Lawmakers now have finished their one-day reconvene session and taken action on all the governor's amendments and vetoes. But the budget remains a work in progress.
Leaders of the money committees and Governor Glenn Youngkin passed a two-year budget last year, and now senior members of the General Assembly are working in secret to craft amendments to that budget. But apparently there's no rush because lawmakers adjourned their one-day reconvene session this week without voting on a budget.
Former Republican Delegate David Ramadan is now at the Schar School at George Mason University.
"They duke it out through the budget, and then wait until the last minute to see who's going to give in on what and then horse trade on others," Ramadan says. "And in general they end up working it out."
Maybe they'll work it out by the end of June. But maybe not.
"We already passed a budget. It's a two-year budget, and so we will get a budget whenever the Senate feels like it," says Senator Scott Surovell, a Democrat from Fairfax County.
"We could amend this budget in July, August, October or even December if we wanted to."
Among those closely following the budget negotiations: school boards, city councils and boards of supervisors. They’ll have to balance their books without knowing how much money they’ll get from the state.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
