Statement of Governor Warner on the House and Senate Budget Amendments
"I commend the members of both the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees for their hard work and success in adopting budgets which keep an eye on the next biennium. Both the House and Senate budgets substantially focus the resources available on one-time expenses and mandated cost increases, instead of creating new commitments that may not be sustainable in the long run. In this time of extraordinary growth in some of our most volatile revenue sources, I am pleased to see the legislators adhere to the fiscally conservative approach we took in the introduced budget."
"I am also pleased to see that both committees elected to use the additional resources that came from the mid-session re-forecast to support basic priorities that we all share, and that I recommended to them when I conveyed the re-forecast: additional support of innovative approaches to deal with transportation; fixing the accelerated sales tax requirement for retailers; and making a substantial down payments toward cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay."
"The state budget is one area where details do matter. I will be reviewing carefully the full text of the committees' recommendations, which will be available on Tuesday.
"There are still chapters to be written in the budget process this year, and I look forward to working with members of the General Assembly to find even more common ground. The House budget clearly targets some innovative programs designed to help every student succeed and to promote new economic development in our rural and distressed communities. While those programs are not big ticket items in the overall scheme of the budget, it is my hope that individual legislators will choose to put their regions and their people ahead of partisan politics as we debate these items.
"I am confident that at the end of this process, we will have produced a strong and responsible spending plan for the Commonwealth."
http://www.governor.virginia.gov/Press_Policy/Releases/2005/Feb05/0206.htm