Youngkin signs budget bill with $900 million in cuts

Yahoo

02-05-2025

RICHMOND — Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the budget bill Friday with 37 line-item vetoes, amounting to $900 million in cuts. He cited potential financial instability based on tariffs and workforce reductions at the federal level.
'We understand that as we head into fiscal year 2026, there are short-term risks to that projected surplus,' he said, referring to previous projections which calculated a $3.2 billion budget surplus over two years. 'We all know that as President Trump rightfully resets trade imbalances and restores fiscal responsibility in DC, there are short-term disruptions … (that) require us to be responsible and not spend 100% of this forecasted surplus.'
The bulk of the cuts, totaling $691 million, will come from a package of 10 one-time capital projects appropriated for colleges and universities. Youngkin said the projects were overwhelmingly in the planning stages and had not yet begun construction.
'These projects are good projects,' he said. 'They should be funded. And we are providing the General Assembly the opportunity in January to pick them back up, and they will be able to use either cash resources or bonding to ensure these projects continue on their current timeline.'
Senate majority leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, took issue with how those cuts were communicated.
'(Youngkin) gave us zero heads up about what he was doing or why he was doing it,' Surovell said. 'None of this was discussed during session. It's not the way to run a commonwealth, and it's very disappointing and aggravating that we're going to have almost a billion dollars cut out of our budget.'
Youngkin previously included an amendment to the budget that would put an additional $300 million beyond the required deposit into the Senate's rainy day fund. That amendment was not accepted by the Democrat-controlled state legislature.
The $900 million in cuts won't go into the revenue reserve fund; rather, that portion of the budget surplus is simply unappropriated.
Youngkin said other cuts would include things such as a private-public child care partnership and long-term water infrastructure investments. The governor said the former was not yet ready for prime time, and the latter had alternative funding.
'I just encouraged everyone to use existing appropriations in order to fund those things,' he said. 'There's other areas where there is already money existing, and it hasn't been used.'
Youngkin said he would approve the other 135 items the legislature returned to him unchanged.
Included in the budget would be $25 million for drinking water infrastructure and $12 million for maternal health investments. On the education front, Youngkin said there would be about $223 million to lift the support staff cap, $111 million for English language teachers, $53 million in additional funds for special education and an additional $134 million for teacher bonuses.
Kate Seltzer, 757-713-7881, [e-mail]