Welcome to my online constituent office. We hope you will find this website to be a useful one-stop portal for any needs you might have from the Virginia state government. We have included information to help you better understand how our government works.
You can also keep up with the policy-making process in the General Assembly during the weeks that I am working in Richmond by reading my blogs and Twitter updates.
As your State Delegate, I’m here to serve you so please contact me with any questions or services you need. I am particularly interested in hearing about ways to make our laws work better for all of us so please do not hesitate to send me policy ideas that I may be able to propose in Richmond. I am honored to represent you and I look forward to meeting you in person.
Thank you,
- DelegateKeam: Presented another Richmond report to civic group: Sully District Council. 35th Dist has only 1 precinct in Sully - called Vale - out of 18.
- DelegateKeam: Witnessing the investiture of new Fairfax Couny Circuit Court Judge Brett Kassabian whom we voted in this session. Congrats, Your Honor!
- DelegateKeam: At NoVA Asian American community town hall hosted by Virginia Asian American Advisory Board. I served on this Governor's board in 2001-09.
- DelegateKeam: Attending "Unlock Gridlock" forum in Tysons hosted by www.TeleworkVA.org and www.TeleworkExchange.com to find solutions for NoVA traffic.
- DelegateKeam: Providing another Richmond report to constituents; this time Providence District Council in Dunn Loring. Most active civic leaders I know.
Posts Tagged ‘Medicaid’
Delegate Keam quoted in Fairfax Times re Budget
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/cms/story.php?id=2045
Virginia ends the budget year with $400M surplus
Legislators approve about $82 million in bonuses for state employees
Virginia ended the budget year with about $400 million more than expected, Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) announced last week, reflecting the first overall revenue growth in the state since 2007.
Most of the surplus funding, which came from state agency cutbacks and higher-than-expected sales tax revenues, is spoken for, said McDonnell, who urged legislators to “not get too excited.” The state collected $228 million more in revenue than budgeted and spent $175 million less than expected, McDonnell said.
After replenishing reserves and fulfilling other approved spending, state leaders have about $71 million to spend. Any spending decisions not already included in the fiscal 2011 budget will not be made until the next General Assembly session in January.
State employees will all receive a bonus equivalent to 3 percent of their salaries on Dec. 1, costing the state about $82 million. Legislators approved the bonuses, a McDonnell initiative, contingent on surplus dollars being available.
“Our employees knew there would be a financial reward for saving taxpayer dollars and returning unspent balances to the general fund,” McDonnell said last week. “This notion of gain sharing or economic rewards for getting results is a concept widely used in the private sector, and long overdue in practice and implementation within state government operations.”
Vienna Del. Mark Keam (D-Dist. 35), a member of the House of Delegates Finance Committee, said the “surplus” is more of an accounting mechanism, not extra funding to replenish state programs that were cut earlier this year.
“It’s positive news in that we are not in a deficit … but I don’t want anybody to think that it is all sunshine and good news,” Keam said. “That money is already allocated to various obligations we already have.”
School divisions have received a bit of extra cash because of increased sales tax collections — about $19 million was distributed statewide. Other designated portions of sales taxes include $37.5 million for local governments and $28 million for the state’s transportation trust fund.
McDonnell must decide by Nov. 1 whether the discretionary $71 million should be retained in state agencies or if it should be reallocated. He will make his budget recommendations in December.
Keam said he would like to see some of that money go to restore Medicaid cuts and fund additional Medicaid-supported services for people with disabilities.
My votes on the 2010-2012 Budget
Coming into this year’s General Assembly session, we faced two serious challenges in drafting the budget.
First, we had to meet a $4.5 billion shortfall in the two-year base budget. We had to address a $1.6 billion cut that outgoing Governor Tim Kaine proposed to eliminate for reimbursing local governments with car tax relief. We also had to fill the $2.9 billion gap for when the federal stimulus funds run out for enhanced Medicaid match program.
Second, we were told in no uncertain terms by our new Governor, Bob McDonnell, that “if you pass a bill in this recession that raises taxes on the hardworking families of Virginia, I will veto it. And if you pass a budget embedded with those same tax increases, I will not approve it.”