RICHMOND — State Senate budget writers on Sunday proposed slashing $500,000 from Attorney General Mark R. Herring's budget, a move prompted by news that he used a workaround to turn seized assets into big raises for some staffers.
A spokesman for Herring (D) did not respond to a request for comment. Republicans have been at odds with the attorney general, who is running for re-election, over his support for gay marriage, gun control and abortion rights.
The U.S. Justice Department generally prohibits using seized assets for raises, but it also instructed Herring’s office on how it could work around those rules, the Associated Press recently reported.
Herring’s office used funds forfeited under a state-federal settlement with Abbott Laboratories for the agency’s rent, vehicle maintenance and operational costs, then used the savings to bankroll raises for some staff attorneys, the AP reported. Salaries went up by as much as $15,000.
The raises drew sharp criticism in Richmond at a time when the state is facing a $1.2 billion shortfall and state employees have gone without raises a number of years.
The Senate Finance Committee proposed the cut as part of a larger spending plan it rolled out Sunday. The House Appropriations Committee also unveiled its plan. It did not make a similar cut from Herring’s office, but it contains language requiring Herring to provide information on who received raises and why.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) and the Republican-controlled legislature hammered out a two-year, $105 billion budget last year. This year, they must make adjustments to cover a shortfall created by lower-than-expected tax revenue.
McAuliffe offered his plan in December. On Sunday, the House and Senate money committees unveiled their own proposals, offered in the form of amendments to the governor’s budget bill. Over the next few days, the House, Senate and governor’s office will pore over one another’s plans to figure out where they line up and diverge, then go about the business of fighting for their priorities.
Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee, although outnumbered on that panel, said they were generally pleased with the outcome. Sitting in the audience, Del. Marcus Simon (D-Fairfax) was disappointed with a lack of money for land acquisition and a $6 million cut to funding for long-acting, reversible contraception coverage for low-income families.
“There’s some themes that remind us the Republicans are still in charge,” he said.
Both the House and Senate plans include 3 percent raises for state employees and even heftier pay increases for state troopers, who have been leaving the agency at a high rate as salaries have lagged those of other law-enforcement agencies.
McAuliffe’s plan provides a one-time, 1.5 percent bonus to state employees, including teachers. The House and Senate plans do not include bonuses for teachers, but they provide more money to local school districts with no strings attached, which they could use for raises or other needs.
The House plan also includes $9 million for rural schools that have suffered from enrollment declines. The “10-10-10” plan would provide additional funds to districts that have fewer than 10,000 students and have had enrollment shrink by 10 percent or more over the past 10 years. The Senate includes about $6 million for shrinking school districts.
The House and Senate plans include language that would prohibit the governor from expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act without the consent of the General Assembly. McAuliffe, who made expansion a central promise of his 2013 campaign, seeks that authority in his plan.
“The steps we proposed will secure the future of state employees, provide local education leaders with much-needed flexibility, hold down the cost of higher education and strengthen our health-care safety net,” said Del. S. Chris Jones (R-Suffolk), appropriations chairman.
In a statement, McAuliffe praised the House and Senate for proposed spending in mental health and to address the opioid crisis. But he criticized the plans for not earmarking money for teacher raises. And he took a shot at $10 million in both budgets for a commemoration being planned for Jamestown and Yorktown in 2019. The project is a favorite of Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment (R-James City), who is co-chairman of the Finance Committee.
“Honoring our history is important, but I am confident that the board can accomplish that mission for the $5 million in the budget I proposed in December,” McAuliffe said. “And, I am certain that money could be better spent restoring the House’s elimination of funding for mental health screenings in jails, or both chambers’ elimination of worker safety inspector positions and funding to create clean energy jobs.”
