Tuesday, February 09, 2010
General Assembly notebook: Bill on Explore Park advances
General Assembly 2011
Among the major issues: The state's continuing efforts to provide services with fewer dollars and Gov. McDonnell's plan to privatize liquor stores. Session ends Feb. 26.
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The authority that oversees Explore Park would have six months to come up with a plan for using the site under legislation that cleared a state Senate committee Monday.
Senate Bill 502 extends the deadline under which the Explore Park property would revert to the state if the Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority fails to come up with a plan for the 1,100-acre property in Roanoke and Bedford counties. Florida-based developer Larry Vander Maten has requested another extension for his plan to turn the park into a tourist destination.
The bill cleared the Senate Courts of Justice Committee on Monday and heads to the full Senate for a vote.
The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Ralph Smith, R-Botetourt County, effectively would force the authority board to come up with an alternate plan if Vander Maten fails to procure financing for his proposal.
If no plan materializes, the property would revert to the state on July 1, 2011. The House of Delegates has passed a bill that extends the reversion deadline to the same date, but without the conditions contained in the Senate bill.
-- Michael Sluss
Senate passes bill to protect gay workers
The Senate passed a measure Monday that would protect gay and lesbian state workers from discrimination.
If passed into law, the measure would define a state nondiscrimination employment policy that includes sexual orientation along with race, religion, gender and disabilities, among other classifications.
Several past governors have signed executive orders establishing that as a state policy.
Gov. Bob McDonnell has said such decisions are the domain of the legislature.
-- Julian Walker The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot
House tables measures on in-state enrollment
Four bills to cap out-of-state enrollment at state schools were tabled Monday in a House of Delegates subcommittee.
HB 1026, introduced by Del. Tim Hugo, R-Fairfax County, would have required state universities to enroll at least 75 percent of their students from the in-state applicant pool.
Hugo said he knows of Virginia students with 4.0 grade-point averages or better who were denied admission to state schools.
The problem, he said, is that out-of-state students are flocking to Virginia schools, attracted by their tuition levels.
-- Bill Sizemore The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot
Bill would make drivers use hands-free phones
The Senate has passed a bill to ban talking on a cellphone while driving unless using a hands-free device.
The bill by Senate Minority Leader Thomas Norment, R-Williamsburg, passed the Senate 25-15 Monday. It would phase in penalties for drivers who take their hands off the wheel to hold a cellphone.
The ban would not apply to operators of emergency vehicles, drivers who are stopped or parked, GPS or other digital dispatch systems such as OnStar, or anyone using a phone to report an emergency.
Similar efforts have died in recent years.
-- Associated Press
House budget will call for deeper state cuts
House of Delegates budget negotiators hope to overcome a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall in part by deeper cuts at state agencies, bigger contributions from state workers to their pension plans and more federal money to pay for Medicaid.
The House spending plan, and the Senate's counterpart, have to compensate for a $4.2 billion shortfall. Former Gov. Tim Kaine's outgoing budget contains more than half of those cuts, but legislators still need to find another $1.9 billion. He proposed finding the money by eliminating the state's car tax relief subsidy to localities, but Republicans have dismissed that idea.
The House budget plan is based in part on a bill from Del. Lacey Putney, I-Bedford, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. It would require new government workers to contribute more toward their pension benefits, roll back cost of living adjustments and alter how a worker's age and years of service count toward retirement.
While envisioned as more of a long-range strategy, one estimate suggests it could free up as much as $200 million to $300 million in the near term.
-- Julian Walker The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot
