RICHMOND -- Gov. Tim Kaine proposed minor revisions to the budget and made technical changes to a payday lending reform bill as he finished work on legislation passed during the winter General Assembly session.

Kaine over the weekend completed action on the 889 bills passed during the 65-day session that ended March 13. The General Assembly will convene April 23 to act on Kaine's proposed amendments.

The governor made minor changes to the two-year, $77 billion budget that lawmakers sent to his desk. The spending bill is about $1 billion less than what Kaine proposed in December, before the administration reduced its revenue projections in response to a slumping economy.

The budget still contains new spending for education, mental health reforms and salary increases for state workers and public school teachers. It also includes some new funding to expand pre-kindergarten for children in low-income families, but less than half of what Kaine had sought for his signature initiative.

"This budget makes critical investments in efforts to keep Virginia moving forward, while exercising the fiscal responsibility that tough economic times demand," Kaine said in a written statement.

Kaine proposed nearly $9 million in additional spending in his budget amendments, including $5 million for Civil War historic site preservation. The money would be used for grants to nonprofit organizations to preserve endangered Civil War sites. The nonprofits must contribute $2 for every $1 in state funds they receive. Lawmakers had planned to fund the Civil War site purchases with bond proceeds set aside for land conservation.

Kaine made only technical changes to legislation (House Bill 12 and Senate Bill 588) that puts new restrictions on payday lenders. Lawmakers pursued reforms to protect consumers who rely on the short-term, high-interest loans. The legislation will create a complex fee structure for borrowers, extend repayment periods and limit the number of sequential loans a borrower can obtain.

The bills were the result of a compromise that satisfied neither the cash advance industry nor its fiercest critics.

The compromise "falls short of the significant steps needed to combat predatory lending practices like payday lending, which ravage borrowers' long-term finances," said Dana Wiggins of the Virginia Partnership to Encourage Responsible Lending.

Industry representatives have predicted the legislation will drive some payday lenders out of business in Virginia.

"We certainly don't know how consumers are going to respond to what is a new credit product," said Jamie Fulmer, the director of investor relations for Advance America, which has 150 Virginia stores.

In addition to proposing changes to the budget and payday lending bills, Kaine recommended accelerating the enactment of legislation that would put new restrictions on commercial dog-breeding operations or "puppy mills." House Bill 538 was introduced following a 2007 fire at a Bland County kennel that killed nearly 200 dogs. Kaine's change would put the law into effect on Jan. 1, six months sooner than lawmakers had proposed.

The new law would apply to breeders who keep more than 30 female dogs for breeding purposes. Operators would be required to have a valid business license, comply with animal control inspections and keep no more than 50 dogs over the age of 1 for breeding purposes unless allowed by local ordinance.

Kaine already has signed another high-profile animal welfare bill, approving legislation that increases criminal penalties for organized dogfighting.

Lawmakers typically would act on gubernatorial vetoes during their reconvened session. But the Democratic-controlled Senate already has sustained Kaine's vetoes of bills that would increase the number of death penalty-eligible crimes, allow concealed handguns in establishments that serve alcohol and allow motorists to store handguns in locked vehicle compartments.