General Assembly to leave Richmond without budget, negotiators say they’re working on it

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Virginia lawmakers are set to leave Richmond without finalizing a state budget for the two fiscal years that begin on July 1. 

On Friday, March 13, key budget negotiators admitted they wouldn’t have a budget done by the time the regular General Assembly Session ends on Saturday. 

“It’s in process,” House Appropriations Committee Chair Luke Torian (D-Prince William) said Friday when asked about the budget process. 

The impasse had been over whether the budget should eliminate a sales tax exemption that data centers currently receive on certain equipment and software they purchase. 

The House-passed budget would keep the exemption, which has led to a tax break of $3.2 billion for data centers over the last two fiscal years, with Torain saying Virginia made a commitment to businesses. 

However, the Senate-passed budget would eliminate the exemption, with Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee Chair Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) previously saying data centers should pay their fair share, and the money should go back to Virginians. 

“We’re moving forward with the appropriate conversations to talk about the similarities that we have in our budget, and then also have the appropriate conversations about some of the differences that are apparent, and how we can come to a happy medium on those differences,” Torian said on Friday. 

However, late Friday, Torian and Lucas met with reporters, saying the exemption isn’t necessarily the issue anymore. They said it’s about whether the state is seeing more revenue from data centers and data centers paying their fair share. 

“I don’t think that the exemption is the question; I think the question is that Madam President [Lucas] wants to see more revenue coming from the data centers, that’s the question,” Torian said.

“I’m not sure what the mechanism is gonna be as long as we’re able to get that money from the data centers, and I’ve had several conversations with them over the last few days, and we’ve been making a lot of progress in terms of how we get there. And so what I just wanna make sure that, you all know my position is, I’m very firm on it, is that they just pay their fair share of the taxes, ” Lucas said.

When 8News tried to ask Lucas if she would agree to a budget if the data center sales tax exemption wasn’t eliminated, provided there is another mechanism ensuring data centers pay their fair share, as Lucas previously mentioned, Torian interrupted and said, “The question is about paying their fair share and the revenue. How they get there, that industry will work it out themselves, that’s the answer we wanna give you.”

Answering another follow-up about what lawmakers consider data centers fair share, Torian said, “Fair share is going to be the number that they come back with to us that we feel comfortable agreeing with."

Once lawmakers do reach an agreement, they’ll have to pass a budget in a special session before July 1.