From Richmond Times-Dispatch:

“With a politically divided General Assembly, nothing meritorious is possible without bipartisan cooperation. The spending cuts and fiscal discipline that led to this surplus were the results of tough negotiations and agreement between a Republican House and a Democratic Senate.”

McDonnell, appearing before the assembly money committees, said that nearly all of the extra cash is obligated, including the largest share — $82.2 million for a one-time, 3 percent bonus for state employees who have gone without a raise since November 2007.

McDonnell said $103.6 million of the $174.7 million must be returned by law to agencies. He said he would decide by Nov. 1 how the balance might be spent and will include those proposals in his recommendations to the 2011 legislature.

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