 Caleb joined David on the House floor yesterday evening to help him cast his vote on the budget. |
Late yesterday evening, the 2008 session of the General Assembly officially adjourned. While it took a few extra days to hammer out the details, we made some tough choices in the face of a $2-billion revenue shortfall driven by the national economic downturn, and we ultimately passed a two-year $77-billion budget that will: protect public education; reign in college tuition; make significant investments in the mental health system and in community-based services for the intellectually disabled; fund “Alicia’s Law” to crack down on internet predators targeting children; overturn an effort to deny state money to Planned Parenthood; expand prenatal care for poor women; and support a modest expansion of pre-kindergarten for poor children.
We will return to Richmond on April 23 to consider the Governor’s vetoes and amendments and for (hopefully brief) special sessions to address the transportation plan that was invalidated by the recent Virginia Supreme Court decision and to finalize the $1.2-billion bond package I am co-sponsoring to fund higher education construction projects, mental health facilities, and parks projects. However, now that the regular session is over, here is a summary of my work on your behalf during the first couple of months of my second term serving the people of the 45th District:
Defended public education - Halfway through the legislative session, House Republicans slipped language into the budget to restructure the way the state funds public education in future years. One of just five Delegates to vote against the initial House budget because of this language, I was one of the first legislators to expose this plan on the House floor and show how it would force communities either to raise real estate taxes or lower the quality of public schools. Under mounting pressure from Democrats and other public education advocates, House Republicans eventually abandoned their plan, clearing the way for me to support last night’s final negotiated budget.
Preserved the Air Pollution Control Board - Going into this session, my top priority was defeating the effort to dismantle the Air Pollution Control Board so we can continue working with the board to rein in pollution from the Mirant Plant. The original bill would have gutted the board’s permitting authority. After weeks of intensive lobbying and negotiations, we turned the initial, objectionable bill into legislation that preserves the board’s full power and authority and strengthens financial conflict of interest rules for board members. This is a significant victory in our fight against the Mirant Plant that could not have been achieved without the hard work of local officials and citizens working together.
Passed legislation to establish statewide Advanced Medical Directives Registry - House Bill 805 will establish a statewide registry for living wills and advanced medical directives so medical professionals and emergency responders can access these documents when they are needed most. While all Virginians can benefit from this registry, in particular it will enable gay and lesbian Virginians to designate their partners as the people to make medical decisions on their behalf — a legal power married couples enjoy by default.
Strengthened response to infectious disease outbreaks - House Bill 806 requires rapid reporting to the Department of Health of infectious disease outbreaks at assisted living residences, adult day care centers, child care centers, and certain licensed group homes. This bill will save lives by forcing facilities to bring in the Department of Health as soon as an outbreak occurs. Last year a serious outbreak of norovirus at an assisted living facility in Arlington County went unreported for nine days, resulting in 85 elderly people getting sick when they otherwise might have been protected.
Passed election reform legislation - House Bill 798 allows military and overseas voters to receive absentee balloting materials electronically, making it easier for them to exercise their right to vote while deployed to far-flung locations around the world. House Bill 800 prevents election rules from
changing midstream during a special election — a problem that occurred during last summer’s special election for Alexandria City Council.
Made progress for special needs children - House Bill 808 was a preemptive move against a proposed change to existing regulations that require parental consent for changes to special education services. The bill was carried over until next year to give the Board of Education an opportunity to preserve parental consent without legislation. Because of this legislation, hundreds of parents have contacted the Board of Education, and Governor Kaine has publicly committed to preserving the parental consent requirement. Additionally, my legislation to better proliferate training to help law enforcement officials better understand and appropriately interact with autistic and developmentally disabled children and adults was combined with Del. Shannon Valentine’s more broad autism study and passed unanimously.
Repealed abusive driver fees, reformed payday lending industry - I was pleased to join colleagues from both sides of the aisle to repeal the misguided abusive driver fees that passed last year over my objection. I also supported the successful bipartisan effort to reform the payday lending industry by capping interest rates on these short-term loans at 36 percent, limiting the number of loans an individual can take out per year, and creating additional rules to prevent people in already tenuous financial situations from falling into a spiral of debt from which they will never recover.
Disappointments included smoke-free legislation, rental assistance pilot project — As one of the chief advocates of legislation to create smoke-free restaurants and workplaces, I was disappointed that a House subcommittee once again killed every one of these bills without so much as a recorded vote. The good news is that the overwhelming majority of Virginians support these efforts, so it’s only a matter of time before the people’s elected representatives heed the will of their constituents. For the second year in a row, the Housing Subcommittee and General Laws Committee unanimously approved my legislation to create a rental assistance pilot project to help move people from homelessness to work-based financial independence. However, given the extremely tight budget situation, there was no money for the Appropriations Committee to move forward with the program. Rest assured that I will continue to fight for these important measures in the future.
As always, thank you for your advice and support and for giving me the honor of serving our community in the General Assembly. I especially want to thank the many friends who have stepped in to lend Shayna a hand juggling Caleb and work in my absence. Whatever good I am able to accomplish for our community in Richmond is only possible because of the friends, volunteers, constituents, and supporters who continue to stand with me. Thank you!
