Upcoming Legislative Session

In January, we will begin the 60-day “long session” of the General Assembly which means that the Governor’s biennial budget will be debated. As the legislative session approaches, I will be distributing my legislative survey to get a better sense of what is most important to you. Check my website at www.betsycarr.org for more information on the upcoming 2012 Legislative Session Survey or contact my office to request a paper survey by mail.

One good way to stay informed about the issues to be debated this year is to subscribe to the VPAP Whipple Report. The “Whipple Report” is a news clipping service that highlights Virginia news. Subscribe free online at http://www.vpap.org/updates/whipple_report or read the clips online.

The Governor has made a number of proposals to streamline state government agencies. Details of these proposals can be found on the Governor’s webiste at http://www.reform.virginia.gov/docs/11-21-11_Report.pdf. These include:

• combining the Department of Rehabilative Serivices, the Department for the Aging, the Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and the adult social services provided by the Department of Social Services into one agency.

• “reforming” the state employee leave and grievance process.

• eliminating the state regulation of  hair braiders, polygraph examiners, interior designers, landscape architects, mold inspectors and remediators.

• consolidating natural resource agencies by merging the Department of Conservation and Recreation with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, as well as merging the natural resources law enforcement agencies of the Park Rangers (DCR), Conservation Officers (DGIF) and the Marine Police (VMRC).

It would be helpful to me if you would share any insights or reactions your have to these proposals.

Richmond City        

Another way to stay informed at the local level is to attend one or more the Mayor’s Participation Action and Communications Team meetings where Richmond residents can hear the latest from our city government and are given an opportunity to give feedback.

For more information visit the MPACT website. The next two meetings will be:

December 6 – Southside Community Services Center, 4100 Hull Street Rd.

December 8 – Southampton Elementary, 3333 Cheverly Rd.

The City of Richmond has announced its leaf collection schedule for 2011-2012. You can find out when the leaves will be collected from your neighborhood at http://www.richmondgov.com/PublicWorks/Leafcollection.aspx, by calling 804-646-LEAF, or by checking the flyer in your Richmond City utility bill.

Important News

The Virginia Historical Society has recently introduced an online database of Virginia slave names for the purposes of researching African-American genealogy. Unknown No Longer allows users to search through sales deeds and tax documents for their ancestors. Visit http://unknownnolonger.vahistorical.org to begin searching.

Office Internships

My office has opening for an internship during the 2012 General Assembly session. If you know anyone who might be interested, or would like more information, please ask them to send a resume and cover letter to me at delegate.carr@betsycarr.org.

I hope that you and your family enjoyed a happy Thanksgiving and wish you and your family a happy, safe and healthy holiday season.

- Betsy

If you are interested in showing your support for me by placing a yard sign in your yard between now and Election Day, I would very much appreciate it. You can send an e-mail to info@betsycarr.org, sign up using this form online, or call my campaign office at 804-767-7530. If you request a sign, a volunteer will place one in your yard or deliver one to your home. Once the election is over, someone will come to your yard no later than ten days after the election to pick up the sign so that it can be reused in the future.

Our campaign team will be organizing poll workers to be present at each polling place to distribute literature and sample ballots to voters in support of my campaign as well as those of other candidates. We are looking for volunteers who are willing to work during the morning, mid-day and evening rush-hour periods on Election Day, November 8th. If you would be willing to help me in this way for a few hours, or volunteer for the campaign at any time in the next month, please get in contact by e-mail, phone, or using the same online form.

Thank you again for your support, and I look forward to the honor of continuing to represent in you in the Virginia House of Delegates.

-Betsy

While Richmond City and Chesterfield County currently have no orders to evacuate, with strong winds and heavy rains, the chance of power loss and loss of other utilities is high. Virginia has been placed in a state of emergency and extra crews have been put in place to deal with the possible consequences of this storm.

Here are some ways you can help keep yourself and your property safe

• Prepare to be without power by having a weather radio or other battery powered radio available to listen for information. Charge your cell phone and lap top and use them sparingly in case of loss of power. Keep plenty of batteries available and have flashlights ready and charged.

• Store enough water to drink and to flush the toilet in the event that we lose water or it becomes contaminated. Even if water is still running, listen for information regarding the water safety. Have non-perishable food available in case of loss of power or cooking gas.

