Recent comments suggested that budget negotiations between the House and Senate were going well, ahead of the state government’s funding running out at the end of June. Those talks, however, have blown up, according to statements from Senate Appropriations Chair Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, and Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax.
“Just when I thought Chairman Torian and I were getting close to agreeing on a budget, we had a meeting with Data Center Diva this morning and she agrees with Amazon Don who doesn’t want to impact the richest corporations in the country,” Lucas said, referencing Gov. Abigail Spanberger as “Data Center Diva” and Speaker of the House Don Scott as “Amazon Don.”
House Appropriations Chair Luke Torian, D-Prince William, and Lucas both indicated in recent days that negotiations, which centered around data center tax breaks, were going well. But after a meeting between Torian, Lucas and Spanberger in Richmond on Friday morning, it appears that positivity has gone out the window.
I just asked Del. Torian, the House Approps Chair: "We met, we had a good discussion, and it was positive," he said. https://t.co/X72THuEmxF
— Brandon Jarvis (@Jaaavis) June 2, 2026
Instead, it now looks like a “skinny budget,” which would fund core services of the state government, appears to be where things are heading.
According to sources with knowledge of the situation, the skinny budget idea was first floated by Lucas last week, posed almost as a threat: if she did not get what she wanted on data centers, she would just push forward a budget to fund core services.
This would line up with what Lucas tweeted on June 2, when she said: “The good news is that we’re getting close to an agreement on how to pay for core services. We will have a budget before June 30th and you can take that to the bank!”
Sources with knowledge of the Friday meeting tell Virginia Scope that the governor and Torian were asking Lucas questions about the specifics of what she wants to do with the potential data center tax revenue and how it would be collected. This led Lucas to become frustrated and leave the meeting, stating that it would be a skinny budget.
Torian then informed House conferees that they would be moving forward with the skinny budget.
Lucas pushed back on the characterization that she was “frustrated” in a statement to Virginia Scope Friday night and said she prefers not to have a skinny budget.
She said she continued to answer questions and accused Spanberger of “going in circles because [Spanberger] doesn’t want to do anything to hurt data centers.”
Lucas also continued to tweet about the situation.
“Amazon Don and Data Center Diva, you are making a MONUMENTAL MISTAKE!” Lucas wrote on social media. “Maybe you should ask Glenn Youngkin how that worked out for him!”
Lucas is referring to the “Glenn-Dome,” which she very publicly campaigned against when former Gov. Glenn Youngkin was trying to establish a professional sports arena in Northern Virginia.
Who DID THIS?! 😂 pic.twitter.com/q0IvchIoge
— L. Louise Lucas (@SenLouiseLucas) March 7, 2024
Torian, in a statement released Friday night, did not directly address the accusations Lucas leveled at him.
“We remain ready to meet and work towards a budget agreement that reflects our shared commitment to Virginia families,” he said. “Our goal remains a responsible budget that lowers costs and invests in strong public schools, safe communities, affordable housing, quality healthcare, and economic opportunity – while protecting the Commonwealth’s fiscal strength.”
In a press release on Friday afternoon, Lucas went more in-depth on her reasoning.
“They will say that the revenue reforecast provides enough funding for the next biennium. The Governor will soon realize that this isn’t Washington and Virginia has to have a balanced budget,” Lucas wrote. “She gave up the revenue that she will need this fall to fund inflationary increases for core services. Revenue is just one component of this issue. I am focused on a policy to ensure responsible development of data centers. We need to hold them accountable for their impacts to power costs and environmental impacts on water, air pollution, and noise.”
Spanberger, in a Friday night statement, said the General Assembly has a responsibility to deliver her a budget she can sign, while also stating that she supports requiring data centers to pay more for data consumption.
“I have also been clear that data centers in Virginia need to pay their fair share for energy consumption,” Spanberger said. “I have brought proposals to the table that would make data centers pay more for the energy they use and address environmental concerns, including their air pollution, water and energy use, and noise.”
Surovell, the top Democrat in the Senate, commented on the situation in a social media post Friday afternoon.
“Some now want to bring DC-style continuing resolutions to Virginia instead of resolving difficult problems and making choices between teachers and data centers – Virginia has never done that in our history,” Surovell wrote. “We’ve always passed a full budget by July 1, and this year should be no different.”