Archive for January, 2015

Friday marked the end of the first full week of session. I believe everyone agrees that it was one of the busiest in recent memory! While legislation was slow to make it to the floor for consideration, there was no shortage of bills to take up in committee.

Focus on Education
There are several measures I fully support that will make improvements to our education system, both higher ed. and K-12.

As you know, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to save and pay for college. Virginia students are now borrowing more than $1 billion every year to pay for school. In his State of the Union Address last week, President Obama outlined a tax scheme that includes targeting 529 college savings accounts for taxation. This would make it even more difficult for parents and students to save. Despite this threat at the federal level, I joined my colleagues in supporting a bi-partisan measure that will work to make college more affordable by capping expensive athletic fees and making it easier for small schools to cut wasteful spending.

The House will also take up a final vote this week on two measures that provide some much needed flexibility for our school systems. I co-patroned a bill which will allow the Department of Education to review the accreditation status of public schools either on an annual basis, every three years, or every five years, as opposed to the current annual requirement for all schools. In a nutshell, this will alleviate unnecessary paperwork and administrative burden for many of our schools. I will also be voting for a measure that will permit the SOLs to incorporate multiple subject areas into one test. This authorizing legislation can hopefully serve as a way to continue our efforts to reduce the total number of assessments that children are required to take.

These are just a few of the bills that House Republicans are pursuing this session that work to make improvements to our education system and provide greater opportunities for all students across the Commonwealth. I hope to highlight others in the coming weeks.

Legislation
Last week I took the opportunity to discuss a few of my bills and I would like to highlight a few additional measure this week.

Scenic Rivers Program (HB 2028)
Virginia has a program that allows the General Assembly to designate various segments of rivers and other waterways as a Scenic River. The idea is to protect and preserve these segments and to prevent actions that might alter the scenic quality or the flow of the waterway. While certainly a noble goal, my concern with this program and other similar programs is the potential risks for adverse impact on property owners attempting to use their land as they see fit (within the bounds of local zoning requirements). In addition, I have concerns about the ability of a Scenic River designation to prohibit or significantly limit the ability of a government entity or public utility to proceed with a project that most all would agree is for the benefit of the public. For example, if a small vocal minority wanted to prohibit VDOT construction of a bridge over a river designated as scenic, I can easily envision a scenario where the designation would provide the necessary leverage to do so quite successfully.

My legislation simply seeks to clarify current code by reiterating that the program can in no way restrict riparian land or water uses along or in the designated section of the river. The Department of Conservation and Recreation is the agency that administers the program, and they are responsible for making recommendations to local governing bodies concerning the rivers designated as scenic. The bill makes it clear that such recommendations can not include measures that would act to restrict land use. This bill adds a layer of protection for property owners against any future threat from an overzealous government agency or official.

Dismissal, Expired Registration and Inspection (HB 2315)

In the hectic pace of life, it’s sometimes easy to forget to renew your vehicle registration or get your car inspected on time. We all have been there. Unfortunately, we are often reminded of our tardiness when we receive a ticket from law enforcement. While I certainly don’t condone or endorse failing to meet these deadlines, I think we can agree that generally such a violation is often the result of an honest mistake and oversight. Therefore, I have introduced a bill that makes it a bit easier on the citizen receiving such a traffic infraction, and will hopefully act to free up some docket time for our judges so they can focus on more pressing matters.

I introduced HB 2315 to allows the court to permit an individual who receives a ticket for an expired vehicle registration or dead inspection to present proof to the court that the issue has been corrected prior to their scheduled court appearance. By doing so, the citizen will not be required to pay the fine and will only likely be responsible for court costs. The bill also requires law enforcement to notify the citizen of this option when they issue the citation, provided it’s a permissible option in that particular jurisdiction.

Currently, individuals can choose to either pay the fine and court costs in advance, or they can plan to take the time to appear in court in hopes that the judge will drop the fine…which they often do. However, when this is the case, it seems an unnecessary waste of time for all involved. The citizen often has to take valuable time away from work or family to go to court, and given our general shortage of judges across the Commonwealth, it seems less than productive for them to use valuable court time to hear these cases.

The bill is permissive, meaning that it does not require every General District Court in the Commonwealth to allow this, it simply gives them the ability to offer this option. If this bill becomes law, it’s my hope that it will make life a bit easier on individuals who simply made an oversight on one of the many details of life we encounter every day.

