Virginia’s House of Delegates voted Tuesday to pass a revised state budget that funds additional housing relief, provides an injection of cash to schools, and allocates nearly $30 million to police reform efforts after the state’s revenues plummeted because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The two-year, $134 billion budget, which next has to be approved by the Virginia Senate, includes both state and federal funding.

“We were called into Special Session with the mandate to close a $2.8 billion shortfall while tackling the economic and public health demands of the pandemic and making overdue reforms to our criminal justice system. This budget achieves that,” wrote Del. Luke Torian (D-Prince William), the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, on Twitter.

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Democratic House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn of Fairfax praised the budget for “protecting the Commonwealth’s reputation for fiscal responsibility.”

https://twitter.com/EFillerCorn/status/1311048296492924928?s=20

Republicans opposed the budget.

“House Democrats took a series of votes that make it absolutely clear that they’re on the side of criminals, not victims and law enforcement,” said House Republican Leader Del. Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) in a statement.

In policing and criminal justice, the House budget includes $28.4 million to implement automatic expungement of some criminal records; earned-sentence credits for inmates; and bringing mental health professionals into some crises responses by law enforcement.

The House budget also provides a one-time $95 million payment for public education to offset estimated losses from declining sales tax revenue, and $200 million in federal dollars for school reopening costs. It also directs $119 million in federal funding and $80 million in state funding to higher education institutions to cover COVID-related costs.

On the other hand, the House budget makes permanent a number of cuts to education that were initially made as temporary responses to the pandemic. A 2% raise for teachers, funding for at-risk students, and state funding for a tuition freeze will all be nixed if the House budget becomes law.

In housing, lawmakers voted to allocate some $254 million for emergency housing, rent and utility relief and eviction legal aid among other areas. House lawmakers stripped away about $80 million from items includingincreased permanent supportive housing and paid for affordable housing pilot programs.

The sources of the funding include federal CARES Act money, reallocated state funds, revenue from new games-of-skill machines, and anticipated state savings due to federal matching of Medicaid payments. The House budget does not put a dent into Virginia’s reserve funds; rather, it would add another $60 million into the state’s Revenue Reserve Fund.

Chris Duncombe, policy director at the Richmond-based Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, authored a comparison of the House, Senate and Gov. Ralph Northam’s (D) budget priorities. Duncombe said the House budget reflected “an assertive role” in allocating federal dollars. Previously, he said Northam’s administration had held off on allocating some $1.3 billion out of a total of $3.1 billion in federal CARES Act funding, citing the potential cost of vaccine distribution, matching unemployment insurance and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the pandemic. The House budget spends nearly all of the remaining money.

“I think it’s the House recognizing that they have a role in the allocation of this aid and we’re in the middle of significant crises and it’s not the time to sit on our hands,” Duncombe said.

The House budget is not a done deal. The state Senate advanced its own budget bill last week and is expected to approve amendments to it on Thursday. It does not hew exactly to the House’s version.

For example, the Senate’s budget includes a one-time $500 bonus payout to law enforcement personnel, while the House version provides a one-time $1,500 bonus to all state employees — including police. The House budget also partially restores funding for reduced-price school meals, which the Senate does not. The two Democratic-controlled chambers will have to reconcile their differences before a final budget is passed and sent to Northam for his signature.

Tuesday’s House vote came six weeks into a special legislative session that lawmakers have conducted almost entirely remotely. Del. Mark Keam (D-Fairfax) said he was wary that lawmakers will have scarcely finished their work before preparation for the January regular session begins.

“I think people are more relieved than anything that the end is almost near,” he said.