Budgets are about numbers. Budget cuts are about people. Not just the people who could stand to lose income, but those of us who stand to lose the benefit of what these people do. When money’s tight, it’s tight, and we can’t spend on everything we want. But it also should be understood that not spending comes with a price. As the General Assembly and localities wrestle with a lack of resources, I’ve thought about a lot of people who have been targeted for proposed cuts, including those in the arts community and those who coach school sports.

Senators are retreating somewhat on fattened court fees to help balance Virginia’s recession-wracked budget, but delegates aren’t impressed. Ahead of the assembly’s scheduled Saturday adjournment, the 13 budget negotiators missed their first deadline to reach a deal—midnight tonight. The latest maneuvering came as the McDonnell administration reported that the state’s tax collections continue to lag.

Testily clashing over proposed cuts in state aid to public schools, House and Senate negotiators yesterday held out the possibility that budget-balancing talks could drag into June—and into the countdown hours for putting in place the state’s fiscal plan. With negotiators expected to miss their first deadline tonight on a compromise budget, Sen. R. Edward Houck, D-Spotsylvania, pressed the House to retreat from an additional $500 million in reductions in K-12 funding—which would come atop $1 billion in cuts proposed by then-Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.

Call it a late-morning tea party. On the grounds of the state Capitol today, cheering, sign-waving opponents of higher taxes and big government rallied against Virginia’s work-in-progress budget. About 300 people, turned out by Americans for Prosperity, were urged by the organization’s Virginia director, Ben Marchi, to keep the pressure on the General Assembly.

Chesterfield County tonight will roll out a recommended $700.4 million operating budget for fiscal 2011, representing a 2.1 percent decline from the current year’s plan. The county plans to partially offset a $35.4 million revenue shortfall from the current year by returning $12 million in prior-year savings to the school system and instituting a recycling fee expected to generate $2.5 million.

House of Delegates and state Senate budget negotiators practiced shuttle diplomacy yesterday but made little headway on reaching an agreement. “Not a lot of progress,“ said Del. S. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk. “We talked a lot but didn’t make much progress,“ said Sen. Charles J. Colgan, D-Prince William, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

Local governments across the commonwealth are facing reduced state funding and declining tax revenues. The City of Richmond is no different. With the reduction in tax revenues and the reduction in state funding, our city has the chance to openly address what is important to the citizens of Richmond and determine the best way to deliver core services. We have the opportunity to use the reduction in funding and tax revenue to eliminate wasteful spending from the city government and look for innovative ways to deliver services at a reduced cost.

As Virginians have coped with the economic downturn, the size of the state work force has dipped, mostly because of job cuts in the state Department of Transportation and the Department of Corrections. But employment in most state agencies has remained stable or even risen in the past two years. Of the 139 agencies and commissions with at least one state employee, 43 had fewer authorized positions in 2010 than in 2008.

Offering to work nearly nonstop, House negotiators yesterday advanced high-dollar concessions toward a Virginia budget-balancing deal. Their Senate counterparts quit until tomorrow. Facing a Tuesday deadline to craft a compromise for erasing a $4.2 billion shortfall, conferees—some occasionally slurping Manhattan clam chowder—met briefly to discuss a House about-face: accepting some new fees, which delegates had rejected as disguised taxes, and shrinking an emergency fund.

Offering to work nearly non-stop, House negotiators yesterday advanced high-dollar concessions toward a Virginia budget-balancing deal. Their Senate counterparts quit until Sunday. Facing a Tuesday deadline to craft a compromise for erasing a $4.2 billion shortfall, conferees—some occasionally slurping Manhattan clam chowder—met briefly to discuss a House about-face: accepting some new fees, which delegates had rejected as disguised taxes, and shrinking an emergency fund.

They came. They sat. They yakked. For 1 hour and 26 minutes yesterday, the 13 senior lawmakers responsible for cobbling a compromise budget-balancing plan haggled over their differences - and different ways to resolve them. Some negotiators multitasked, plotting possible solutions while puttering with their BlackBerrys. In a first sit-down that was polite but fruitless, six delegates and seven senators outlined some of the obstacles to erasing Virginia’s $4.2 billion shortfall: how deeply to reach into the public-employee retirement fund for cash and whether to embrace more than $200 million in fees that foes say are disguised tax increases.

They came. They sat. They yakked. For one hour and 26 minutes today, the 13 senior lawmakers responsible for cobbling a compromise budget-balancing plan haggled over their differences—and different ways to resolve them. Some negotiators multitasked, plotting possible solutions while puttering with their BlackBerrys. In a first sit-down that was polite but fruitless, six delegates and seven senators outlined some of the obstacles to erasing Virginia’s $4.2 billion shortfall: how deeply to reach into the public-employee retirement fund for cash and whether to embrace more than $200 million in fees that foes say are disguised tax hikes.

House and Senate negotiators—about to begin in earnest crafting a compromise budget-balancing plan—met privately yesterday with Gov. Bob McDonnell, who pressed them for a speedy fix to Virginia’s fiscal crisis. Nearly all of the 13 conferees, as well as House and Senate leaders, attended the unannounced late-afternoon huddle with McDonnell at his office in the Patrick Henry Building.

House and Senate negotiators—about to begin in earnest crafting a compromise budget-balancing plan—met privately today with Gov. Bob McDonnell, who pressed them for a speedy fix to Virginia’s fiscal crisis. Nearly all of the 13 conferees as well as House and Senate leaders attended the unannounced late-afternoon huddle with McDonnell at his office in the Patrick Henry Building.

Governor offers a way for House and Senate budget negotiators to align their diverging budget-balancing plans, including the Senate eliminating what he calls unrealistic revenue presumptions.