“The problem continues to be, they’re talking about process and we’re talking about people,” said Sen. A. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico, chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus and a strong supporter of expanding health coverage to as many as 400,000 uninsured Virginians.

On the other side of the Capitol, House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, chastised the Senate for failing to act on the budget approved by the House on March 27.

“We’re very disappointed,” Howell said at a news conference outside his office. “The intention of the Senate is just to stall.

“They are not serious about doing a budget. They left town — they didn’t wait for us to see whether we’d reject the amendments on their bill or put it into conference or whatever. They just went out of town.”

The Senate went into recess — subject to being called back to Richmond with at least 48 hours notice — without acting on the House budget, which does not authorize either Medicaid expansion or Marketplace Virginia, a private insurance option.

The maneuvering has a purpose — the Senate majority that approved the Marketplace Virginia plan doesn’t want to give Howell the opportunity to kill the proposal by ruling that it is not germane to the budget.