Virginia General Assembly reaches halfway point

Tuesday is known as crossover day at the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond.

It's viewed as the halfway point for the General Assembly. It's a deadline for the House and Senate to vote on all their bills. That means that on Wednesday, the House will be considering bills which passed the Senate, and the Senate will be considering bills that passed the House. That's how it works for everything except for revenue and budget bills.

Delegate Steve Landes, who represents the 25th House District, which includes parts of the Valley, said the most important item in the second half of the year is the budget.

The budget was first introduced by the governor and now members of both the House and Senate are working on amending their budget. They will both report their own versions of the budget on Sunday and vote on it on next Thursday.

The budget the governor proposed is $109 billion, which is the first time it has ever been that large for two straight years. Landes hopes to reduce spending.

"I think there are ways to reduce some of the spending the governor has included and maybe put these for other priorities for me save some of these resources. Economy's very sluggish so we don't want to get too far out ahead," explained Landes.