"The 2008 General Assembly budget session that adjourned Thursday night left unfinished three major items of business - transportation funding, a huge college and university bond package and the election of more than 30 judges.

Lawmakers gave themselves another chance to tackle each unfinished item on April 23, when the legislature returns to handle Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s amendments to bills and vetoes.

Legislators in both parties remain optimistic that a university bond package will win approval then but are somewhat less hopeful that judicial selections and transportation funding can be resolved.

“The bond package is big,” said Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath County, on Friday. “I think they are pretty close” in compromising between the larger Senate list of construction projects for colleges, mental health facilities and parks and the smaller House list.

“They are just arguing about what projects are included,” Deeds said, but both chambers have similar lists and the final question is how much is borrowed.

“That should be the easiest” of the major pieces of unfinished business to solve, said Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle County.

“They just didn’t get to them because they were working on the budget” through five days of overtime, agreed Del. David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville. “I know the bonds will be fairly easy to resolve.”

The University of Virginia fares well in both the Senate and House bond packages, as do community colleges, including Piedmont Virginia Community College, UVa and community college spokespeople said.

UVa’s two largest projects in the bond packages are $77.6 million for renovation of Cabell Hall, the university’s largest classroom building, as part of the College of Arts & Sciences South Lawn Project, and $37.9 million for construction of an information technology engineering building for the School of Engineering & Applied Science.

Judgeship election snags and transportation funding will be harder to resolve.

A stalemate over the appointment of judges continued Thursday night and held up the possible elections of as many as 30 or more judges by the legislature. A handful of disputed judgeships and clashes between some legislators over a few appointments created a roadblock that may or may not be broken by April 23.

One of the seemingly resolved judicial selections being held up is the election of Madison County lawyer Jack Berry, who had been selected by lawmakers in both the House and Senate for a circuit court judgeship open in the rural counties of the 16th Circuit. If judges are not elected by the legislature by April 23, Kaine, a Richmond Democrat, could fill some of the positions on a temporary basis for up to one year.

“It’s not clear to me the judges will be resolved,” Toscano said.

“I remain hopeful on the judges,” Bell said.

Deeds said some House Republicans just have not learned yet how to talk with the Democrats in a Senate majority about judgeships.

“The rule of 21 has always been the Senate procedure,” Deeds said, referring to the Senate majority party’s clout in picking judges no matter which party controls the Senate.

Transportation funding remains unresolved as legislators contemplate a special session to deal with it in five weeks.

A unanimous Virginia Supreme Court opinion Feb. 29 struck down $600 million worth of regional transportation funding for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads because it illegally extended taxing powers to unelected regional authorities.

“We are in crisis, there’s no other way around it,” Deeds said of inadequate transportation funding in light of that ruling and other factors.

“There’s a $450 million deficit statewide in the maintenance funds” for transportation on top of the missing regional money and the lack of assumed revenue from now-repealed abusive driver fees, Deeds said.

“Now the question is whether there is political will to come up with a real plan,” he said. “I think it’s very difficult in the environment we are in now.”

Toscano sounded the same tone, given House Republican opposition to any tax increase.

“On transportation, I am not optimistic we will resolve anything,” Toscano said. “I am not convinced people will reach a deal.”

Bell was cautious about any transportation deal.

“I don’t want to be too optimistic or too pessimistic,” he said. “I think they will take up bills right after the veto session.”

Deeds said the General Assembly has learned how not to finish its business on time.

“It used to be with pride we’d finish up on time,” he said. “We used to always take pride in finishing our business on time, and now we don’t.”" (Bob Gibson, The Daily Progress, March 15, 2008)