Fighting over the budget extended into the final hours of the General Assembly session. Hogan campaigned on a promise to curb state spending and deliver tax relief, and the budget of his inaugural year does some of that. The state's $40 billion budget for next year includes across-the-board spending cuts for many agencies, and it contains no new taxes. It also offers some tax relief to military retirees.

But Democrats fought some budget cuts. They set aside more than $200 million to restore funding for public schools, to prevent a state employee pay cut and to add money for health care for pregnant women, the mentally ill and others. As the session entered its final hours, Hogan said it was unlikely he would spend that money -- and the legislature cannot force him to do so.