Ox Road South

Budget Status: We Are Reconciled

chap@oxroadsouth.com (Chap) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:20:00 GMT

Today the State Senate voted to accept the Conference Committee report from the House and Senate budget negotiators. With that, the Budget was enacted and the 2010 session came to an end.

The Conference report is a long and complex document. Here are the highlights:

K-12 Education: The Senate was able to save Virginia from about 80% of the House-proposed education cuts. The overall K-12 reduction from the introduced budget will be $253 million. That is still a significant sum (about 2% of our schools budget) but definitely manageable. The "true LCI" will be used to allocate educational funds.

Public Health: The conferees used about $370M in new Federal funding to restore provider cuts to Medicaid and lift the freeze on Medicaid waiver slots. We also adopted some new state fees to help fund state trauma centers and EMS services. Overall, with those two new revenues, we are able to keep state services generally equal.

Public Safety: About $167M is restored to Sheriffs and other local officials. We also restored funding which supports local police. We are phasing out two prisons to cut costs. We are also leaving vacant several judicial vacancies (I'm going to hear about this one). Crime continues to pay -- extra fees that is. Each conviction will get a $10 penalty extra to fund childrens' services.

State Employee Benefits: The VRS deferral will end up netting $620M in savings for this biennium. That is a huge savings but it substantially changes the nature of VRS. New employees after July 1 will be required to pay their retirement share. The state will no longer pick it up. We will continue the 1-day furlough proposed by Governor Kaine.

Higher Education: Some small reductions here to TAG scholarships and other selected projects. Otherwise, the conferees left the colleges alone. They have already lost 25% of their funding since 2007 so there's only but so much you can do.

Economic Development: The only winner in the budget. The conferees agreed to put in $46M in new spending here per the Governor's January request. We'll see how this works out. I have my doubts but let's save that for later.

Overall, it's a tough situation. In Fairfax City, my hometown, we are losing $350,000 in school funding which is about 5 teachers. Of course, that's a pittance compared to larger jurisdictions like Chesterfield that lose $18M or so. Nearly every single jursidiction will be adversely affected, except Fairfax County and Loudoun which get the one-time benefit from the true LCI (note that they still receive far less per capita than nearly every other school district).

I don't celebrate this conference report. But I did vote for it. And it passed 34-6 on the Senate floor.

And I thank the conferees and staff for sticking in there to get this done.

Back in Session Today at 5 PM

chap@oxroadsouth.com (Chap) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 18:43:00 GMT

The House and Senate are back in session today at 5 p.m.

Prior to that time, we'll get a briefing on the Conference Committee for the Budget. If you're in Richmond, it starts at 3 pm in Senate Room B of the General Assembly Buildling.

I'll try to summarize here once I get the details.

Surreal Life (Richmond Version)

chap@oxroadsouth.com (Chap) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:35:00 GMT

The session is winding down. I have two major conference reports outstanding. One should be finished today. The other may have to get kicked over til 2011.

Last night, there was a "sine die" party at Havana 59 which is a great Cuban restaurant in Shockoe Bottom, right down the hill from the Capitol. It was a bipartisan crowd there to sample the food, have a drink and even smoke a cigar.

I ended up at a table with the following folks: Morgan Griffith and his wife, Ward Armstrong, Eric Finkbeiner and David Mills. We had a very good time.

For those keeping track that's the House Majority Leader (Republican), the House Minority Leader (Democratic), the Governor's Chief of Staff and the Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Virginia.

Can't we all just get along?

Conference Committees Take Over

chap@oxroadsouth.com (Chap) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:06:00 GMT

The last couple days of the session are the perfect case of "hurry up and wait."

All over the State Capitol, legislators are dealing with legislation which is "in conference." That means that the Senate and House versions passed in different forms and the bills must be reconciled before we adjourn tomorrow.

As part of the process, the Committee Chair from where the bill originated (e.g. Agriculture, Courts, Commerce) picks a minimum of three conferees to represent his body (either House or Senate) in negotiating the final version.

Those conferees meet and if a majority in each body (i.e. at least two) agree and support the final version, it is then presented to the full body for a vote. If it passes both House and Senate, it goes on to the Governor.

I'm on 5 conference committees so I'll be busy for the next 36 hours. Most have to do with legal issues, e.g. the admissibility of electronic records or the ability of families to recover attorney fees in an IEP case.

Will keep you posted ....

Governor Overrides AG on Campus Issues

chap@oxroadsouth.com (Chap) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:34:00 GMT

The drama in Richmond this week arose from an Attorney General letter to Virginia's colleges and universities stating that they could not have adopt anti-discrimination policies broader than what is in the State Code.

