FAIRFAX, Va. — Virginia lawmakers were able to pass their budget on Saturday, and surprisingly, it doesn't include any funding for the proposed arena.
Two of the biggest things included in the two year budget included funding for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and teacher raises.
"I do think this budget is a step in the right direction,” Fairfax County Federation of Teachers President, David Walrod said. “It's certainly not a perfect budget, it's certainly not everything I'd like to see but I do think that it shows some of the things that we really need in schools."
An additional $2.5 billion dollars would go toward education to increase salaries for teachers and support positions, as well as put extra funding towards schools with large low-income and disadvantaged populations.
"As a local president trying to figure out what this is specially going to mean for Fairfax County,” Walrod said. "I hope that future General Assembly sees this as a starting point not an ending point."
The General Assembly wants to spend an extra $149.5 million over the next two years to help fund WMATA. In February, we told you about Metro transit leaders asking for additional funding to help fill their gap. D.C. and Maryland had already made commitments to help fund the $750 million budget deficit.
In a tweet on X, formerly known as Twitter, Senator Louise Lucas said she made the decision to put their extra funding into the budget and they will be monitoring this situation closely on behalf of all taxpayers in Virginia.
The big talker is the newly proposed arena in Virginia. Just three months after announcing proposals to build a $2 billion complex for the Washington wizards and Caps in Alexandria legislators negotiating the budget excluded the sports arena leaving the monumental move in question.
“The Senate refused to give the single largest development deal any serious or meaningful consideration,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin said.
Legislators negotiating the Commonwealth’s budget in Richmond made it known that the sports arena bill would not be included in the budget, just two days before the legislative session concluded.
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“Everyone wants to make the arena the story that is not the story for this budget,” Del. Luke Torian said. “The story for the budget is we're getting it out on time to address the critical needs of the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
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