• If you live in a less well-built home or a mobile home, head for a sturdier structure before the storm hits.

• Dominion Power suggests updating your account with the phone number you plan to use when reporting your outage. This step will ensure immediate access of your account for faster reporting without having to speak to someone. Phone numbers can be updated on-line or by calling 1-800-222-0401. To report an outage, call 1-866-DOM-HELP.

Dominion power provides an online map showing the location of all power outages that you can check:
http://outagemap.dom.com/DomComFlexOutageViewer/index.html

Here is a link with helpful information from Dominion:
http://dom.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=1018

During the storm if your power is interuppted, here are some practical tips:

• Turn off major appliances such as heat pumps, water heaters and stoves. Unplug other appliances such as TVs, stereos, microwaves and computers. This will prevent damage to appliances and possible overloads to the company’s system when power is restored.

• Post a list of contents on your freezer door to minimize the number of times you open it. Leave one lamp or light on so you will be able to recognize when power is restored.

• Frozen food can last up to three days. It is safe to eat if it still has ice crystals at the center.

• If using portable or camp-type stoves or lanterns for cooking and lighting, ensure that the area is adequately ventilated.

• Have at least one week of your regular medications on hand in the event that you will not be able to obtain any more for several days to a week. Keep your insurance documents in a safe place in case of property or health emergencies.

• Falling trees and tree limbs are a major cause of damage during tropical storms and hurricanes. Avoid parking your car under trees and be aware of large trees that could cause damage or injury to you, your family or your property.

• If you live in a low-lying area, have a flood plan. Teach your family where to meet and how to evacuate safely.

• Prepare an emergency plan with your family. Have a basic first aid kit available and as always, call 911 to report any emergency.

More information is available at the following websites:

Virginia Capital Region Red Cross
www.virginiacapitalredcross.org

Federal Emergency Management Agency
www.ready.gov

Virginia Department of Emergency Management
http://www.vaemergency.gov/

For information on emergency kits and disaster preparations, including recommended supplies,
visit: http://www.vaemergency.gov/readyvirginia/getakit

Virginia Power Storm Information
http://dom.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=1018

Virginia Power Storm Center
http://www.dom.com/storm-center/index.jsp

For updated news and general information regarding Irene over the phone, dial: 211

Please be safe through this weather event and never hesitate to contact me if I can be of any assistance to you. We will be monitoring any phone and e-mail messages received over the weekend.

Sincerely,

Betsy B. Carr

First, I wanted to tell you that on August 5-7 there will be a sales tax holiday on school supplies, footwear and clothing. Each school supply must be $20 or less, and each item of clothing or shoes must be priced at $100 or less.

THE VETO SESSION AND NEW LAWS

In April, the General Assembly returned to Richmond to act on the Governor’s vetoes of legislation passed during the 2011 session of the General Assembly, as well as to redraw the lines for House of Delegates, State Senate, and Congressional Districts. Legislation drawing new House of Delegates and State Senate districts was passed and signed by the Governor. It received the final approval of the U.S. Department of Justice under the Voting Rights Act in June and these lines will be used as the basis for elections this fall. The House and Senate have not agreed on lines for new Congressional districts, and negotiations are continuing.

The Governor vetoed five bills that passed both houses of the General Assembly during the 2011 legislative session. One of these was a compromise bill that would slowly raise the cap on malpractice awards from $2 to $3 million over the next twenty years. Partially because this represented a compromise to which doctors and trial lawyers had agreed to, the General Assembly overrode the Governor’s veto, and this law went into effect on July 1.

Four bills were successfully vetoed by the governor and did not become law. These included a bill to require public schools in grades K-8 to include at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week in order to help prevent childhood obesity. The governor felt that this bill imposed too much of a mandate on local school divisions. Other legislation would have authorized increased environmental fines for landfill operators and large commercial establishments that refuse to report withdrawals of ground water as required by existing laws. Even though these bills were designed to deal with a few businesses who are serial violators of environmental laws and for which existing enforcement powers had not proved sufficient, the Governor felt that providing greater enforcement powers was too much of a burden on private businesses. For full text of all four of the successfully vetoed bills, visit:

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?111+lst+VET.

