment (R-James City) and Senate Rules Chairman Ryan McDougle (R-Hanover) expressing his concern about the decision to wait until the General Assembly convenes next week to refer the two budget bills to the Finance Committee and then begin deliberations on Tuesday. It will have been four weeks after the House sent the bills to the to the Senate in an attempt to settle the impasse.
The Commonwealth’s fiscal year is set to end June 30, for which there i one bill that sit must be deliberated. Two additional bills are for the succeeding two-year budget set to kick in July 1.
“The lack of clarity or urgency is obviously problematic on multiple levels,” Cox said in a two-page letter. The correspondence was also signed by House Majority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah), Caucus Chairman Tim Hugo (R-Fairfax), and Majority Whip Nick Rush (R-Montgomery) – all of whom are opposed to the budgetary measure that support Virginia’s Medicaid expansion program.
Their concern is that the unclear schedule from the Senate prevents House leadership from knowing when to schedule their session to consider the amendments made to the budget.
As Virginia is closing in on the deadline for the biennial budget, Cox said in the letter, “The General Assembly has a constitutional duty to produce a budget, but that requires both houses of the legislature.” ”
“The House of Delegates has acted. The Senate of Virginia has not.”
Norment, who is also co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, hit back at the House’s requests saying, “Everyone needs to stop the ‘Chicken Little,’ acting as though the sky is falling. Virginia will have a timely budget well before June 30.”
Via a formal response, Republican leaders in the Senate aimed their remarks at the budget the House adopted, which most Republican lawmakers opposed. 19 Republicans joined the 49-strong Democratic minority in their support for Medicaid expansion.
“We share your desire to complete a budget as expeditiously as possible,” Senate Republicans said in a letter to Cox. “The budget approved by the Senate during the regular session relied on the state’s existing revenue stream, had the support of our entire leadership team, represented the priorities of the majority caucus and secured a majority vote from our chamber.”
“Regrettably, the budget produced by the House only satisfied one of those four criteria.”
The Senate voted against including the House’s measures of enhanced federal funding for Medicaid expansion and a new hospital tax to generate funds for the the state’s share of the cost. Though, Norment and other Senate Republicans did vote in favor of a provider assessment as part of an alternative proposal by Senator Siobhan Dunnavant (R-Henrico) to expand some services under the current Medicaid program.
Norment said last week the Senate would meet Monday to refer the budget bills to the Finance Committee, which would meet immediately to hear an update on state revenues from Secretary of Finance Aubrey Layne.
House Republican leaders are still aiming at the work schedule of the Senate, saying they could have started the process on April 18 after the end of the reconvened session on gubernatorial vetoes and amendments.
“It appears there is no real desire to act,” House Appropriations Chairman Chris Jones (R-Suffolk) said Tuesday. “We could have had the bills in position for productive negotiations weeks ago.”
