“I doubt anything will come of it,” said Sen. Janet D. Howell (D-Fairfax), chairwoman of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, who called the session “premature.” “The budget is still at an impasse, and most bills that are outstanding have fiscal impacts. This is a total waste of time for legislators.”
At an appearance in Richmond on Friday, Youngkin suggested the session would give legislators a necessary nudge even though there is no prospect for a budget vote that day. “We have got to get moving,” he told reporters, following an appearance with Latino business leaders at the Wooden Spoon Restaurant.
“I am a little disappointed that there wasn’t more interaction” among negotiators “this week, but I fully expect them to be in meetings on Monday” and beyond, he said. “I think because of the quality of the people we have working on this, they can get this done in a reasonably short period of time.”
After failing to reach a budget deal during the regular session, which ended March 12, General Assembly members adjourned knowing they would have to finish the job in a special session. They expected the governor to call them back to Richmond once House and Senate budget negotiators hashed out a deal on the two-year spending plan.
But Youngkin did not wait for a deal before calling them back and launching television ads meant to gin up support for the tax cuts he wants the budget to include. Eleven days after legislators wrapped up their regular session, the governor announced April 4 as the date for the special session, catching Democrats and at least some Republicans off guard.
At that point, House and Senate negotiators had not even resumed budget talks. Indeed, they still have not done so, aside from some work among committee members and staff. Both sides opted for a “cooling off” period following the regular session and felt confident about overcoming their differences long before the new fiscal year begins July 1.
Leaders from both sides expect to sit down and establish a schedule for meetings on Monday, after the chambers gavel in and out, said Del. Barry D. Knight (R-Virginia Beach), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. “I assume we will gavel out, and go into recess, and then we control the timeline,” he said. “I would imagine we would not come back until we have a budget.”
Del. Mark D. Sickles (D-Fairfax), a budget negotiator, called the Monday session “a little bit of a waste of time” for a “citizen legislature” whose members have to put their day jobs on hold to come back to the Capitol with no prospect for passing the budget.
The tax cuts, a campaign focus for Youngkin last fall, are the main sticking point. He wants to double the standard deduction on personal income taxes and eliminate state and local taxes on groceries. The House, led by Republicans, passed a version of the budget that would do both.
But the Senate, controlled by Democrats, wants to take a year to comprehensively study tax cuts because of their impact on revenue over the long term. The Senate plan would eliminate the 1.5 percent portion of the grocery tax levied by the state but leave in place a 1 percent levy that goes to localities.
The differences created a gap of about $3 billion between the two spending plans, and negotiators were unable to find a compromise before the regular session concluded. Since then, Youngkin has widened the gulf by calling on the General Assembly to approve a “gas tax holiday” of three months to help consumers suffering from soaring prices brought on by inflation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He has found support for that push among leaders in the House but not the Senate.
The two chambers were scheduled to return for a veto session on April 27, when members will consider any of the governor’s amendments or vetoes of legislation passed during the regular session. Some legislators expressed hope that they will be able to vote on the budget at that meeting, also known as the reconvene session.
“We have time to put together a really excellent budget, and I think the reconvene date is a really fine target date to look at since we’re all going to be in town,” Sickles said, adding it is possible the special session will lead to progress on the dozens of other bills that were carried over. “There are 40 conference reports out,” he said. “So something could happen here and get a bill to the governor’s desk.”
Sen. George L. Barker (D-Fairfax), another negotiator, noted that most of the bills would have a financial impact on the budget, so it makes little sense to act on them until the spending plan is set. It costs the state nearly $46,000 every day the General Assembly is in session, according to the House and Senate clerks.
Noting the price tag, Sen. Adam P. Ebbin (D-Alexandria) said, “I’ll be there Monday, but it could have all been handled April 27, saving taxpayers a little bit of money.”
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Youngkin sends lawmakers back to work for day to pass unlikely budget - The Washington Post
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