In an effort to make sure the General Assembly stays on schedule and on point Speaker Howell has named the House Conferees for negotiations with the Senate on the budget.
Getting an early start on the process will help the conferees to start working with the Senate to make certain focus remains on the budget. This effort will also help to ensure the General Assembly can complete their work by the target adjournment date of February 28th.
“With Virginia families, businesses and taxpayers struggling financially and state government facing a multi-billion-dollar revenue shortfall, common sense dictates announcing legislators who will participate in these important negotiations as soon as possible so productive work on the budget can begin as soon as possible,” said Speaker Howell. “The House Appropriations Committee began working months ago to closely examine the spending cuts recommended by Governor Kaine. Since the 2009 session began, House budget writers have been making steady progress on the very challenging task of finding prudent and responsible ways to fund core services with available taxpayer resources.