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| Finally – A Budget
Special Session on Budget ended with $85 billion two year spending plan, but no plan for transportation After a series of last-minute machinations, the General Assembly approved a two-year budget on April 18, 2012. The $85 billion, two-year budget took an additional 39 days to approve and ended speculation about a possible state government shutdown. Most observers, myself included, never believed that we would come close to a shutdown and viewed this as a specter raised largely by Republicans to avoid discussing the real issues in the budget: education, adequate funding for the social safety net, and transportation. When Governor McDonnell’s budget was initially proposed in December, it shortchanged K-12 education, the social safety net, and transportation. Albemarle and Charlottesville City schools would have faced serious shortfalls in their funding, and those most vulnerable would have been affected by draconian cuts in the McDonnell budget. The Governor’s only plan for transportation was to take monies from public education, mental health and public safety. This was unacceptable. Largely because of Democratic efforts, the initial House budget passed in March was far superior to the one proposed by McDonnell. Nonetheless, it was still inadequate and was, therefore, rejected by the Senate. You can view my comments on the initial House budget during floor debate here. After a series of negotiations, monies diverted from education, mental health, and public safety to fund transportation were restored to the budget. Additional monies were also found for what is called “cost-to-compete” in Northern Virginia localities, which would allow them to recruit and retain teachers and other critical public employees. Senate Democrats continued to exert pressure for transportation funding for projects in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia. The Governor agreed to provide an additional $100 million to delay tolls on various tunnel and bridge projects for two years. The Governor, however, was not willing to advance additional monies for the Dulles rail project, where tolls are even higher. This prompted Democrats in the Senate to initially reject the new budget. The votes were tied until Senator Chuck Colgan, a Democrat from Prince William County, decided to vote with the Republicans in order to obtain a budget. You can view my comments on the budget conference report proposal here. During the debate in the Senate, the Route 29 bypass was mentioned several times, though there was no serious effort to move money from that project to the Dulles rail project. I had initially proposed taking some money from a project in Suffolk to fund Dulles rail, but the Route 29 bypass was never discussed in any of the House debates. Democratic advocacy in the House made the final budget much better than the one proposed in January. We were able to secure substantially more money for K-12 education, a fact that will greatly help schools in Charlottesville and Albemarle. We secured an additional $45 million to provide the service and care to those who are unable to care for themselves through no fault of their own. Democrats also succeeded in creating an Advanced Manufacturing Fund so that more jobs, especially in economically disadvantaged regions of the state, could be created. Funding for the Commonwealth Research and Commercialization Fund was restored. We successfully argued for the capitalization of Virginia Housing Trust Fund, and to close the so-called “Amazon Tax Loophole” (see my statement on the Amazon issue here). The Governor still has an opportunity to modify the budget, which we will consider again in early May. With the exception of that meeting, our legislative sessions are now completed for the year. I will now be devoting my time to constituent service for this district, and will continue my role as House Democratic Leader. Your support has been important to me throughout this year where the demands of my time have been even greater in this new leadership role. I am honored to represent you and appreciate your input and support. |
Senator Creigh Deeds sends an update from the veto session at the General Assembly.
On the 18th day of April, about six weeks after the procedural resolution called for the passage of a budget, Virginia’s General Assembly, together for a Veto Session, finally passed a budget. There is much in the budget to like, some items not to like, and signs for the future that are very worrisome.
The Good
By holding out for a better budget, Senate Democrats achieved a great deal in the final budget. Nearly $45 million was added over the biennium for health and human services. This includes $4.8 million to preserve the healthcare safety net, $6 million to continue long term Medicaid eligibility for 1,500 elderly and disabled individuals in nursing homes, $11.6 million to add 225 Medicaid waivers slots, and $1.6 million to add mentally disabled waiver spots. We also added $69 million for Medicaid payments to nursing homes and hospitals to offset inflation costs, nearly $11 million dollars to increase Medicaid personal care and congregate care rates, and over $3 million to expand children’s mental health services. To pay for some of this, we identified nearly $79 million in savings from a combination of earned federal Medicaid bonuses.
We added about $215 million for public education over the budget as introduced. About $110 million of that amount provides additional assistance for retirement, inflation and prekindergarten costs. Over $47 million was added to update funding for K-3 class size reduction and nearly $7 million, for a correction to career and technical education funding.
