The crossover of the 2010 Senate Session of the General Assembly occurred this past week, and we are in full negotiation of the budget at this point. Many controversial issues came to a head this past week, and I thought I would report on some of the issues that received significant attention.

Senator Richard Stuart of Westmoreland County introduced a bill to raise court fees. In an unusual move, his bill directs the additional revenue to constitutional offices, specifically the offices of sheriffs and commonwealth attorneys. Without a doubt, we must fund public safety. However, I could not support the bill because I do not think it appropriate to fund the general services of government through the court system. The fees contained in Senator Stuart's bill explode the cost of doing business in court. The legislation almost triples the filing fees in general district court, with even more drastic increases for circuit court fees. The bill passed the Senate and is now going to the House of Delegates, but I spoke and voted against it.

Senator Emmett Hanger of Augusta County has long been an advocate for fairness in our tax structure. Through a loophole in the law, Amazon does not collect sales tax on internet sales, although it operates through businesses located in Virginia. Many retailers consider this to be unfair competition. Senator Hanger sponsored legislation to bring Amazon into compliance. I voted for the bill, which is designed to level the playing field between Amazon, small businesses, and other online retailers that already collect the tax.

For a number of years the General Assembly has considered bills to require insurance companies to offer coverage for treatment of autism. About one child of every 110 has a form of autism spectrum disorder. Among baby boys, one in every 70 born has autism. While the House of Delegates killed a similar bill, my colleagues and I in the Senate passed Senate Bill 464, sponsored by Senator Janet Howell of Fairfax. SB 464 is the most restrictive insurance mandate for autism that any state has passed and faces an uncertain future in the House of Delegates. The bill creates a cap of services at $35,000 a year and provides services to children 2 to 6 years of age. In addition, the bill will not become effective until January 1, 2011, and July 1, 2015 for state employees.

Senator John Watkins of Powhatan patroned a controversial bill to raise the retirement age for state employees. Although many people think the system is fine, Senator Watkins and others believe we must make changes to ensure that the system is viable in the long run. While it is essential that we do whatever is necessary to protect the integrity of the Virginia Retirement System, I was not convinced that this bill was the right approach at this time. Despite my opposition, the bill passed and is headed to the House.

Three death penalty bills were in the Senate Courts Committee this week. A bill to make it a capital offense to murder an auxiliary police officer or auxiliary deputy sheriff in the performance of his or her duty passed with my support. A bill to extend the ultimate punishment to those who murder firemen and EMS workers, in the performance of their duties, stalled. Although similar bills have passed the Senate before, this year's bill was defeated because of the inclusion of language not in previous bills. I supported the bill. The third piece of legislation, the so-called Triggerman Bill, was the most controversial. The bill would extend the death penalty to accessories for the first time. I have voted for the bill in previous years. Testimony against the bill included that of a man who served for a number of years on Virginia's execution team. His story was compelling. More importantly, however, was evidence that this bill would actually raise the cost of trying capital cases. In this fiscal environment, we must contain costs.

Now the bills have crossed over and the Senate is considering only House bills, and the House only Senate bills. The exception is the budget and revenue matters. While adjournment is scheduled for March 13, 2010, many lengthy budget discussions remain. The Governor, at long last, decided to get in the game and made recommendations with respect to the budget this past week. His proposals accrued almost $2.2 billion in additional cuts from nearly every area of state government. Needless to say, the Governor has caused a lot of reflection on this session and on the purposes of state government. We still have a long way to go before we finalize a budget.

It continues to be a high honor for me to represent you in the state Senate. If I can be of service or if you would like to visit the General Assembly while it is in action, please contact me. You can track legislation at http://leg1.state.va.us and view the floor sessions at http://legis.virginia.gov. My office can be reached at P.O. Box 396, Richmond, Virginia 23218, (804) 698-7525 or by email at district25@senate.virginia.gov.

(Electronic mail, February 19, 2010)