The Governor also proposed amendments to a number of bills that had been previously been passed. Among the most significant are a number of measures that have the effect of making it much more difficult for women to obtain abortions and other reproductive health care. As part of national health care reform legislation, Virginia must set up a “health insurance exchange” through which individuals who are not able to receive health care through their employer, Medicare, or another pre-existing public program will be able to purchase health insurance. Unfortunately, the Governor added language, and the General Assembly approved, language which will prohibit insurance policies sold in the Virginia exchange from covering abortion. You can view a complete list of the Governor’s amendments that were agreed to by the House and Senate here:

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?111+lst+GAS

In addition, the Governor exercised his line-item veto power over the state budget that was adopted for 2011-2013 to eliminate funding for public broadcasting beginning in the year 2012. The final approved budget can be viewed online here at:

http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?111+men+SB2.

Finally, you can read a summary of all of the new laws that were passed this year online here:

http://dls.virginia.gov/PUBS/IDC/IDC11.pdf

REDISTRICTING

The redistricting plan for new House districts was passed with significant bipartisan report, but the plan for State Senate districts was more controvertial. The Governor vetoed the first redistricting bill because of disagreements over the Senate’s redistricting plan which would have created a new State Senate district in the Richmond area. The General Assembly ended up largely acceding to the Governor’s demands, and a revised bill was passed. Under the federal Voting Rights Act, the redistricting law is subject to approval by the U.S. Department of Justice. The new districts received approval in June in time for primary elections to proceed on August 23 as scheduled.

See 69th District for a detailed map of the new district:

The following changes were made to the previous boundaries of the 69th district. In the City of Richmond, the district gained half of Oregon Hill (Precinct 505), Woodland Heights (Precinct 508), and the Manchester district (609), portions of Precinct 410 south of Forest Hill Avenue and Chippenham Parkway, and Precinct 903 between Hull Street Road and Broad Rock Boulevard. The district also gained the rest of Precincts 402 and 811, which had previously been split between the 69th and 70th districts.
The new district consists much more predominately of parts of the City of Richmond. It consists of only one precinct in Chesterfield County – Davis – Precinct 515. It will no longer include three other precincts in Chesterfield County – Belmont (206) which will now be part of the 70th District, presently represented by Del. McQuinn. Manchester (409) and Beaufont (513) will now be part of the 27th District, represented by Del. Roxann Robinson.

You can see further information about redistricting online at the Virginia Public Access Project here http://www.vpap.org/elections/district_redistricting/189.

Please be assured that I will continue to represent all citizens of the 69th district, old and new, through the end of the year. If you will no longer be in the 69th district and are no longer able to vote for me, I hope that we will be able to stay in touch. If you are new to the 69th District, I look forward to representing you for the rest of the year, and in the future, should I have the fortune of being re-elected to this office. Please contact my office or respond to this email if you would like further information concerning redistricting.

HONORING A PUBLIC SERVANT

Finally, I would like to take a moment to celebrate the life of a remarkable Virginian. On Easter Sunday, Bruce Jamerson, the Clerk of the House of Delegates, passed away. The loss of this lifelong public servant and friend to so many VIrginians was a great tragedy. You may have not known Bruce Jamerson, but he was in a large part responsible for the great efficiency and competence with which our legislature and state government operates in Virginia. Bruce was the type of public servant and human being who set an example for us all to follow. He had the unique quality of making each person with whom he interacted think that he or she were the most important person in the world, regardless of his or her station in life. I hope you will include Bruce’s wife Elizabeth and daughter Ainslee, who will start college at UVA this fall, in your thoughts and prayers.

It is an honor to serve you in the House of Delegates. Please do not hesitate to contact me to share your views, to invite me to an event, or if I may be of any assistance.

Sincerely,

Betsy Carr

A summary of the new changes to the law beginning on July 1st.

In Due Course – By the Virginia Division of Legislative Services.

Another summary of the noteable changes to Virginia law as a result of the 2011 session.

Virginia General Assembly: New Laws Take Effect July 1st – The Daily Press – Hugh Lessig

A complete list of all of the bills that were passed by the House and Senate and signed by the Governor, the vast majority of which will go into effect July 1, 2011.

From Legislative Information

Please let me know if you have any questions about any of the changes coming on Friday. 804-698-1069 or click the “contact” tab to the left.

Sincerely,

Betsy B. Carr

For many weeks my colleagues and I (most of whom have not been in the know), have been eagerly awaiting to see what the lines will look like. Last Tuesday, the proposals for the House and Senate have just been made public. You may wish to take a look at them here:

http://betsycarr.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=47ec5f1a5d93b0c68b28c7d91&id=369af42669&e=a6a97a35ac

Over the last week, I have been reviewing these districts, as well as the Governor’s vetoes of and proposed amendments to bills passed during the General Assembly session.  I am writing to report on some of the major new laws and other actions that were taken during the General Assembly session.

THE BUDGET: PROTECTING PUBLIC EDUCATION AND HEALTH CARE

In each odd-numbered year, the General Assembly considers amendments to the two-year spending plan put in place the previous year. This year, for the first time in anyone’s memory, the amended budget received unanimous approval in both the House and the Senate. Virginia remains in a difficult situation financially, due to the economic downturn, but this year’s budget proposals succeeded, with the aid of modest increases in revenue projections, I believe, in making modest improvements in a number of areas. I, along with colleagues of both parties, was pleasantly surprised.

Among these improvements was an increase in the Medicaid reimbursement rates for health care providers. Additional money promised to schools in our area last year, the so-called “hold harmless” funds, was restored (Richmond and Chesterfield previously stood to loose $5 and $1.2 million respectively.) Measures were taken to shore up the strength of our pension system for state employees, and to accelerate the repayment of a loan from retirement funds that was taken to balance the budget last year. Additional money was set aside for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled. Only a minimum amount of money from the state’s general fund was put aside to fund road building.

BIPARTISAN COMPROMISE

During the 45-day session, there were several other instances of bipartisan compromise. Doctors and trial lawyers reached an agreement for a modest increase in the cap on medical malpractice awards (to raise the limit by $1 million over 20 years). Democrats joined Republicans, led by House Speaker Bill Howell, to enact a very modest requirement that private insurance cover procedures to help identify and treat those children under the age of six who develop autism. Although the coverage requirement is limited to $35,000 and does not affect small insurance pools, it is an important step in the right direction. Both of these bills have been amended or vetoed by the Governor and will be reconsidered next week.

ABORTION AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

The Governor has signed a law that could significantly restrict access to reproductive healthcare for Virginia women and make it much more difficult for women to obtain an abortion or other family planning services. The law requires the Board of Health to adopt regulations to require that first trimester abortions be conducted at ambulatory surgical centers instead of in clinical settings, where they can currently be conducted, along with many procedures that have a higher complication rate, like root canals and colonoscopies.  These regulations are already on the fast track. Presently, there are 21 outpatient facilities that provide abortion services.  If the Board of Health adopts stringent regulations as expected, all but four of these will have to carry out expensive renovations that may be unaffordable in many cases. The only four outpatient facilities that would remain are in Richmond, Virginia Beach, Roanoke and Charlottesville.

TRANSPORTATION

As I wrote earlier, I was disappointed that we were not able to come to a more satisfactory solution to Virginia’s transportation problems. The ‘transportation bill’ approved by the General Assembly puts the Commonwealth further in debt and prioritizes construction of new highways rather than maintenance of existing ones, transit options including high speed rail, and land-use planning which will allow people to have more mobility with less travel time. In addition, our region will receive a disproportionally small portion of new construction funds relative to the rest of the state. Through the use of an accounting change that will increase the amount of borrowing permitted in the next few years, the next four to five Governors will have their hands effectively tied.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

A measure passed that requires at least 150 minutes of physical education per week on average during a regular school year for grades K-8 in public schools.  This is an effort to help reduce the epidemic of childhood obesity, which has long-term implications for our public health, economic welfare and national security. This measure has been vetoed by the Governor.

ILLEGAL GAMBLING IN INTERNET CAFES

A law was also passed to close a loophole that had allowed “Internet cafés” to effectively to operate virtual slot machines and other casino games. These activities will now be considered illegal gambling and will have to cease.

TAX RETURN AND IFILE

I, like many of you, will be filing state income taxes during April. In the past, Virginia operated an excellent system called ifile that allowed electronic filing directly with the Virginia Department of Taxation. Last year, legislation that abolished this program and required the state to redirect citizens to use a bewildering array of private tax preparers. This is called “free file”, even though it is not free. Many people will have to pay a fee to a private company to do something that was free in previous years. If they do not want to place their private data in the hands of a private company, they will have to file by paper. You may have received a notice in the mail from the Tax Department about this change.

