Updated Friday January 20, 2006

The 2004 General Assembly is now in session

Week 2 Update—January 23, 2004

The deadline for introduction of bills is 5 p.m., Friday, January 23. Budget amendments proposed by Delegates and Senators were due on Thursday and will be available next week. “Cross-over day,” the last day for each house to act on its own bills, is February 17. House and Senate versions of the two-year budget for fiscal years 2005 and 2006 will be released on February 22.  

The House Education Committee is scheduled to meet on Mondays at 9:00 a.m. in House Room C and Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m. in the Appropriations Room.  The Senate Education and Health Committee will meet on Thursdays at 9:00 a.m. in Senate Room B.  Sub-committees will meet periodically throughout the session. Click here for a schedule of weekly meetings (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?021+oth+MTG

The Budget

            The General Assembly’s money committees have been told that year-to-date revenue growth (thorough December) is about on the budgeted estimated of 6.8%. Chairman John Chichester told the Senate Finance Committee this week that even with projected revenue increases, there is not enough to cover increased costs associated with education and Medicaid, and to address priorities that have been sliding in recent years. He charged the committee with developing a budget that is needed for the longer view, rather than developing one for the short term, as has been done the past three years using one time fixes (in his opening statements to the committee last year, Chichester noted that lawmakers would have to look at “both sides of the equation” in determining the right mix of services and resources in crafting the 2004-2006 budget).

Meanwhile, House Appropriations Committee staff has developed a list of possible funding reductions should the House budget contain no tax policy changes that generate additional revenue. Among them are some cuts to public education, transportation and employee pay hikes. Some House Republicans are suggesting that modest gas and cigarette taxes could be included as part of their budget re-write. Without tax policy changes proposed in the introduced version, lawmakers would face a nearly $1 billion gap between expected revenue and mandated/high priority spending.

One of the central focuses of the budget again is falling around education funding. Getting the most attention are the governor’s proposed deduction of certain federal ($315 million) and locally generated ($103 million) revenues that lower the state’s costs of the SOQ. Some legislators, though, are questioning the record increase for rebenchmarking the SOQ, specifically targeting teacher salary increases provided by local governments the past several years when the state did not provide teacher pay hikes. Those local increases drive prevailing costs that are recognized in the rebenchmarking, and some legislators appear poised to balk at including those locally provided increases, a move that would save the state money. Numerous bills that would change the education funding formula and that would funnel revenues from new taxes to public education have been proposed in the House and Senate. Ultimately, they will defer to the budget process.

Click here for additional information about Governor Warner's proposed education budget for 2004-2006  (http://leg2.state.va.us/MoneyWeb.NSF/sb2004 )

Legislation

            At its first meeting of the session, the House Education Committee debated HB 337, which sought to have Virginia withdraw from participation in the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Though many legislators were sympathetic to the bill’s intent, a majority of the committee felt it better to wait until possible steps to alleviate state and local concerns were addressed by the federal government, and the bill was carried over for the year. Meanwhile, House Rules approved HJR 192, which asks Congress to provide a waiver from the Act’s school accountability provisions for states, such as Virginia, that have successfully raised student achievement through their own standards and accountability reforms (SJR 77 is the Senate version).
            Senate Education and Health has approved a bill, SB 520, to require school boards to have a written contract for unlicensed workers employed full-time or part-time for at least 10 months of the year. HB 1339 is the House version.

Here are more education-related bills that have been submitted so far:

HB 769 requires that, within the currently required career and technical education program, curricula that promote knowledge of entrepreneurship and small business ownership (reported by House Education).

HB 845 is the administration’s charter school bill that give priority to applications targeting student populations served by unaccredited schools, increases the maximum charter term approval or renewal from three to five years and creates a Charter Schools Assistance Program and Fund to assist with school construction or leasing.

HB 927 requires school buses purchased after July 1, 2004, to be equipped with seatbelts.

HB 1013 creates the At-Risk Student Academic Achievement Program and Fund. This is the VML/VACo/First Cities plan to provide funding for at-risk students, as they are more likely to have difficulty passing SOL tests.

HB 1014 and SB 479 propose major revisions to the Standards of Quality.

HB 1015 requires instruction in the use of emergency contraception in response to sexual assault to be included in the family life education curriculum.

HB 1036 creates the Children At-Risk in Education Tax Credit to promote educational opportunities for at-risk children. Tax credits, limited to $2 million in the first year, would be awarded to business entities for contributions made to eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organizations.

HB 1047 stipulates that when a special education student eligible for services through the CSA pool is placed across jurisdictional boundaries in a private residential facility, the financial and legal responsibility for the special education services shall remain with the placing jurisdiction.

HB 1171 replaces authority for the state superintendent, slated to expire next year, to identify critical teacher shortage areas and gives that authority to local school boards. 

HB 1254 requires that performances on nationally normed student test score averages be reported by local school boards separate from SOL test scores.

HB 1256 and SB 452 revise current law to allow school divisions missing instructional days due to weather or emergencies to make up the first five days missed, then one day for every two days missed, up to 15.

HB 1257 directs local school boards to adopt procedures based on BOE guidelines for awarding verified units of credit to students seeking the standard diploma.

HB 1294 is the Board of Education’s bill that would allow it to take corrective action (pursue circuit court enforcement) when schools fail to meet accreditation and are not following a corrective action plan developed by the school division.

SB 393 allows localities to assess an “educational facilities fee” to cover the costs of additional school capital improvements that will be needed when proposed subdivisions or developments are to be located in the locality.

SB 416 requires the BOE to consult with the regional superintendents' study groups, to develop a timetable for reporting SOL test scores to schools and school divisions.

SB 633 requires reporting by law enforcement to school superintendents of any student who is 18 or over and arrested for certain offenses.

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