Dear friend,

The 2012 regular session of the General Assembly is winding down.  With hours to go before the scheduled adjournment, at long last, a budget agreement appears to be within grasp. 

As I have outlined on this page before, Republicans insisted that they had a majority, organized the Senate, controlled the flow of legislation, and threw Democratic senators off committees; but in fact they did not have a majority.  They cannot pass budgets, or elect judges, or amend the constitution without Democratic votes because the Senate is evenly divided.  The equal division has left us at a budget impasse that is a product of the complete breakdown of the working relationship which has existed in the Senate. 

Earlier this week, my colleagues and I provided a list of items that needed to be in the budget.  Those items include recognition of the inflation factor in the Standards of Quality, the primary funding component of K-12 education, the retention of 4500 slots for Medicaid recipients, who would otherwise be out on the street under previous funding plans, and the exclusion of the Governor's proposal to use additional general fund money for transportation. 

In addition, the list included two other key elements that do not impact directly the area I represent, except in the broader sense: the cost of living adjustment for the Northern Virginia region due to the higher cost of living there and toll abatement for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.  Increasingly, we are shifting to a toll-based system to finance transportation improvements.  Tolls along certain roadways in both Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads are set to top six dollars per trip.  All Virginians should be concerned about a significant transition to toll roads.  If the people in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads are forced to toll, they will be less willing to assist in funding transportation improvements throughout Virginia.  Eventually, the only option for building roads in central and western Virginia will be through the imposition of tolls.  We simply do not have the traffic on any highway, outside the urban areas, to sustain our transportation network through the reasonable use of tolls.  Reliance on tolls alone would ensure that no transportation improvements occur outside Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, and the Richmond area.

A list of budgetary requests was presented to the Governor earlier this week, and discussions are ongoing.  It appears that we will adjourn on time and return for a special session in the next few weeks to finalize the budget and elect judges.  Failing to pass a budget in advance of the regular scheduled adjournment has become the norm.  I would prefer to complete our business on time, but it is more important we get it right.

In this space, in past weeks, I have spoken of many bills and issues before the General Assembly.  As of this morning, we have passed over 800 bills, and over 200 have been signed by the Governor.  A few of the changes in our laws to take effect July 1, 2012 that I have not covered before are:

• As a condition of a restricted license, a first-time DUI offender must have an ignition interlock installed on his or her vehicle.

• Amazon, and other online retailers, will have to collect sales tax from purchasers if they have a physical presence in the Commonwealth.

• Funeral directors will forward identifying information for unclaimed cremains to the Department of Veterans Services to ensure whether the individual is eligible to be buried in a veteran cemetery.

• The Board of Health will develop guidelines to ensure that women who obtain mammograms have information about breast density and the effects that dense tissue has on mammograms.

• A candidate for elected office and his or her family members will no longer be able to receive interest payments on loans to the campaign.

• All counties and cities in Virginia will be required to develop their own stormwater management programs, which can be funded through fees.

• The list of mandatory reporters of child abuse is expanded to include employees of any public organization dealing with children and employees of colleges and universities. The time limit for reporting abuse is reduced from 72 to 24 hours, and the fines for failure to report suspected abuse are increased.

The Division of Legislative Services will publish a summary of changes to the laws later this spring, and I encourage you to review the information when it becomes available.  In my view, the most significant policy change will be decided by the voters in the fall when we vote on the eminent domain Constitutional Amendment.  And the most distressing are the added voter identification restrictions and the mandatory ultrasound.  The majority of the bills we passed tinker around the edges rather than making significant progress on issues important to people.

It remains an honor to serve you in the Senate of Virginia.  Once we adjourn, I can be reached either in my law office at (540) 839-2473 or in my district office at (434) 296-5491.  Please do not hesitate to call or email me or my legislative aide, Tracy Eppard, if you need assistance.  We can be reached at district25@senate.virginia.gov.

Best,

Creigh

(Electronic mail, March 9, 2012)