Over $122 million was added for higher education institutions for base operations, enrollment incentives and initiatives over the biennium. Included in that amount is almost $43 million for enrollment incentives for new slots at the University of Virginia, College of William and Mary, Virginia Tech and James Madison University. We also included $18.5 million for higher education undergraduate and graduate student financial aid and $6 million for cancer research at the University of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University. The budget also provides a salary bonus for faculty members of higher education institutions in December 2012 and August 2013, contingent upon revenue meeting our current projections.
The budget also includes nearly $88 million for the water quality improvement fund to meet the state’s commitment to upgrade 57 local and regional waste water treatment plants in order to meet water quality goals. The housing trust fund is capitalized to the tune of $7 million to help provide permanent solutions for homeless individuals. The budget provides $4.5 million for Civil War battlefield preservation and $4.1 million in restorations to the Soil and Water Conservation Districts.
State employees are slated to receive a three percent bonus in December 2012 and a two percent bonus in August 2013, contingent on revenue projections remaining at the currently projected level. The budget funds 61 district clerk court positions and 23 judgeships statewide.
In sum, the majority of what was sought through the budget negotiations was obtained. Important investments in K-12 and higher education are being made, ensuring our ability to continue to build the intellectual infrastructure to support economic growth in the Commonwealth. We made important restorations in funding to preserve the social safety net.
The Bad
The final compromise is far from perfect. There are plenty of budget actions I do not agree with, including elimination of funding for teenage pregnancy prevention programs and public broadcasting. The biggest failure, however, continues to be on transportation.
Any reader faintly familiar with my tenure in public office knows that I have a keen interest in transportation because it is a critical piece of infrastructure necessary to ensure growth and opportunity in every part of the Commonwealth. I fear that a toll-driven transportation system is one that will further balkanize Virginia. Transportation projects will go forward in those portions of the state where money can be raised through tolls, and economic growth will not occur evenly throughout the Commonwealth. I think that under that type of system, the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer. Frankly economic opportunity in southwest, western and central Virginia is dependent upon our ability as a Commonwealth to fund a 21stCentury transportation system. I know that many of my friends see this issue as one that is primarily important to Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, and it is true that those are the fastest growing parts of Virginia and have the most urgent needs. However, 40 percent of Virginia’s bridges and tunnels are structurally deficient, and those faulty bridges and tunnels are not just in Northern Virginia or Hampton Roads. We must be willing to invest in transportation projects throughout Virginia.
We held out as long as we could to try to force a transportation “fix” through the budget process. The development of a long term transportation solution was a long shot this year but it is going to be a long shot any year. Ultimately, we were not successful. So we will live to fight another year.
Further, many of our budget decisions have placed increased responsibility on local governments. It is easy for the Commonwealth when we face a mandate from the federal level to complain and blame it on someone else. The truth is Virginia often passes responsibilities on to local government. This year, dramatic changes were made to the Virginia Retirement System. A new hybrid plan was created which will ultimately require an employee contribution greater than the five percent in the current defined benefit plan. Recent and new hires will also see reduced retirement benefits. Much of the cost of these changes was passed onto local governments.
The Ugly
On the 17th of April, the Democratic Caucus in the Senate, 20 strong, voted against the budget because we were trying to force a transportation solution. The next day one of our members voted for the budget. There has been much thought and some hurtful things that have been said over the days since the budget passed. Senator Colgan, the lone Democrat who voted for the budget, has given his life to the service of our country and our Commonwealth. He simply did what he thought was right. The other nineteen of us had no idea that he was going to make that decision but in retrospect, we probably should have known. We achieved much of what we wanted in this year’s budget process however big challenges are ahead, as we continue to kick the transportation can down the road.
Virginia had prided itself for decades on fiscal discipline and completing the people’s work on time. To a large degree, we have been the opposite of our federal counterparts in Washington DC, working across party lines to move Virginia forward. Unfortunately, that is changing. The budget fight this year harkens back to earlier budget fights back in 2001, 2004, 2006, and 2008 that saw extended deadlocks. We could truly be experiencing a new sort of normal in budget negotiations. In my view, this is not a positive development. We need to focus on the big picture, on moving Virginia forward, and on creating opportunity in every corner of the Commonwealth. The tenor of this session was set on the very first day by the refusal of 20 Republican senators to engage in a power-sharing agreement that reflected the 50-50 representation voted in by the citizens of the Commonwealth. I, for one, do not think Virginia will be better off for the partisan wars to follow.
