Governor McAuliffe presented his proposed amendments to the
2016-18 biennial budget to the Joint Money Committees today. In his
remarks, the Governor explained that he was proposing “no program reductions to
K-12 education.” However, the Governor went on to explain that
“There are changes in public education spending but those are all formula
driven based on enrollment changes or changes related to revenues dedicated to
public education like sales tax, Lottery, and the Literary Fund.” See the
Governor’s full remarks here. These “formula driven” reductions include a savings to the state of $14.7
million due to reduced student enrollment projections in FY17 and $19.9 million
in FY18. Also included in the Governor’s proposal is a reduction in sales
tax revenue to public education of nearly $3.6 million in FY17 and $9.6 million
in FY18.
On the positive side, the Governor proposed an amendment to
provide the state share of a 1.5% bonus, to be paid in December, 2017, for all
SOQ-funded positions. This proposal is in lieu of the 2% salary increase
that was passed last year but which did not come to fruition because of the
state revenue shortfall. In his remarks today, the Governor indicated
that there would be “no requirement of a local match” for the bonus. It
is important to note, however, that the $55 million being proposed by the
Governor for the bonus only covers the state’s share of a 1.5% bonus and it is
only for the SOQ-funded positions.
