This cryptic passage appears in an e-mailed press release issued around 9 a.m. today by Del. Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, one of the conferees working on revisions to the state budget (my italics):
Based on the continuing constructive discussions between budget conferees for the House and Senate, I am confident that a budget agreement acceptable to both houses will be reached in advance of our regularly scheduled adjournment on Saturday, February 24.
The recent action by the conferees for the House on House Bill 3202, acceding to the Senate position on the amount of additional funding for transportation in the current budget – at least $500 million – removed what everyone recognized was the chief obstacle to a swift budget resolution. I concur with the widely reported sentiments of both conference committee chairmen – Senator Chichester and Delegate Callahan – that we are now in a far better posture to sort out any unresolved issues and achieve a timely budget compromise.
I’m not clear what this means. Does the $500 million constitute entirely new revenue? Is the General Fund off limits for transportation funding? If it turns out that the House has caved again, after already compromising once, the extremely loud noise you hear emanating from western Henrico County will not be a nuclear weapon or a volcanic eruption — it will be my head exploding.
Update: Chelyen Davis with the Free Lance-Star explains the significance of this development in her story yesterday. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t represent a terribly large shift in the House’s position. It eliminates one stumbling block in the transportation negotiations, but there are other issues to resolve.
Update II: Paul Nardo, on the Speaker’s staff, says the House did not “cave” but made a tactical concession to keep the negotiations moving, while preserving core budgetary goals. For priorities, click on “comments” and scroll to the third comment.
