For the last week of the 2012 General Assembly session, the focus continued to be on the budget impasse. Some progress was made as House Budget Conferees met with both Republican and Democrat members of the Senate Finance Committee to begin to work out the budget differences between the two chambers.  Senate Democrats finally participating in the budget process is a promising sign.

Hopefully, the meetings that occurred last week will help pave the way for the serious deliberation and advancement of a budget in the State Senate. When comparing the House budget and the proposed Senate budget, it is clear that the differences are not as large as they have been in prior years. If the partisan political considerations of Senate Democrats are set aside, we should be able to reach a budget agreement without unnecessarily delaying local government budgets or having state government agencies begin preparing contingency plans for a government shutdown. Challenges remain, though, as Senate Democrats on the 57th day of a 60-day session released a list of proposed programs they want to fund, adding approximately $150 million in new spending without the offsetting cuts necessary to keep the budget in balance.

The budget clearly has become the focus of many Virginians, and a number of groups came to the Capitol this week or wrote letters urging the passage of a budget. Some of the groups that visited or wrote letters included veterans groups, law enforcement, local government officials, and local chambers of commerce. As I wrote last week, our schools, local governments, sheriffs, and police need us to produce a budget in a timely fashion.

I hope to have a positive update in the near future, and would like to close this column by thanking the men and women of the Capitol Police who work tirelessly to keep all visitors, secretaries, interns, aides, and elected officials safe and to protect our Capitol grounds. This Session has seen numerous groups visit the Capitol to voice their support and concerns about a range of bills. Most groups abide by the rules of the Capitol and have positive visits; however, a very small minority of groups has come here with other intentions, and the Capitol Police have handled these incidents in a very professional manner.   I greatly appreciate and respect their sense of duty and professionalism.

In the House of Delegates, we worked with Democrats to pass a fiscally responsible budget with bipartisan support. During the floor debate on the House Budget, House Minority Leader David Toscano thanked Republicans for including Democrats in the process and for having the opportunity to give their input. The House Budget is a structurally balanced budget that contains targeted funding increases in core areas of government including education, public safety, and health care, without raising taxes.  In the end, one third of the House Democrats joined with House Republicans in supporting the House Budget that passed on a 79-21 vote.

In stark contrast to the actions in the House of Delegates, Senate Democrats have voted twice unanimously against the passage of a state budget and brought the budget process to a halt.  Senate Democrats have openly admitted they are blocking progress on the budget process until they receive better committee assignments. These obstructionist ways are what so many have come to expect from Congress, and it is disappointing to see these Washington-style tactics make their way into the Virginia General Assembly.

Despite the Senate Democrats’ best efforts to stop the budget process, House Democrats joined with House Republicans last Thursday to support House Appropriations Committee Chairman Lacey Putney’s motion to introduce new budget bills and keep the budget process moving. This late in session, any delegate needs unanimous consent of all delegates to introduce legislation.

If Virginia does not have a budget by July 1, funding for most state employees and agencies will cease and state government will essentially shut down. Each day the Senate Democrats block passage of a state budget, they put at risk funding for schools, roads, healthcare and more.  Area public schools are in the process of developing their budgets and need to know how much state funding to expect.  Each day Senate Democrats refuse to pass a budget, they are adding to the growing uncertainty among our local boards of supervisors, and school boards as they try to budget for the next fiscal year.  Virginia sheriffs, chiefs of police and commonwealth attorneys have already written to the General Assembly to urge action on the budget so that public safety will be upheld in the Commonwealth.

The General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn on March 11.  I hope that in these closing days we will fulfill our obligation to all Virginians to pass a state budget. As time dwindles, I hope Senate Democrats will cease their obstructionist ways and move forward in a sensible manner – “The Virginia Way”– to ensure Virginia’s government is working to meet its responsibilities to the citizens of the Commonwealth.

The House budget contains two important items of local interest.  I am pleased that our budget contains funding for the recently vacated Circuit Court Judge position in the 16th Judicial Circuit.  This position is critical for Culpeper, and a long term vacancy will impact courts in Madison and Orange as well.  The budget also contains language authorizing the expansion of the Central Virginia Regional Jail which serves Orange and Madison.

During this time of continued economic uncertainty, our top priority remains helping Virginia businesses create new jobs and opportunities. The House has extended the capital gains tax credit for investments in startup businesses to increase capital for small business job creators. To help Virginia farmers and expand Virginia’s largest industry, we have established an Agriculture and Forestry Development Fund with $2 million in funding to support localities’ efforts to attract value-added or processing facilities using Virginia-grown products. 

