Toscano update from the General Assembly - January 30, 2007
GENERAL ASSEMBLY Week 2: Transparency in Government and the Long and Winding Road to a Transportation Plan
Last week saw a dramatic increase in the workload of Delegates and Senators as we struggled to cope with the large number of bills that have been filed for this “short session.” Committee meetings lengthen and the Floor debates intensify as controversial and non-controversial bills steam through the House of Delegates. Most of us are waiting for the “main event,” that is, the debate on the House Republican transportation plan. Presented thorough a number of very different bills, this plan is winding its way through the Appropriations Committee and will likely hit the House Floor this week.
Last week, we also saw a number of skirmishes on partisan lines. First, we tackled the issue of whether Virginia should apologize for slavery. This garnered national attention as one Republican Delegate suggested that slavery was something that we should “get over.” Many of us thought that this was not the Assembly’s finest hour, and we hopefully will have an opportunity to vote on a Resolution that will do the Commonwealth proud. We will have to see.
Last week also found another attempt to change the House Republican rule that allows unrecorded votes in subcommittees. Delegate Ken Plum from Reston proposed a rule change that would require recorded votes. This was defeated on a party-line vote. In an effort to bring more transparency to the governing process, cameras began to appear in selected subcommittees so that there could be a recording of the discussions and the ultimate vote. One of the more interesting places where this occurred was during the subcommittee debate on raising the minimum wage. You can access this debate on-line by going to Assembly Access or on the Issues Archive page of this website. Perhaps partly due to the presence of the camera, the proponents of the minimum wage change were afforded an opportunity to present our case in far more detail than last year. Ultimately, the subcommittee defeated the initiative. It was attempted to be resurrected in full committee, but failed on a 10-10 tie vote. A minimum wage bill remains alive in the Senate, after being approved by their Committee on Commerce and Labor by a 15-0 vote. Many of us hope that the Congress will preempt state legislatures and increase the minimum wage nationally.
The debate on transportation will occur in several different forms. On the land use front, there are three bills offered by Delegate Athey (HB3196, HB3197, and HB 3198) that address potential links between land use and transportation. The bills are positive in that they attempt to advance some “smart growth” initiatives. But many questions remain. The most important issue would be to be whether local governments would receive sufficient monies from the state to maintain roads that would become county responsibility as part of the legislation. At present, county roads are maintained by VDOT. City roads are maintained by cities with monies transferred from the state through what is called “the urban allocation.” The proposed legislation would have some counties taking over responsibility for maintaining their own roads in exchange for receiving state transfers similar to how monies are now transferred to cities. The problem, however, is that no price tag has been placed on this transfer and there are serious concerns that counties will not be given enough money. The result could be a dramatic increase in county budgets. There are no provisions in any bill that provides counties with sufficient funds to pick up the slack.
The financing piece of the House Republican plan relies on increases in titling fees, raising the tax on diesel fuel at the pump, increased penalties for bad drivers, special provisions that would allow Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads to have differential tax rates for commercial property to raise monies to spend in those localities, and a sizable commitment from the general fund for road maintenance ($250 million per year). This transfer from the general fund is troubling, primarily because of its size. $250 million per year is more than the combined general fund budgets for Radford University, Norfolk State, Longwood, JMU, Mary Washington, UVa-Wise, and the New College Institute. It is also more than the combined general fund budgets of the State Police, the Department of Emergency Management, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. It is, in short, a huge amount of money that would potentially be taken from K-12 education, prisons, and law enforcement. We should acknowledge that there are transfers out of the general fund to assist and maintain our highways, but adding another $250 million per year is too much of a deflection at a time when we have critical needs in other areas such as education and mental health.
My own bills are moving forward. HB 1685, a transportation initiative designed to help congestion on Route 29 passed the House. Senator Deeds obtained passage of the same bill in the Senate so it likely that this will become law of the Commonwealth. I have two adoption bills that will likely see the House floor in the next week. My bill to conform state law to the Adam Walsh Child Abuse Protection Act passed this week. My affordable housing bill is being re-written in hopes that we can get a broad consensus from a number of delegates who have offered similar bills. My “transfer of development rights” bill that will give greater flexibility to counties and cities who seek to work together to help curtail urban sprawl is on “life support” in a House committee, but I believe we have a reasonable chance at getting that to the House floor for potential passage.
Thanks to all who took our admittedly non-scientific online survey. The results are now available. Most notable was general support for increasing the gas tax, solving transportation by controlling growth, and increasing teacher salaries. I will try another survey soon.
You can follow legislation using the General Assembly website at www.legis.state.va.us and following the link for the Legislative Information System, or we can help you track bills.
You can contact during session by phone at (804) 698-1057, by email at david@davidtoscano.com or by mail at General Assembly Building P.O. Box 406 Richmond, VA 23218.
Please pass this posting along to others who you think might be interested. As always, I appreciate your input and advice.
