GENERAL SUMMARY AND POLITICAL NEWS This week the General Assembly continued its consideration of the legislation that remained alive after crossover. Approximately 300 bills have passed both chambers of the Assembly, with over twice that number still pending. The proposed amendments to the state’s budget have also consumed time this week, with the Senate passing their version of the budget on Wednesday. The House promptly and customarily rejected the Senate’s version, which puts the negotiations in the hands of the budget conferees.
On Tuesday, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law and Virginia found out that it will be receiving approximately $4.6 billion in stimulus funds. Of the funds,
• $1.2 billion can be used to help fill holes in the state’s budget;
• $1.5 billion will go towards Medicaid;
• $890.6 million is dedicated to transportation and infrastructure;
• approximately $214.8 million will be used for childcare, education, and education technology;
• and the remainder will go towards other uses including employment and training, food stamps, elderly nutrition, and homeless assistance.
Virginians who would like to have input in how unallocated monies are spent can visit stimulus.virginia.gov to submit ideas to be considered by the Governor and state agencies.
In other political news, the contenders for the Democratic nomination for Governor continue to compete for endorsements and media attention. The Virginia Professional Firefighte
rs Association, an influential labor organization, put their support behind Terry McAuliffe this week. But while McAuliffe continues to receive attention for his lavish spending on media and donations to the Democratic Party of Virginia, former Delegate Brian Moran continues to receive the endorsements of other Virginia elected officials. Of note are the endorsements from Democratic officials in Prince William County, a key general election battleground.THE BUDGET
While both the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance Committee adopted their respective budgets on February 8th, the full Senate did not adopt their budget until this week as they waited for additional revenue information from the Governor and the adoption of the federal stimulus package. On Monday, Governor Kaine said that Virginia’s budget shortfall grew to more than $3.7 billion due to declining revenues. However, as mentioned above, Virginia will be receiving federal funds that can help offset the additional gap of $800 million.
On Wednesday, the Senate passed amendments to the House’s proposed budget, which sent the bill to a conference between House and Senate negotiators. The negotiators include Delegates Lacey E. Putney (I-Bedford), Phillip A. Hamilton (R-Newport News), M. Kirkland “Kirk” Cox (R-Colonial Heights), Johnny S. Joannou (D-Portsmouth), Beverly J. Sherwood (R-Frederick), and Clarke N. Hogan (R-Halifax) to serve as conferees for the House. The Se
nate conferees are Senators Charles J. Colgan (D-Prince William), R. Edward Houck (D-Spotsylvania). Janet D. Howell (D-Fairfax), William C. Wampler (R-Bristol), Walter A. Stosch (Henrico), and Kenneth W. Stolle (R-Virginia Beach. The proposed Senate amendments to the budget reject the Governor’s policy changes to K-12 education by restoring some funding and providing other federally contingent appropriations. Other sectors in the budget were restored as well, with many agencies and departments being given flexibility options in their spending. However, the proposed Senate budget still contains cuts from the budget that was adopted in 2008. Due to potential worsening economic conditions, the Senate also left an unappropriated balance of $46.2 million. LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS
This week, Advantus celebrated a legislative victory for one of our client’s, the Virginia Produc
tion Alliance. The Senate and House both approved a measure that creates an additional 5 percent tax on pay-per-view movies and video games in hotels. The proceeds will go towards the Governor’s Motion Picture Opportunity Fund to help lure major movie productions to the state. The new tax has the ability to generate as much as $2 million annually for the fund, which could allow Virginia to attract millions in annual revenue. The bill, patroned by Senator Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth), passed the Senate 37-3 and the House on a vote of 69-27. After the Senate rejected a watered down version of the restaurant smoking ban, the bill was sent into a conference between Senate and House negotiators. The bill that emerged largely resembled the initial bills compromised upon by Speaker Bill Howell and Governor Kaine. The bill restricts smoking in all restaurants with limited exceptions for private clubs, outdoor uncovered patios, and separate ventilated rooms. With no debate, the bill passed the Senate 27-13 and the House 60-39. Governor Kaine has indicated a prompt signing of the legislation which will take effect on December 1, 2009.
Although the Senate passed SB 1106 this week, which would prohibit smoking in cars when a minor is present, a House Militia, Police, and Public Safety Subcommittee killed the measure. The bill was patroned by Senator Ralph Northam (D-Norfolk), who is a pediatric neurologist. It had passed the Senate on a vote of 30-10.
However, Senator Northam did have a children’s health related bill pass both chambers this week. Along with a companion bill from fellow doctor Delegate John O’Bannon (R-Richmond), the legislation renames the Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation to the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth. The agency will also take on a new role of reducing childhood obesity in addition to its prior mission of combating child and adolescent tobacco use.
A bill that will prohibit text messaging while driving has advanced and will now be considered by the full Senate. Delegate John Cosgrove’s (R-Chesapeake) HB 1876 will prohibit sending or reading text messages while driving. Although it will only be considered a secondary offense (driver must be stopped for another offense), violators will be fined $20 for their first offense, and $50 for all subsequent violations. The bill passed the House on a vote of 88-10. Another bill linked to driving is Delegate William Fralin’s (R-Ronaoke) HB 1826, which gives public school administrators the ability to go to court and ask a judge to suspend the licenses of students who drop out of school or rack up 10 or more consecutive, unexcused absences. This dropout deterring measure passed the House on a vote of 68-28 and is now up for a vote from the full Senate.
Three voting bills that passed the Senate were killed in a House Privileges and Elections Subcommittee this week on party line votes. Senator Lucas introduced an early voting bill to allow voting up to 15 days before an election. It passed the Senate on a 29-11 vote. Senator George Barker’s (D-Alexandria) bill would have allowed a Richmond Circuit Court judge to extend polling hours in the case of an emergency or other situation that prevents voters from getting to the polls. Finally, a bipartisan redistricting bill, patroned by Senator Creigh Deeds (D-Bath), was killed following its unanimous passage by the Senate.
THE UPCOMING WEEKS
The 2009 Session is near the end as we approach the scheduled adjournment Sine Die date of February 28th. With only one full week left, many committees have finished or are nearly finished with their work and much time will be spent on the floor of both chambers. Budget negotiations will continue until a compromise is reached by the conferees. We can also expect to see some action by the Governor on passed legislation.
In addition to finishing their legislative and budget work, the Assembly will appoint the state’s new attorney general next week. Attorney General Bob McDonnel officially resigned today and has requested the appointment of his chief deputy William C. “Bill” Mims as his successor.
The daily floor sessions of the Senate of Virginia and the House of Delegates can both be viewed or listened to live via the General Assembly website at http://legis.state.va.us.
Summary of upcoming important dates:
• Final Committee Action: February 23, all committees must finish their work
• General Assembly Adjourns: February 28
• Veto Session: April 8
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