After a day's delay, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin received the budget bill from the Legislature Tuesday, but took no immediate action on it, a spokesman said Tuesday evening.
Tomblin, who has until June 13 to act on the bill (HB 101), previously has indicated he would veto any budget bill that relied on more than a "few million dollars" from the state's Rainy Day reserve funds to close a $270 million shortfall in the 2016-17 budget.
The proposal passed by the Legislature would use $186.6 million of Rainy Day funds, along with $62.4 million of one-time funding, which would exacerbate what is already projected to be a $380 million shortfall in the 2017-18 state budget.
Tomblin spokesman Chris Stadelman said last week that the governor considers the budget bill to be an "irresponsible" plan and plans to veto it, an action that would require the Legislature to return in special session to come up with a budget plan before July 1, when state government could be forced to shut down if no 2016-17 budget has been enacted.
After passing the budget bill on June 2, the Legislature recessed the 13-day special session until June 12, and it was not immediately clear if legislative leaders planned to call the Legislature back into session prior to Sunday.