Wednesday, March 1, 2023

FINAL Session Update!

INTRODUCTION 

The final week of the 2023 General Assembly session included a federal holiday, record-setting warm days, and the completion of work on hundreds of bills. Session officially adjourned on Saturday, February 25th wrapping up legislative loose ends between the House and Senate. 🇺🇸

COMMITTEES OF CONFERENCE – AND "PEACE IN THE VALLEY"

Before a bill can be sent to Governor Youngkin for his consideration, it must be approved by the House and Senate majorities. Crucially, both chambers must approve identical versions of the bill. And here, identical means identical.  Every word, letter, and punctuation mark must be the same when a bill passes the House as it was when it passed the Senate – and vice-versa.
 
In many instances, a bill approved by both chambers will have different language and provisions.  When this happens, the differences between the two versions of the same bill must be rectified.  A committee of conference, usually consisting of three delegates and three senators, are appointed to iron out the differences. During the final days of a General Assembly session, most of the work is done by legislators appointed to these committees.
 
If the legislators assigned to resolve differences on a particular bill reach an agreement, the bill goes back to both chambers for a final vote. Frequently, the legislator describing the result of the agreement announces to their chamber that there is "peace in the valley."  Because scores of bills have differences that must be resolved by conference committees, you hear this cliché a lot during the final days of every General Assembly session. 

LEGISLATION 

This year, I sponsored legislation focused on parental rights, election integrity, and public safety. In the final days of session, 9 of my 26 bills won approval and are headed to Governor Youngkin for his reviewal. Below is the list of my 9 successful bills.

Unfortunately, 17 of my bills did not even make it over to the House due to Senate democrats killing them in committee. Important, common sense bills like Election Integrity and Youth Health Protection were too much for Senate democrats in committees to vote for. Click Here for a video that shows highlights of me fighting for the people in Richmond on various common-sense issues that democrats continuously shut down.  
 

THE "SKINNY" BUDGET

What, you may reasonably ask, is a "skinny" budget, and how did it come to be? The first
thing you need to understand is that Virginia has an existing biennial budget that is in force
through June of 2024 – 16 months from now. That budget was approved last year. What the
General Assembly has been working on this year is amendments to that budget. Once a biennial
budget is approved, the General Assembly customarily amends it the next year to reflect changes
in revenues and, on some occasions, priorities.
 
This year, the Commonwealth has received over $3 billion in revenues that were not
anticipated in the budget passed last year. The Governor and the Republican-majority House
want to allocate a portion of those revenues to lower taxes. The Democrat-majority Senate wants
to spend those funds instead.
 
Budget negotiations are made more difficult when the two sides negotiating don't agree
on how much they have to spend. Since the House budget allocates a significant portion of the
excess revenues to lowering taxes, it lowers the funds available to be spent on government.
Although both plans spend more on government than what was approved last year, the Senate
plan spends a lot more. Hence, a stalemate.
 
When budget negotiations broke down late in the final week, the Chairman of the House
Appropriations Committee indicated the two sides were about $1 billion apart. Not so
coincidently, that's close to the amount of tax relief being proposed by Governor Youngkin and
supported by Republicans in the House and Senate.
 
The solution to this stalemate was to produce a substantially smaller package of budget
amendments that contained only those items requiring immediate attention upon which both
sides can agree. Or, more succinctly, a "skinny" budget.
 
The plan includes extra funds to ensure public schools receive the same level of funding they had been anticipating, correcting an error made last June when they were given incorrect estimates of what to expect. It also adds an additional $250 million to the Virginia Retirement System (VRS), strengthening that long-term obligation. Keeping Virginia's fiscal house in order and protecting our AAA bond rating, the plan
adds over $400 million to the Rainy-Day Fund and $100 million to the fund that covers any cost
overruns on capital improvement projects that have already been approved.
 
With those essential responsibilities covered, budget negotiators can continue their work
on other priorities as they determine how to allocate the remainder of the unanticipated revenues.
If an agreement is reached, legislators will return to Richmond to vote on it. If one is not
reached, the decision on what to do with those excess funds will be made by the next General
Assembly in 2024.
 

       

     
Outside the Senate Chamber. 
  
Honoring the family of the late Campbell Circuit Court Judge Samuel Johnston, Jr.


The Peake Power Team; Ashley, Sue, and Matt.


CONCLUSION

The Senate of Virginia's work for this year is not complete. We're scheduled to return to the Capitol on April 12 to consider Governor Youngkin's amendments to the legislation we passed this session. With the regular session of the General Assembly done for 2023, we're now back in the district.

I really appreciate those who have taken the time to read my dispatches from Richmond this session. I am also truly grateful to everyone who reached out to my office and/or met with me in person while in Richmond. I am here to work and serve the People of the 22nd District; please do not hesitate to reach out to my office or to follow me on social media! You can reach us at (434) 455-3392, or by sending an email to district22@senate.virginia.gov. Social media linked below ⬇️

    

Sincerely,

Senator Mark Peake

22nd Senatorial District

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