On Wednesday of this week, I cleared my trial calendar and headed to Richmond to vote for the bipartisan conference report on our $188 billion state budget. The compromise was a mixed bag. This week, I will write about some local priorities in the budget. Next week, I will write about the coming tax cuts and some of the broader investments that benefit the entire Commonwealth.
First, the Commonwealth’s current fiscal picture appears healthy but I have serious concerns that our excess revenues are largely driven by $5 Trillion of federal stimulus monies that have been pumped into our economy instead of solid underlying economic fundamentals. It is very dangerous to reset tax rates assuming revenues that could vanish when the stream of borrowed money fizzles out.
The budget appropriates an additional $214 million for Fairfax County Public Schools, $219 million for Prince William County Public Schools, and $78 million for Stafford County Public Schools. The state is now sending Fairfax County, $468 million more per year than the first budget that was adopted when I was elected in 2010. These funds will go a long way to ensure our teachers are paid fairly as long as the our localities match the state funding consistent with progressive Virginia policy.
Last year, Senator Adam Ebbin, Delegate Paul Krizek, Delegate Mark Sickles and I secured $2 million in the state budget to help defray the cost of purchasing River Farm which was under threat of development. Now that the threat has been eliminated, I proposed budget language to repurpose that money to provide public access improvements, education opportunities, viewing platforms and shoreline stabilization which was included in the final budget. It would not have happened without a team effort and will pay dividends for decades.
Water service to the Town of Quantico has been a long standing battle between the Town and Marine Corps Base Quantico. My proposal to use $17 million of funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (APRA) to connect the Town to the Prince William County Public Service Authority water system was included. The amendments also restored many water quality priorities I secured in the Governor’s and Senate’s budget including $3 million for stormwater mitigation in the Town of Dumfries and $300,000 of stormwater remediation in the Town of Occoquan which will help clean the Potomac River.
Delegate Krizek, Delegate Sickles, Senator Ebbin and I also secured $400,000 of ongoing funding for Good Shepherd Housing’s to continue to provide housing, emergency services, children's services, budgeting, counseling and other resources for low-income families. Good Shepherd has found this additional funding to be crucial – even in our raging economy where our recovery has been uneven.
I was also able to pass and secure nearly $400,000 of funding to conduct a bipartisan autopsy of the Commonwealth’s pandemic response. This pandemic was (hopefully) a once-in-a-century opportunity to test Virginia’s emergency and pandemic response systems. There are many lessons to be learned about not just the pandemic but also our way of life. We all received a crash course in remote meetings, vaccine distribution, vaccine mitigation and other practices that can pay us long-term dividends. We tested our stockpiles and state of emergency statutes, and learned exactly which workers are essential and must continue working no matter how risky it is. We need to continue our discussions in a post-pandemic environment.
While the budget has some important local priorities, it also contained major tax cuts and investments. Next week, I will discuss that along with funding I did not support along with major missed opportunities. As The Rolling Stones sang, "You can't always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes you get what you need." I voted “yes” to reach a bipartisan compromise.
It is an honor to serve as your state senator. If you have any feedback, you can reach me at scott@scottsurovell.org.
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