Skip to main content

Va. Senate could be set to end Medicaid, budget standoff

WASHINGTON — Virginia could move much closer to resolving its months-long budget standoff on Tuesday.

Related Stories

The commonwealth’s Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to meet in the early afternoon, and the full Senate is scheduled to meet later to take up a budget that is expected to include Medicaid expansion.

The expansion to cover more than 300,000 low-income Virginians is permitted under the Affordable Care Act, with a promise from the federal government to pay at least 90 percent of the costs.

For years, Republicans in Virginia’s General Assembly resisted the expansion as part of “Obamacare,” citing cost concerns.

This winter, after only narrowly maintaining in November what had been a large majority, Republican leaders in the House of Delegates joined Democrats to support expansion.

All 19 Senate Democrats are expected to be joined by two to four Senate Republicans to support a budget with Medicaid expansion and related budget boosts.

Depending on exactly what the Senate passes late Tuesday or early Wednesday, the House of Delegates could either give final passage Wednesday afternoon or take the procedural steps required to set up a conference committee to work out any details.

Senate Finance Committee Co-Chair Emmett Hanger and fellow Republican House Appropriations Chairman Chris Jones have reached a budget deal that they unveiled last week.

Republicans in the Senate who continue to oppose Medicaid expansion prevented any action in the Senate last week.

The House passed a budget as part of this special session more than a month ago.

The two sides could not reach an agreement on the budget during the regular session that ended March 10.

Without a signed budget deal, the state government would shut down July 1.

Trump announces a $22.5B makeover of Dulles airport that will eliminate the ‘people movers’

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a $22.5 billion renovation of Washington Dulles International Airport that will end the use of the widely disliked “people movers,” the mobile lounges that have been used for decades to shuttle travelers to and from the main terminal. In place of the people movers, the airport will add a new U-shaped passenger train, a central walking tunnel, more moving walkways and new concourses. An above-ground parking garage closer to the main terminal with space for 32,000 vehicles is also in the offing, according to Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The airport makeover would add to a long list of renovation projects the Republican president is pursuing to leave a lasting mark on the Washington region after his term ends in January 2029. Among other undertakings, he is building a new White House ballroom and wants to build a towering triumphal arch near the Lincoln Memorial. But of all the construction projects Trump is pursuing, the renovations at Dulles could prove to be his most popular and benefit the greatest number of people. The airport, the area’s primary international airport, served roughly 29 million passengers over the past year, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
Read Next Story