Budget agreement achieved

Richmond Times-Dispatch

Senior legislators have reached a handshake agreement on a $74 billion, 2006-2008 operating budget for the state.

The budget negotiators from the House of Delegates and state Senate acknowledged their agreement early this evening.

The two chambers will vote on the budget next week.

The Senate is set to meet Monday; the House is to convene Tuesday. Quick approval is expected. The document then goes to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, who can seek changes before signing a final version.

Because the Assembly is in special session, Kaine has to act within seven days.


The agreement leaves unresolved the issue of contention -- transportation funding -- that split the House and Senate for much of the last five months.

The Senate pushed for more than $700,000 annually in increased taxes and fees to fund road and transit improvements; the House adamantly refused to consider increased taxes. It pushed for use of part of the $1.4 billion surplus and taxpayer-backed bonds.

The assembly is expected to return to the issue in a special session this summer or fall.

The agreement came on the 157th legislative day since the assembly convened in January for its 60-day budget writing session, and 82 days after the beginning of a special legislative session called by Kaine to deal with the budget impasse.

The agreement comes as the current budget is set to expire on June 30. There were worries by some that there might be a possible shutdown of some state services if there were no budget in place by July 1. But the lawmakers had said that, if necessary, they could use Washington-style continuing resolutions to keep the government functioning.

The deal includes a 4 percent raise for classified workers later this year and another 3 percent next year. Public school teachers would be eligible for 4 percent raises on Dec. 1 and at least 1.5 percent a year later, if their localities match state allocations. The Virgina tax on estates would be repealed on July 1 next year.