As a legal matter, that's a dubious point. As a political matter, it's a sure loser.

Senator Donald McEachin (D-Henrico) sponsored a bill earlier this year, SB 66, which would have prohibited state employees from being fired or discriminated against based on their sexual orientation. I co-sponsored the bill. It passed the Senate on a 23-17 vote, i.e. along party lines. In the House, it was defeated.

That's not new. Similar bills have been defeated before. What was new was the AG's recent insistence that a principle not mandated by state law (e.g. non-discrimination) cannot be individually applied by state institutions. Historically we give the executive branch the leeway to operate as it sees fit as long as it doesn't break state law or violate individual rights. Non-discrimination clauses do neither as long as they don't violate First Amendment rights.

Yesterday the Governor clarified that he will adopt a non-discriminatory policy, whether or not it's in the State Code. The Governor's statement effectively overrules the AG, as the Governor runs the executive branch. (note that Governor Kaine and Warner had formal non-discrimination policies adopted by executive order).

The legal points are arcane and, frankly, our campuses don't suffer discriminatory conduct -- with or without a law. The real point is that the AG is again gratuitously starting legal battles that he cannot win.

I served with Ken Cuccinelli in the Senate and I count him as a friend, although I didn't vote for him in November. I know he can do a lot better than this.

Visit to Johnson Memorial Baptist Church

chap@oxroadsouth.com (Chap) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:41:00 GMT

Last night, I left Richmond at 5 p.m. and made the long trip up Rte 95 to Washington, D.C. to meet with a special group of pastors regarding SB 116.

It's a long story but here's the short version ...

In December 2008, I was contacted to potentially represent a number of D.C.-area pastors who had been victimized by an ingenious marketing scam involving a bogus advertising kiosk to be installed in each church. The kiosk, when it was installed, did not work or had no usable content. It generated no revenue.

As part of the deal, the churches were enticed to sign a leasing contract which obligated them to a series of payments for the kiosk and onerous penalties if they did not comply. The leases specified that any "disputes" would be settled in Wisconsin(!) and that the leasing companies were given direct access to the church bank accounts to facilitate payments.

Next stop, disaster.

I had an initlal meeting with Rev. Thomas of Johnson Baptist in December 2008. After meeting with several groups of pastors in early 2009 and seeing that the scope of the problem was big (more than 30 congregations in D.C. alone), it was apparent that one lawyer could not solve the problem.

Since two of the major impacted churches were based in Virginia, I contacted the former Attorney General, Bill Mims, to see if the AG's office could step in and defend the Virginia churches. The answer was "no." Why? Because churches don't have standing under Virginia's consumer protection laws and thus the AG had no grounds to intervene.

SB 116 addressed that by giving churches standing to make consumer claims. The bill passed the House and Senate unanimously. It got some good media, thanks to the hard work of my Communications Director and the Interfaith Coalition which endorsed it and featured it on the front of their session newsletter.

That sets the stage for last night's meeting, where I met again with Rev. Thomas of Johnson Baptist, which is located on Ridge Road high above Southeast D.C. He was there with a passel of other pastors interested in our bill, including some from Richmond. I was honestly moved when they greeted me with hugs and applause. You don't usually get that reaction in this business.

I can't say that SB 116 can "turn back the clock" and make restitution for the hundreds of thousands of dollars scammed from our local churches. But we can try. And, God willing, we'll get the chance once the Governor signs the bill.

School Daze in the Senate

chap@oxroadsouth.com (Chap) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:46:00 GMT

The Senate just spent a full day debating three bills sent down by Governor McDonnell regarding charter and alternative school issues.

These bills include SB 736 (establishing College Lab schools), SB 737 (relating to charter schools) and SB 738 (relating to on-line curricula). All three of these bills recognize a reality that education in this century will be markedly different than the desk and blackboard instruction of my youth.

There has been tremendous opposition to these bills. Some of it is substantive and some is symbolic. Either way, people have strong opinions about public schools, how they're funded and how the students are orgnanized. All the historic divisions of this Commonwealth are invoked.

On the other hand, President Obama himself has endorsed these concepts -- especially charter schools -- as a means for improving schools, especially in under-performing districts. His "Race to the Top" program allocates nearly $5 billion to states based upon their participation in innovative programs. A few days ago, Virginia learned it would not join fifteen other states in receiving those funds. While our weak "charter school" law was not the definitive reason for this failure, it was a relevant factor.

Here's how the process played out today ...

SB 736 (College Lab Schools) would have permitted our universities to set up "lab schools" in the community in conjunction with their Schools of Education. Here's the problem: our colleges don't have enough money to educate their own students. And now they're going to open an elementary school? I voted "no." Regardless, the bill passed 25-15.