I was unsuccessful in my attempts to restore the ifile system and stop the privatization of tax filing. I would be interested in hearing about your experiences with the new private system, and any other comments or concerns you may have on this matter.

OTHER LEGISLATION

Other legislation that was unsuccessful included a constitutional amendment to automatically restore the right to vote to felons upon completion of their sentences. Virginia remains one of only two states in the union that permanently deprive felons of the right to vote, barring the individual restoration of civil rights by the Governor. The fact is that when they were enacted at the turn of the twentieth century, they were part of an attempt to deny both freed slaves and non-property-owning white men the right to vote which had been given to them following the Civil War. I hope that some day soon a majority of our fellow Virginians will see the need to correct this injustice.

These are the most notable matters on which new laws were passed during this year’s 45-day General Assembly session. You will find a more detailed survey of adopted legislation in a summary prepared by the Division of Legislative Services, which you can find here:

http://betsycarr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=47ec5f1a5d93b0c68b28c7d91&id=3fb75d93a2&e=a6a97a35ac

As always, I would be happy to speak with you in person, on the phone, or by e-mail about any issue that is of concern. I would happy to come visit with your community group to discuss the recent legislative session, or any other public matters that concern you. You may reach me at delegate.carr@betsycarr.org, or 698-1069.

It is the highest honor to serving you and all of the citizens of our Commonwealth.

House approves McDonnell’s roads plan - Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 4

It’s back: Big time debt gets a second look in Virginia - Christina Nuckols, The Virginian-Pilot, February 6

Reason fails in the gun debate - The Virginian-Pilot Editorial, February 7

Bill on autism coverage OK’d - Michael Sluss, The Roanoke Times, January 28

Payday lending restrictions die in the Senate - Kimball Payne, The Daily Press, January 24

As economy improves, Va. predicts healthier revenue rebound - Rosalind Helderman, The Washington Post, February 4

Conservative bills OK’d in the House, face long odds - Bill Sizemore, The Virginian-Pilot, January 25

Concealed machine gun in Virginia? Not happening … yet. - Bill Sizemore, The Virginian-Pilot, January 28

Virginia General Assembly sets primary elections for Aug. 23 - Rosalind Helderman, The Washington Post, January 28

P.E. a vital step to stem obesity - The Virginian-Pilot Editorial, February 6

Northern Virginia fuels state’s growth - The Washington Post, February 4

5 congressional districts must shrink; 6 must grow - Tyler Whitley, Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 6

Redistricting – the field of schemes - Jeff Shapiro, Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 6

We were unable to move a number of good ideas forward this year, including some of which I sponsored along with my colleagues. These included legislation requiring a comprehensive study of the way public school costs are shared between the state and localities; closing the gun-show loophole; establishing a safer passing distance for bicycles; and many bills that outlawed discrimination in state employment based on race, sex, or sexual orientation.

Also unsuccessful were my own bills to place restrictions on the purchase of high-capacity gun magazines; and to stop the privatization of tax filing and collection by restoring the iFile system.

The Governor’s proposal to privatize the ABC system did not go anywhere, primarily because even most of the Republican members of the House did not support the idea, and none of them agreed to sponsor the bill.

One bill that did pass was a bipartisan proposal to require insurance coverage for the treatment of childhood autism, which many believe will lead to the earlier diagnosis and treatment of this disease.

The Budget

The House also passed its version of the revised state budget for 2010-2012. The details of the final budget will now be worked in negotiations between the House and Senate budget conferees over the next 10 days.

I was disappointed that House version of budget failed to restore over $5 million in State funding that was promised to Richmond Public Schools and over $1 million to the Chesterfield County school systems last year, which you may know as the “LCI hold harmless funds”. The house budget does include funding for the state portion which can be either used for a one-time 2 percent bonus for teacher, or certain other critical needs.

There has been much talk about requiring state employees, public school teachers and members of local law enforcement to contribute 5 percent towards the cost of the state retirement system. I am hopeful that the final version of the budget will include a pay raise that permanently offsets any required increase in contributions for existing employees. Both the House and Senate have rejected the Governor’s proposal which would have resulted in a 2% pay cut for state employees.

