This is a budget year, which means there are 140 state legislators who have 140 different opinions about what should be in the state’s two-year spending plan.
Under a quirk in Virginia’s budget cycle, the outgoing governor, Glenn Youngkin, prepared the budget and presented it about a month before he left office. Now legislators have finished introducing all their proposed amendments.
The next big step comes on Sunday, Feb. 22. That’s when the two money committees — House Appropriations and Senate Finance — release their proposed versions of what to do with all those amendments. Each chamber will vote on those Feb. 26. By tradition, each chamber then votes down what the other house has done and the budget goes to a select group of budget negotiators from each chamber to work out the final version.
This is where committee assignments matter. Legislators on a money committee are literally at the table where the budget is put together — which is why Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, getting bounced from House Appropriations for reasons so far undisclosed is significant to the western part of the state. Most important of all are those final budget conferees, who get named anew each year but who in recent years have always included Del. Terry Austin, R-Botetourt County, and state Sen. Todd Pillion, R-Washington County. The new governor, Abigail Spanberger, will get her say, too, in the form of proposed amendments and line-item vetoes, but for now the attention is on the legislators.
Most of this budget work happens outside the public eye. All the proposed budget amendments are public, though, and they often give us a first look at some projects that might make their way into the final budget — and others that will not but at least signal some priorities from one particular legislator or region.
Some of the amendments are programmatic amendments — increasing pay for public safety workers, for instance, or returning Virginia to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. There are always requests to add certain building projects at public universities to the state’s capital construction list and lots of funding requests for infrastructure: water lines, sewer lines, roads. Likewise, there are always requests for small amounts of money for various local projects — a park here, a building there, or sometimes something else entirely. Del. Justin Pence, R-Shenandoah County, is asking for $200,000 so Page County can buy a dump truck.
I’ve gone through the proposed budget amendments by all 140 legislators. Here are some of the more interesting and/or important amendments, with emphasis on the legislators from Southwest and Southside, plus a few proposals from legislators elsewhere that would have an impact on the region. For a comprehensive list, you can look up all the budget amendments on the General Assembly’s website.
1. The Roanoke-Blacksburg Airport terminal renovation and runway expansion
Austin and state Sen. Chris Head, R-Botetourt County, have introduced two amendments that, together, represent the biggest request from the western part of the state: $40 million for a terminal renovation and $7 million to conduct a feasibility study on expanding the runway.
“The airport’s terminal has long been constrained by post 9/11 security requirements that repurposed an aircraft gate for screening. Passenger and baggage screening now routinely cause overcrowding and long wait time,” the explanation for the amendment says.
The runway expansion is needed so the airport can handle larger aircraft.
Austin and Head recently authored an opinion piece in Cardinal to make the case for the airport expenditures.
2. Airport improvements statewide
In another airport-related request, Del. Wren Williams, R-Patrick County, has asked for $320 million over two years to create the Virginia Airport Infrastructure Account. According to the official explanation: “The legislation directs the deposit of 1% of the state tax on car rentals into the fund to be used solely for airport capital and safety improvements, which typically receive a 90% match from the federal government. It is estimated the deposit into the fund from the state tax would be between $16-$18 million a year with the federal match being between $144-$162 million a year.”
Williams, who has a pilot’s license and often flies himself to and from Richmond, has emerged as one of the legislature’s leading authorities on aviation matters. While this would be a statewide fund, it would appear to have a significant impact on rural areas that might have the most trouble coming up with funding to improve local airports.
3. A regional public biomedical sciences high school in the Roanoke Valley
Seven years ago, Austin went to Houston to be treated for cancer (from which he’s recovered). While there, he was surprised to learn that many of the health care workers he came in contact with had gone to a high school that specialized in health careers: the DeBakey High School for Health Professions. He came back home cured, and with an idea. The result: He persuaded the General Assembly in 2020 to appropriate $700,000 for a pilot program in the Roanoke Valley to increase health sciences education in high schools as a way to create more “career pathways” into health fields.
The program is now up and running as the Blue Ridge Partnership for Health Science Centers. Austin has asked for an additional $500,000 for that program, but he’s also asked for something else: $100,000 “to conduct a feasibility study for the establishment of a regional public biomedical sciences high school, embedded in a K-16 education-to-employment pipeline, located on the Virginia Tech Carilion Riverside medical campus.”
