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The House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees reported their
respective budget amendments to the Governor's introduced budget on February
19th. The full House and Senate adopted the amendments on February 23rd. In
general, the House's approach was to avoid increases in taxes. In order to fund
transportation needs, the House reallocated existing funds and cash from capital
construction projects (many of which were incorporated into a bond package). The
Senate proposal uses new tax revenues to pay for transportation priorities,
which minimizes the need to reduce the funding in the Governor's proposal for
VCU and other agencies.
Since the House and Senate recommendations are different, the legislature
will need to resolve differences in a Conference Committee. The Conference
Committee, under the current schedule, should complete budget recommendations on
or around March 9th. The House and Senate would hopefully entertain a final vote
on March 11th.
Governor Warner's introduced budget was very positive for Virginia
Commonwealth University in a variety of areas, including salaries, financial
aid, research, base adequacy funding, and capital construction, among others. As
noted in the chart below, the Senate proposal on our major budgetary initiatives
is more favorable to VCU. During the final weeks of the 2006 General Assembly
Session, VCU will work with key decision-makers on the final recommendations.
Faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends of VCU are encouraged to
communicate with their respective legislators about the VCU budget
reconciliation. For convenience, below is a "How to Contact Your Legislator"
link.
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How to contact your legislators |
To contact your legislator regarding the House and Senate Budget Amendments,
please go to the following website:
http://www.capwiz.com/vcu-mcv/state/main/?state=VA
The chart below outlines the key differences in the budget recommendations
for VCU:
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Governor's Budget |
House Amendments |
Senate Amendments |
VCU Ask |
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Medical Sciences Building 2: |
| $12.4 million General Funds (GF)
plus $5.4 million Non General Funds (NGF) debt authorization. |
Eliminates $12.4 million GF; adds
$16.3 million NGF. |
Adds $3.8 million GF and $214,000
NGF. |
Support Senate position. This is a
major component of the Research Initiative. |
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Massey Cancer Center Addition: |
| $6.0 million GF |
Eliminates $6.0 million in GF;
adds $6.0 million NGF. |
No change. |
Support Senate position. This is a
major component of the Research Initiative. |
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Base Adequacy: |
| Additional $16.5 million GF each
year. |
Reduces introduced budget by $5.6
million GF each year. |
Reduces Year 1 by $4.6 million GF.
Increases Year 2 by $13.1 million GF. |
Support Senate position. Funding
helps address a $60m shortfall at VCU. |
The link below provides a more detailed side-by-side analysis of the impact
of the House and Senate budget recommendations on VCU:
http://www.vcu.edu/finance/AnalysisofH&SBudgAmend.pdf
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