Senate committee chair sets five-week budget timetable, stresses limited tax credits and Medicaid review
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Summary
The committee chair opened the first committee meeting of the 2026 session, set a roughly five-week target to report the budget, urged restraint on new tax credits, and said the HHR subcommittee will review a Medicaid forecast that requires over $3.2 billion in additional funding over three years.
Madam Chair opened the committee's first meeting of the 2026 session and asked members to work toward adopting a budget "that all committee members can support," noting "there are approximately 5 weeks before we report the budget." She directed subcommittees to meet this week, urged members to develop comprehensive knowledge of matters before them, and told subcommittee chairs to coordinate closely with staff to identify needed research and guidance.
Explaining how legislation will be managed, the chair said bills would be assigned to subcommittees "where public hearings beyond the capacity of the full committee are appropriate, where bills are complicated, and the perspective of a subject area subcommittee will facilitate further understanding." She added that bills affecting revenues should be reflected cumulatively against the introduced budget and referenced considering "Woodrum impact" in those circumstances.
On committee procedure, the chair said last-minute substitutes "where analysis has not been conducted will be heard at the following meeting," warned that repeatedly asking for a bill to be re-taken could result in the item being struck from the docket, and asked members to use clause additions sparingly because they can postpone difficult funding decisions.
On policy priorities, the chair emphasized affordability and education investments, saying the budget should "provide relief to working families and individuals and invest in their education and well-being while maintaining the Commonwealth's long term fiscal health." She identified the HHR subcommittee as the group that will review Medicaid, crisis services and other health-care budget drivers. "I must report that the Medicaid forecast alone requires over $3,200,000,000 in additional funding over the 3 fiscal years," she said, and noted that the introduced budget contains long-term savings strategies that will be reviewed by HHR staff.
The chair also criticized the governor's introduced proposal on SNAP, saying it "fails to reflect any state match for SNAP benefits," characterizing that as an additional federal burden on the state. She closed by asking Natalie Tyler to present the resources subcommittee report and thanked members for their work.
The committee was adjourned after subcommittee reports and administrative announcements.
