Virginia state budget (2011-2012)

Note: This article was last updated in 2012. Click here for more recent information on state budgets and finances.

The state finished FY 2012 with a surplus of $448.5 million.

In August 2011, Governor Bob McDonnell announced that the state ended FY 2011 with a surplus of $544.8 million. Virginia law calls for most of the money to be put into the state’s rainy day fund and spent on K-12 education, transportation, and Chesapeake Bay cleanup.

Budget Amendments for FY 2012

When the Virginia General Assembly reconvened in January 2011, they made changes to the state's two-year budget. The governor signed the resulting adjusted on May 25, 2012. The adjusted budget completed the transfer of $67.2 million from FY 2011's budget surplus to transportation, added $5.8 million for per diem payments to local and regional jails and restored $10 million that had been cut from state college budgets.

Overall, the governor proposed cutting $2 million in FY 2012 and $2 million in FY 2013. His amendments to the budget are outlined in this document from the Governor's office.

Some of the cuts and savings included:

• $92 million in savings in K-12 education
• $5.4 million in savings at the Lottery
• $5 million in cuts for programs to help at-risk youth and families through the Comprehensives Services Act
• $32,000 for the State Fair
• $420,000 by eliminating four vacant positions in the Department of Forestry
• $1.4 million by continuing agency-wide restrictions in the Department of Health on discretionary spending, travel and hiring
• $1 million in administrative savings at the Department of Social Services
• Ending state taxpayer funding of public broadcasting in Virginia.

The governor's proposed spending included $150 million on roads and bridges, $54 million for economic development, and $58 million in colleges and universities. McDonnell also wanted to spend approximately $30 million for behavioral health and developmental services and $39 million for the environment, including nearly $33 million to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.

The governor also increased the state's revenue forecast by $283 million -- $134 million in FY 2011 and $149 million in FY 2012. His proposal also included $1 million to promote OpSail 2012, a tourist event that brought tall sailing ships to ports to commemorate the War of 1812, a $500,000 grant to help fund a new headquarters for Operation Smile and another $500,000 for Virginia's food banks.

Original FY 2011-12 State Budget

A two-year budget for FY 2011 and 2012 was drafted when the General Assembly convened January 13, 2010 and was adopted that spring. Gov. McDonnell proposed 14 amendments to the bill for FY 2011 and 96 amendments to the FY 2012 budget. The Republican-controlled House of Delegates rejected nine amendments and the Democrat-controlled Senate rejected an additional six of the governor's proposals.

In addition to some technical and language changes, McDonnell's successful amendments to the FY 2011 and 2012 budget included:

• Adding $6 million to the Governor's Development Opportunity Fund, for a total of $36.8 million available for business incentives.
• Restoring $528,313 in funds for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.
• Anticipating an additional $3.6 million in funding from increased speeding ticket fines.
• Allowing for an additional $1.8 million reduction in support for local social service departments.

The General Assembly rejected a 33 percent reduction in public television and radio funding in 2012. The stations continued to receive a 15 percent funding reduction, as approved in the legislature's originally passed budget.