On February 22, the House and Senate passed their respective budgets; the budgets were officially placed in conference on February 28, where the differences between the two bills will be negotiated and reconciled.
House of Delegates Speaker Kirk Cox on February 27 named House Appropriations Committee Chairman S. Chris Jones, Delegate Scott Garrett, Delegate Barry Knight, Delegate Chris Peace, Delegate Mark Sickles, and Delegate Luke Torian to the conference committees for the state budget bills, HB 29 and HB 30.
On February 28, the Senate named its seven members on the conference committee. Led by Senate Finance Committee Co-Chairs Senator Tommy Norment and Senator Emmett Hanger, the members are Senator Janet Howell, Senator Steve Newman, Senator Frank Ruff, Senator Richard Saslaw, and Senator Frank Wagner.
The 13 Conferees will work to agree on the “caboose” budget, which amends funding levels for the current fiscal year (ending June 30), and another for the upcoming biennium starting July 1. VACo analyzed the budgets as passed by the House Appropriations Committee and Senate Finance Committee on February 18, and reported on them in this blog post.
VACo will continue to advocate for key priorities of local government during the conference deliberations.
VACo Contact: Katie Boyle