Category: Virginia General Assembly

Because they don’t teach this stuff called “reading, writing, and arithmetic”.

AP via Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Fishel’s recent presentation at James River High School was one of many being held in classrooms this school year across Virginia, the first state to mandate that public schools offer Internet safety classes for all grade levels. It’s one of many measures being taken nationally to protect young Web users.

Virginia’s requirement initially stemmed from concerns about sex offenders preying on children online and a general increase in Internet-based crime, including spamming and phishing. More than half of the world’s Internet traffic flows through Virginia, as America Online and MCI have major operations in northern Virginia, according to Attorney General Bob McDonnell.

Texas and Illinois are among states that subsequently passed Internet safety education laws, but unlike Virginia, they don’t make the courses mandatory. And others are considering similar legislation, said Judi Westberg Warren, president of Web Wise Kids, a nonprofit group funded by corporations such as Verizon and Symantec and the federal government to provide schools with no-cost Internet safety lessons for 11- to 16-year-olds.

Can someone explain to me why schools are supposed to be a substitute for parents nowadays?

Case in point: In 2006, a local Delegate, whose a school teacher, decided to introduce a bill that would require school administrators and teachers to measure students’ BMI (body mass index) and send the information home to parents. Because, you know, teachers don’t have anything more important to do (and parents can’t tell if their kids are fat [or skinny]).

If it isn’t their own safety teachers and administrators have to worry about, it’s SOL testing, school accreditation, No Child Left Behind, etc., etc.

Now they’re expected to teach “internet safety classes” and if a certain Delegate had his way they would be checking their students’ BMI.

Priorities, priorities, priorities…

AP via WTOP:

GOP House leaders emerged from a private hour-long discussion Wednesday with the Democratic governor resolute against new statewide taxes.

“For whatever reason, they’re insisting on bringing in this maintenance problem using facts, using information that I think is dubious at best,” said House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford.

“It makes you wonder if, in fact, this is all to put it off to the 2009 election” and try to use the issue to attack GOP House candidates, Howell said.

[…]

“We are all opposed to tax increases for statewide maintenance if the speaker can furnish us the names of the contractors that he has found that will pour the asphalt and the cement for free,” an indignant Sen. Richard L. Saslaw, D-Fairfax and the Senate Majority Leader, said after the meeting.

[…]

Many Republicans want local governments within the regions to impose the taxes, the only way that they say blocks the General Assembly from diverting receipts collected in their regions to other uses in times of tight budgets.

Democrats say that approach unfairly shifts the political burden of imposing a menu of fees and taxes onto local elected leaders. They prefer using the General Assembly’s own unquestioned taxing power to generate the revenue.

See, the Republicans in the General Assembly aren’t against a tax increase — they just don’t want to be the ones imposing it!

The Shad Plank:

The problems? Despite Kaine’s glowing review of the just-ended legislative session, many of his initiatives ran into a Republican wall.

The governor’s people “don’t seem to be real good at making the deals,” said House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem.

What the heck are the people at The Shad Plank smoking? Kaine and the Democrats came out on top; anyone with any brains will tell you that.

In fact, Not Larry Sabato:

House Republicans poked the VEA in the eye with a controversial attempt to rewrite funding formulas for teacher salaries. They retreated from this position without receiving any concessions. Then, after saying that the Rainy Day Fund would be off-limits, House Republicans collapsed and agreed to a large withdrawal. Finally, after calling Governor Tim Kaine’s Pre-K program dead on arrival, House Republicans caved in and agreed to over $20 million in funding.

But there are two other battles that were waged. From what I hear, House Republicans got their clock cleaned on one. Clarke Hogan won the other.

One battle was over language in the budget about dropping funding for Planned Parenthood. For the first time EVER, the House and Senate versions of the budget contained the EXACT same language. Pro-life activists rejoiced. But I now hear that when the conference report is released, the language will be missing. House Republicans took a walk on their friends at the Family Foundation and negotiated the Planned Parenthood language away.

[…]

In other words, House negotiators rolled over on Pre-K and the Rainy Day fund, infuriated teachers AND pro-lifers (no small feat), but they went to the mat on killing the uranium study for Vice Speaker Clarke.

As The right-wing liberal puts it:

Remember the battle in the Senate to take Planned Parenthood funding out of the budget (Shaun Kenney), thus ensuring neither chamber supported abortion funding?  Well, the Senate Democrats demanded the House Republicans ignore the will of both chambers and put the funding back in.

And the House  . . . caved

[…]

House Speaker Bill Howell’s version of “leadership” has already cost the Republicans 2/3 of the House majority they had in 2002, largely by ignoring economic conservatives time and time again.  This, however, is the first time I can remember that he (through his conferees) stiff-armed the social conservatives like this.

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Impact fee bill delayed until next year:

Lawmakers have delayed until next year a proposal to drastically change the way developers help pay for municipal services required by new development.

The House Rules Committee agreed Thursday to postpone the bill to allow further negotiations between developers and local governments. Both sides support the delay.

Currently, developers offer cash and land for roads, schools or parks. Those commitments, called proffers, are usually negotiated with local governments and can be as much as $47,000 for each new house. Critics say the proffers are making houses unaffordable.