To improve educational opportunities, the House budget adds $575 million for K-12 public education and nearly $200 million for Virginia’s colleges and universities. The increase for public schools will fund important programs such as K-3 class size reductions and early reading intervention.  Additional higher education funding will open an additional 1,700 slots for in-state students at William and Mary, University of Virginia, James Madison University, and Virginia Tech and has been described as the best budget for our colleges and universities in ten years.

To make state government more efficient and effective, the House budget identifies savings in a number of areas including $2.8 million in the legislative budget. In total, we were able to reduce agency budgets and return over $32 million to the General Fund over three years. We have also tackled one of the biggest issues impacting future budgets – the Virginia Retirement System’s $19 billion unfunded liability by designating $2.2 billion towards paying down the unfunded liability. This investment, coupled with proposed reforms to the retirement system, represents an important step towards safeguarding the VRS for current and future employees.    

We have worked diligently to produce a budget that reflects our core principles, and it is encouraging that eleven Democrats joined House Republicans in supporting the budget. At the other end of the Capitol, Senate Democrats have unfortunately decided to obstruct progress on passing a budget for their own political gain. Governor McDonnell and Lt. Governor Bolling have both accurately noted that, “This is not the Virginia way.”  I hope that Senate Democrats adopt the stance of House Democrats and work with Republicans to help craft a fiscally responsible budget that makes strategic investments in the core areas of government instead of playing partisan political games.  With the General Assembly’s scheduled adjournment date of March 10 approaching quickly, time is of the essence for statesmanship and continued review of our budget work.

In my first year serving on the Appropriations Committee, I have appreciated the opportunity to provide perspective to the committee’s work and to advocate for topics important to Culpeper, Madison, and Orange.  At the close of the committee meeting today Chairman Putney noted the efforts of the committee’s new members and complimented us on our contributions.

The Committee’s budget work has been tempered by knowledge that while state revenues are beginning to grow, they are doing so at a rate that is below historic trend growth and less than what was experienced coming out of the 1991 and 2001 recessions.  Nonetheless, we are able to make some critical investments by focusing on the core priorities of state government.

The House budget offers some significant additional assistance to local governments, recognizing that while state revenues have begun to rebound, localities are still grappling with declining real estate revenues, a byproduct of the weak housing market.  Our budget provides $136 million more in additional funding for public education, above the $438 million increase that was included in the introduced budget.  Additionally, our budget restores $70 million in aid to localities.  Over the last several years one of the budget balancing strategies was to reduce local aid by $60 million per year.  Making substantial strides in phasing out this practice was a top priority of the committee.

The House budget also offers several important amendments in the area of health and human resources.  Healthcare safety net organizations such as free clinics provide much needed, cost-effective health care to thousands of sick, uninsured Virginians.  The House budget restores $6.2 million in funding to free clinics, community health centers, dental clinics provided through local health departments and other smaller safety net providers.

Virginia’s Medicaid program for hospitals and nursing homes continues to grow and consume an increasing amount of the state’s general fund.  These health care providers are critical to caring for the sick, aged, and disabled in Virginia.  They also are critical to our economy, employing thousands of Virginians here at home and across the Commonwealth.  I am pleased that the House budget recommends an additional $66.7 million in state funding over the biennium to be matched with federal dollars for hospitals and nursing homes.  Last week, directors and staff of Culpeper Regional Hospital and the Culpeper Free Clinic were in Richmond advocating for this funding, and I am pleased that additional funding is available.  I look forward to providing additional budget updates in future columns.

We started the 2012 General Assembly with approximately 1300 bills introduced, a smaller number than in previous sessions.  At this writing, over 400 bills, covering a wide range of issues, have passed the House. Over one-third of the bills the House has passed relate to our core focus of the session – helping businesses create jobs, expanding education opportunities, keeping our communities safe, and making our government more efficient and effective. These areas of focus will also be addressed in the budget, which is scheduled to be voted on by the House of Delegates in the coming weeks.    

Several important public safety measures are moving forward this session. House Bill 968 increases penalties for habitual drug traffickers, keeping our youth away from drugs and drug-related violence.  House Bill 973 imposes a mandatory life sentence for raping a child under the age of 12.  In the last two years, 228 children under the age of 12 have been victims of these horrific crimes, and only 10 of these cases resulted in a life sentence, with a median sentence of 13 years.  Both of these measures were introduced by my colleague Rob Bell of Albemarle County.

House Bill 1237 that I introduced passed unanimously out of the House of Delegates.  This bill adds individuals associated with or employed by any public organization responsible for the care, custody, or control of children to the list of individuals required to report suspected child abuse or neglect and reduces the time limit for reporting suspected child abuse or neglect by mandated reporters from 72 hours to 24 hours.  The bill also increases the penalty for a second or subsequent failure to report to a fine of not less than $1,000 and provides that, in cases of rape, sodomy, or object sexual penetration, a person who knowingly and intentionally fails to make the required report shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Protecting our families and keeping our streets safe is one of the most important responsibilities of the government.  As your Delegate, I am committed to doing everything we can when it comes to protecting children and keeping families safe from the dangers of this world.  

Among the visitors from home this week were 4-Hers from Culpeper, Madison, Orange and Rapphannock Counties, along with students from the Orange County Office on Youth.  My colleagues and I enjoy our visits with these constituents and appreciate their observation of state government in action.  There is also a great deal of history in and around Capitol Square that can be shared with visitors of all ages.

I am a co-patron of House Bill 33, a bill that prohibits mandatory project labor agreements and guarantees full and open competition in bidding on public contracts. It is estimated that a mandated project labor agreement can raise the cost of a project by ten to twenty percent, so prohibiting these mandatory agreements will help ensure Virginia gets the most out of our taxpayer dollars on infrastructure projects. This legislation also ensures all of Virginia’s qualified contractors and their skilled workforces, regardless of labor affiliation, can compete on a level playing field for Virginia projects.  Legislation similar to HB 33 has also passed the Senate, indicating that this bill will likely pass the General Assembly and be signed into law by Governor McDonnell.

On the education front, the House of Delegates has passed a measure to repeal the so-called “King’s Dominion Law.”  House Bill 1063 allows a local school division to establish its own starting date for the school year. This measure seeks to remove an unnecessary mandate on our local schools that require a school division to apply for a waiver to start the school year prior to Labor Day. Currently, 77 local school divisions already have a waiver.  This has become particularly important for students who are participating in dual enrollment programs with our community colleges.

Visitors this week included members of the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association and the Virginia Grain Producers Association as well as students and alumni of Virginia Tech.  As part of United Methodist Day at the Capitol, I had the opportunity to meet with Barbara Drinkwater of Gordonsville.  School board members and superintendents from Culpeper, Madison, and Orange also made the trip to Richmond.  The coming days will be busy as we work to complete work on a number of bills prior to the February 14 crossover deadline, but we welcome your visit to our office in the General Assembly Building as well as letters, e-mails, and phone calls.

This year I am working with the McDonnell Administration on several pieces of legislation.  House Bill 292 adds the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry and the Secretary of Technology to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority board of directors.  Agriculture and forestry are Virginia’s largest industry with a $79 billion economic impact.  Technology has contributed significantly to Virginia’s economic growth over the last decade.  Having these two Cabinet Secretaries contributing to the work of the Commonwealth’s leading economic development agency should improve the breadth of the Authority efforts to grow our economy.  House Bill 292 passed the House of Delegates 99-0 on January 25.

House Bill 293 is a recommendation of Governor McDonnell’s Commission on Government Reform and Restructuring.  House Bill 293 requires the Soil & Water Conservation Board to consult with the Department of Emergency Management in implementing the dam safety program.  Combining the engineering resources of the Department of Conservation and Recreation with the public safety expertise of the Department of Emergency Management should improve the efficacy of emergency action plans developed for dams across Virginia.  House Bill 293 will come before the House Agriculture Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee this week.  It passed out of subcommittee unanimously last week.

Three other bills of local interest have passed the House of Delegates.  I introduced House Bill 296 at the request of the Gordonsville Town Council which will amend the town’s charter to reduce the size of Town Council from seven members to five.  House Bill 294 preserves full state funding for the Madison County Library.  Finally, House Bill 299 extends the sunset on a sales tax exemption for the distribution of textbooks and educational materials to college professors as samples.  This measure helps to retain the presence of MacMillan Publishing Services in Orange.  I am pleased that the House’s continued focus on job creation and retention resulted in this bill’s unanimous passage.

We continue to see a number of visitors from home each week.  This week I had the opportunity to meet with Steve Grayson of Madison and several of his colleagues with the Virginia Association of Rescue Squads.  We also had constituents offering perspective on education issues, including the Orange County Education Association and Sue Bridges of A. G. Richardson Elementary School.  Students from Woodberry Forest School watched a portion of the House floor session last Monday from the gallery.  We also had visitors advocating for social services, community service boards, and the arts, among other topics.  We welcome your visit to Richmond, as well as your input on matters before the General Assembly via phone at (804)-698-1030 or via e-mail at DelEScott@house.virginia.gov.

Governor McDonnell also made an announcement this week regarding one of the most important issues pending before the General Assembly this year.  The Governor is asking the General Assembly to take no action to permit uranium mining during its 2012 session, calling instead for the continuation of the state’s moratorium on uranium mining pending a comprehensive and on-site study of the issue to be completed by a newly-created multi-agency state workgroup. The Governor’s directive that the state work group look further into the specific issues surrounding mining at a particular site in the Commonwealth follows a thorough review by the McDonnell Administration of the recent National Academy of Sciences report that looked broadly at uranium mining in Virginia. The report noted, “At present, there are gaps in legal and regulatory coverage for activities involved in uranium mining, processing, reclamation and long-term stewardship. Some of these gaps have resulted from the moratorium on uranium mining that Virginia has in place; others are gaps in current laws or regulations, or in the way that they are applied.” 

 While the Governor’s directive is focused on a site in Pittsylvania County, the implications of actions here could directly impact Culpeper, Madison, and Orange as potential uranium deposits were previously identified in this area.  I have traveled to the Coles Hill site at my own expense and see many similarities to our region.   The opportunity for high-paying jobs and contributing to energy independence must be balanced with public safety, environmental protection, and possible negative economic impacts for property owners and farmers in the area of mining and milling.  Further evaluation and understanding of how uranium mining and milling might be regulated for the life of the mill and beyond appears warranted, and the Governor’s action, while not universally agreed to, seems to be particularly appreciated by legislators from the region where uranium mining might occur.

Last Monday’s holiday brought a number of citizen lobbyists to the capital.  It is encouraging to see public participation in state government, and we continued to welcome visitors throughout the week.  If you would like to visit during this year’s session, we would be glad to see you.  Please call the Richmond office at (804)-698-1030 or e-mail us at DelEScott@house.virginia.gov so that we can make arrangements to hear your interests and concerns.  If you are not able to make the visit, we welcome your input, and I would again encourage you to complete our annual survey which is available online at http://survey.house.virginia.gov/Survey.aspx?surveyid=2661.

Also on Wednesday, committee assignments were announced.  I am pleased to continue serving on the Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources Committee where I am Vice-Chairman, as well as the Science & Technology and Transportation Committees.  I am also grateful to have been appointed to the House Appropriations Committee which reviews and revises the Governor’s budget. On the Appropriations Committee, I will serve on the Economic Development, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Transportation, K-12 Education, and General Government subcommittees.

On Wednesday evening, Governor McDonnell delivered his annual State of the Commonwealth address in the House Chamber. It was a thoughtful speech that challenged Republicans and Democrats in both the House and Senate to work together for the benefit of all Virginians. Governor McDonnell also laid out a number of proposals that will likely receive bipartisan support, including additional investments in job creation and economic development, increased funding for our colleges and universities aimed at expanding enrollment at an affordable cost, and a record investment into the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) for teachers and state employees. Of course, not all of the Governor’s proposals will enjoy bipartisan support, such as some proposed budget cuts, and there will be spirited debate about some proposals.

Thursday brought bankers from Stellar One and Wells Fargo to our office, as well as students from Germanna Community College.  Members of the Virginia Federation of Republican Women were also in town, and it was good to see members of the Madison County Republican Women as well as the Susan Allen Republican Women from Orange County.  The evening’s Virginia Agribusiness Banquet is always a session highlight and brought a number of people from the 30th District to Richmond for a celebration of the bounty of Virginia agriculture.

On Friday, Governor Bob McDonnell announced that he is sending down a number of executive budget amendments. The bulk of the amendments are directed at increasing state funding to K-12 education. Combined with the governor’s $438 million increase in state funding for public education in his introduced budget, the amendments bring additional state funding for Virginia’s public schools to $497.2 million, or nearly half a billion dollars.  I will report more on the budget in future columns, but the Governor’s increased funding for public education is significant and worth highlighting.  Visits, letters, phone calls and e-mails on these and other topics are welcome as our work moves forward.

Delegate Scott will continue his service on the House Committees on Transportation, Science and Technology, and Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources where he has served the previous four terms.  Additionally the Speaker has appointed Delegate Scott to serve on the House Appropriations Committee.  The Appropriations Committee reviews and revises the Commonwealth’s biennial budget.  Delegate Scott was also re-appointed as Vice-Chairman of the House Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee.

In making the announcement of committee assignments, Speaker Howell commented, “Ed Scott has proven himself to be a valuable member on important House committees.  As he begins his fifth term in the House of Delegates, it is appropriate to extend to him this additional opportunity to contribute to good government and responsible fiscal management in Virginia.  I am confident that Ed will be an effective voice for the citizens of his district and the Commonwealth as a whole in this new role.”

Delegate Scott noted the importance of committee work to the General Assembly’s legislative process.  “I appreciate the Speaker’s recognition of my past committee service and the opportunity to add an additional committee assignment.  All four of these committees tackle issues that are relevant to the 30th District and critical to 21st century Virginia.”

First elected in 2003, Delegate Ed Scott represents the 30th District in the Virginia House of Delegates.  The 30th District is comprised of Orange, Madison, and most of Culpeper County.