Amid all the big news about Sen. Puckett’s resignation from the Senate and the ramifications that entails, the Virginian-Pilot took a giant leap of bipartisanship and adopted the House Republicans’ position on the budget.
The message was clear. Pass the budget and deal with Medicaid later.
“A budget that fails to factor in the state’s savings through expansion of Medicaid is incomplete and insufficient for Virginians. It is, however, better than no budget at all…The Senate should put a budget plan into conference with the House.”
This was published before the announcement of the resignation and shows a real good-faith effort on the part of the Editorial Board to resolve what is becoming a crisis.
“But the governor and lawmakers must not mimic their counterparts in Washington by letting this discussion come down to the wire. McAuliffe shouldn’t exert some unknown executive privilege to accomplish his goals against the will of the legislature.”
And to Senators Dick Saslaw and Janet Howell for preferring vacations over voting?
“Saslaw and Democratic Sen. Janet Howell, both members of the chamber’s Finance Committee and budget conference committee, planned to leave the state this month for vacation, indicating a disturbing lack of seriousness about their responsibilities.”
The Pilot also urges lawmakers to take up the Medicaid expansion issue in equally good faith, an expansion the Pilot supports, but not through a Governor inventing powers he doesn’t have.
It’s a legislative discussion, but one that should be kept until after the budget is passed.
The Pilot is right, and kudos to them for helping bridge the divide.
