House delegates in Richmond have proposed budget cuts for fiscal 2011 and 2012 that would close Prince William's cooperative extension office, but legislative watchers say not to worry.
"Don't get too nervous about it," said Corey Stewart, chairman of the Board of County Supervisors, during Tuesday's meeting at McCoart Administration Building. "These things almost never end up the way they are proposed. It's too early to know whether we are going to lose funding."
Agreeing was Dana Fenton, director of legislative affairs for the county.
"I've heard from a lot of people, I've seen a lot of mail go back and forth, and I think a lot of people were surprised by that," he said, of the proposed $329,664 cut to the cooperative extension for fiscal 2011 and again for fiscal 2012 that's in the House budget plan, H.B. 30.
"But right now, you'll see both chambers [changing] and we'll get a better handle over the next couple days" whether that cut will remain, he continued. "It's a very fluid situation."
Other budget issues that are undecided but affect Prince William: The Senate plan includes $3.5 million for the Northern Virginia Community College Workforce Development Center -- a good thing, Fenton said. But it also cuts $1.8 million in fiscal 2011 and another $1.8 million in fiscal 2012 from the Northern Virginia Regional Commission. And that's "all its funding," Fenton said.
The House version, meanwhile, cuts $250,806 from public health funding for fiscal 2011.
The House and Senate are in agreement on several budget items, however. Both proposals restore car tax relief; go forward with the Local Composite Index changes that benefit Prince William; and reduce K-12 education funding.
Neither House or Senate version address transportation funding, Fenton said.
Staff writer Cheryl Chumley can be reached at 703-670-1907.
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