Budget Negotiators to Try Again to Clear Roadblocks

RICHMOND -- The 10 Virginia lawmakers who will resume negotiations Tuesday on the state budget know they are far apart on transportation spending, but that is about the limit of their mutual understanding.

Transportation aside, the House and Senate still must negotiate on spending for other state services. In those areas, the two sides can't even agree about whether they disagree.

In the words of House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford), those other differences are "minuscule." House members say senators are holding an agreement on the $72 billion budget hostage to their desire to raise taxes for road and transit improvements.

Senators counter that the transportation fight filters through much of the rest of the budget, because to avoid raising taxes, delegates have diverted money from the state's general fund for education, health and public safety to transportation spending and have proposed borrowing millions of dollars.

"It's very fundamental," said Sen. R. Edward Houck (D-Spotsylvania), one of the Senate's negotiators. "In the House budget, at the end of two years, you've put a drain on the general fund, you've incurred debt and you have no substantive transportation program. What have you gained?"

The General Assembly passes a budget every two years. Although the House and Senate are controlled by Republicans, this is the second consecutive time they have failed to reach a budget agreement during their regular session.

Virginia must have a spending plan by July 1. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) called for a special session to start March 27, but the assembly's budget negotiators have met several times since the legislature adjourned March 11.

In the 2004 stalemate, the House resisted Senate attempts to raise taxes to support more spending on some services. The two sides were divided initially by $1.7 billion, of which nearly $1 billion was to pay for public education.

This year, the Senate would devote about $1 billion a year more to transportation spending by raising taxes on the sale of gasoline, cars and homes. The House would spend $350 million more a year.

Howell said there is "no justification" for the two sides to be deadlocked on anything but transportation. He pointed to areas where the gap is small. For instance, both sides would spend about $12 billion on public education, about $1.1 billion on mental health and $3.35 billion on public safety.

Add up all the differences over two years and, according to state Department of Education data, the gap for school funding is less than $100 million. Take one county, Fairfax, and that translates to a difference of $1.3 million in spending for schools. In 2004, Fairfax schools had $48.3 million riding on the outcome.

"You're not talking about a difference of millions and millions," said Michael Molloy, director of government relations for the school system. "Really, what we're focused on is trying to make sure . . . we end up with a budget that's right around where they are right now."