It is my pleasure to serve you in the Senate of Virginia. If I may be of assistance, or if you have questions or want to share your views, my legislative office can be reached at (434) 296-5491 or district25@senate.virginia.gov
. I look forward to hearing from you. Best,
Creigh
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Scottsville Supervisor Christopher Dumler sends his latest update on what’s happening with the Albemarle Board of Supervisors.
April started with a bang the other day – even though the weather outside was beautiful, the eight-and-a-half hour marathon of a Board meeting ensured that I wouldn’t be outside enjoying it. Nonetheless, it was a very productive meeting, and – along with the events of the last few weeks – I have a lot to report on. If any of these items are of interest to your neighbors, please feel free to forward this e-mail along to them or encourage them to sign up for this newsletter.
County Wide Issues:
* Yesterday, the Board voted 5-1 to adopt a resolution setting the property tax levy at $0.762/$100 of value for this fiscal year, the same as the advertised rate that I discussed in my last e-mail. This represents a two-tenths cent decrease from the “equalized rate” that staff had built their budget on, effectively sending nearly $300,000 back to the taxpayer (relative to the collected property tax levels of last year). As I mentioned in my previous e-mail, this tax rate supports a budget that contains funding for several long-delayed capital improvements—including a new fire station in Ivy and a police and fire/rescue training facility and firing range in Keene—as well as unfreezing three police officer positions that had been frozen since the beginning of the recession. A huge thank you goes out to everyone who came out to the public hearing on the budget on Wednesday, March 28th, as well as everyone who e-mailed or called me and expressed their thoughts on this important issue.
* Next Wednesday, April 11th, the Board will have an opportunity to review and provide direction on the work that has been done to date on the Comprehensive Plan. This includes updates to ordinances that impact “agribusiness” and “agritourism” in the rural areas. If you have any thoughts, ideas, or comments about where you believe it’s appropriate to strike the balance between protecting and preserving the rural area and spurring innovation and enterprise such that we can have a vital and vibrant rural economy, please e-mail or call me with your thoughts so that I may make them known during this worksession.
* Also on April 11th, the Board will receive the results of the Thomas Jefferson Partnership for Economic Development’s Target Industry/Workforce Study. This study will serve as a template for the County’s Economic Development Team, who – at the Board’s direction – will subsequently develop marketing and incentives, tools, and strategies for expanding and attracting these targeted industries and aligning our workforce training with these industries’ needs to provide good paying jobs.
* The Albemarle/Charlottesville Cooperative Extention will be kicking off their Well Water Testing Program this April 9th at 6:00pm in Room A of the 5th Street County Office Building. The program offers low cost water testing and interpretation of the results by Extention staff. If you have concerns about your well, please feel free to stop by and reserve your kit!
Scottsville District Issues:
* The Comprehensive Plan update continues to chug along nicely. On April 2nd, staff presented a series of goals and continued to solicit input from (among others) residents of Neighborhoods 4 & 5, the southern urban area of the County and northern portion of the Scottsville District. Comments on topics ranging from proposed growth area expansions at Somerset Farm to transportation infrastructure improvements like the Southern Connector and Sunset/Fontaine Ave. extension were heard by the planning staff and your thoughts, ideas, and comments will be incorporated in to the framework being developed for these neighborhoods. This framework continues to be an ongoing process, so if you have any thoughts about land use, transportation, rural ordinances, etc., please don’t hesitate to contact me.
* The Board also had occasion to review the Six-Year Secondary Transportation Plan yesterday, and the Scottsville District is slated for several improvements during the horizon of this plan. Included on Albemarle’s Strategic Priorities List are theFontaine/Sunset Connector, spot improvements on Old Lynchburg Road at various locations, sight distance improvements along James River Road between Routes 795 and 1302, and improving the intersection at Blenheim Road and Route 790. Though the County receives a paltry amount from the state for transportation projects, the Board will discuss in June how much money to allocate to transportation as part of the final adoption of our Capital Plan.
* Finally, I also voted to appropriate money in the Emergency Communications Center’s budget to a radio system augmentation project that will help provide better coverage for system users in the Scottsville, Howardsville, and Schuyler areas. The funding had been held in reserve until the ECC could procure the additional 800 MHz frequencies needed for them to move forward, but the project will now move forward in a way that will increase the ability of emergency responders in the southern end of the County to handle emergencies and keep us safe.
