| "Three quarters of our general fund budget rests in education, Medicaid (which provides health and nursing home care to the poor and elderly), and public safety."
- State Senator John H. Chichester, president pro tem of the Virginia senate, in an August 5, 2003 speech to the Virginia Foundation for Research and Economic Education |
When the governor and the General Assembly finish with the biennial (every two year...) budget process, they end up committing Virginia to spend about $25 billion each year. The priorities are to "educate, medicate, and incarcerate."