The lineups are finally set for the budget playoffs to begin.
On Wednesday, the Senate named its seven members on the conference committee to negotiate a bridge over what Majority Leader Tommy Norment, R-James City, has described as a $600 million “chasm” between its budget proposal and the one adopted by the House of Delegates.
The Senate team will be led by Norment and Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta, who chair the Senate Finance Committee. The other members are Republican Sens. Steve Newman of Lynchburg, Frank Ruff of Mecklenburg County, and Frank Wagner of Virginia Beach, and Democratic Sens. Dick Saslaw and Janet Howell, both of Fairfax County. Only Saslaw and Howell voted for Medicaid expansion as part of the proposed House budget.
They will face six House members, named by Speaker Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, on Tuesday, who supported a budget plan that includes Medicaid expansion and a provider assessment on hospital revenues to pay the state’s share. As a result, the House plan includes almost $400 million in state general fund savings by accepting federal money under the Affordable Care Act, and the Senate budget does not.