Legislative Survey
If you have not had an opportunity to complete my online legislative survey, there is still time to do so. You can access the online survey by clicking here. I value your input, and this survey is one of the tools I use to try to gauge where my constituents stand on a number of issues.

Visitors
Like I said earlier, last week was a busy one. Given that last Monday was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, alot of folks utilize the holiday to make the trip to Richmond and advocate on issues of importance to them. On Monday I met with constituents with the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL), a pro-Second Amendment group that advocates for the rights of gun owners. I met with the Virginia Young Democrats to discuss legislation of common interest to all Virginians. Last week, I also had the pleasure to meet with representatives of the Virginia Environmental Coalition, local correctional officers, Gerald Lehman who is the Director of Food Service with Rockingham County Public Schools, representatives of the Collins Center in Harrisonburg, local supporters of the Hemp legislation, Baker Garber on behalf of our local free clinic, and Dr. Downey with a group of Blue Ridge Community College Students. Finally, I also had the privilege to meet with a large group of folks representing the Valley Associates for Independent Living (VAIL). It so happens that they came on the same day that my NAP credit legislation (that I touched on last week) was heard in the Finance Subcommittee. Since they receive an allocation of NAP credits and fully support my bill, I was pleased to have VAIL’s Director, Gayl Brunk, speak in favor of the measure. It reported unanimously out of the subcommittee as well as the full committee. It will be up for debate on the floor Wednesday.

Contact Me
I welcome you to reach out to my office if you would like to share your thoughts on any matter before the General Assembly.

In Richmond we can be reached by phone at (804) 698-1026. If you are visiting Richmond, my office is located in room 526 of the General Assembly Building. You can continue to email [email protected].

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to represent you in Richmond!

Tony

The 2015 General Assembly Session opened on Wednesday, January 14 and got off to a brisk start. Delegates old and new are working hard to get a lot done in a short, 46 day session. I look forward to a productive session working for you in Richmond this year.

Speaker Bill Howell opened up the first day of session by welcoming our five new members and going over some of the top priorities for this session, including continuing with reforms of our K-12 education system, making higher education more affordable, holding the assembly to the highest ethical standards, and adopting a responsible budget that funds the core functions of government without raising taxes. I look forward to working with my colleagues to advance these priorities.

On Wednesday evening, Governor Terry McAuliffe delivered the annual State of the Commonwealth address to the Joint Assembly of the House of Delegates and Senate. I do believe there are areas where we can work with the Governor, such as economic development and ethics reform. However, it was disappointing to see him spend a significant amount of time Wednesday discussing issues that he has to know will not find favor in the legislature. I am hopeful that we can move past the bitter tone of last session, and work to find common ground on the issues that matter most to Virginians.

Legislation
This session I will personally be moving forward with about ten bills. I still have a few that I am finalizing that will be submitted and assigned numbers this week. In the coming days and weeks, I will also be signing on to legislation that I believe will work to make our higher education system more affordable, improve K-12 education, and foster an environment that promotes economic development and job creation. I have highlighted a few of my bills below this week, and will discuss others in the weeks ahead. To view my legislation and other legislation being considered during the 2015 General Assembly Session, please visit lis.virginia.gov.

School Survey (HB 1698)
During the course of a child’s school career, there may likely be a handful of times that they are asked to participate in a student survey that asks questions touching on some sensitive information (sexual activity, drug use, mental illness). While the groups that administer these surveys have the noble goal of trying to collect accurate data to assess and understand the largest problems that impact young people in a particular community, I strongly believe it is the right and responsibility of every parent and guardian to at least be aware their child is being asked information that many would consider to be sensitive in nature. We do have a law in Virginia that requires some form of parental notice, and gives parents the ability to opt their child out of the survey. However, HB 1698 will better define how this notice should be given and what information should be conveyed to parents.

The bill requires notification to parents via mailed notice, as well as through some form of electronic notice (email, text alert). In addition, it requires that the organization administering the survey provide a bit more information than is currently required about the nature of the survey and how the information will be used. Finally, it gives parents the ability to review the survey questions via a method that is convenient for them.