There is also a proposal to create a parallel, defined-contribution retirement plan for public employees, in which employees would manage their own contributions similar to a 401(k) plan. This proposal has the support of state employee groups. As of today, it seems as if this option will apply only to state employees, excluding local government employees, and teachers, who have been opposed to this plan.

Another area of concern is the continued cuts to our state’s Medicaid program, half of the funding for which goes to pay for the health care of the mentally ill and the disabled. Another 25 percent goes towards seniors. This budget will only pay health care providers at 60 percent of their costs, further accelerating the creation of a two-tier medical system in Virginia. On a brighter note, the House budget increases the number of Medicaid waver slots for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Transportation

The House also voted to pass the Governor’s transportation plan. I voted against this plan because of its serious flaws. Although the Governor cites a figure of $4 billion in increased investment in transportation, the devil is in the details. The plan contains a variety of accounting changes, which allow the state to accelerate previously planned borrowing, and permits increased borrowing against an overly-optimistic estimate of federal funds that Virginia will receive in future years. The plan also depends on enticing private investors to build private toll roads and bridges in exchange for low-interest loans from the Commonwealth.

The plan puts money into new road construction without increasing money for maintenance of the existing roads. Maintaining the infrastructure we have should take priority over building new infrastructure. This plan places too much emphasis on building new highways, instead of investing in rail, mass transit and better land use planning, all of which are more effective in creating jobs than money spent on new highways.

Finally, the plan transfers money from the state’s general fund – those taxes collected from income, sales and other general taxes and traditionally used to fund education, health care and law enforcement – and uses them for transportation. Many have said that such a transfer of funds is unfair, but there is also a more serious problem. By not funding our transportation system through fairly-assessed user fees such as the gas tax (which was last raised from 15 cents to 17.5 cents in 1986) and registration fees, we are creating a subsidy for users of roads, and disincentives for the private sector to invest in alternative transportation, such as the rail network. Mail-order businesses receive an unfair advantage relative to local merchants, and those who chose to walk, bike, carpool, or live closer to work, still have to pay the same for the roads even though they use them less.

Election-year issues

My Republican colleagues have supported a number of election year bills, most of which are expected to be killed in the Senate. These include bills barring undocumented immigrants from attending state community colleges, even if they pay out-of-state tuition rates and a slew of measures expressing the General Assembly’s disapproval of key actions of the Obama Administration.

Since the start of the legislative session, I have heard from scores of issue-oriented groups and concerned citizens, and I am always glad to hear from you – my constituents and friends. My office staff has helped me answer over 1,000 pieces of correspondence on a range of issues. I hope you will continue to share your opinions in the days ahead.

Please feel free to reach me by email at delegate.carr@betsycarr.org or call 804-698-1069 to talk or schedule a meeting at my General Assembly office. Also, if you haven’t already, please share your thoughts on my online survey which you can answer here.

As always, it is an honor to serve you.

Michael Paul Williams, Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 21

In Virginia High-Yield Clip Seizures Rise

David S. Fallis and James V. Grimaldi, Washington Post, January 23

Unconstitutional Public Charity

The General Assembly long has ignored the Virginia Constiution’s ban on giving to charitable and religious groups

Roanoke Times Editorial, January 23

Bills on Menhaden Fishing Fall Short Once Again

Scott Harper, The Virginian-Pilot, January 22

A Step in the Wrong Direction (transportation)

Editorial Board, Danville Register & Bee, January 18

Raiding the General Fund

Editorial Board, The Roanoke Times, January 19

Virginia House backs constitutional amendment to limit unions

Frederick Kunkle, The Washington Post, January 18

Foreclosure issue brings divergent lawmakers together

David Sherfinskl, The Washington Examiner, January 17

Nearly 200 people have responded to my 2011 citizen survey, and the results so far have been very interesting to read. If you haven’t yet taken the survey, please do. I hope to be able to send you a summary of the results next week.

Take the Survey

I am working hard on your priorities – investing in high quality public education for our young people and their futures, protecting health care and the safety net for the vulnerable, investing in our transportation system so we can attract the jobs of tomorrow,  protecting and conserving Virginia’s environment and natural beauty, and keeping our state government efficient and just. These are the values that I keep in mind every day as I work for you in the State Capitol.