Board meetings take place on the first Wednesday of each month at 9AM and the second Wednesday of each month at 6PM, and I would love to see you there to make your voice heard. As always, I would be very interested in hearing your opinion about the above issues and any other issues that may be of concern to you and your family. Please don’t ever hesitate to get in touch with me at any time by calling 434-260-1123 or emailing me at cdumler@albemarle.org.
Thank you,
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In case you missed them, our two Democratic members of the Board of Supervisors made appearances on Charlottesville Right Now with Coy Barefoot in the last week:
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Scottsville District Supervisor Christopher Dumler:
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White Hall District Supervisor Ann Mallek:
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White Hall Supervisor Ann Mallek is holding her Eighth Series town halls in March. She posts on her web site details:
Thank you for your confidence to send me back for a second term representing the White Hall district. You are vitally important to success, by sharing your insights about problems and solutions in our community.
Unlike some radio hosts, I believe “Community” is a good word, conveying a sense of caring about neighbors, local business success, our children’s futures and the protection of the environment which helps us to lead healthy lives. None of us is alone on an island; we are all connected to sink or succeed together.
Beginning Tuesday, March 13, I will host three citizens’ town halls.Police Dept officers and school board members will be in attendance. In addition to the budget details, I ask for feedback on any other issues of interest. I will gather topics every 30 minutes to prevent leaving issues unaddressed. Please join me at an upcoming meeting:
- Tuesday, March 13. Town Hall with Pam Moynihan. Broadus Wood cafeteria. 7 pm.
- Saturday, March 17. 1 pm. Town Hall with Steve Koleszar at White Hall community Center.
- Monday, March 19. 7 pm at the Meadows, Crozet Ave. Town Hall with Eric Strucko and Ned Gallaway.
We will discuss the timetable for ordinance changes for rural area businesses such as bed-and-breakfast rooms in outbuildings and food service at farms, as well as changes to county process to “fast-track” applications to help our economic recovery.
There are many other questions. What are your thoughts on cost-recovery billing to insurance companies only for ambulance transport? Should changes be made to ordinances currently allowing burning of household trash in our backyards? Are you concerned about drug use in the school-age population?
Updates will also be provided about upcoming VDOT projects in the White Hall District.
Actions of the General Assembly as the session ends will affect the local budget. State government has passed us the bill to restore funding to the state retirement system by requiring an additional $1.4 M each year from Albemarle County. Sad the Governor did not repay the loan he took from the retirement system, calling it “surplus” and handing out bonuses to state employees.
General reductions in funding for schools, for mental health services as patients are returned to their communities, for maintenance of roads unless matched 50/50 by local funds, and cuts in funding for commonwealth’s attorney, sheriff, and jail budgets will hamper our ability to fund our local future. It is unknown today what the Governor will do as the bills pass and come across his desk.
What is known is that we all can work together. Many of you help me to be well informed about issues of particular interest to you. We will continue to work together to fund the completion of the Historic District application and the furnishings to the Western Albemarle Crozet library.
Thank you all for your assistance.
Read more at Supervisor Mallek’s web site.
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Scottsville Supervisor Christopher Dumler sends his latest update on what’s happening with the Albemarle Board of Supervisors.
It’s been a busy few weeks on the Board of Supervisors, with a lot of progress being made on the budget, the comprehensive plan update, and lots of other projects and initiatives around the District and County. A few of the highlights are below:
County-wide Issues:
- At a work session yesterday, I joined Supervisors Rooker, Snow, and Thomas in a 4-2 vote to advertise this year’s property tax rate at $0.762 per $100 of assessed value. This compromise tax rate is below the equalized tax rate that was recommended by staff, and will result in the average property owner in Albemarle County seeing his or her taxes decrease this next year. The budget we set for advertisement contains funding for some long-delayed capital improvements—including a new fire station in Ivy and a police and fire/rescue training facility and firing range in Keene—as well as unfreezing three police officer positions that had been frozen since the beginning of the recession. The new budget also appropriates some extra money to our libraries. The public hearing for the budget will be on Wednesday, March 28th at 6:00pm at the County Office Building, and will be voted on Wednesday, April 4th at 6:00pm.
