The 2008 General Assembly is now in session
Week 6 Update—February 15, 2008
House and Senate versions of the two-year budget for fiscal years 2009 and 2010 are slated to be released on Sunday, February 17, along with amendments to the state budget for the current fiscal year. Both houses must complete action on their version of the budget by next Thursday, February 21.
The House Education Committee is scheduled to meet on Mondays at 9:00 a.m. in House Room C and Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m. in the Appropriations Room. The Senate Education and Health Committee meets on Thursdays at 8:30 a.m. in Senate Room B. Sub-committees will meet periodically throughout the session. Click here for a schedule of weekly meetings.
The Budget
On Tuesday, Governor Kaine announced that the state’s expected revenue shortfall for the next 28 months totals nearly $1.4 billion. The shortfall for the remainder of this fiscal year is projected to be $339 million, with the FY09 figure being $520 million and $532 million in FY10. Accordingly, estimated revenue growth for the reminder of FY08 has been reduced from 3.3% to 1.2%, from 3.3% to 2.2% in FY09 and increased from 6.7% to 6.8% in FY10 (but this is a smaller dollar increase due to reductions in the previous year).
Governor Kaine proposes no additional reductions in direct education aid to localities in the current fiscal year, and he would exclude state funding for the Standards of Quality from reductions over the next biennium. However, state funding for school capital costs is eliminated under the proposal, as 1) the remaining $55 million in school construction grants is diverted, and 2) approximately half, or $165 million of lottery proceeds sent to local school divisions for school construction, is shifted pay state K-12 basic aid costs. The plan also reduces funding for the governor’s proposed pre-school initiative by just over $10 million and slices 1% of a proposed FY10 salary increase for teachers (which could be restored to the originally-proposed 3.5% pay raise if revenue grows more than expected).
The governor also proposed numerous actions to address the revenue slide, including a 5.4% reduction in state funding to local governments, a total of $130 million over the next biennium, which also could impact local dollars for schools. While the plan proposes to change the retirement amortization period from 24 to 30 years, VRS rates remain unchanged.
This plan is a proposal. The General Assembly’s money committees will use the revised forecast numbers and this proposed budget reduction plan as they develop their respective budgets, which are slated to be reported this coming Sunday. Specific, line item details of those plans should then be available next Tuesday.
The budget introduced by the governor for the next biennium contains an additional $1 billion for public education over the two-year period, much of which ($890 million) is to update state costs of the Standards of Quality (SOQ). Click here for additional information about Governor Kaine's proposed education budget for 2008-2010.
Legislation
Legislators worked this past Monday and Tuesday, which was “crossover day,” to clear their calendars of their own bills. After Tuesday’s sessions, House bills will now be considered in the Senate, while Senate bills will be considered in the House.
On the House floor Tuesday, delegates narrowly passed HB 1164, which creates income tax credits for business entities and taxpayers who make contributions to eligible public school foundations and scholarship foundations (which distribute dollars primarily to certain public, private, or home-schooled students). The vote came after floor amendments were added to provide that no tax credit shall be approved until teacher salaries reach the national average, and until the state attains the Standards of Quality as prescribed by the Constitution of Virginia. The bill has been assigned to the Senate Finance Committee.
The Senate Finance Committee also will be considering HB 1425 that directs the Board of Education to develop a plan to withdraw from participation in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, unless waivers that allow Virginia's existing educational accountability system to meet NCLB requirements are granted by the U.S. Department of Education. The Senate previously approved an identical bill, SB 490, which will be considered Monday in the House Education Committee.
On Thursday, the Senate Education and Health Committee approved the following bills:
HB 246 Requires the Department of Education to develop and maintain a database of school division best practices regarding nutrition and physical education.
HB 506 Expands the Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan Program to include scholarships for students in an approved teacher education program leading to an endorsement in career and technical education. SB 169 is the Senate version being heard in the House Education Committee on Monday.
HB 770 Establishes educational technology as a major classification of school funds.
The House Education Committee meets Monday for the first time since “crossover” day. It has only 21 bills in committee to debate over the next two weeks.
Back to 2008 General Assembly
Click here to see archived General Assembly Updates. |
