Week 7: Budget week
The week after crossover is usually budget week—when the House and Senate present to the floor the full set of amendments to the governor’s introduced budget that they’ve approved in Appropriations committees. From here, the House budget bill usually advances into a budget conference, where budget conferees reconcile the differences in the two budget proposals.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK, Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, on how the Senate budget has had to respond to shortfalls caused by Congress: “You know what Congress did? They said ‘We’re not going to fund food assistance anymore.’ And what happens when you don’t fund food assistance? Well, hunger doesn’t just go away. All this does is moves the cost to someone else’s balance sheet. Or it moves this problem to the child’s empty stomach. This budget takes that seriously.”
House budget details
- Increases salaries of legislators to $45,000 effective 2028. Cost: $2.1 million in 2027/8
- Create dedicated federal litigation unit in Attorney General’s office (to sue Trump Administration). Cost: $1.3 million each year, offset by removal of Operation Ceasefire funds in the AG’s office
- Language-only amendment that puts clean energy restrictions on data centers in order to qualify for sales and use tax exemption (on their purchases of computer equipment)
- Language-only amendment increasing coverage of weight loss drugs by Medicaid
- Matching grants for wastewater treatment plant improvements. Cost: $189 million in 2026/7
- $211 million in 2027/8 to cover potential state share of SNAP costs due to federal laws. Additionally, $22 million in 2026/7 and $30 million in 2027/8 due to changes to administrative costs of SNAP
- Create new Federal Uncertainty Contingency Fund to cover unexpected shortfalls due to federal funding cuts. Cost: $75 million in 2026/7 and $125 million in 2027/8
- Create new independent Gaming Commission. Cost: $10 million in 2026/7 and $5 million in 2027/8
- Virginia share of WMATA operating costs increase. Cost: $153 million in 2026/7
- $4 million in 2026/7 to support the Virginia Agricultural Food Assistance Program, and implementation of Fresh Match
- Additional $10 million for Eviction Reduction Program
- Additional $12.5 million to the Virginia Housing Trust Fund
- One-time flexible funding $400 million increase in direct aid to public K-12 schools. No local match required, but only available to those districts ensuring 2% teacher pay increase.
Senate budget details
- Expires the data center sales and use tax exemption (i.e. they paid no taxes on their computer equipment and software purchases). Savings: $550 million in 2026/7 and $1.3 billion in 2027/8.
- Additional 1% teacher pay raise (totalling 3% with introduced budget). Cost: $64 million in 2026/7 and $130 million in 2027/8
- Additional 1% pay raise for state workers (totalling 3% with introduced budget). Cost: $49 million in 2026/7 and $109 million in 2027/8.
- $100 income tax rebate in 2026 to individual filers, $200 to married filers. Cost: $499 million in 2026/7
- Increases standard deduction for single filers to $9,200 and for married filers to $18,400 for 2027-2029.
- Cancels proposal in introduced budget to increase number of deputy sheriffs in every locality from 5 to 10. Savings: $3.9 million each year
- $135 million for potential state share of SNAP costs; and $2 million each year to a vendor to assist with reducing SNAP error rates; plus a language-only amendment requiring a SNAP error rate task force.
- $200 million in 2026/7 to offset expiration of federal health care premium enhanced credits.
- Require DHRM to evaluate and implement program to reduce cost of GLP-1 therapies. Language-only (And a second related amendment.)
- Language-only amendment extending to every locality the ability to temporarily raise their local sales taxes by referendum to pay for school construction.
- $50 million to Housing Trust fund in 2026/7, $20.6 million for pilot mixed-income housing developments; additionally $13 million to Eviction Diversion program for 2026/7
- Language-only amendment that reorganizes the Lottery to serve as an overall Lottery and Gaming Authority (also in second related amendment)
- Salary raises (to $50,000/yr) for legislators, effective 2027—would be the first raise since 1988, when salaries set at $18,000/yr. Cost: $2.1 million in 2027