This afternoon the House approved the introduction of its budget again. This will give the Senate another opportunity to approve a budget so that the General Assembly can meeting its deadline of adjourning on March 10 with a budget. Below is a release by Speaker Howell:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 1, 2012
Statement of Speaker William J. Howell Following Reintroduction of the FY 2012-14 House Budget by Unanimous Consent
RICHMOND, VA - Speaker of the House of Delegates William J. Howell (R-Stafford) issued the following statement this afternoon following the motion by Appropriations Chairman Lacey E. Putney (I-Bedford) to reintroduce the FY 2012-14 House Budget by unanimous consent:
"With the defeat of the House budget yesterday by Senate Democrats, the Commonwealth of Virginia entered uncharted financial waters. Never before has the General Assembly failed to put a version of the Budget into conference. As many of us have said over the last several days, the obstructive actions of Senate Democrats put Virginia on uncertain financial footing."
My colleagues and I in the House Republican Caucus were unwilling to allow such a state of affairs to continue. So today, Appropriations Committee Chairman Lacey Putney asked for the unanimous consent of the House of Delegates to reintroduce the FY 2012-14 House budget."
Due to procedural deadlines in the General Assembly, introduction of new legislation this late in the legislation session requires the unanimous consent of the body.
"We are pleased that our Democrat colleagues in the House of Delegates were willing to cross party lines to work with us on the most important piece of legislation to come before us this session. With their help, we now have a vehicle for continued consideration of the biennial budget."
"Today the entire House of Delegates - Republican and Democrats alike - sent a message to Senate Democrats: we have let this political theater play out for long enough. Now, Senate Democrats must come to the table and earnestly work with us on the financial blueprint that will govern Virginia's services and spending for the next two years."
