Several unknowns in Virginia budget mix, but it's a start

RICHMOND

House and Senate budget writers approved competing versions of a state spending plan Sunday that differed on early release of prisoners and whether borrowing money or cutting government programs is the better way to deal with the recession.

The sharp contrasts are overshadowed by a basic problem that longtime lawmakers say they've never encountered before: No one knows how much money the state has to spend.

Last December, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine projected a $2.9 billion shortage in revenue needed to balance the budget. Lawmakers are certain the hole has grown, but won't know by how much until next week when the administration issues a revised financial report.

Another uncertainty is how much money the state will receive from a federal stimulus package being debated in Congress.

Despite the confusion, the House and Senate budget committees moved forward on spending plans that likely will be changed significantly before the legislature is scheduled to adjourn on Feb. 28.

"In all my years as a member of the House and of the Appropriations Committee, I must say this has been the most challenging of any one of them," said Del. Lacey Putney, I-Bedford, who has been a legislator for 47 years and is Appropriations chairman.

Kaine put forth a budget last December balanced on a proposal to double the state's cigarette tax to 60 cents a pack to raise about $150 million. The measure was killed in the Senate, leaving budget writers groping to make up the revenue.

The House Appropriations Committee would make up the money by taking cash earmarked for water quality improvement projects and spending it on Medicaid. The panel recommended that the state borrow money to fund the water projects.

The Senate Finance Committee, in contrast, would make up the money through a variety of spending cuts - in some cases deeper than reductions Kaine suggested.

The Senate panel went along with a Kaine plan to release non violent felons from prison 90 days before the end of their sentences to save about $5 million a year. Several senators - including Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach - also want to expand the use of electronic monitoring devices to put low-risk offenders under house arrest.

The House committee strongly opposed early-release programs. Members said Kaine's proposal does not take into account prior offenses committed by inmates whose sentences might be cut short.

Here are some of other wrinkles in the budgets:

- Mental health

Both chambers would delay Kaine's proposed closure this summer of the Southeastern Virginia Training Center in Chesapeake, home to 163 mentally disabled people.

The House would provide government subsidies to help pay for mental health services for 400 Virginians. The Senate did not provide any new relief.

The House budget also requires the state Board of Health to develop a program for the licensing, inspection and regulation of surgical clinics that perform more than 25 abortions a year. The Senate budget has no such provision.

- Higher education

Kaine proposed 15 percent cuts to four-year colleges and 10 percent cuts to two-year schools. The House reduced that to about 10 percent for four-year schools and 7 percent for two-year schools. House budget writers said colleges should use the $53 million they'd recoup to ease tuition increases.

The House pays for its plan, in part, by nixing a Kaine plan to increase need-based financial aid by $26 million.

The Senate kept Kaine's cuts to colleges intact. It increased new financial aid to students by $30 million - $4 million more than Kaine recommended. It also would triple a $2-per-credit fee that out-of-state students pay to help finance campus construction.

Neither budget recommended tuition caps.

- Public education

Both the House and Senate tried to give local school boards flexibility to deal with about $590 million in cuts recommended by Kaine. They gave localities discretion on whether to spend money earmarked for textbooks on other priorities.

The Senate rejected a Kaine proposal to make permanent cuts to school support staffs, such as clerks, janitors and curriculum specialists. The House gave localities an option to offer an early retirement program to teachers.

On Thursday, the full House and Senate will vote on their respective spending plans. The remaining differences are expected to be resolved by budget negotiators from each chamber by the scheduled Feb. 28 adjournment.

Warren Fiske, (804) 697-1565, warren.fiske@pilotonline.com

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