Delegate Bloxom reports final picture of special session should be clearer next week

By Delegate Bloxom

Hi, this is Rob Bloxom with this week’s Capitol report. As the special session enters its eighth week, the House of Delegates is still waiting for a budget from the Senate. We will vote against the budget bill in order to send the budgets of the House and Senate to a conference committee. I can only assume that the two legislative bodies are already meeting as well as negotiating a final budget. There will be some spending in the budget that will be necessary to fund policies that I opposed. However, this will not prevent me from voting for the money needed to implement the policy. I am pleased to report that there is funding in the budget that should benefit everyone. 

School funding is one area in which I  hope we take the House’s version. In the House budget, we provided the same funding as the previous year. This is quite important being schools receive state funding on a per pupil basis.  Presently, it would be nearly impossible to take a true daily attendance when schools are either virtual or on a hybrid schedule.  We added funding to higher education so that tuition would remain the same as the previous year. The House budget also had bonuses for state employees, not raises. I would consider this a step in the right direction, considering the uncertainty of revenues amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In closing, the final picture should be clearer next week. I will try to give a complete wrap-up of the budget and the legislation at that time. I encourage you to take a look at the bills that have passed the House of Delegates during this special session at https://lis.virginia.gov/. As always, I welcome you to contact me with any questions or concerns at my district office at (757)824-3456 or email me at [email protected]. 

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