Virginia may direct excess funds towards retirement, health, education

Anyone who crossed Virginia off their list of potential moving destinations due to cuts in public spending may want to reconsider. The state now has extra funds in its budget as a result of conservative spending in previous years, and may redirect the money to the very education, health and retirement programs it cut, according to the Washington Post.

The state legislature announced that it had overestimated Virginia's expense prediction, and $489 million dollars in new revenues had been freed up.

From the $100 million reserved for public education, some will be used to reserve spots for in-state students at Virginia's top universities. As for retirement, the house has recommended requiring employees in the state to make a 5 percent contribution to their retirement funds, which they would offset with a 5 percent salary increase. However, the senate wants to provide the salary increase without requiring fund contributions. An additional $105 million is expected to go towards Medicaid.

Depending on the outcome of how the legislature decides to use the money, the proposed improvements could make the state more attractive to homebuyers.
 

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