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Gov. Terry McAuliffe proposed Thursday to use projected savings from expanding Virginia’s Medicaid program to pay for corporate and individual tax relief, as well as a handful of other spending initiatives. McAuliffe presented a two-year, $109 billion budget to the General Assembly’s Republican-controlled money committees that includes almost $157 million in projected savings from using federal funds under the Affordable Care Act to provide health coverage for hundreds of thousands of uninsured Virginians, which he called “necessary and inevitable.” (Martz, 12/17)

Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced a two-year budget proposal Thursday that calls for expanding Medicaid, defying a Republican-dominated General Assembly that has vowed to strip that out for a third consecutive year. The spending plan totals $109 billion, and includes $3 billion for the federal health insurance program. It also calls for a new tax on hospitals to help bankroll Medicaid expansion, but would slightly cut personal and corporate taxes. (Portnoy and Vozzella, 12/17)