Richmond (Map, News) - Virginia legislators and the governor said Thursday they have crafted a two-year budget that will keep the commonwealth running amid shriveling revenues and a generally bleak economic picture.

But lawmakers still face a looming battle over transportation funding that threatens to drag into the coming months.

House and Senate budget negotiators, who emerged from days of intense talks centered on funding for education, social services, public safety, employee pay raises and other items, said they have worked out a “balance” between the two chambers’ divergent plans.

But the House quarreled Thursday over ways to fix a growing gap in funding for road and rail needs, dramatically worsened when the state Supreme Court struck down much of last year’s transportation funding package. The spat, centered on whether a fix should be statewide or local, could be an indication of the vitriol to come as lawmakers seek to hammer out a replacement.

Nevertheless, both parties claimed success on the $77 billion, two-year budget, which was approved by both houses Thursday night.

“I didn’t go into conference committee with an intramural competition mindset, and I’m not here to say who’s best and who’s not,” said House Appropriations Chairman Lacey Putney, I-Bedford, a top budget conferee.

The state faces a $2 billion shortfall through 2010, which made it clear early on that expectations for new programs and spending would need to be curbed.

Senate Finance Chairman Charles Colgan, D-Manassas, cites the agreement to fund $22 million to expand pre-kindergarten as “not bad,” considering the shortfall. The new spending was far less than what Kaine had proposed, however.

“I would have liked more,” said Kaine in a news conference. “But we’re going to serve a couple thousand more at-risk kids with Pre-K with the budget the conferees agreed to.”

Kaine also pointed to spending on mental health needs in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy, education funding, open space preservation, environmental cleanup and foster care as successes this session.

wflook@dcexaminer.com

Comments from Examiner Readers

7:42 AM MST on Fri., Mar. 14, 2008 re: "Dulles rail re-bidding stripped from budget"

Lisa Green said:
I've read the State contract with Bechtel for Dulles Rail and I don't see how bidding out this project would be a "breach of Contract" as Sen. Colgan and Governor Kaine assert. This is hogwash that Governor Kaine has put out to stifle real competition. We've got to get him out of Bechtel's pocket already.

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7:41 AM MST on Fri., Mar. 14, 2008 re: "Dulles rail re-bidding stripped from budget"

Examiner Reader said:
Someone should look into Governor Kaine's connections with Bechtel. Something isn't quite right there. Maybe we'll get lucky and find that Kaine was Bechtel's "Client #10"?

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10:55 AM MST on Fri., Mar. 7, 2008 re: "Saslaw pushes tax increase to fill transportation gap after ruling"

Examiner Reader said:
i agree with the person below no excuse for va being so broke oh yea they left one out to va is one of the few states were u have to buy county stickers to just think of all those thousands of people that have to buy them here in va at twenty bucks apeace most other states dont have to buy, them so my question is were is all that money going to would really like to no the answer to that one,so the person below is exactly right theres no excuse for va being so broke,do your job kaine and quit getting off the wall bills passed that waste tax payers money,thats not the job we the people voted you in to do.

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2:22 PM MST on Mon., Feb. 18, 2008 re: "Governor�s plan to cut state aid puts squeeze on local budgets"

Examiner Reader said:
Get rid of the illegal people in N.Virginia, and the drain they have us and get busy taking care of the Americans. There is no excuse for Virginia to be so broke. One of the few states that have total controll of the liguor,beer and wine, one of the few states that you have to pay personal property taxes on your car every year,one of the few states that is a commonwealth. So Mr.Kaine, do your job, get your priorities straight and find out where all the money went.

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