Budget Compromises Could Bring Legislative Session to an End

Fairfax Sen. Richard Saslaw, at a budget conference, said the tuition break could go "to people who may not need it." (By Bob Brown -- Associated Press)

Currently, only 4-year-olds eligible for free school lunches are eligible for pre-kindergarten services. Instead of expanding the program to a new group of 4-year-olds, House and Senate budget negotiators agreed to spend an additional $20 million over two years to bolster the existing system.

Sen. R. Edward Houck (D-Spotsylvania) said the Senate would have liked to spend more on pre-kindergarten but decided to cut its initial proposal in half to make a deal with the House.

"We will still be able to serve more kids," Houck said.

The formula for pre-kindergarten is also being changed so that localities will have to contributed less in matching funds, which will help more affluent localities such as Northern Virginia counties.

Child welfare advocates were lukewarm toward the agreement but credited Kaine with making pre-kindergarten a priority this year.

"The good news is we are talking about more dollars for children and more dollars for pre-k," Libby Doggett, executive director of Washington-based Pre-K Now, said. "The bad news is we are now arguing about which children need it more when we should be talking about how all children need this. . . . Children who are at free lunch or reduced lunch are very, very similar."

Senate Democrats were unable to fight for more pre-k funding because they had to agree to some of the House Republicans' priorities.

Under the framework of the compromise, lawmakers will ask the state's 17 public colleges to cap tuition increases next year at 4 percent. The cap is nonbinding, but colleges that abide by it will be able to share an additional $17.5 million in state aid.

The initiative touched off a big debate between House and Senate negotiators.

"We hear over and over again from our constituents that they are getting eaten up by higher tuition," said Del. M. Kirkland Cox (R-Colonial Heights).

But Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) noted that tuition at several Virginia colleges, including the University of Virginia, is already lower than other comparable universities, such as the University of California, Berkeley.

Saslaw argued that the $17.5 million in state aid amounted to a tax cut for middle- and upper-income residents. "This money would be better spent aiming it at certain income groups rather than giving a tuition break to people who may not need it," he said.

Senate Democrats, who last week scored a major victory when they forced House Republicans to drop efforts to readjust funding formulas for public schools, also pushed to give teachers pay raises this year. House Republicans initially resisted, but agreed Monday to give teachers a 2 percent pay raise in 2009. The two sides also agreed on a 2 percent pay raise for state employees this year and a 2 percent raise next year.

The Senate and House also agreed to fund an additional 600 slots in a program that allows mentally retarded people to receive treatment at home instead of being institutionalized.

But the new spending and economic downturn will also lead to budget cuts.

The House and Senate have agreed to cut $50 million in aid to local governments. They also agreed to have Kaine order nearly $18 million in cuts to state agencies.