Austin says that he’s been working with Carilion officials on the project and that a Carilion group recently went to Houston to tour facilities there. (Disclosure: Carilion is one of our donors but donors have no say in new decisions; see our policy.)
4. Medical research in Roanoke
Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, and Del. Lily Franklin, D-Montgomery County, have proposed $18 million to help support the Virginia Tech Patient Research Center at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute in Roanoke. The explanation accompanying the request says: “The Center will increase translational research capacity in the region, connect southwest Virginia with broader access to clinical research and trials with potential to dramatically increase health outcomes, enhance telehealth and advanced treatment options for underserved populations, attract industry to the region, and advance workforce development through experiential learning in a unique ecosystem.”
If you’re wondering why a legislator from Charlottesville is carrying this, here’s why: Deeds is on the Senate Finance Committee, while no legislators from the Roanoke Valley are. In such circumstances, it’s not unusual for certain requests to get patroned by a Finance Committee member. That explains why another senator from outside the Roanoke Valley is carrying another budget amendment related to Roanoke.
5. The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Rockingham County and also a Senate Finance Committee member, has asked for an additional $9.2 million to help expand the medical school in Roanoke.
6. A study of downtown Roanoke
Downtown Roanoke is in a state of flux. The Center in the Square arts complex, founded in 1982 to house the city’s main cultural organizations, has seen many of them pulling out for other quarters. The Science Museum of Western Virginia is the latest to announce its departure. There’s now talk about Center in the Square putting a Ferris wheel on top of the building as a way to draw visitors. The city has proposed a casino, to be located at the Berglund Center. Rasoul, who has opposed the casino, has instead asked for $600,000 so the city can conduct “master planning” for downtown, including the Berglund Center.
This seems akin to the “Design 79” study that produced the original plan for redevelopment in downtown in 1979.
7. George Mason University partnership with Averett University
Del. David Reid, D-Loudoun County, has produced a “language amendment” (meaning there’s no money attached) to authorize George Mason University to “enter into a public-private partnership with Averett University or a successor entity” to help meet “the demands of a rapidly growing economy in Southern Virginia.”
The “successor entity” may be more than boilerplate. Averrett, a private school in Danville, has had financial challenges of late. The new president says financial conditions are improving, but colleges across the country face enrollment challenges as the pool of traditional college-age students shrinks, due to declining birth rates.
Reid, in a commentary publishing today in Cardinal, cites the arrival of the Microporous battery plant in Pittsylvania County and the expansion of the Hitachi transformer plant in Halifax County. “To meet the full spectrum, end-to-end professional development requirements, and maintain Southern Virginia as a premier destination for other companies, we also need robust undergraduate and graduate programs in advanced sciences, management, human resources, strategic planning, and engineering,” Reid writes.
While Averett “has served the local and regional community for more than a century, these new corporate investments and the unprecedented growth potential for the region could be further amplified with the presence of one of Virginia’s premier R1 research institutions.” With that in mind, his budget amendment authorizes George Mason to work with Averett on workforce training and economic development, contingent on funding being available from a variety of economic development groups and foundations.
This would represent a major leap for George Mason, which we typically think of as a Northern Virginia school, into a university with a statewide presence.
8. Bristol landfill
It stinks. Literally. There are scientific reasons for this but that doesn’t help mitigate the stench. Del. Israel O’Quinn, R-Washington County, has asked for $26 million — $5 million the first year, the rest the second year. That first installment would “support sidewall odor mitigation and leachate treatment system work” while the second would “would support pumps, wells, and improvements to temperature-monitoring infrastructure, as well as construction of the landfill geomembrane.”
9. New College Institute
In his proposed budget, Youngkin zeroed out funding for the New College Institute in Martinsville. He’s been concerned that it doesn’t have a clear mission and has tried to use the budget to force the higher ed institute to come up with a different business plan. It’s unclear how Spanberger feels about NCI, but three legislators — Del. Betsy Carr, D-Richmond, Del. Destiny LeVere Bolling, D-Richmond, and state Sen. Kannan Srinivasan, D-Loudoun County — have all introduced budget amendments that would add second-year funding. LeVere Bolling’s amendment specifies the funding be set “to align the New College Institute with peer Virginia higher education centers.” Of note: Srinivasan and LeVere Bolling are both on the NCI board.