- Short notice, but today is a once-in-five-year opportunity to help shape Virginia’s Outdoor Recreation Plan (VORP) as it pertains to our Planning District. Essentially, the VORP is the state’s “comprehensive plan” for outdoor recreation, and a particular local initiative—be it a state park, bike path, scenic riverway, or other general active or passive recreational opportunity—must be in the VORP in order to get state funding. You can find more info here. These meetings are often not well-attended, so your ability to get your neighborhood’s greenway or open space or recreation project in the state plan may be better than you think. The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is holding meetings at 3:00pm and again at 7:00pm at TJPDC’s office at 407 Water Street to get your input.
- At last Wednesday’s meeting, the Board approved application changes and a modified, accelerated review schedule for the approval of personal wireless service facilities in the County. This comes before we’ll have the opportunity to review our full wireless policy in the coming months. I’m committed to protecting and maintaining our scenic beauty while still ensuring we dramatically increase the telecommunications infrastructure and wireless coverage of the Scottsville District and southern Albemarle.
Scottsville District Issues:
- Last Thursday, March 8th, Albemarle County held a “mini” Master Planning Meeting for the Southern Urban Neighborhoods (4 & 5). The nearly 100 citizens who turned up to voice their ideas for their neighborhoods as part of the Comprehensive Plan update will have an opportunity to weigh in again this April 2nd in a location TBD (stay tuned to my community calendar!) to ensure that staff included everyone’s thoughts and ideas in the framework they’re developing. One of my top priorities is ensuring that the Southern Urban areas are given the same attention that has been given to other urban growth areas such as Pantops and Crozet, and it is my intent that following the development of this initial framework to ensure the creation of a Citizen Advisory Committee that can continue the process of ensuring the orderly development of this area in an effort to enhance everyone’s quality of life.
- The Scottsville Library will be getting a bit of a makeover soon—last Wednesday, the Board approved approximately $30,000 to repair and paint the library’s roof and replace the gutters and downspouts, which were in a state of failure and beyond repair.
- In light of Albemarle’s rapidly urbanizing nature, and as part of our commitment to combating the problems associated with gang activity, I have been asked to join and have accepted an appointment to the Albemarle/Charlottesville Model Gang Task Force Steering Committee. This task force is a multi-discipline and multi-jurisdictional partnership to impact gang activity in our region, and will work to develop a structured, multi-pronged strategy to specifically define the problem of gangs in a given area.
- The Shadwell Bridge closure is still on schedule. More information can be found on the VDOT’s project website page.
- For those who weren’t able to attend the community meeting I had last Monday at Stone Robinson Elementary School, you’ll have two more opportunities to come out and give me your thoughts, opinions, and comments on Albemarle’s future. The first will be tonight, Thursday, March 15th, at 6:00pm at Scottsville Elementary School. Additionally, I’ll be in Room A of the Albemarle County Office Building on 5th Street this Saturday, March 17th, at 2:00pm.
- Finally, at last Wednesday’s full Board meeting, the Board appointed Scottsville resident Nancy Gill to the Social Services Board and Milton resident Bonnie Brewer to the Citizen’s Police Advisory Committee. Congratulations to both!
Thank you for taking the time to be involved in your community. I look forward to hearing from you and seeing you at these events in the coming weeks. As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions, comments, or ideas you may have at 434-260-1123 or cdumler@albemarle.org.
Thank you,
Christopher Dumler
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Delegate David Toscano sends his last update from the regular session of the General Assembly in Richmond.
The General Assembly adjourned at 9:28 p.m. on Saturday, March 10, 2012 without a budget. We simply ran out of time. We immediately convened a Special Session to address the budget, which will hopefully occur within the next month. This is the fourth time since 2001 when the General Assembly has not been able to reach agreement on a budget before the session ended. In my first session (2006), we went 100 days into overtime before we passed a budget.
Fortunately, both sides appear close enough that a budget can emerge soon. If you recall from my previous posts, Governor McDonnell’s budget made cuts in the social safety net and shortchanged education. While we were able to argue successfully to restore some of the cuts and to enhance funding for education, the House budget was still inadequate and therefore I could not support it.
Senate Democrats have also argued for additional monies for the social safety net and education. Virginia per pupil spending has been declining in recent years and now is on par with 2007 levels. Teacher salaries have also not kept pace with the national average. In addition, our system of higher education, while likely to receive an increase in this year’s budget, has been neglected for the last decade. Many observers believe that we face substantial budgetary challenges in the coming years and may not be able to maintain our priorities without an influx of revenue.
