Last Redistricting Reform Bills Die Regional Jail Bill Reverts to More
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February 20, 2015 Redistricting Last redistricting reform bills die The last two redistricting reform bills of the 2015 General Assembly session died in a subcommittee meeting early Thursday morning. SJR 284 (Vogel) and SB 840 (Watkins) were tabled. Neither the subcommittee nor the full House Privileges & Elections Committee is scheduled to meet again this session. SJR 284 was tabled when Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel, the bill’s patron, was unable to attend the 7 a.m. subcommittee meeting because one of her children had been taken ill. Vogel’s proposed constitutional amendment would have established a nonpartisan commission that would draw the district lines for Congressional and state legislative seats according to specified criteria, including recognizing political boundaries. Before any testimony was entertained, Del. Mark Cole, the chair of the full committee and a member of the subcommittee, moved to table SJR 284, saying that it would not be appropriate to consider it in the senator’s absence. Moments before, however, the subcommittee had acted on two other Vogel bills. Even though Vogel attended today’s meeting of the full committee, the constitutional amendment was not taken up since it was still in subcommittee. The other redistricting bill tabled in subcommittee – SB 840 – would have included criteria in state law to guide the drawing of legislative and Congressional district lines. Speaking on behalf of VML, Ashland Town Council Member Faye Prichard testified in support of SB 840, in particular in support of the requirement to respect political boundaries. She cited as an example the Town of Front Royal, whose population of 14,400 is dispersed among three House districts. A number of association representatives and citizens also spoke in support of the measure. There was no public opposition. The vote to table was 4- 3. Voting to table (defeat) were Dels. Margaret Ransone, Buddy Fowler, Steve Landes and Cole. Voting against tabling were Dels. Randy Minchew, Michael Futrell and Mark Sickles. OneVirginia2021, the coalition advocating for redistricting reform, will continue to push for changes in the redistricting process in the future sessions. Staff contacts: Mary Jo Fields, [email protected]; Mark Flynn, [email protected]. Public safety Regional jail bill reverts to more costly approach The cost for local governments to renovate or expand regional jails could increase substantially if a bill amended on Wednesday becomes law. When passed by the Senate Feb. 6, SB 1049 (McDougle) left the state match for renovation or expansion of existing regional jails at 50 percent. The House Appropriations Committee, however, dropped the state match rate to 25 percent. That is the same match rate that was included in the original version of SB 1049 and in a budget amendment submitted by Gov. Terry McAuliffe. VML, VACo, regional jail representatives and others opposed dropping the match rate when the bill was heard in a House subcommittee. The Virginia Sheriffs’ Association supported the amendment. Regional jail staff are hired by a jail’s governing body, not a sheriff. In addition, SB 1049 and the governor’s budget amendment reduce the state match for construction of new regional jails to 25 percent. If the bill passes the House, the Senate will be asked to accept the amended version with the lower match rate. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Ryan McDougle, would then likely ask his fellow senators to accept the House version, which mirrors his original bill. Staff contact: Janet Areson, [email protected] Budget Budget conference committee deliberations appear on track After multiple staff briefings, House and Senate budget conferees began work this week to iron out the differences between their two competing sets of budget amendments. Both amendment packages invest in public employee salary increases, make super deposits to the Rainy Day Fund, and buy down the unfunded liability in the VRS retirement programs. In other words, the spending priorities of the two chambers seem to be aligned without any major political or philosophical obstacles to be overcome. The revenue differences between the House and Senate positions on Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s tax policy initiatives narrowed over the week. The Senate and House both agreed to scrap the governor’s proposed changes to coal tax credits. Also, the House Finance Committee passed by the Senate’s bill (SB 1009) to reduce the allowable tax deduction for long-term health care insurance premiums. There was no companion measure in the House. The McAuliffe Administration’s actions this week to raise the revenue forecast for the biennium have reduced the pressure on the General Assembly to go along with the governor’s tax policy changes. The bitter cold in Richmond, along with the desire of legislators to begin raising money for their fall campaigns and to re-introduce themselves to their families, appear to have sparked a feeling that the work of the conference committee could be wrapped up early next week. VML members should contact budget conferees and their delegations immediately to urge the elimination of the “local aid to the commonwealth” program. Staff contact: Neal Menkes, [email protected] Human services CSB mandate bill tabled A House committee tabled legislation Tuesday that would have added new certification and licensing requirements for crisis intervention services workers and their supervisors in community services boards. SB 1410 (Deeds) carried a substantial workforce and fiscal impact, particularly for smaller boards. Staff contact: Janet Areson, [email protected] Finance / taxes Senate OKs real estate tax exemption bill The Senate voted 38-0 this afternoon in favor of a constitutional amendment that will allow the General Assembly to adopt legislation allowing local governments the option of granting property tax exemptions to the surviving spouses of first responders killed in the line of duty. HJR 597 (Hugo) will have to be adopted in identical form in the 2016 session before going to the voters in the November 2016 general election and becoming part of the state constitution. Staff contact: Mary Jo Fields, [email protected]. Benefits Health insurance bill dies quiet death A bill to expand access for school and local government employees to the state health insurance plan has died in a House Appropriations subcommittee. The subcommittee met Thursday but did not take up SB 866 (Chafin and Vogel). Staff contact: Mary Jo Fields, [email protected]. Education Voucher bill sent to Senate Finance The Senate Finance Committee will consider a bill on Monday morning that would allow parents to establish educational savings accounts for their disabled children. Under HB 2238 (LaRock), school divisions would be responsible for depositing 90 percent of the state per-pupil funding for such a student in the educational savings accounts. School divisions also would be required to receive the applications to establish the accounts, receive and keep up with the documentation required from parents, and make determinations about eligibility for parents continuing to participate in the program. Parents could use the money for whatever education services they wanted, including home schooling. Staff contact: Mary Jo Fields, [email protected]. .