L
EGACY Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.
WEDNESDAYS • June 23, 2021
INSIDE & ONLINE Op-Ed: Do you need Social Security?- 3 A radio legend & music appreciation - 4 NN & Choice Neighborhoods Initiative
Richmond & Hampton Roads
LEGACYNEWSPAPER.COM • FREE
Defying early expectations, Virginia is coming out of the pandemic flush with cash GRAHAM MOOMAW
VM - Fourteen months ago, Virginia policymakers dramatically curtailed their ambitions for the state budget, expecting the COVID-19 pandemic to bring havoc to the economy and, by extension, the tax dollars that fund the government. As the world moves closer to normal, Virginia is flush with cash, with officials expecting a budget surplus that could exceed $1 billion dollars for the fiscal year that ends June 30. On top of that, the state is expected to get $4.3 billion in federal relief funds. Instead of looking for things to cut, the main item on the fiscal agenda this summer is figuring out what to do with all that money. In a presentation to state senators last week, outgoing Virginia Finance Secretary Aubrey Layne said the state’s finances may be in better shape now than they were before the pandemic hit. “All parts of our revenues that are generated by economic activity within the commonwealth are running well ahead of their projections,” Layne said. More than 11,300 Virginians have died from COVID-19, and an estimated 150,000 lost jobs they have not returned to. Almost half of the state’s population has now been fully vaccinated, but the debate is just getting started over how Virginia should spend its windfall to exit the crisis as best it can.
The hit to the budget was minimized, Layne said in an interview, because most of the jobs lost in the pandemic were on the lower end of the wage scale. Those losses were offset by big employers like the federal government and tech companies adding higherpaying jobs that create more tax revenue. But the key factor, Layne said, was the roughly $78 billion in federal stimulus and relief funds that has flowed into Virginia’s economy through initiatives like the CARES Act and Paycheck Protection Program. “This is the first downturn in modern history where personal spending and personal incomes went up,” Layne said. The billions in federal aid coming to Virginia from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan will be the main topic of a special General Assembly session in early August. With much of the state’s own budget surplus already spoken for under state law, the session will focus largely on what priorities should get top billing with the unallocated federal dollars. Democratic leaders are still discussing details of how to proceed, but they released a joint set of priorities last month offering a broad look at their to-do list. Those include upgrading public health services, assistance to people struggling to afford housing and utility bills, shoring up the state’s beleaguered unemployment system and replenishing the
Va. Finance Secretary Aubrey Layne (left) with Gov. Ralph Northam Unemployment Trust Fund, helping small businesses, modernizing public schools and expanding broadband internet access to more Virginians. “This is a unique opportunity to invest in Virginia’s long-term future,” Gov. Ralph Northam and
Democratic General Assembly leaders said in a joint statement last month. One group hoping to be near the front of the line is the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging & Travel
(continued on page 2)