State budget may be $3.5 billion short

The Senate Finance Committee of the Virginia General Assembly is projecting a budget shortfall of at least $3.2 billion for the 2008-2010 biennial budget of $77 billion.

That is an even bleaker projection than the $2.5 billion Gov. Timothy M. Kaine had previously forecast.

And the shortfall could reach as high as $3.5 billion if lawmakers retain an additional $350 million in high-priority, mandated programs approved last session, according to the committee's report, "Fiscal Issues Facing the Commonwealth."

Kaine's administration has already taken action to address roughly $1 billion of the shortfall. But the Finance Committee report -- released today at a bipartisan retreat for the state's 40 senators in Fredericksburg -- suggests lawmakers will need to carve out another $2.5 billion from state spending in the upcoming 2009 legislative session.

This week, the Republican-dominated House Appropriations Committee presented in Roanoke a similarly gloomy scenario for state revenues.

For details, see tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch. -- Jim Nolan