A June 21 Metro article about the Virginia budget incorrectly described Del. Jeffrey M. Frederick (R-Prince William) as saying the document contained wasteful spending on unneeded government programs. He said, "I always say we don't have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem."
3 Months Late, Va. Budget Approved
House Vote Sends Governor Two-Year, $72 Billion Spending Plan Without Transportation Package
Wednesday, June 21, 2006; Page B01
RICHMOND, June 20 -- Members of the Virginia House of Delegates approved a $72 billion state budget Tuesday -- three months late and with little additional money for roads and rails -- then immediately pledged to turn their attention to transportation.
By 91 to 2, the Republican-controlled House agreed to the two-year spending plan, which had been negotiated over weeks of grinding conflict with senior lawmakers from the state Senate. The Senate approved the budget Monday. It now goes to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), who may offer amendments or veto it.
  House Appropriations Chairman Vincent F. Callahan Jr. said of the budget process: "To say it took a while is an understatement." (By Steve Helber -- Associated Press) Online Resources
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Republican leaders in the House hailed the budget as a victory over Kaine, who had supported higher taxes to pay for increased spending on transportation projects. Kaine and his allies in the Senate had pushed for tax increases that would have raised billions of dollars over the next decade for roads, bridges, tunnels and transit.
"What those who supported unnecessary tax increases failed to take into account was the solidarity of the House Republican caucus," said House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith (R-Salem.)
The budget legislation repeals Virginia's estate tax and provides billions in new state spending. But it provides almost no new money to expand road and transit construction, a result of a House-Senate deadlock over taxes that lasted for months.
"To say it took a while is an understatement," said House Appropriations Chairman Vincent F. Callahan Jr. (R-Fairfax) as he urged passage of the budget on the floor of the House.
Kaine praised lawmakers for finishing the budget, but he urged them to return to Richmond in August to pass a statewide transportation package. And he reiterated his belief that higher taxes statewide will be necessary to deal with the transportation issue.
"This is the day of reckoning," he said, speaking at a regional United Parcel Service facility in Richmond. "You don't make anything happen by giving up."
House leaders said they would like the transportation debate to begin after Labor Day. But there was little to suggest that the philosophical differences between the House and Senate over higher taxes will be resolved by then.
Del. Phillip A. Hamilton (R-Newport News) said the GOP "faced a relentless campaign by those advocating higher taxes" and refused to back down.
Griffith added, "We never said we would come back and agree to tax increases carte blanche."
Still, some Northern Virginian lawmakers said they fear a voter backlash if they do not win support for substantial spending to cut commute times on crowded roads back home. They said they are ready to engage that subject.
