Va. Assembly To Borrow $1.5 Billion

Money Is for Projects At Colleges, Parks

RICHMOND, April 23 -- The Virginia General Assembly voted Wednesday to borrow $1.5 billion to pay for nearly 70 construction projects at colleges, parks and mental health facilities during a one-day session designed to complete the year's unfinished legislative business.

"This is a good bill, which is going to be a landmark piece of legislation for capital improvements," said Del. Lacey E. Putney (I-Bedford), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

Lawmakers also weighed in on dozens of amendments, recommended by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), to some of the nearly 900 bills passed during the two-month legislative session that ended last month.

They agreed to many of Kaine's 41 recommended changes to the two-year, $77 billion state budget, including spending $5 million to preserve endangered Civil War sites, as well as small alterations to bills to crack down on puppy mills, further restrict payday lenders and overhaul the state's mental health system.

But House Republicans turned back Kaine's efforts to extend health coverage to some of the estimated 1 million uninsured Virginians.

Under the plan, the state would have spent $500,000 to partner with small businesses in Hampton Roads as part of a pilot program. The state, employers and low-income workers would then split the cost of an insurance policy.

"This is an opportunity to get started and try to provide insurance to the working uninsured," said Marilyn B. Tavenner, Secretary of Health and Human Resources.

The money would have come from unspent dollars in the budget, but several Republicans said they feared the pilot program would have led to a costly new government program.

Before the session began at noon, Kaine withdrew his most controversial budget amendment -- to cut Medicaid costs by substituting generic behavioral medicines for brand-name ones. Legislators argued that the change would have restricted the behavioral drugs available to mentally ill patients who receive Medicaid. Opponents said Medicaid would have paid only for more expensive medicine after cheaper drugs were deemed ineffective.

The Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate overcame partisan bickering to fill about two dozen judgeships across the state. That means Kaine can fill the rest of the current vacancies with one-year appointments.

Kaine is expected to call the General Assembly back to Richmond this year for a special session to find more money for roads and transit.

The regular session, which was extended twice, was marred by a budget shortfall of more than $2 billion through 2010. The shortfall has hindered Kaine's plans to create programs and will result in cuts to state agencies and local governments.