The state over, local governments have made their moves to adjust their budgets as they see fit. The big unknown now is the state budget. This state budget is a big deal b/c about half of the money the state collects goes back to localities for schools, etc. so when the state budget is under pressure, so are the localities.

This year, the Governor has proposed that the state use some $400 million out of the rainy day fund in order to somewhat plug the hole in the budget. He thinks this ok as we have about $900 million in the rainy day fund – twice what was in there when he took office (according to a speech he gave about a month ago).

The General Assembly will take up his proposal when they start their next session in a few weeks. I don’t know what they think of Kaine’s proposal but the noises I’ve heard so far promise a vigorous debate.

Personally, I would like to see school funding maintained – especially since some percentage of that money is to offset mandates handed down from on high….