Del. Luke Torian, chairman of House Appropriations Committee gives a budget overview
Gov. Ralph Northam is urging state budget negotiators to use additional revenues to raise pay for teachers by 5% and state employees and state-supported local employees by 3.5%
In a letter Friday to newly appointed members of a conference committee to negotiate changes to the budget, Northam praised the House of Delegates and Senate for converting one-time bonuses in his budget âinto a permanent increase.â
The Senate included raises of 3% for teachers and 3% for state employees and others in its version of the budget. But the governor sided with the House on how much to increase pay, especially with an additional $730.2 million in revenue he identified for the General Assembly at the beginning of this week.
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Bill seeks to set up fund to boost Virginia State Police pay
Laura Vozzella, The Washington Post
Feb. 19, 2021
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An officer with the Virginia State Police adjusts her helmet outside the Capitol after a pro-Trump mob breached the building Jan. 6.Washington Post photo by Bonnie Jo Mount.
RICHMOND, Va. - The Virginia state Senate is backing a plan to boost pay for state troopers at a time when the agency - in the national spotlight last month for responding to the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol - is struggling to attract and retain sworn officers.
The measure, sponsored by Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, would establish a trust fund that State Police could tap to make its salaries more competitive with those offered by local police and sheriff s departments. The fund would be supported by an extra $4 fee tacked onto the cost of registering a car in the commonwealth, raising an estimated $30 million a year.
MEL LEONOR Richmond Times-Dispatch
RICHMOND â A proposal to make community college free for low- and middle-income Virginians seeking jobs in high-demand fields is nearing the finish line, pending whether budget leaders can work out some differences.
Titled âGet Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back,â or âG3,â the program would cover tuition, fees and textbooks for around 40,000 students across the state.
The program is among Gov. Ralph Northamâs signature campaign proposals, and has received the broad approval of lawmakers in both chambers as the governor nears the end of his last regular legislative session in power.
While the legislation cruises through the General Assembly, budget leaders are getting ready to work out differences over the proposal.