Local line items included in Governor’s budget compromise

(Richmond) — The Governor has signed off on the new biennial budget, but it includes 240 amendments to change the package.  
    Glenn Youngkin Monday announced the compromise spending blueprint. He calls it his “Common Ground Budget”. His original budget proposal late last year included sweeping tax cuts.  The General Assembly version included no cuts, along with an expansion of the sales tax to apply to downloads.  
    Youngkin says the final version strikes a balance. “I believe that this package of amendments that we have released today can achieve all of that and get us there on time, with a budget that is clean, without tax increases, and yes, a little bit frustrating to me, without tax decreases,” Youngkin said. 
    The amendments did not include Governor Youngkin’s request for funding to create a sports and entertainment district in Alexandria. 
    Youngkin’s budget still includes a pair of three-percent pay hikes for teachers and state workers. One goes into effect this summer, the second will kick in during the summer of 2025.
Locally, an effort to get state funding for an ambitious project in Danville made the cut.  The amendment from Danville Delegate Danny Marshall will help with construction of a whitewater canal in front of the former White Mill is included in the budget package that now goes back to lawmakers. 
    “It will not only be a tourist draw, but it will also be a valuable training tool for groups like the Danville Life Saving Crew,” Marshall said.  “It would provide them with a controlled environment to conduct whitewater rescues.”  
    The city and the Alexander Group are renovating that property as part of the Dan River Falls development. Two million state dollars will leverage local support from the City of Danville, and from private donations to build the canal.
    Marshall also got good news on two other line items for education.  The final budget includes money for salary adjustments at software purchasing for the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in Danville. The Institute will get more than one-point-six million over the biennial budget.  
    The spending plan also includes money Marshall requested for The Southern Virginia Higher Education Center in South Boston.  Marshall asked for $886,000 for a full time nursing instructor and equipment upgrades in their Welding Lab. The budget only earmarks $500,000—a little more than half of Marshall’s request.
    The Governor’s budget also restores funding to the New College Institute in Martinsville.  Henry County Delegate Eric Phillips and State Senator Bill Stanley made that request.  The draft budget that the Governor presented last year included four-point-seven million dollars in year one for NCI, but zero in year two. 
    
Another local line item will help finish a major facelift at the Gretna Public Library.  Southside State Senator Tammy Mulchi and Henry County Delegate Eric Phillips asked for $160,000 for the renovations at the Gretna Branch Library.  This will be added to local funds to help pay for one-and-a-half million dollar facelift.