Debate upends routine vote on state budget

RICHMOND

A ranking Senate Democrat’s moral convictions about abortion turned an otherwise routine budget vote Wednesday into a six-hour marathon of back-room dealing and delays.

Despite strenuous lobbying from colleagues, Sen. Charles Colgan, D-Prince William, said his anti-abortion beliefs prevented him from voting against an eleventh-hour Republican budget amendment that would deny state funding to an agency that provides abortion services.

“If I’d had some ketchup and came out with it smeared on my head, you would have thought I was bleeding,” Colgan joked about Democrats’ efforts to sway him.

Colgan said his conscience compelled him to support the amendment to block the Planned Parenthood Federation of America from receiving state funding.

“That’s just the way it is, and I don’t waver from that, as my colleagues found out today,” Colgan said.

The amendment was incorporated into the House of Delegates’ budget bill, HB30, which was the subject of a

fiery partisan debate Wednesday evening in the Senate.

The Senate was considering the House budget plan at the same time the House was considering the Senate budget bill, SB30.

The House amended SB30 to conform with its budget plan and approved it Wednesday.

However, the Senate consideration of the House’s budget bill was bogged down by the introduction of the abortion amendment.

Without Colgan’s vote on the abortion amendment, Democrats found themselves in a deadlock with Republicans in the 40-member Senate, even though the Democrats hold a two-seat majority.

Because of the tie, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, a Republican who presides over the Senate, cast the deciding vote to adopt the amendment.

The abortion amendment was introduced by Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax. Several lawmakers said it would withhold between $200,000 and $300,000 in funding.

Planned Parenthood officials said they felt they were being unfairly singled out.

“No one does more to prevent unintended pregnancy in Virginia than Planned Parenthood, and the overwhelming majority of our services are aimed at preventing unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections,” said Jessica Honke, director of public policy for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, after hearing about the vote.

In a series of votes, the Senate then approved an amended version of the House budget bill.

The next step is for a select group of House and Senate budget conferees to work out their differences on a two-year, $77 billion spending plan before the General Assembly’s scheduled March 8 adjournment.

Wednesday’s politicking is another indication of the growing partisan rift in the once-collegial state Senate.

“It was high-risk budget fights in there today,” said Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach. “That’s about the best way I can describe it.”

The amendment was one of the tactics Republicans tried in an effort to force Democrats into a tough vote on a two-year budget that contains some spending proposals the GOP opposes.

Among the spending priorities opposed by Republicans are plans to borrow $2.6 billion for capital projects around the state; withdraw $422 million from Virginia’s Revenue Stabilization Fund to balance the current-year budget; and use state lottery proceeds to shore up public education funding.

Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com