As the 2014 session of the General Assembly draws to a close, I wanted to give you a quick update on some of the priorities in our budget that we have been working on. The General Assembly has seven days left in the scheduled 2014 Session and finalizing the budget is the last, and arguably the most important, task we have left.

Jobs and economic growth continue to be a top priority in our budgeting process. To support this effort the House budget includes an additional $1.4 million each year for the Virginia Tourism Corporation to advertise Virginia’s attractions in key markets. The goal is to expand online advertising and continue our substantial support for regional and local tourism grant programs.

College tuition has become incredibly costly. Tuition increases are pricing out the middle class families who are trying to send students to Virginia’s top public universities. Our House budget adds an additional $20 million to further moderate the growth of in-state undergraduate tuition and fee increases. This investment continues our efforts over the last 2 years that resulted in decade low tuition increases at around 4.5%.  My hope is this year’s increases will be in the 3% range.

K-12 education will see nearly a $531 million net increase in the House budget. This additional funding for students, teachers, and our school systems accounts for approximately 25% of the new spending in the budget. A majority of the funds will help cover increased contributions to teacher retirement funds and teacher health care benefit premium rates.

We are also including $6.2 million to add 1,700 additional in-state undergraduate slots at the College of William and Mary, James Madison University, the University of Virginia, and Virginia Tech. We want Virginia students to be able to afford and have access to Virginia’s world class colleges and universities.

Keeping our communities and neighborhoods safe creates a better quality of life for all Virginians. To that extent, we’ve added $7.1 annually for our local police departments.

In maintaining our strong commitment to Virginia’s veterans, two key budget amendments will assist veteran hiring. The first amendment provides for an Advanced Manufacturing Advisory Council to make recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly on how to use veterans’ special knowledge and skills. The second budget amendment provides additional dollars to expand the Virginia Values Veterans (V3) Inter-Agency Working Group. The funds will be used to develop an integrated approach to recognize veterans’ job skills and experience that meet business needs and to encourage business access for veteran hiring.

We’re working to meet the Commonwealth’s responsibility to our state employees by fully funding the state pension system at 100% of the required rates by 2016, three years earlier than required. In addition, if Virginia’s economy remains strong, and we meet current projections, a revenue reserve will be used for a 2% state employee pay raise in July of 2015.

Both the House and Senate have approved their budgets and any differences between the two will have to be ironed out by the conferees from both sides.

I will be communicating later next week as to the final status of my bills and several bills that were of particular interest to many in the district.