It's Been A Long Time Comin' Today was the final step in perhaps the most significant success in my thirteen years in the General Assembly. After five years of advocating, strategizing, cajoling, pleading, and fighting, last week we passed a budget that includes Medicaid … [Read more...]
House and Senate Pass Historic Budget with Medicaid Expansion
After almost two months of waiting, the General Assembly has passed a historic budget that expands access to Medicaid for more than 300,000 Virginians. It took a five-year fight in Richmond to get this done, and the battle could not have been won without the efforts of so many … [Read more...]
Senate Goes To Richmond, But No Budget Vote
I was planning to be driving to Richmond this morning for the next House floor session to pass a two-year budget for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Instead, I am writing about what didn’t happen yesterday in the Senate. For at least another week, Virginia will remain without a … [Read more...]
Overtime—Special Session to be Convened
The 2018 General Assembly Session adjourned on Saturday, March 10, without voting on a final budget bill. This is unusual but not unprecedented; in my first year, 2006, we deadlocked on a budget until June 28, and in 2014 we did not have a budget until June 23. I am confident we … [Read more...]
One Week Left and Dueling Budgets
We have one week to go in this General Assembly session, and the major issue left to resolve is the budget. In December 2017, Gov. McAuliffe introduced his last budget, and both the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance Committee have been working on it since … [Read more...]