Sen. John Watkins of Powhatan County proposed replacing proffers with impact fees, which would be capped at a designated level. Some localities are concerned that impact fees would bring in less money and limit their ability to pay for new services.

Why was this delayed? Not Larry Sabato has a pretty good explanation of why: How the Speaker gives Chris Jankowski VIP Treatment

I promised a summary of the Senate budget but I missed a couple things in my last post. All numbers are for the whole 2008-10 biennial.

Additional expense in green, cuts in red, and editorials in black.

House Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government:

• Cutting $894,868 for the Virginia Crime Commission while spending $17,280 on the “Virginia Bicentennial of the American War of 1812 Commission”. Dear Lord…
• Cutting $2,000,000 for court-appointed attorneys for juveniles.
• Cutting $6,000,000 for court-appointed attorneys for adults.
• Cutting $5,902,000 for drug courts. For information on drug courts click here.
• Spending $166,760 to convert Buckingham County’s Commonwealth’s Attorney position to full-time. Meanwhile, Caroline County, that has a population that is 66.04% more than Buckingham County, doesn’t get funding.
• Cutting $1,066,000 that would have gone to localities from the wine tax and profit from Alcoholic Beverage Control.

As they say: You get the government you deserve.

Additional expense in green, cuts in red, and editorials in black.

House Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety:

• Cut $1,970,466 and twenty positions for probation transition specialists: Governor Kaine’s original budget stated: Adds $0.9 million the first year, $1.1 million the second year, and 10 positions each year from the general fund to improve the initial reentry of prisoners being released from prison to the Richmond and Tidewater areas.
• Cut $413,675 for habitual technical violator center: Governor Kaine’s original budget stated: Includes $0.2 million GF each year and four positions to establish a 100-bed program in one correctional center to house offenders who have violated the technical conditions of their probation or parole, but have not committed a new crime.
• Cut $1,356,915 for prison transition centers: Governor Kaine’s original budget stated: Provides $0.6 million the first year, $0.8 million the second year, and 12 positions each year from the general fund to establish three 100-bed reentry programs, one in each of three prisons. These programs will provide intensive services designed to prepare inmates to reenter society.
• Cut $2,202,202 for criminal justice academies; Department of Criminal Justice Services told to find money elsewhere: Cops need training? What, me worry?
• Cut $2,980,000 for school resource officers (SROs); Department of Criminal Justice Services told to find money elsewhere: I guess kids don’t need to be protected…
• I SEE NO FUNDING FOR THE COMPENSATION BOARD TO FUND ADDITIONAL DEPUTIES.
• And instead of creating positions for ten new State Troopers (as Kaine’s budget had done), they want the existing ones to work overtime! I’m sure that will be great for morale and safety!

House Appropriations Subcommittee on Economic Development, Agriculture & Natural Resources:

• $200,000 for “Cooperative Outdoor Advertising”.
• $450,000 for “See Virginia First” Coop. Advertising.
• $200,000 for “Coalfield’s [where?] Tourism Authority”.
• All that while cutting $1,000,000 for dam safety.

House Appropriations Subcommittee on Capital Outlay:

• $8,658,683 for the Webb Center [a student center] at Old Dominion University (ODU).
• $1,590,000 for the Yorktown Museum.
• $225,000,000 in bonds: You never have to pay those off do you?
• $40,000,000 to expand a stadium for a Division I-AA football team (James Madison University [JMU] Dukes).: Wow, priorities, priorities.
• $2,523,000 cut for money to repair and replace roofs, repair safety hazards, and remove lead pain and asbestos at the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind at Staunton.: They’re deaf and blind, who cares, right? [note the obvious sarcasm there]
• $5,500,000 cut in funding for equipment for Academic VI and Research II at George Mason University (GMU) but $1,000,000 for an “Arts Center”.: Who needs equipment when you have “art”?
• $1,500,000 cut to equip Monroe Hall at the University of Mary Washington (UMW).: You don’t need no stinkin’ equipment.
• But they have $25,000,000 to renovate Greear Gym at the University of Virginia’s College At Wise: Money for a gym, but no money for equipment, eh?
• $27,300,000 in cuts in funding for equipment for Loudoun Phase III (Northern Va CC [Community College]), Regional Health Profession Center Phase I (Tidewater CC), Midlothian Phase II (John Tyler CC), Annandale Academic VI (Northern Va CC), Annandale Science Building (Northern Va CC), Tri-Cities Center Portsmouth (Tidewater CC).
• But they have $35,444,000 for “student center[s]” in Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, and Norfolk.
• $760,000 in cuts in funding equipment for Mallory Hall at Virginia Military Institute (VMI).
• Cut $31,000,000 in training centers for the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation And Substance Abuse Services: So much for mental health being a high priority in the House of Delegates this year. UPDATE: Alison Hymes says (check comments) these centers are for training for people with mental retardation — I mean people that are intellectually disabled — or whatever language HB760 use.
• $2,425,000 for cabins at the Raymond R. “Andy” Guest Jr. Shenandoah River State Park: We have money for cabins, but not for mental health! but not for equipment for community colleges.

Up next: The Senate.