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HOUSE WEEK IN REVIEW
January 19, 2018

The House of Representatives postponed most of the week’s legislative work due to the inclement weather experienced in portions of the state. Tuesday I joined others on the House Utility Rate Payer Protection Committee and heard testimony from Dominion Energy CEO, Thomas Farrell.

The Senate took up the Governor’s vetoes on H.3720, the General Appropriation Bill for the Fiscal Year 2017-2018 STATE GOVERNMENT BUDGET, that the House of Representatives previously voted to override. In addressing vetoes, legislators had to contend with a revenue shortfall that has left the state with approximately $34 million less in non-recurring spending than the estimates from the Board of Economic Advisers that were used in approving the budget. The Senate voted to sustain some of the Governor’s vetoes and voted to override vetoes on other items, including Education Lottery Funds devoted to leasing and purchasing new school buses in the amounts of $17.5 million from the Lottery Expenditure Account and $3 million in unclaimed prize money along with whatever balance may remain in the unclaimed prize fund. The overriding of a budget veto by both the House and Senate allows for the funds to be appropriated.

There was no session for either body Wednesday or Thursday. Several members, like many around the state, tested positive for the flu (me included)