10. Virginia Museum of Natural History satellite facility in Waynesboro
For more than a decade, the Martinsville-based state museum has sought to build a satellite facility. There have been two feasibility studies done, in 2013 and 2023, the most recent of which put the cost at $41.1 million.
Both state legislators who represent Waynesboro — Head and Del. Ellen McLaughlin, R-Waynesboro — have asked for the project to be included in the state’s construction pool.
11. Martinsville/Henry County Animal Shelter
State Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, has asked for $500,000 to help build a joint animal shelter for Martinsville and Henry County. Martinsville’s shelter was destroyed by fire in December and all the animals being housed there died.
12. Parks and trails in Franklin County
The legislators representing Franklin County — Stanley and Del. Will Davis, both R-Franklin County — have asked for $415,000 for a foot bridge over the Pigg River in Waid Park, $500,000 for a trail at the Booker T. Washington National Monument and $700,000 for a pavilion at the Franklin County Recreational Park. Davis has also asked for $700,000 to “support regional park development” in Franklin County.
13. Potential state park in Washington County
Both Pillion and O’Quinn have asked for $200,000 to study the feasibility of creating a state park in Washington County that would include the Mendota Trail (a 12.5-mile rail-to-trail project) and Abrams Falls. Both legislators have introduced resolutions in their respective chambers (HJ 42 and SJ 31) that would set the study in motion; the budget amendment would fund it.
14. Automated slow-moving vehicle signs in Southside
The Amish population has been growing in parts of Southside Virginia, and with it a growing number of collisions between cars and horse-pulled buggies. Officials have grappled with how to address this without impinging on the religious beliefs of the Amish. As part of that response, Del. Tom Garrett, R-Buckingham County, has asked for $500,000 to find a pilot program in the Lynchburg Transportation Planning District (which covers the Amish areas of Southside) to install automated “slow-moving vehicle” signs. (See Cardinal’s previous story about the growth of the Amish community.)
15. Virginia University of Lynchburg
Virginia University of Lynchburg is a small, historically Black private college in Lynchburg that dates to 1886. Sen. Mark Peake and Del. Wendell Walker, both R-Lynchburg, have asked for $2 million to help the school rehabilitate its historic campus.
16. Emergency response calls in Pulaski County
Last year, House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, toured Pulaski County with state Sen.Travis Hackworth, R-Tazewell County, to look at damage from Hurricane Helene. While meeting with first responders in Hiawassee, those emergency workers had an additional concern: the increasing number of calls they have to answer on Interstate 81, which takes time away from serving their local residents. Some workers told stories of having to wait up to five or six hours for Virginia Department of Transportation workers to arrive to help with traffic control for relatively minor accidents. With that in mind, Hackworth and Del. Jason Ballard, R-Giles County, have each asked for $455,800 over two years to help Pulaski County with those costs.
17. Paralympic track for high school students
Sen. Saddam Salim, D-Fairfax, has a language amendment that “directs the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services to work with the Virginia High School League and interested nonprofit groups to develop a paralympic division for track. This would allow athletes with disabilities to compete alongside non-disabled peers and allow them to prepare to win at the National Junior Disability Championships.”
18. Electric vehicle chargers in rural areas
Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, has asked for $5 million for grants “to private developers for the installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in rural and low-income localities.”
19. Car tax repeal study
Nearly 30 years after Jim Gilmore ran for governor (and won) on a platform of “No Car Tax!” we’re still debating how to get rid of the parts that Gilmore couldn’t get repealed. The car tax may well be Virginia’s “most hated tax,” as it’s often called, but eliminating it has proved devilishly difficult. That’s because it’s not a state tax, it’s a local tax. Any locality could eliminate it right now but they don’t because they have few other sources of revenue.
Both Franklin and Sen. Dave Marsden, D-Fairfax County, have introduced bills to set up a study to see how that revenue could be replaced. Both also have budget amendments asking for $250,000 to pay for that study, if it’s approved.