As the clock wound down for end of session, we considered two initiatives that the Governor had been promoting. The first was his transportation bill, which would have diverted money away from schools to transportation. The Governor’s proposal was soundly rejected, and the resulting bill had little left in it. Transportation funding will remain a challenge for us to address. The second was a major overhaul of VRS, which was presented to us at the last minute. House Democrats objected to voting on a bill so quickly and without the benefit of public input, but the measure was passed nonetheless. I will have a future post on this, and will continue to advocate for positive changes in the bill to protect employees between now and the veto session in April.
In the end, this session is likely to be remembered for the socially divisive bills forced through by conservative Republicans. These bills deflected our attention from critical issues like adequately funding our public schools, creating jobs, and solving our transportation challenges. While the Governor is already claiming several “successes”, they pale by comparison to the challenges that we continue to face in the Commonwealth.
Sincerely,
David
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Senator Creigh Deeds sends an update to his last newsletter after the General Assembly session adjourned on Saturday:
Update to Sine Die Newsletter:
The General Assembly adjourned, sine die, on March 10, without passing a final budget. The outline of a budget appears to be close, and the General Assembly will reconvene on March 21. I would expect that a budget will be approved shortly thereafter. A couple of important measures dealing with VRS and transportation were passed on the last day of the session, and I wanted to provide some up-to-date information.
One of the big issues this session has been the retirement system. All of the retirement systems, including those for state employees, teachers, local employees, state police and other law enforcement officers, and the judiciary, haveroughly a combined $24 billion unfunded liability. Experts in public pensions suggest that the accounts have to be 80 percent funded in order to be viable over the long haul. Our accounts do not meet this benchmark. This is not a problem that occurred overnight, and we have known for years it needed to be addressed. The quickest way for us to return the VRS to viability is for the General Assembly to fund the various retirement accounts at the level proposed by the VRS Board of Trustees. Historically, the General Assembly and the Governor have reduced the contribution below the suggested amount to fund other priorities. In other words, the contributions have been treated like a credit card.
If the General Assembly began funding the retirement accounts at the VRS Board of Trustees suggested amount this year, we would reduce the unfunded liability to under $18 million in the next decade, and, achieve the 80 percent funding level. This is exactly what Sen. Janet Howell (D-Reston) proposed last year in a constitutional amendment that passed the Senate and died in the House of Delegates. It makes sense for the state to contribute the amount proposed by the Board, which is what we require local governments to do for local employees. However, we would have to shift hundreds of millions of dollars from other core services to VRS or find additional revenue.
On the final day of session, a small group of legislators reached consensus and came out with a compromise proposal. A summary of the changes is available at the Senate Finance Committee’swebsite. For local employees, localities are required to provide a 5 percent pay increase on July 1 of this year. The raise is to offset the new requirement for local employees to contribute 5 percent into retirement, much like we did with state employees last year. In addition, employees will have an option to contribute an additional 1%. If they do, localities will be required to bump their pay up another percent. Localities will still be required to pay a local share at the level suggested by the VRS Board of Trustees.
There are changes with respect to benefits, though there is an argument that the changes are not significant. The multiplier is changed from 1.70 to 1.65 for members with less than five years of service as of January 1, 2013 and benefits are based on the last five years of service rather than the last three years. The bill respecting state employees makes significant changes as well. All new employees will have a hybrid retirement system. Four percent of the employee’s contribution goes into a defined benefit plan and 1 percent goes into a defined contribution plan.
I voted against all four conference reports for a number of reasons. I am concerned that we are imposing on local governments a mandate with an unknown cost. I asked pointed questions during the briefing about the effect of the plans on retirement benefits and about the cost to local governments and did not receive answers that quieted my concern. I am also concerned that we are providing a disincentive for people to work in public service. It is important that we not only maintain trust with those people who are already vested in VRS (and these bills do not affect those people who are vested), but that we provide an incentive for highly qualified and talented people to come to work in public service. The bottom line is that there were too many unanswered questions for me on all of these bills.
While I am committed as anyone to restoring VRS, the quickest way we can restore the health of the system is to simply pay into the system what the trustees propose. The problems we presently have with respect to the retirement system did not arise because of mistakes by local governments or their employees. They arose because the General Assembly and the Governor, over the last number of years, have chosen to underfund the retirement system. I am convinced that we can find a better way to fix VRS.
