ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Presidents Day might be a holiday, but the Virginia General Assembly is still at work.
This week both the Senate and House of Delegates will pass their versions of the budget.
However, we are now seeing divide not along party lines, but regional lines. The biggest opposition to Northern Virginia plans comes from Hampton Roads. This week as the General Assembly hashes out a budget, Monumental plans in the balance.
On Sunday, the Virginia Senate gave a first look at its budget proposal. Several key items were missing from that budget. Most notably, any mention of a future sports arena In Alexandria.
“Everybody agrees that this is not a good deal for Virginia,” Portsmouth State Senator Louise Lucas said. “We're not going to let billionaires build their fortunes on the backs of our taxpayer dollars.”
Lucas has a sizable influence and is the chair of the Finance committee. For weeks she has led the charge against Monumental Sports’ plans to move the Wizards and Capitals to Potomac Yard.
“One thing is still missing here and that's the governor fails to consider our priorities,” Lucas said last week.
“I think we can address the needs of every part of the commonwealth,” Arlington Sen. Barbara Favola said via Zoom.
Favola said just because the Senate scrapped the Monumental plan, doesn’t mean the deal is dead.
“The arena project is still going through lots of review,” she explained. "As I understand it the bill in the House (of Delegates), on the arena project, does have a reenactment clause. That would give us time to study the project.”
The arena bill is not included in the Senate budget. However, the House of Delegates budget does have funding for the arena.
This week, both chambers will pass their budgets. It is likely that next week a conference made of both houses will the decide what goes into the full budget and what hits the cutting room floor.
“They (the committee) certainly have a lot of issues to work out,” Favola explained.
Which means, plans for an Alexandria sports arena could still happen.
Another significant piece missing from the Senate budget: Additional funding for Metro.
Senator Favola said that too will get a review after both chambers pass their budgets.
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