Friends,
The General Assembly is off to our usual lightning fast start. We have only 46 days to consider about 1675 bills and resolutions and to adjust the biennial budget downward $1.5 billion. We have no time to dawdle and my committees are already meeting from very early morning to mid evening.
The major issues this year in many ways are not new. I have been writing you about them for years and, without resources, it has been hard to make progress. Here is a rundown on several "hot" issues.
BUDGET
Last year we passed a great budget! For the first time in memory, it passed both the Senate and the House unanimously. And then the state did not meet revenue forecasts--so we have to cut $1.5 billion from the budget. Governor McAuliffe has presented his proposal which balanced the budget as required by the constitution. He made no cuts to public education. He reluctantly proposed a 5% cut to higher education. Instead of the first raise since 2007, state employees would get a small bonus (1.5%) in December. And, he used the Rainy Day Fund to bolster the budget as it was intended to do.
Most of my time this year will be spent on the budget. I serve on several subcommittees of Finance: Education; Health and Human Services; and Public Safety. I also hope to be appointed a budget conferee again this year.
MENTAL HEALTH
Much to my delight, Governor McAuliffe increased funding by $35 million for programs for persons with mental illness. I have submitted a budget amendment for an additional $10 million for permanent supportive housing for persons with mental illness. This housing and the accompanying services would create savings in both jails and emergency room visits as people receive care they need in appropriate settings.
The Deeds Commission, on which I serve, continues to look at ways to improve our mental health services. We recognize the need for system changes and are working on how best to implement them.
VOTING RIGHTS
There are numerous proposals to improve how we run elections and how we redistrict every ten years. I have introduced legislation to permit voters to cast their absentee ballots in person without having to give a specific excuse. In case that fails, I also have a bill to add care-giving as an excuse.
As you may remember, I was chair of the Privileges and Elections Committee during the last redistricting cycle. The current chair, Republican Jill Vogel, and I are teaming up with a bill to put in the code requirements for future redistricting. We are trying to reduce partisanship in the process. We are being assisted by Virginia 2021.
ADDICTION
Virginia is facing an epidemic of Heroin and Opioid Addiction. Last year more people died of overdoses than car accidents in Virginia. Several bills are looking at how opioids are prescribed as well as increasing access to treatment. Sadly, because we did not expand Medicaid in our state, we are forgoing tens of millions of federal dollars that could be used for that purpose.
EQUALITY
Again this year, some Republicans are introducing bills that would restrict the rights of our LGBT neighbors. They would even replicate North Carolina's odious HB2. Aside from being cruel and ignorant, these bills would do untold harm to our economic development efforts.
We expect efforts to undermine Governor McAuliffe's initiative to restore the rights of 200,000 people with felonies on their records who have served their time. The Governor's efforts put Virginia in line with virtually all states, except those in the deep South.
HELP FOR YOUTH
A topic that is likely to be controversial involves reducing the numbers of suspensions and expulsions in our public schools. There are bills to prohibit suspensions of children up to the third grade. And there are efforts to provide more alternatives in the higher grades.
We are also continuing the reform of our juvenile justice system. We are closing a juvenile corrections facility, building a smaller, more modern one, and sending more youth in trouble with the law closer to home for intensive interventions in their communities.
This promises to be a very hectic 46 days but I believe we are poised to make some significant improvements for our Commonwealth.
Please stay in touch and let me know what is important to you!
