State Senate Democrats feel that they have political momentum on their side with a series of votes blocking barebones Republican-authored state budgets.
“When Senate Democrats came down here several weeks ago we were focused on jobs and public education, repairing our tattered safety net, and solving our transportation crisis, but were instead faced with an onslaught of extreme social agenda bills,” State Sen. Janet Howell, D-Fairfax, said.
Democratic leaders are expressing optimism that an upcoming special legislative session to address the lack of an agreed-upon state budget will produce a better budget for the 2012-2014 biennium.
As to repeated claims from Republicans that the adjournment of the regular session without a budget is unprecedented, Senate Democratic Leader Dick Saslaw pointed out that in years past, including 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2008, the General Assembly did not pass a budget by the end of the regular session, and that “we are farther along now than we were then.”
“There are states smaller than we are with six-month legislative sessions that won’t get done on time what we will do this year in about 70 days,” Saslaw said.
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