Sunday the Virginia House of Delegates released its version of the biennial budget.  Outlined below are some of the highlights of the proposal.

The House proposal provides a path to fully fund state retirement plans almost three years ahead of schedule, doing so by 2016.

Additionally, the House proposal includes over $200 million as a health care safety net for our most vulnerable citizens.  This includes over $118 million for our hospitals and teaching hospitals, over $111 million for our nursing homes and $6 million for our free clinics and community health care centers.  It also provides for 750 Intellectual Disability (ID) and 65 Developmental Disability (DD) waiver slots so that more individuals who need services can get them in the community instead of inside an institution.

Also included is nearly $50 million in funding for mental health services. This includes $10 million in new funding for new beds at state hospitals, additional therapeutic assessment centers and new crisis drop-off centers.

Last year, as a part of a bi-partisan agreement, we agreed to a process that took Medicaid expansion out of the budget debate.  We created the Medicaid Innovation and Reform Commission (MIRC) and tasked that group with reforming Virginia’s current Medicaid system before we moved forward with expansion.  This budget calls for the continuance of MIRC.

$210 million is budgeted for higher education, including $20 million to keep tuition costs down for Virginia families and $6 million more for in-state tuition slots.  There is over $500 million in new funding for K-12 education, a pay raise or bonus for all state employees, funding for sheriffs and police officers and much more.

We are currently in the interim stage of the budget proceedings.  Final details of the budget will be discussed in the next three weeks.  Budget conferees from both the House and Senate will meet to come up with an agreed upon budget comprised of both chamber’s budgets.  The final budget will be voted on prior to the General Assembly adjournment.