Sen. Kaine applauds passage of Senate budget out of committee

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, praised the passage of a Fiscal Year 2014 budget out of committee. The budget is expected to be voted on by the full Senate in the coming week.

“Passing a budget out of committee, something that has not been done in years, is an important next step in our return to a normal budgetary process and a rejection of governing by crisis. As a new member of this committee, I was proud to vote that Senate pay should be withheld unless we pass a budget. Today, I am proud to support a balanced budget proposal that will bolster our economic recovery and boost job creation while seriously tackling our deficit,” said Kaine. “No budget is perfect, but this offer represents a credible compromise that’s good for Virginia and good for the country.”

“When I ran for the Senate, I promised Virginians I would strongly advocate an orderly budget process and approach discussions of these important fiscal issues with an openness to new ideas and willingness to find common ground. As this process continues with a vote of the full Senate and negotiations between the two houses, I will maintain that commitment to compromise. In my recent travels across the Commonwealth, I found that Virginians weren’t asking me to protect their job or a specific program – they were asking me to work with my colleagues and get a deal. With today’s work, I believe we’re one step closer to that deal.”

During the amendment process, the committee unanimously passed an amendment introduced by Kaine that would pave the way for future legislative efforts to ease the transition of servicemembers from active duty to the civilian workforce by aligning specialty skills acquired in the military with the necessary education, civilian credentials, or licenses required for post-service employment. It amends the Deficit-Neutral Reserve Fund for America’s Servicemembers and Veterans in the FY 2014 budget in support of legislation that would improve the civilian credentialing process for members of the military.

Kaine also co-sponsored an amendment that passed unanimously introduced by Sen. Mark Warner to reduce the backlog and the processing time for federal employee benefits at the Office of Personnel Management.