Caleb joined David on the House floor yesterday evening to help him cast his vote on the budget.

Late yesterday evening, the 2008 session of the General Assembly officially adjourned. While it took a few extra days to hammer out the details, we made some tough choices in the face of a $2-billion revenue shortfall driven by the national economic downturn, and we ultimately passed a two-year $77-billion budget that will: protect public education; reign in college tuition; make significant investments in the mental health system and in community-based services for the intellectually disabled; fund “Alicia’s Law” to crack down on internet predators targeting children; overturn an effort to deny state money to Planned Parenthood; expand prenatal care for poor women; and support a modest expansion of pre-kindergarten for poor children.

We will return to Richmond on April 23 to consider the Governor’s vetoes and amendments and for (hopefully brief) special sessions to address the transportation plan that was invalidated by the recent Virginia Supreme Court decision and to finalize the $1.2-billion bond package I am co-sponsoring to fund higher education construction projects, mental health facilities, and parks projects. However, now that the regular session is over, here is a summary of my work on your behalf during the first couple of months of my second term serving the people of the 45th District:

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The General Assembly voted Saturday to extend the legislative session, which was scheduled to end Saturday night, for a few more days so House and Senate conferees can work out the final details of the state’s $77-billion two-year budget.

“The big sticking point for me was the House Republican plan to restructure  future funding for public education to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in state money and effectively force local governments either to lower the quality of our schools or massively hike property taxes,” said David.  “Now that House Republicans have backed off of that plan, I’m hopeful that the budget will be resolved within the week.”

RICHMOND – The General Assembly today passed House Bill 1084, sponsored by Del. David Englin (D-45), to improve pedestrian-friendly development in communities all across Virginia. The legislation strengthens the ability of communities and local governments to negotiate proffered pedestrian improvements from developers by preventing the Virginia Department of Transportation from blocking those improvements after the fact.

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With just a few days left of this year’s regular session of the General Assembly, two big issues are still up in the air. First and foremost is the state’s $78-billion biennial budget, which we are crafting in the face of a $2-billion revenue shortfall. The good news is that the budget proposals from the Governor, the Senate, and the House are not all that far apart, and I am optimistic that the final budget will include a serious investment in mental health funding, some expansion a of pre-kindergarten (albeit more modest than I would prefer), and steps to reign in growing college tuition.

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