My bill to restore the ifile system

This week Michael Paul Williams wrote an article on one of my bills, HB 2321, which would restore the ifile system, which allows taxpayers to file their state income tax returns electronically directly with the state, instead of through a for-profit company. You may have received a letter last week announcing that ifile will no longer be available.

The bill abolishing ifile made it through last year partially because from reading the bill establishing the new “Free File” system, you couldn’t tell that the ifile system would be canceled. This fact was buried in a fiscal impact statement. Eliminating the ifile system is also causing a headache for local commissioners of the revenue, who used this system to transmit tax information to the Virginia Department of Taxation. Because of this crazy law, the tax department had to negotiate with a private industry consortium for four months, just to get an “exception” to be able to communicate with the state’s own commissioners of the revenue for one year.

As I told Mr. Williams, “It seems like to me the legislation last year eliminated a service that was free to taxpayers, saved the state money and did not require taxpayers to share sensitive information with for-profit companies … The apparent beneficiaries of last year’s legislation were private companies who want to profit by serving as middlemen between the taxpayers and the Commonwealth without providing any real values to citizens.”

As Mr. Williams wrote sarcastically, “Virginia appears guided by the principle, if it ain’t broke, let’s privatize it and see what happens!”

My ifile bill was also mentioned in a few Virginia political blogs. It will still be an uphill battle correcting this mistake, and I’ll keep you informed.

You can read the rest of the article here.

Budget Issues – Public Education and VCU funding cuts

Some of the most significant issues for our region this year are found in two of the Governor’s proposed budget amendments. First, he proposes to strip out money that was committed to downstate public school systems last year. Richmond would lose $5.4 million and Chesterfield would lose $1.7 million under this proposal. The Governor has also recommended cutting VCU’s state support by $17 million, which comes to half the amount of a 24 percent tuition increase that was imposed last year. I oppose these measures that would weaken public education in our region and strongly support restoring both of these funds.

Key actions last week

Here are some of the more consequential actions that happened this week. The House passed a bill to end the requirement that students be vaccinated against the HPV virus that causes cervical cancer (Virginia is the only state with such a requirement). Measures to decriminalize the possession of marijuana and allow all voters to vote without an excuse died in House subcommittees. A Senate subcommittee killed a “repeal amendment” which would allow two-thirds of the state to nullify a federal law, and a bill that would have legalized playing poker at home for money. The House passed a proposed constitutional amendment that would enshrine Virginia’s right-to-work law into the Constitution. One of my democratic colleagues introduced a bill containing the Governor’s ABC privatization proposal after no republican delegate would agree to sponsor it.

A typical day in the life of your delegate

Some people have asked me to share what a typical day is like. The legislative day starts early in the morning. I serve on two committees in the House of Delegates, Transportation and General Laws. Each committee consists of about two dozen delegates. Both of my committees are broken into four subcommittees each, in which the detailed work of considering legislation takes place. I sit on Transportation subcommittee #2, which deals primarily with motor vehicle safety laws. (It meets at 7:00 am on Wednesdays.) The General Laws committee deals with a whole range of subjects not considered by other committees. In General Laws, I sit on subcommittee #4 (It meets at 5:00 on Tuesdays.), which deals with professions, occupations and administrative process.

Subcommittees meet either before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m. Some subcommittees, such as the Courts of Justice Criminal Law subcommittee are famous for meeting late into the evening. Committee meetings are scheduled inside the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Most days at 11:30 a.m., we meet for a half hour in groups by party. This is called caucus, during which time we discuss any of the major bills that are scheduled for consideration during the day. At Noon the House goes into session (you can watch it on the internet). Sometimes we are only in session for an hour. The sessions usually get longer and longer until about February 8. On a few days we will go late into the evening. During the rest of the day and night, I attend meetings in and outside my office, and try to read proposed legislation as carefully as possible.

In order for a bill – a proposed law – to make it to the floor to be voted on by the whole House of Delegates, it must be first successfully pass through a subcommittee and full committee. Each house must consider all of its own bills before February 8, when bills “cross over” for consideration by the other house. Finally, if the House and Senate versions of bills can be reconciled, legislation is sent to the Governor.

As in every update, I’ve listed some articles below that might be of interest to you. That does it for this week. I look forward to updating you again next weekend.