One of the other major issues we have continued to ignore in recent years is transportation. Prior to the session, the Governor proposed shifting additional general fund dollars into transportation. His plan for transportation also included a proposal to sell the naming rights of our highways, bridges and tunnels. The House and the Senate came up with different approaches for transportation. And those proposals were reduced to a conference report, representing the compromise between the two sides.
The House agreed primarily with the Governor and also included language that assured the devolution of responsibility to local governments. This constitutes a major change in transportation funding in Virginia. The Senate took a different approach, rejecting the idea that we sell the naming rights of our public infrastructure, and also rejecting the ideas that we shift general fund money from public schools, public health and public safety to transportation. Rather the Senate, in a bipartisan manner, chose to index the gas tax which would have resulted in about two-tenths of a cent increase in the gas tax over the next year. Both the House and the Senate views on raising money for transportation were rejected by the conference report. I voted against the compromise because in the end it only does two things, neither of which I think are good ideas. First, the conference report requires an unprecedented interaction between the localities and the Commonwealth Transportation Board with respect to local highway planning. In my view, this sets the stage for the devolution of funding for highway maintenance to local governments. Few local governments have the ability to raise the money necessary to build or maintain highways. In my view, this is a step toward a balkanized transportation system.
Second, the conference report allows the selling of naming rights for bridge, tunnels and highways, which the Governor’s office suggested could potentially generate $100 million a year. I have not seen any evidence to suggest that sort of revenue can be raised by selling the naming rights to our highway infrastructure. Rather I think the idea is demeaning. Traditionally, we have named bridges and tunnels for fallen police officers or Medal of Honor winners or other military heroes. We have named highways after local people or events of significance. In each case, the naming has historical or geographic significance. For these reasons, I voted no. The Lt. Governor served as a tie-breaking vote, so the bill now heads to the Governor for his consideration.
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Senator Creigh Deeds sends his latest weekly newsletter from the General Assembly Session in Richmond, which ended on Saturday.
The 2012 regular session of the General Assembly is winding down. With hours to go before the scheduled adjournment, at long last, a budget agreement appears to be within grasp.
As I have outlined on this page before, Republicans insisted that they had a majority, organized the Senate, controlled the flow of legislation, and threw Democratic senators off committees; but in fact they did not have a majority. They cannot pass budgets, or elect judges, or amend the constitution without Democratic votes because the Senate is evenly divided. The equal division has left us at a budget impasse that is a product of the complete breakdown of the working relationship which has existed in the Senate.
Earlier this week, my colleagues and I provided a list of items that needed to be in the budget. Those items include recognition of the inflation factor in the Standards of Quality, the primary funding component of K-12 education, the retention of 4500 slots for Medicaid recipients, who would otherwise be out on the street under previous funding plans, and the exclusion of the Governor’s proposal to use additional general fund money for transportation.
In addition, the list included two other key elements that do not impact directly the area I represent, except in the broader sense: the cost of living adjustment for the Northern Virginia region due to the higher cost of living there and toll abatement for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. Increasingly, we are shifting to a toll-based system to finance transportation improvements. Tolls along certain roadways in both Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads are set to top six dollars per trip. All Virginians should be concerned about a significant transition to toll roads. If the people in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads are forced to toll, they will be less willing to assist in funding transportation improvements throughout Virginia. Eventually, the only option for building roads in central and western Virginia will be through the imposition of tolls. We simply do not have the traffic on any highway, outside the urban areas, to sustain our transportation network through the reasonable use of tolls. Reliance on tolls alone would ensure that no transportation improvements occur outside Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, and the Richmond area.
A list of budgetary requests was presented to the Governor earlier this week, and discussions are ongoing. It appears that we will adjourn on time and return for a special session in the next few weeks to finalize the budget and elect judges. Failing to pass a budget in advance of the regular scheduled adjournment has become the norm. I would prefer to complete our business on time, but it is more important we get it right.
In this space, in past weeks, I have spoken of many bills and issues before the General Assembly. As of this morning, we have passed over 800 bills, and over 200 have been signed by the Governor. A few of the changes in our laws to take effect July 1, 2012 that I have not covered before are:
- As a condition of a restricted license, a first-time DUI offender must have an ignition interlock installed on his or her vehicle.
- Amazon, and other online retailers, will have to collect sales tax from purchasers if they have a physical presence in the Commonwealth.
- Funeral directors will forward identifying information for unclaimed cremains to the Department of Veterans Services to ensure whether the individual is eligible to be buried in a veteran cemetery.
