Gov. Tim Kaine proposed a new two-year budget this morning that increases spending for education and mental health programs and contains new fees assessed on Virginia drivers.

The governor also proposed withdrawing $261.1 million from the state’s “rainy day” reserve fund to balance the current budget, which expires June 30. Kaine already had implemented spending cuts and other cost-saving measures to address part of a $641 million shortfall.

Kaine presented the budget plans to the General Assembly’s key money committees.

The governor's proposal to tap the rainy day fund is likely to meet with opposition in the General Assembly, particularly in the Republican-controlled House of Delegates. Kaine told lawmakers that the withdrawal still would leave more than $1 billion in the reserve account.

Kaine’s spending plan for the two-year period that begins July 1 includes more than $56 million to launch a targeted expansion of pre-kindergarten education. It also increases spending for public schools, state colleges and health care programs and funds reforms to the state’s overburdened mental health system.

Kaine’s budget increases the fee for renewing a driver’s license by $10 to account for security-relates costs related to issuing licenses. It also changes the annual car inspection requirement to a biennial requirement, and increases the fee from $15 to $20.

Kaine’s budget includes no state funding for arts and cultural entities in the first year of the budget cycle and $5.7 million in the second year.