Lawmakers are still haggling over the details of the budget. And advocates say they also still need to fix a $200 million mistake.
A $200 million mistake in estimating basic aid for local school divisions has lawmakers scrambling to make up the difference. Before they left town over the weekend, members of the General Assembly passed what they call a "skinny budget" as a stopgap measure.
George Mason University Schar School dean Mark Rozell says this is an unprecedented mistake.
"In my years following state politics in Virginia, I've never seen anything like this where there was a nine-figure error," Rozell explains. "So that is yet another political issue for members of the legislature and the two political parties to battle over — what happened, why and what needs to be done to fix it."
Laura Goren at the Commonwealth Institute says the skinny budget was only an appetizer.
"The error was $201 million, and the skinny budget only provides $16.8 million towards fixing it," Goren says. "So, at that level, it's sort of obvious that it doesn't really fully hold them harmless."
Some budget negotiators say they feel the gap has been closed and that the math error has been fixed. But, the Commonwealth Institute says lawmakers and the governor still need to find about $184 million to address the math error and make sure schools get all the money that they’re anticipating.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