- The Board of Health will develop guidelines to ensure that women who obtain mammograms have information about breast density and the effects that dense tissue has on mammograms.
- A candidate for elected office and his or her family members will no longer be able to receive interest payments on loans to the campaign.
- All counties and cities in Virginia will be required to develop their own stormwater management programs, which can be funded through fees.
- The list of mandatory reporters of child abuse is expanded to include employees of any public organization dealing with children and employees of colleges and universities. The time limit for reporting abuse is reduced from 72 to 24 hours, and the fines for failure to report suspected abuse are increased.
The Division of Legislative Services will publish a summary of changes to the laws later this spring, and I encourage you to review the information when it becomes available. In my view, the most significant policy change will be decided by the voters in the fall when we vote on the eminent domain Constitutional Amendment. And the most distressing are the added voter identification restrictions and the mandatory ultrasound. The majority of the bills we passed tinker around the edges rather than making significant progress on issues important to people.
It remains an honor to serve you in the Senate of Virginia. Once we adjourn, I can be reached either in my law office at (540) 839-2473 or in my district office at (434) 296-5491. Please do not hesitate to call or email me or my legislative aide, Tracy Eppard, if you need assistance. We can be reached at district25@senate.virginia.gov
. Best,
Creigh
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Delegate David Toscano sends his latest update on the need for a better budget from the General Assembly Session in Richmond.
Much of the focus this General Assembly session has been on the socially divisive legislation that has been pushed by conservatives in the House of Delegates. However, the most important piece of legislation that we consider each biennium is the budget. Since Governor McDonnell introduced his flawed budget proposal in December, which would have short changed our educational system substantially while shredding the social safety net, many of us in the House have been advocating for a reallocation of priorities and spending that will enhance education, encourage job creation and protect those most vulnerable.
In the House, Democrats have been more successful than we initially thought, but the budget that emerged was still deficient in many respects. When the House budget went to the Senate, Senate Democrats rejected it and indicated that it required substantial reform before it could be passed. In an attempt to increase pressure on the Senate Democrats, the House Republicans forced through another budget last week that was almost exactly the same form as the one passed previously. I took the floor to analogize the process to the movie starring Bill Murray titled “Ground Hog Day.” In the movie, Murray portrays a weatherman who goes to bed each night only to awake the next morning as if it was the previous day. He goes through the same experiences day after day. Eventually, he learns that he must change his behavior in order to escape from reliving the same day. Last week was an experience in “Ground Hog Day” in the House of Delegates. We received the same budget, had the same debate, and had the same result as we did one week earlier. As I inquired of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, why would the Senate approve the same budget that they had simply rejected last week? I suspect we will see the same outcome from the Senate and be no closer to having a budget than we were a week ago.
In other news, we won a great victory for tax fairness and for main street retailers with the passage of SB597, a measure designed to have Amazon collect and remit sales taxes from internet purchases in Virginia. You may recall my statements on this issue after the Governor announced a deal with Amazon last fall. The bill has now passed and was sent to the Governor. This will level the playing field for local retailers and provide some additional revenue to help fund schools, public safety, and human services.
I have also been pushing a bill that will allow us to evaluate tax preferences, many of which go to the largest corporations in Virginia, and which transfer billions of dollars that might otherwise be used to fund education and other core services through a process that is often not evaluated. This is not to say that some tax credits are not beneficial to the economy or assist in support of useful social policy. The Earned Income Tax Credit, for example, helps low and moderate income persons by allowing taxpayers to recover monies that they have already paid in taxes. The Land Preservation Tax Credit preserves thousands of acres of land in Virginia for future generations. Nonetheless, all tax credits should be subject to periodic evaluation to see whether they work for their intended purpose. As you are aware, I have been critical of the coal tax credit and believe that a full discussion of the value of that credit is justified.
My bill to assist Habitat for Humanity in negotiating of a land swap with the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) for land in the Biscuit Run Park has passed the Senate and hopefully will be signed by the Governor. HB1113 will permit Habitat to begin negotiations on a land exchange that will help the county and the region develop more recreation facilities south of the city and assist Habitat in the redevelopment of the Southwood Trailer Park.
We are scheduled to adjourn on March 10, 2012, but the budget negotiations could go on for awhile, so I will keep you informed of further developments.
Sincerely,
David
P.S. For those interested in my statement on the arrests of protesters on Capitol grounds, you can view the clip here.
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