Governor Glenn Youngkin signed the first budget of his term today, June 21, 2022, drawing to a close an unusually long budget process for Virginia just 9 days before the end of the fiscal year.

The good news: $93 million for multi-use trails made it into Virginia’s budget for the first time ever – representing almost 8x the previous year’s general fund commitment of $10 million and finding some new federal funds.

In most years, the legislature finalizes its budget negotiations by the end of its regular session in March, and the Governor can begin his or her work on it immediately. This leads to a spring and early summer with advanced knowledge of what is funded in the next fiscal year beginning in July. This year, the General Assembly adjourned in March without reaching a budget compromise, and their conference budget was not approved until June 1, two-and-a-half months later.

A recap of trails funding this session:

  • In December, outgoing Governor Ralph Northam dedicated in his final budget an unprecedented and historic investment in outdoor recreation – it included $233 million for Multi-Use Trails and named some of the more significant projects that would be eligible, but not entirely exclusively: the Eastern Shore Trail, the Shenandoah Valley Rail Trail, and the Fall Line in Central Virginia. The total funding proposal was designed to be able to complete all three of these trails, combining to approximately 135 miles of new paved trail in three different corners of the state.
  • During the session, the House and Senate appropriations committees made significant adjustments to Northam’s proposal. The House approved its version of the budget with $57 million for multi-use trails, and it chose to earmark every dollar to specific trails to the Shenandoah Valley Rail Trail, Fall Line, and the Craig Valley Railbed Trail. The Senate version was markedly different. It committed $50 million to trails and to establish an Office of Trails. Instead of earmarking the funds to specific trails, the Office of Trails staff would review and coordinate trail development by competitive application. The Senate also committed $40 million of new Transportation Alternatives Program funding to multi-use trails, bringing the total to $90 million – less the cost to establish the Office of Trails. This is where we all landed when session ended in March, anticipating a final trails number somewhere between $57-90 million, perhaps with earmarks or perhaps with an Office of Trails.
  • The budget conference shared very little information between March and May 28 about what changes were being made in their effort to compromise and conform the two budgets. The coalition of trail supporters including Virginia Trails Alliance, Virginia Bicycling Federation, East Coast Greenway Alliance, Rails to Trails Conservancy, Sports Backers, Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition, Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge, Friends of the Eastern Shore Trail, Virginia League of Conservation Voters, Our Virginia Outdoors, and more partners in the Virginia Conservation Network worked hard to keep the issue alive in legislative discussions and outreach to decision-makers. On one hand, we feared that the prioritization for trails funding would lose some steam and get pulled to other issues, and on the other, we worried that spotlighting the trail funding too much would have the same effect.

On May 28, the budget compromise draft went public, and across the two budget bills, HB 29 (the caboose) and HB 30 (the biennium), we found $93 million were included for multi-use trails! Side-note: $14 million of which coming from new federal Transportation Alternatives Program funds. The General Assembly approved that budget on June 1, and the Governor issued no line item vetoes nor amendments to that line item, avoiding any additional decisions by the legislature on that funding.

It is safe to say that the legislature and Governor Youngkin (who issued a Bike Month proclamation in May) heard Virginians’ call for more trails. For healthy lifestyles, for active transportation, for economic development, for increased access to outdoor recreation, and to maintain Virginia’s place as a national leader for bicycling.

See – 3,500 Virginians for Trails

Now is a great time to send a note to your Senator and/or Delegate for their support, whether it was active or as a compromise. And the following list is of some of the leaders in the budget negotiations process that made this possible:

  • Senator Emmett Hanger (R-24, Augusta) – budget conferee and initially supportive of Northam’s proposed budget. He is also co-chair of the Outdoor Recreation Caucus.
  • Delegate Barry Knight (R-81, Virginia Beach) – chair of House Appropriations and lead budget conferee.
  • Senator Janet Howell (D-32, Reston) – chair of Senate Appropriations and lead budget conferee.
  • Delegate Terry Austin (R-19, Buchanan) – chair of House Transportation and vice-chair of House Appropriations. Very active in trail negotiations.
  • Delegate David Bulova (D-37, Fairfax) – co-chair of Outdoor Recreation Caucus
  • Senator David Marsden (D-37, Fairfax) – chair of Senate Transportation
  • Senator George Barker (D-39, Fairfax) – chair of Transportation subcommittee of Appropriations

A walking tour of the Fall Line in Ashland – October 2021. Photo: Sports Backers

Special thanks also go to Clark Mercer, former Governor Ralph Northam’s Chief of Staff, whose leadership on this trail funding was foundational. We also want to thank Jason Powell in Senate Finance for thoughtful contributions and gracious explanations.

On a short personal note: I also want to thank several lobbyists and government relations directors with individual interest in trail development for sharing their wisdom and experience navigating this tricky budget cycle. For what it’s worth, sometimes you all said different things!

There is more to come, including the development of the Office of Trails and establishing the process for applying for these funds. But it is with great pleasure to announce this progress, made possible because of members like you, and our awesome team of partner organizations for sharing the trail love with our General Assembly and administration.

Brantley Tyndall
President
Virginia Bicycling Federation

Co-written with Cat Anthony, President, Virginia Trails Alliance