Updated February 8, 2002

The Schedule

Members of the House and Senate worked diligently this past week, racing to meet the February 12 deadline for acting on legislation introduced in each chamber. Many education bills have now met their fate in committee, as the House and Senate Education Committees completed their work by the end of the week. Work on the budget also has been intense, as a February 17 deadline looms for the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees to release their respective versions of the budget.

The House Education Committee meets Mondays at 8:30 a.m. in House Room C (it will NOT meet on February 11) and Wednesdays at 8 a.m. in the Appropriations Room. The Senate Education and Health Committee meets Thursdays at 9:00 a.m. in Senate Room B. Sub-committees will meet periodically throughout the session. Please click for a schedule of weekly meetings.

The Issues

The budget situation seems to get bleaker with each passing day. This past week, it was reported that state revenue was down sharply in January, and that the $300 million set aside in Governor Warner’s budget amendments for unexpected shortfalls and imbalances will not be enough to cover the hole left by low January numbers. And already, there are hints that February revenue numbers will not fare any better. With that backdrop, legislative budget writers are struggling with ways to close a budget gap approaching $4 billion over the next 29 months.

The subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee that deals with public education funding is having an especially hard time, as it reportedly is charged with finding money in the education budget to funnel to other areas. One possibility is that that funding for non-mandated programs and for small programs for several localities likely will be captured to funnel to other education needs or other parts of the budget. If such a capture of funds were to occur, the amount could total close to $200 million and could include the likes of voluntary programs like the at-risk four year olds program, the early reading initiative, the K-3 class size reduction program, and dropout prevention.

This same subcommittee has indicated it is trying to find a way to fund one of the recommendations contained in the recently-released Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) report on education funding. JLARC recommended discontinuing the practice of deducting locally-generated revenues (interest, sales of supplies, etc.) before calculating state and local shares of Standards of Quality (SOQ) costs, which carries a two-year state pricetag of $51 million. Such a move likely would come at the expense of funding to the School Construction Grants Program, which in the introduced budget was targeted for elimination. Governor Warner has proposed budget amendments that would restore about $55 million to the program.

Meanwhile, the House Education Committee, much like its Senate counterpart, has carried over several bills that would have implemented various JLARC education recommendations. This includes HB 758, HB 1047 and HB 1171. HB 1038, which would provide state support for elementary resource teachers, was rereferred to the House Appropriations Committee. There was some sentiment that should funds become available in the next few years, that this initiative be a funding priority.

The House Education Committee completed its docket this past Wednesday. A few of the most significant bills approved were the following:

On the House floor, HB 161 has been approved by a 53-44 vote. This bill directs the Board of Education to develop guidelines regarding posting of the Ten Commandments and certain sections of the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution. Local school boards then would be authorized to display such texts consistent with the guidelines. The House refused to pass a bill (HB 460) that would have required school buses transporting more than 10 student to use vehicles meeting federal school bus safety standards and be designed to carry at least 20 passengers. This legislation, which proposed phased-in requirements over the next five years, would have disallowed the use of certain passenger vans. Private schools and daycare centers were removed from the bill earlier in the week over the patron’s objections. On Thursday, the House declined to endorse the measure on 48-46 vote.

Two bills that would change the conditions under which retired teachers are permitted to return to teaching without interrupting their retirement benefits are still pending in the House Appropriations Committee. HB 1137 and HB 1048 would shorten the “break in service” time from the one year (established by the Virginia Retirement System last year) to 30 days. Meanwhile, the House Finance Committee meets Saturday morning, at which time it is expected to discuss and vote on various measures that would increase the sales tax (either state or local) for public education and/or transportation purposes.

Meanwhile, the Senate Education and Health Committee spent large chunk of its meeting time on Thursday discussing health bills. However, the Committee did approve SB 350, which directs the Board of Education to include in its annual report a justification for each standard of quality, how long each standard has been in its current form, and whether the Board recommends any changes to the standard. A handful of significant bills remain, including a charter schools bill, a bill to require posting of the motto “In God We Trust” in each public school (a similar measure already has passed the House), and a bill directing the Board of Education to select and require a data-based management system providing accurate accounting of certain school expenditure categories. These and other bills will be taken up at a special meeting on Monday morning.

Please click for access to all bills assigned to the House Education and Senate Education and Health Committees.

CEPI legislation to establish a legislative study committee to review, study and reform educational leadership will likely be considered next week. HJR 20, patroned by Delegate Phil Hamilton, will be heard in a House Rules subcommittee Monday morning, while SJR 58 patroned by Senator Emmett Hanger, is in the Senate Rules Committee and could be heard on February 5.

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Questions or More Information? Please contact CEPI if you have any questions or need additional information about the 2002 General Assembly. A final summary of legislative action from the 2002 General Assembly is posted on this Web site.

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