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1982 General
Assembly
(Continued from Page 4) shortfall of approximately $500 million over what had been projected,” he said.
The deficit in the Medicaid program alone, he said, will be from $100 million to $125 million over the two years. The highway department will also suffer a revenue shortfall over the biennium, and other programs likewise will be hard hit.
Although Mr. Brault said there is an $80 million surplus remaining from the 1980-82 budget, he added that Dalton will use $36 million to eliminate the Medicaid surplus for 198384.
Before dealing with financial issues, however, the new legislature, which will be sworn in Wednesday, may have to deal with the redistricting o? the House of Delegates, a task with which the 1981 legislature has struggled since early last year.
The 1981 assembly was expected to deal with redistricting Tuesday in an effort to reach a compromise with Gov. Dalton. If no such agreement is reached, however, the 1982 assembly’s first order of business will likely be to develop a plan that will be accepted by Mr. Robb, the federal court in Richmond, and the U.S. Justice Department.
Court Deadline
The 1981 assembly is working under a courtordered deadline of Feb. 1 to come up with a legal redistricting plan for the House. It appears that Gov. Dalton and the legislature are heading toward a plan for 100 single-member House districts. The latest House plan divides Fauquier into three districts, creates a singlemember district for Reston and splits Loudoun County into two districts. Rappahannock and Clarke counties remain intact in a district including Warren County and portions of Fauquier and Culpeper counties. As many as 2,000 bills are expected to be filed in the 1982 session, which, under the Virginia Constitution, can last no longer than 60 days. The session can be extended, however, for an additional 30 days. In the 1981 session, 1,670 bills were filed.
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