Weekly Column: Historic Investment In K-12 Education

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Connection, The Prince William Times, The Fort Hunt Herald, and Potomac Local in the week of June 7, 2022.

                Last week, I wrote about some of the local effects of the bipartisan budget agreement that we sent to the Governor last week.  This week I will write about some of the broader issues addressed in the budget.

               First, I was not pleased with the tax cuts which I believe are short-sighted.  The budget contains several other priorities I do not support such as a new $100 million “college laboratory school” program and new funds for school resource officers, but bipartisanship requires compromise.   

                The overall budget is about $180 billion over a two-year period or biennium.  The General Fund portion of the budget which we have the most discretion around totals about $59 billion over two years.  It is balances and contains a constitutionally-mandated $1.1 billion deposit to our “Rainy Day Fund” which is now projected to total $3.8 billion by FY2023 as required by the Constitution of Virginia.  It also contains a $750 million deposit against our $15 billion unfunded retirement liability with the Virginia Retirement System.

               The Budget contains a number of tax cuts which reduced available revenue by over $4 billion.  Specifically, it reduced revenues by $1.6 billion by increasing the standard deduction to $8,000 for individuals and $16,000 for joint filers.  It eliminates the state sales tax on food for human consumption and personal hygiene products at a cost of $372 million but leaves the 1% local option sales tax that funds K-12 in place.  The budget also contains rebates of $250 and $500 for single and married tax filers which will cost $1.0 billion.   It also makes the Virginia Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) partially refundable at a cost of $315 million and exempts military retirement pay from state income taxes in $10,000 increments starting in 2022 up to $40,000 in 2025. 

               The budget contains historic investments in K-12 education including the state share of teacher pay increases of 5% each year and $1,000 bonuses for each school employee.  It partially eliminates the cap on state support for non-teaching personnel that has been in place since 2010 and contains state funded teacher recruitment bonuses of up to $5,000 per position.

               It also contains a new $1.0 billion school modernization fund which directs funds to localities through three separate streams.  School construction has historically been a locally-funded activity and many conservative areas have refused to raise taxes to keep up with maintenance.

                 Higher education received over $200 million of additional support for in-state tuition, financial aid, but the state is still only funding in-state student tuition at 50% of historic levels.  Several universities have kept tuition flat in light of this. 

               The bill increases Health and Human Services funding by $1.4 billion including investments which will reduce our Medicaid Waiver Waiting List for developmentally and intellectually disabled persons.  It provides $86 million in new funding to raise personal care rates for personal attendants and $85 million for increased dental insurance reimbursements so more dentists will take Medicaid funded dental patients.  It raises the salaries of state mental health workers to the 50th percentile with salary increases averaging around 37%.  Our mental health system has been unable to keep up with demand or retain employees.  It also funds a state reinsurance program for our state healthcare exchange which will reduce insurance premiums for individuals purchasing their insurance from the exchange.

               The budget contains $47 million to fund local police departments like Fairfax and Prince William County, about $70 million for raises to our Sheriffs, and $113 million for raises with the Virginia State Police and our correctional workers.  It also funds raises for state employees ranging between 10-15% over two years along with $1,000 one-time bonuses.

               Finally, it also contains funds to widen I-64 to four lanes between Richmond and Williamsburg and creates a new State Trails Office with $41 million to develop major trails in the Commonwealth.  We also authorized $1.0 billion of capital improvements at our Western Hemisphere leading the Port of Virginia.  The remaining transportation budget is programmed by the Commonwealth Transportation Board.

               It is an honor to serve as your state senator.  As always, you can reach me at scott@scottsurovell.org.