Notes from the General Assembly -- March 24, 2006
The End -- and the Beginning
After a marathon Saturday session, the 2006 General Assembly session adjourned on March 11, 2006 at 6pm. This is not to say that we successfully completed the tasks we were sent to Richmond to do. We have not agreed upon a budget for the Commonwealth, and we have failed to pass a transportation plan. This marks the third consecutive session where a budget has not been approved on time. Faced with this political gridlock, the Governor immediately called us in to Special Session, scheduled to begin on Monday, March 27. No one is predicting how long we will be in Richmond, and some have suggested that we will not have agreement until May or even June. This is no way to run the Commonwealth.
The Governor, both parties in the Senate, and the House Democrats all have very similar transportation plans that include a dedicated, sustainable source of revenue to meet long-term transportation needs. House Republicans currently oppose these proposals. Their plan embraces a short fix which uses the present state surplus, and debt financing of construction.
At present, a small group of 11 “conferees” from the House and Senate are attempting to arrive at a compromise. To date, their discussions have been cordial but no agreement appears imminent. Other Delegates and Senators are largely left out of this process, and I am not optimistic that a deal will be struck any time soon.
Further indication of the political gridlock in Richmond is evidenced by the failure to pass legislation related to eminent domain, an estate tax repeal, or land conservation. Bills were passed by both the House and the Senate in these areas, but compromises could not be reached by the conference committees that were acceptable to both sides. In order for a bill to be sent to the Governor for his approval, it must pass both the House and the Senate in the same form. Lacking conformity, all the bills presently have been denoted “failed to pass.”
As for my “freshman experience,” I was pleasantly surprised to find a lesser degree of extreme partisanship than I was anticipating. With some exceptions, members provided me with a warm welcome. I was fortunate to have four of my seven introduced bills passed, a better than average percentage. These included a bill to allow the Board of Nursing to better collect statistics to aid in addressing our nursing shortage, a bill to ease the grievance procedure for Albemarle County, a bill to allow the City of Charlottesville greater flexibility in creating more affordable housing, and a bill to facilitate net-metering of electricity produced using renewable resources. Fortunately, these bills passed prior to much of the partisan wrangling that emerged at the end of the session. A bill I co-sponsored to increase the minimum wage in the Commonwealth died in subcommittee on a 4-4 vote.
I will provide another update when the Special Session begins next week.
Please contact me locally at (434)220-1660 or at david@davidtoscano.com.