SB 737 (Charter Schools) actually was mostly symbolic. The pared-down version of the bill only changed the law in permitting the State Board of Education to play an advisory role in a charter school application. The final decision still rests with the local School Board. This bill passed 27-12. I sit on the Board of a non-profit that is considering applying for a charter school. Therefore, I recused myself from this vote pursuant to Senate Rule 36. If I had voted, I would have voted "yes."

SB 738 (On-line schools) will have the most impact. This legislation set up a system for the Board of Education to evaluate and regulate on-line curricula and those school divisions which establish on-line programs. Schools are already moving this way.. This bill is a catch-up. The bill passed 35-5. I voted "yes."

These bills will pass the House and go to the Governor.

Justice Rolls Like a Mighty River (Monday's version)

chap@oxroadsouth.com (Chap) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:53:00 GMT

Yesterday in the Courts Committee we took up a number of House bills which covered areas we had not previously addressed. Here are some of the votes:

HB 15 (Marshall): Would have prohibited Virginia from holding anyone accused of terrorism in its prisons. Where else are we going to hold them? In our schools? Thankfully we killed this bill.

HB 166 (Pogge): Expanded the death penalty eligible crimes to include the killing of a fire marshal in the performance of his duties. While I usually vote against death penalty expansions, I did vote for this bill since fire marshals have "felony arrest" powers but are not otherwise covered by the statute. The bill passed.

HB 502 (Gilbert): This bill revisited the "triggerman" rule but with a slightly different spin, i.e. it eliminated the rule only for the killing of law enforcement. However, all the same issues apply, e.g. how do you prove that an accomplice had the intent to commit murder when he's sitting in a get-away car? And he didn't actually kill anyone? Treating all defendants the same may give the prosecution leverage but it's not justice. We defeated this bill.

HB 513 (Rust): Permits the impoundment of the vehicle when an unlicensed driver continues to drive in violaton of the law. For reasons I can't quite fathom, this bill has been hotly contested. I voted "yes" and it did pass this time.

HB 728 (Albo): Limits the conditions of pre-release for those convicted of a felony. This bill became a huge "turf battle" as pre-release personnel lobbied against limitations on their taxpayer-subsidized services. Commercial bail bondsmen, on the other hand, supported the bill. I co-sponsored Albo's bill thereby earning mention in an hysterical Roanoke Times editorial (fyi, editors, my donor history is at www.vpap.org). In its pared-down version, the bill was a wash in terms of saving taxpayers. Regardless, it was "carried over" on an 8-7 vote.

HB 1197 (Iaquinto): Would require a mandatory ignition interlock device be installed on the vehicle of anyone convicted of driving under the influence. Right now, it's mandatory on second offense only. Otherwise, it's judicial discretion. This "all drivers" concept is complete overkill IMO and reflects what happens when single-issue advocates are allowed to dictate our criminal laws. (e.g. "abuser fees") The bill was defeated.

One More Week to Go

chap@oxroadsouth.com (Chap) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:42:00 GMT

Yesterday was the first "spring" day of the year. I had the family down and we spent most the afternoon exploring Richmond, including Shockoe Bottom and the State Capitol grounds.

In the afternoon, I ran down Grove Avenue to Libbie Avenue and back. For the first time, there were outdoor diners to heckle me.

Got into the GA office early today (about 6 a.m.) Lots of bills left to vote on in committee and on the floor. Also conference committees will be forming this week to deal with disputed bills. So far, I haven't been assigned to any but that will surely change.

Round 2 Against Health Care Mandates

chap@oxroadsouth.com (Chap) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:13:00 GMT

Several weeks ago -- it seems like a lifetime -- the State Senate passed a series of bills stating that no Virginian could be "forced" into purchasing insurance. After a long floor fight, the bills passed 23-17 and caused a mild shock in the political world, as the U.S. Congress was still apparently considering a comprehensive health care reform bill.

I voted against the bill and stated my opposition.

Of course, the bills have no effect against Federal legislation which supersedes state law. But that didn't stop us back then.

Today, having passed the House, the bills resurfaced on the Senate floor with "Governor's amendments." Ironically, the amendments covered the exact issue I raised on February 2nd, namely that the new law would strip away a court's ability to require parents in a custody case to provide insurance for their children.

The Governor sought to cure the problem. But even a good amendment can't cure a bad bill.

What about sports leagues that require insurance?

How about private schools?

How about outdoor organization, especially those for kids?

All kinds of organizations, whether state-run (e.g. colleges) or private, require insurance for certain activities. That is good for the organization and good for the individual.

These bills cause confusion and do the exact opposite of what we want -- which is to encourage people to get insurance, especially for their children.