20. Rural housing
Many rural communities don’t have enough housing available. To encourage more housing development, Stanley and Del. Eric Phillips, R-Henry County, have proposed $40 million over two years for a Virginia Rural Housing Infrastructure Fund. Phillips has introduced a bill, HB 1057, to create the program; the budget amendment would fund it. The bill says the fund would apply to any county with a population of 75,000 or less and any city with a population of 50,000 or less. One-fourth of the funds would be set aside for localities in Southwest and Southside.
21. Energy sites on former brownfields and coalfields
Peake and Del. Michael Webert, R-Fauquier County, have asked for $20 million “to help redevelop coalfields and brownfields as renewable energy generation sites.”
22. Nuclear workforce training
Virginia, which already relies on nuclear energy for about 24% of its power, has been moving toward a stronger embrace of nuclear, particularly in the form of smaller reactors, called SMRs, or small modular reactors. That support for nuclear is by no means universal, but it is bipartisan. In her initial address to the General Assembly, Spanberger endorsed nuclear energy (something she’d done on the campaign trail, as well). Two legislators, one from each party, have introduced budget amendments for $19.3 million over two years for the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium to expand “workforce readiness” in the nuclear field. Those legislators are Webert and Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico County.
Democrats and Republicans tend to come to nuclear via different roads. Republicans are generally distrustful of renewables as being reliable around the clock and like nuclear because it is there 24/7. Some Democrats have come to embrace nuclear because it’s carbon-free and more nuclear energy helps retire fossil fuel sources more quickly.
For those who want to draw a connection between more nuclear training and the coalfields energy grants above, don’t. Virginia doesn’t classify nuclear energy as renewable energy, although there have been attempts to do so.
23. James Monroe’s home Oak Hill
The fifth president had multiple homes. One of those was Oak Hill in Loudoun County, where he lived while he was president and then in retirement. It’s been privately owned but is now available. Del. Alfonso Lopez, D-Arlington County, and state Sen. Russett Perry, D-Loudoun County, have budget amendments that would allow the state to acquire it. Lopez’s amendment would set aside $16 million. Perry’s is a two-parter that would make $18 million available. Both include multiple terms and conditions.
24. Roads
This is by no means a full list, but I include this to give a flavor of the requests, and so readers in these legislators’ areas can see what their elected representatives are up to.
Hackworth and Del. Will Morefield, R-Tazewell County, have asked for $7.875 million for two road projects connected with the incredibly slow-moving Virginia Coalfields Expressway, which is nearly finished in West Virginia but barely underway in Virginia. (That’s likely because southern West Virginia is more important to state officials in Charleston than Southwest Virginia is to officials in Richmond, but I digress.) Williams has a language amendment that would speed up planning for improvements on U.S. 58. Davis and Stanley have asked for $800,000 to improve Bandy Oak Road in Franklin County, $1 million to replace the bridge on Diamond Avenue in Rocky Mount and $15 million for a road to connect Diamond Avenue to Sycamore Street. Both have also asked for $50 million to help pave unpaved roads statewide.
25. Other infrastructure
The same advisory applies here. There are lots of these requests. I could fill up a whole column with these types of requests, all of them no doubt important but none particularly sexy. If a locality needs money for water or sewer lines, the legislators representing that locality have probably introduced a budget amendment. Here are just a few:
Sen. Tammy Mulchi, R-Mecklenburg County, has asked for $600,000 for a water line to the Virginia International Raceway in Halifax County and $3 million to help the town of Blackstone replace its 84-year-old water and sewer system.
Sen. Luther Cifers, R-Prince Edward County, has asked for $2 million to help Prince Edward County develop the Sandy River Reservoir as a public drinking water source.
Stanley has asked for $2.5 million to help Carroll County to close three separate existing wastewater treatment plants and instead hook into the system across the state line in Mount Airy, North Carolina.
Peake has asked for $12 million for wastewater treatment plant improvements in Altavista.
Both Dels. Nadarius Clark, D-Suffolk, and Otto Wachsmann, R-Sussex County, have asked for $25 million for a natural gas pipeline to the Mid-Atlantic Advanced Manufacturing Center, a 1,600-acre industrial site in Greensville County.
Realistically, most of these budget amendments in this long list of 25 items won’t be adopted — money is finite — but this does give you a sense of what legislators are asking for.
For more politics, see our weekly political newletter, West of the Capital.