Post by Logan on Mar 12, 2016 0:29:04 GMT -6
$2.1 billion bond bill ties new capital spending to completing Capitol Square project
A $2.1 billion bond agreement adopted Friday would tie new capital spending to state contracts for a major Capitol Square overhaul, including the replacement of the General Assembly Building, which Gov. Terry McAuliffe has said he won’t allow to be built until the legislature expands health care coverage for uninsured Virginians.
The bond bill approved on a 38-1 vote by the Senate and a 91-3 vote by the House of Delegates would prohibit the release of money raised by new bonds for projects backed by McAuliffe — including a new state park in Stafford County, expansion of Western State Hospital in Staunton, and construction of a parking deck at the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond — until the state signs construction contracts for projects authorized in a special session of the General Assembly in 2014.
“In essence, if we do not proceed with what we enacted two years ago, none of the projects ... can proceed,” House Appropriations Chairman S. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, told the House.
During that special session, the governor and leaders of the assembly money committees shook hands on a $300 million Capitol Square overhaul that McAuliffe had suspended in a bitter budget standoff over his unsuccessful attempt to expand health coverage with billions of dollars in federal funds under the Affordable Care Act.
Read more: www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/general-assembly/article_9b7a2130-11ed-541b-92b0-13f014a21956.html
A $2.1 billion bond agreement adopted Friday would tie new capital spending to state contracts for a major Capitol Square overhaul, including the replacement of the General Assembly Building, which Gov. Terry McAuliffe has said he won’t allow to be built until the legislature expands health care coverage for uninsured Virginians.
The bond bill approved on a 38-1 vote by the Senate and a 91-3 vote by the House of Delegates would prohibit the release of money raised by new bonds for projects backed by McAuliffe — including a new state park in Stafford County, expansion of Western State Hospital in Staunton, and construction of a parking deck at the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond — until the state signs construction contracts for projects authorized in a special session of the General Assembly in 2014.
“In essence, if we do not proceed with what we enacted two years ago, none of the projects ... can proceed,” House Appropriations Chairman S. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, told the House.
During that special session, the governor and leaders of the assembly money committees shook hands on a $300 million Capitol Square overhaul that McAuliffe had suspended in a bitter budget standoff over his unsuccessful attempt to expand health coverage with billions of dollars in federal funds under the Affordable Care Act.
Read more: www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/general-assembly/article_9b7a2130-11ed-541b-92b0-13f014a21956.html