VA Senate Finance & Appropriations Chair Louise Lucas, House Appropriations Chair Luke Torian Statement on Reaching a Budget Agreement

Good news – looks like we’re going to have a budget after all. Phew!  Now, need to check out the details…

STATEMENT FROM SENATE FINANCE APPROPRIATIONS CHAIR L. LOUISE LUCAS AND HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS CHAIR LUKE TORIAN ON REACHING A BUDGET AGREEMENT

RICHMOND, VA — Senate Finance Appropriations Chair L. Louise Lucas and House Appropriations Chair Luke Torian released the following statement after reaching agreement on a conference budget:

“This budget agreement reflects our shared commitment to making Virginia more affordable for families. At a time when too many households are feeling squeezed by rising costs and economic uncertainty, this conference report makes historic investments to lower costs, strengthen our schools, protect access to healthcare, expand economic opportunity, and maintain the Commonwealth’s strong fiscal foundation.

“We appreciate the hard work of the conferees, staff, and our colleagues in both chambers who helped make this agreement possible. We look forward to passing this conference report and sending it to Governor Spanberger’s desk.”

• From VA State Senator Danica Roem: “This amendment establishes a data center electricity consumption tax at the rate of $0.011/kWh of all electricity consumed at each data center per month. The consumption tax is estimated to generate $600M GF each year during the biennium.”