Virginia lawmakers learned today that they have a $3.5 billion hole to fill in the next two-year budget as well an estimated $209 million shortfall in the current spending plan.

As state officials wrestle with harsh cuts in the commonwealth’s budget, it’s worth pausing to note that during the past decade, the state’s budget has increased 74 percent. (This according to the latest figures from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.) That’s a big increase—though it doesn’t exactly translate into profligacy. For one thing, inflation during the same period was 23 percent. For another, the state’s population grew from 7.1 million to 7.7 million—an 8 percent increase. That means more kids to teach, more driver’s licenses to issue, more services to render. Adjust for those factors, and the state is now spending, in constant dollars, 28 percent more per resident than it did 10 years ago.

Virginia officials looking for a way to balance the recession-wracked budget could free up cash by delaying or junking some tax breaks, according to a study out this morning.

Although the economy seems to be slowly mending, the worst recession since the Great Depression is still producing aftershocks. Gov. Tim Kaine detailed the effects of those aftershocks when he laid out the particulars of the latest round of budget cuts. The layoff ax will lay low nearly 600 employees. The effect falls particularly hard on Lawrenceville and Botetourt, two small communities where correctional institutions will close. State universities will take hits, as will the state’s health department.

In his budget forecast on Aug. 19, Gov. Tim Kaine emphasized his efforts to minimize borrowing our way through the recession and Virginia’s current budget crisis. He argued admirably that our state should avoid passing along debt to future generations. Although these sentiments are well-placed, we must also remember that outright cash debt is just one aspect of fiscal responsibility. Instead of bonds and interest payments, Virginia faces the looming possibility of massive “social debt.“

Legislators expect Gov. Timothy M. Kaine today to propose cutting Virginia’s budget by up to $1.5 billion. Lawmakers and aides in Capitol circles were suggesting that Kaine might split the difference between previous revenue forecasts and settle on $1.3 billion.

April tax revenue in Virginia fell 21.3 percent, primarily because of a record drop in individual estimated and final payments due May 1. Confirming the gloomy revenue projections that Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced Monday, Secretary of Finance Richard D. Brown told the House Appropriations Committee yesterday that all major sources of revenue were down in April.

A week ago, the General Assembly took final action on amendments to the state’s budget for the next 21 months. Like many households, the budget reflects a significant decline in spending money—7.2 percent less than a year ago. The governor and General Assembly have less general fund revenue to spend today than they did three years ago.

Before casting vote No. 1, each legislator solemnly swears to support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and to faithfully and impartially discharge all the duties incumbent upon one as a member of the House of Delegates. When asked about my goals for the recently completed Virginia General Assembly session, I refer to an additional, more personal oath that I recall when asked to consider changes to state public policy: First do no harm.

Key policy, spending issues remain to be overcome at the Virginia General Assembly.

The week before last, the House of Delegates passed its amendment to the biennial budget, but was missing two key pieces of information: how January revenue numbers would impact the budget shortfall and how much money Virginia would gain as a result of the federal stimulus bill. Some of that information has now come to light, and it contains both good and bad news.

Lawmakers prepare to reconcile budget differences

The Virginia Senate this afternoon is poised to approve its version of the revised state budget.

Four years old and in a new, $62 million maximum-security facility in rural Nottoway County, the Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation has been off to a rocky start. Surrounded by razor wire, the 28-acre campus is where rapists, child molesters and others deemed by courts to be “sexually violent predators” are held indefinitely for treatment after their prison terms end.

With this economy, the Assembly’s focus must be on these fundamental issues: jobs and housing. All around Richmond, businesses of all sizes are closing. In eastern Henrico, Qimonda recently announced 500 layoffs and more will follow. Over the past week—while investigating potential violations of federal law and facilitating the deployment of Virginia’s work force rapid response initiative—it was apparent that these unemployed workers, who are highly skilled and trained, care about their jobs because they need to put food on the table, pay their mortgages to stay in their houses, and maintain health care coverage for their families’ well-being. These workers are not the ones who got in over their heads with bad loans or have mountains of credit debt. These workers are ordinary middle-class Virginians trying to do the right thing in life.