House, Senate pass Virginia's two-year spending plan

House, Senate pass Virginia's two-year spending plan: "The General Assembly passed a two-year $82 billion state spending plan tonight that includes deep cuts to education, health care and public safety as legislators struggled to offset a $4 billion budget shortfall. 'I cannot recall a budget that was a tough as this one,' Finance Committee Chairman Charles J. Colgan (D-Prince William) told his colleagues, noting he's been a conferee for 19 years. The Senate passed the budget 34-6; the House passed it 73-23. Lawmakers have been dealing the worst economic downturn in decades. 'Despite the fiscal challenges we faced, the House and Senate conferees started the conference committee with a shared commitment to approving a state budget that does not contain a tax increase,'' House Appropriations Chairman Lacey Putney (I-Bedford) said. Funding for schools will drop $646 million over the next two years; the state will also cut more than $1 billion from health programs. Class sizes will"