Governor Tim Kaine announced this morning that declines in sales taxes and other revenue streams have led him to revise the two year budget again, cutting $139 million more this year and $230 million more from next year’s budget.
Kaine has long maintained that he would do his best to spare education from the budget scalpel, but in today’s proposal, he suggests a new cap on school support staff that will cut $340 million by next year. He’s also cutting state support for school capital projects by $27.5 million, and moving $55 million in lottery money from capital projects to base instructional expenses.
UVA doesn’t escape—all higher ed institutions except community colleges will get a 15 percent cut, an increase from the 7 percent already cut from UVA’s budget. As a community college, Piedmont Virginia Community College will now see a 10 percent budget cut.
Oh, and state employees definitely won’t get that raise that Kaine had hoped to give in July.
To increase revenue, Kaine proposes doubling the cigarette tax to 60 cents a pack.
Today’s announcement to the General Assembly is a revision of the plan he offered in October, which dealt with the then $1 billion shortfall.