NAP Credit Choice (HB 1701)
Virginia has a tax credit program whereby businesses and individuals can donate to certain non-profits and receive a 65% tax credit for this donation.While a benefit to the donor because it can help reduce their tax liability, it is very helpful to non-profits that provide assistance and services to lower income individuals in the community. It acts as a way to boost their contributions, which allows them to serve more folks in need.

However, there are two concerns with the current program that this bill seeks to resolve. First, there is significant debate among the non-profit sector as to whether it is most effective to offer a 65% credit, or if it would be preferable to offer a lower percentage in order to receive contributions from more donors. It’s my understanding that it is split fairly evenly among non-profit groups as to the number of groups that support 65% credits and those that would prefer to lower the credit percentage. There have been unsuccessful legislative attempts in the past to lower the percentage (there are a few bills this year as well). My bill gives the non-profit the choice to offer whatever credit percentage (at or below 65%) that they feel will best suit their needs and leverage the most private dollars. To be clear, the bill does not in any way call for more taxpayer funding for this program, it simply allows for some flexibility that will hopefully help maximize its effectiveness.

Secondly, the bill gives non-profits the ability to fully utilize their allocation of tax credits. This aspect of the bill is a bit more technical in nature. Currently, if the donations a non-profit receives for the year do not match the total amount of tax credits they are permitted to allocate, then they must return the left over balance to Social Services for reallocation to another non-profit. The bill will permit a business or individual to donate to a non-profit and knowingly accept a percentage below the maximum of 65% in order for the group to fully utilize the tax credit amount permitted for the year.

The idea for this legislation actually came from a constituent. If I believe they are feasible solutions, I am always happy to pursue measures that derive from members of our community that will have a positive impact in some way.

Legislative Survey
If you have not had an opportunity to complete my online legislative survey, there is still time to do so. You can access the online survey by clicking here. I value your input, and this survey is one of the tools I use to try to gauge where my constituents stand on a number of issues.

Visitors
Even though session just got started this week, I still had a few visitors from home. Colleen Whiteford and several students made the trip to Richmond on behalf of the Virginia Physical Therapy Association. Thursday was Bankers’ Day at the Capitol, and I enjoyed visiting with Greg Godsey of Union First Market Bank and Josh Hale and Jonah Pence of Farmers and Merchants Bank to discuss issues that could have an impact on the banking industry. Also on Thursday, I attended the annual Republican Women’s Luncheon. Several of the ladies from the Harrisonburg/Rockingham group made the trip. I appreciate the kind words of support and encouragement from the ladies, as well as all their efforts on behalf of the Republican Party and our candidates. Finally, Chad had the opportunity on Friday to meet with Dr. Caitlin Batchelor to briefly discuss issues of importance to the Virginia Dental Association. Dr. Batchelor started her own practice in Harrisonburg in 2013.

Contact Me
I welcome you to reach out to my office if you would like to share your thoughts on any matter before the General Assembly.
Now that we are in Richmond we can be reached by phone at (804) 698-1026. If you are visiting Richmond, my office is located in room 526 of the General Assembly Building. You can continue to email [email protected].

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to represent you in Richmond!

Tony

As we prepare for the upcoming General Assembly Session, I wanted to share two opportunities for you to convey your thoughts on the various issues impacting our Commonwealth. As your Delegate, the best way for me to represent you is by hearing from you! Your input is a critical componenet in shaping my position on various legislation that I will be asked to consider in the upcoming session.

Joint Town Hall
On Tuesday, January 6, I will be holding a joint town hall with Delegate Steve Landes. The meeting will be held at the Rockingham County Administration Building, 20 East Gay Street, Harrisonburg. It will begin at 6:30 p.m. and you will want to enter the building through entrance A. While we will briefly discuss the budget and some of the other major issues we expect the General Assembly to address in the upcoming session, we want to spend a large portion of the time taking your questions and comments. If you need any additional information about this event, please feel free to call my office at (540) 208-0735 or email [email protected].

Legislative Survey
Another valuable tool that I utilize to gain your feedback is my annual legislative survey. While I do my best to cover a broad range of topics, there is simply no way to incorporate every issue into a survey that can be conveniently completed in a few minutes. Therefore, I have provided a comments section where you can provide additional feedback. If you feel you need more background information to gain a better understanding of any given question, please contact my office and we will do our best to provide that for you. You can access the online survey by clicking here.