RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia lawmakers are working against the clock as the 2026 General Assembly session is scheduled to wrap up Saturday. But whether lawmakers will reach an agreement on the two-year state budget in time for that to happen is not a sure thing.
"I'm hopeful that we'll have a budget," said House Appropriations Chair and budget negotiator Del. Luke Torian (D-Prince William). "I'm hopeful."
"It is looking more and more like we will not be leaving here on time on Saturday because of the disagreements in the budget," said Minority Leader Sen. Ryan McDougle (R-Hanover).
"The budget conversation is going a little bit slow right now," said Senate Finance Chair and budget negotiator Sen. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth). "But guess what, we're going to get there."
Both the Virginia House and Senate passed competing versions of the budget earlier in the session and now must agree on a unified version before sending it to Gov. Abigail Spanberger.
Torian said while budget negotiators had a joint breakfast with Spanberger last week, they did not discuss differences between the proposals and have not had a meeting since.
"Right now I'm just waiting for Madam President [Lucas] to request a time to meet, and as soon as she requests a time to meet, then we'll have a conversation," Torian said.
McDougle said the gap between the two proposals is significant.
"The Senate budget spends about $3 billion more money than the House budget. That has to be reconciled before we come up with an agreement," McDougle said.
Torian said the central dispute is the Senate's proposal to eliminate a sales tax and use exemption for data centers — a break the Senate says costs billions and could be redirected to fund other priorities.
Opponents of eliminating the exemption have warned it could drive the data center industry away from Virginia.
When asked about the issue, Spanberger said the local revenue data centers provide is important.
"So, there are many more conversations to be had," Spanberger said in February.
Lucas posted on social media Monday night saying "The Governor + House are worried about tax breaks to big corporations" and asked which priorities, such as teacher raises or childcare slots, should be dropped to keep the tax exemption.
"My personal relationship with her is wonderful. We have a great relationship. We just have a difference of opinion on some budgetary matters and that's it," said Torian."I think at some point in time, we will come together and come to an agreement, a mutual agreement that all parties can live with."
Lucas posted another message Tuesday afternoon in response to Torian's comments about not meeting.
"I beg to differ with anyone who says that it’s on me to meet to discuss this budget because I delivered a budget that makes life affordable by ending a tax giveaway to big tech. The Governor and Chairman Torian have drawn a red line!" wrote Lucas.
If lawmakers do not reach a budget agreement by Saturday, procedural options exist that would allow them to return at a later date.
The only hard deadline they face is July 1 — the start of the next fiscal year.
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