Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: $89 million shortfall found in Virginia's 2-year budget Date: Sat, 21 Nov 92 17:35:41 EST Message-ID: \SE A;METROPOLITAN \SS (WS) \HD $89 million shortfall found in Virginia's 2-year budget \BY Larry O'Dell \CR ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT RICHMOND RICHMOND - The General Assembly will have to find an additional $89 million in the current two-year budget to cover rising expenses for education, Medicaid and prisons, the state Senate Finance Committee was told yesterday. The increased costs would more than deplete the $52 million surplus now in the state kitty and could jeopardize the additional 1 percent raise Gov. L. Douglas Wilder has said he hopes to be able to give state employees. It costs about $11.3 million a year to finance a 1 percent raise for state workers. State employees, whose pay has been frozen for two years because of the recession and its impact on the budget, are scheduled to get a 2 percent raise Dec. 1. Mr. Wilder has said he would like to bump that to 3 percent, and maybe make the extra 1 percent retroactive to July 1, if money is available. Secretary of Finance Paul Timmreck said in an interview that Mr. Wilder has made it clear that one of his top priorities is salary increases. "But we also understand how Medicaid is funded," Mr. Timmreck said. "It's an entitlement program. As long as they show up and as long as they are eligible, we pay the bills." A Finance Committee staff report said officials underestimated Medicaid eligibility, school enrollment and prison population when writing the current $28 billion state budget. Medicaid enrollment will be 118,000 more than projected and will cost the state $62 million more. Another $19.6 million will be needed to educate 12,000 additional children in public schools, and $7.4 million will be required to house 2,600 more prison inmates. "These are additional costs that will have to be addressed because they are population-driven," Dick Hickman of the committee staff said. He said the three categories are not a comprehensive look at the new money the General Assembly will have to find in its mid-biennium budget tinkering. However, they are major expenses over which the legislators have little control. "We're probably looking at 125 funding items," Mr. Timmreck said. "These are things that are broken and need to be fixed, but there's only so much money to go around." This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM