**** DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL**** PLEASE SEND ALL INQUIRIES TO [email protected]

Delegate Landes’ Legislative Report By Delegate R. Steven Landes February 11, 2015

Fourth Week of Session

As the General Assembly wraps up the fourth week of session, I have good news to report for the House legislative agenda. The House Republicans coming into session vowed to advance an agenda that creates jobs, improves education, and supports our veterans, while opposing attempts to raise your taxes or infringe on your second amendment rights. After reaching the midpoint of session, we have made progress on all of those fronts. One piece of good news that I want to highlight, thanks to our conservative budgeting and ’s improving economy I can report that state government revenue has increased beyond our initial projections. As Vice Chairman of Appropriations the House put forward a budget that would eliminate $10.2 million in fees proposed by Governor McAuliffe. The budget we put forward also eliminates $42.5 million in debt the Governor proposed, and contains no new debt provisions.

Making College More Affordable

We have excellent colleges and universities in Virginia. In fact, this week the Princeton Review ranked the University of Virginia as the best public university value in the country. For too many Virginians though, high costs put higher education out of reach. That’s why we passed two important bills this week that give Virginia families more affordable options. House Bill 1692, introduced by Delegate (R-Christiansburg), gives students pursuing degrees in high- demand fields the option of a more affordable “flat-fee degree.” House Bill 2320, introduced by Delegate Ben Cline (R-Amherst) reestablishes a new cooperative bachelor's degree program in Virginia that lets students earn a bachelor’s degree for just $4,000 per year, through a combination of online, community college, or college or university courses.

The above mentioned bills are in addition to my House Bill 1336 which requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), in consultation with the governing board of each public institution of higher education, to establish a uniform policy for granting undergraduate course credit to entering college freshman students who have taken one or more advanced placement courses or tests. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2016. The bill passed the House 95-3 and has now been referred to the Senate Committee on Education and Health.

Property Rights-Dominion Pipeline

Having always been a strong defender of our constitutionally protected property rights, I therefore decided to co-patron House Bill 1696, introduced by Delegate Dickie Bell (R-Staunton). HB 1696 was introduced as a response to the opposition to the proposed Dominion Pipeline which cuts across parts of Augusta and Nelson Counties. It would have made a public service corporation subject to the public records provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act with respect to any project or activity for which it may exercise the power of eminent domain and has filed or pre-filed for a certificate or other permitting document. The legislation would have increased the transparency of such an eminent domain process. Unfortunately this bill did not make it out of the Commerce and Labor Committee and was tabled, thus killing it for this session.

Jobs

The best social welfare program is a good-paying job. I learned early on from my parents that to be good citizens, we need to contribute back, we weren't put on this earth to take. Small businesses account for more than half of new job creation in Virginia, and this week the House passed House Bill 1360, introduced by Delegate Scott Taylor (R-Virginia Beach), which makes it easier for small and new businesses to raise money through “crowdfunding.” I am also happy to report that the House will be eliminating more than $10 million in new fees on Virginia families and small businesses that were included in the Governor’s budget. Our House budget will find the money to fund the core functions of government without looking to taxpayers for more of their hard-earned money.

Health Care

This week, the House passed “Right to Try” legislation, House Bill 1750, patroned by Delegate Margaret Ransone (R-Kinsale) that gives terminally ill patients better access to potentially life- saving treatments that have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

We also rolled out budget proposals that would strengthen Virginia’s existing health care safety net and increase our support for free clinics. This is a conservative plan that would help Virginians who are most in need without dumping thousands of Virginians into the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion or creating a massive new entitlement program, as the Governor proposed. Lastly of the health care related budget proposals would be funding to provide targeted services to 29,000 seriously mentally-ill patients, including a prescription drug benefit. All total we are investing over $125 million for this program.

Status of My Budget Amendments

I submitted a number of budget amendments this session and am pleased to announce that several of these have been recommended by subcommittees and have been accepted by the full committee. The amendments address professional development for school board members, capital equipment purchases for schools, uniform course credit for college freshmen, clarification to local law enforcement regarding registration for the sex-offender registry, first responder training to recognize Alzheimer’s and/or dementia sufferers, analysis of Virginia’s Medicaid program, higher education enrollment growth, and funding for UVA Rotunda restoration and funding for JMU for the Briery Branch Community Center.

The following budget amendments reported out of the General Government and Capital Outlay Subcommittee:

 Item 30#1h provides $300,000 in the second year from the general fund to be used for the cost of consultants to assist in JLARC's study of the Commonwealth's Medicaid program as directed by House Joint Resolution 637. The funding provided would be used in addition to expected year-end balances at the agency.

 Item C-14.50 #1h provides $5.6 million in general funds along with $5.0 million non-general funds is recommended to supplement the Rotunda renovation at UVA.

 Item C-41 #1h provides maintenance dollars to the Frontier Culture Museum for needed maintenance projects related to the public restrooms, public entrance accessibility, and clean-up of ponds and brush.

The following are budget amendments reported from the Elementary and Secondary Subcommittee:

 Item 128 #1h provides $100,000 the second year from the general fund to help offset any costs associated with the passage of House Bill 1962 (Landes) requested by the Secretary of Education related to professional development of school board members and $366,000 for principal and teacher training regarding students with high needs.

 Item 136 #3h This language amendment helps to ensure that school divisions are able to maximize their flexibility for the related purchases made with available funds from the Educational Technology grant initiative. The amendment was requested by the Albemarle County School Board.

The following are budget amendments reported from the Higher Education Subcommittee:

 Item 144 #2h requests $35,000 GF to implement the requirements of House Bill 1336 to establish a uniform policy for granting undergraduate course credit to entering freshmen students who have taken one or more Advanced Placement, Cambridge Advanced, CLEP or International Baccalaureate examinations.

 Item 166 #3h provides additional $1.7million general fund money to restore a portion of the proposed budget reductions in the introduced budget and to support in-state undergraduate enrollment growth and a portion to be used for costs associated with the development of a collaborative practical experience partnership in kinesiology between James Madison University and the Briery Branch Community Center.

 Item 193 #3h provides $1.6 million additional general fund money to restore a portion of the proposed budget reductions in the introduced budget and to support in-state undergraduate enrollment growth at the University of Virginia.

The following are budget amendment reported from the Health and Human Resources Subcommittee:

 Item 389 #2h provides $50,000 from the general fund in fiscal year 2016 for the Department of Criminal Justice Services to provide training to local law enforcement to aid in identifying and interacting with individuals suffering from Alzheimer's and/or dementia.

The following budget amendment reported from the Public Safety Subcommittee:

 Item 389 #1h This language amendment clarifies that local law enforcement are required to accept and transmit to the state police information for the sex- offender registry.

Visitors, January 2-6

My staff and I have had another busy week here at session trying to meet with as many constituents and visitors as possible. Dr. John Downey, President of Blue Ridge Community College, brought down another group of students to visit House and Senate Members. Constituent Chris Harman of Waynesboro and Mitch King of Charlottesville came in for a visit.

I was proud to have my Pastor Reverend Jonathan Ytterock from Mt. Horeb Presbyterian Church visit on Tuesday and give the invocation on the House floor. Dr. Shelley Snodgrass of Crozet came down with the Medical Society of Virginia.

Members of the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office and the Virginia State Police stopped by to discuss the budget. Many members from Augusta County Board of Supervisors and the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors were led in by their respective County Administrators, Pat Coffield and Joe Paxton.

To cap off the week we had a very caring and compassionate group of mothers stop by to advocate for a bill in the House that would allow parents to obtain cannabidiol oil to be used for the medicinal purpose of treating epilepsy. House Bill 1445, patroned by Delegate (R-Springfield), passed the House 98-0 with one member abstaining and one not voting.

Contact Me

As always, my staff and I are here in Richmond to serve you. My full time Legislative Director, Judy Wyatt, who works session as well as in the District, will be handling constituent concerns, legislative issues, and ensuring things run smoothly. During session, James Lawrence is onboard as a legislative assistant to aid me in my Education and Appropriations duties as well as to assist Judy with constituent inquiries and office duties.

Carolyn Musika, our Session Secretary, is the main contact for appointments. This year our intern is Emily Herring, a Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) senior, who has been assigned to our office through the Virginia Capital Semester Program.

I want to hear what you think about the legislation pending before the House, or if there's anything we can do to help you in dealing with a state government agency. While in Richmond, my office can be reached by phone at 804.698.1025 or by email at [email protected].

If you are planning to visit Richmond during Session, I encourage you to call our Secretary to make an appointment. Our office location is on the 9th Floor, Room 947. Our Richmond address is Post Office Box 406, Richmond, Virginia 23218. Please visit my website at www.stevelandes.com for my newest press releases and newsletters.

Also, be sure to “like” my Facebook Fan Page or you can now follow me on Twitter @steve_landes by clicking the buttons below:

Thank you again for allowing me to serve as your Delegate.

Sincerely,

Steve Landes

***Please do not reply to this email address. Please send all inquiries to [email protected]***