Sunday night, state lawmakers were at work in Richmond getting down to business on Virginia's $85 billion budget.
On Sunday, the House and Senate unveiled their amendments to Governor Bob McDonnell's proposed spending plan. Budget amendments from the Senate Finance Committee show Republicans made concessions.
Those concessions included, $165 million more for public education, restoring Medicaid funding the governor proposed to cut, and the plan to pay for road projects with sales tax revenue - gone at the request of Democrats.
"We've reached out in every way that we know how," said state Senator Walter Stosch, a Republican from the 12th District.
But even still, all six committee Democrats voted against it. Senate Minority Leader Dick Saslaw couldn't tell NBC29 why.
"There's a whole lot of things that go into the budgetary process and the structure of what we have on the Senate Finance Committee. It's not just the budget. It's what gets out of committee. It's a whole lot of stuff," he said.
Over in the House, amendments keep the plan to fund roads with sales tax money, while adding $135 million to K-12 education passed unanimously. That kind of agreement is nowhere to be found in the Senate. It's split evenly between the parties and the budget is one area where Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling can't break a tie vote.
After Republicans organized as a de facto majority this year, Finance Committee Chair Walter Stosch says Democrats are getting even. "I'm disappointed that the budget issue is being used for some other purpose," said Stosch.
Apparent payback for what Democrats see as Republican overreach. The Senate is expected to vote on their budget plan Thursday. If all 20 Democrats vote against the bill, it could stall the entire budget process.
