The 2010 General Assembly is now in session
Week 4 Update—February 5, 2010
The 2010 General Assembly session began Wednesday, January 13, 2010. The session runs 60 days and is scheduled to end on March 13, 2010. “Cross-over day,” the last day for each house to act on its own bills, is February 16. House and Senate versions of the two-year budget for fiscal years 2011 and 2012 will be released on February 21.
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 8:30 a.m. in Senate Room B. Sub-committees will meet periodically throughout the session. Click here for the schedule of weekly meetings.
Budget News
Governor Bob McDonnell has laid out his legislative package, which includes budget amendments and nearly two dozen pieces of legislation focused on job creation and economic expansion. The plans include increasing dollars in the Governor’s Opportunity Fund and creating business-friendly income tax credits. Meanwhile, he also has indicated that education, health care and VRS are areas that may be targeted for additional reductions as the legislature shapes changes to the current fiscal year and next biennium budgets. Shaping that budget will prove excruciatingly difficult, as lawmakers search for an additional $2 billion in reductions on top of those proposed in the introduced budget. Yesterday, some senators expressed doubts that their chamber would be able to produce a budget by the February 21 deadline.
Future state budgets could be developed on a different timeline. The Senate Finance Committee has approved SB 102, which provides that biennial appropriations start on July 1 of odd-numbered years, beginning with July 1, 2001. The current process results in an outgoing governor submitting a proposed two-year budget just weeks before leaving office, providing the incoming governor with limited opportunity to shape the budget in his first two years in office.
Click here for additional information about Governor Kaine's proposed education budget for FY10; and here for the proposed FY11/FY12 education budget.
Legislation
Early in the week, several bills that would have provided some relief from the so-called “Kings Dominion” law were referred from the Senate floor back to an unfriendly committee. These include SB 412, which would make local school boards responsible for setting the school calendar and determining the opening of the school year; and SB 203, which would provide that if Labor Day falls on September 5 or later, a school board may set the school calendar so that the first day students are required to attend be no earlier than one week before Labor Day. This bill’s House counterpart, HB 565, was approved by the House Education Committee, then referred back to the House Appropriations Committee once it reached the House floor.
The House Finance Committee approved HB 599 which provides an income tax credit for businesses and individuals that make contributions to foundations that would distribute scholarships to impoverished families for meeting the costs of education at a public or private school. The bill has been sent to the House Appropriations Committee. A similar measure, SB 133, was defeated in the Senate Finance Committee this past week.
Meanwhile, Senate Finance has approved SB 722, which expands the recipients of the health insurance credits currently going to retired teachers, to all retired employees of local school divisions. The Virginia Retirement System estimates the cost of this additional benefit ($10.7 million in FY11 and about $11 million in FY12) would be reflected in increased employer contribution rates for FY11. The Committee also approved SB 213, which allows retirees to be hired as a school security officer and continue to receive retirement benefits, under certain conditions. The panel, however, took no action on SB 368 which would allow the creditable compensation of teachers for retirement purposes to include all compensation (e.g. coaching stipends) paid to teachers by their school boards.
The House approved HB 76 on Thursday. The bill requires local school boards to report annually on the percentage of the operating budget allocated to instructional spending; under the bill, the Board of Education is charged with defining instructional spending by regulation. During floor debate on the bill, proponents said the bill simply moves in the direction of having more instructional dollars in the classroom, saying administrative costs continue to grow; opponents argued that a lot of associated costs during the school day outside of instruction are essential to running a school, such as serving lunch, running buses, and providing library and guidance services.
The House has sent its triennial census bill to the House Appropriations Committee. In its amended form, HB 669 eliminates the census in favor of a yearly estimate of school age population (ages 5 to 19) to be provided by the Weldon Cooper Center.
In subcommittee action in the House, a House Education subcommittee has narrowly recommended that HB 926 be approved. The bill directs the Virginia High School League to allow homeschooled students to participate in interscholastic activities. Also recommended was HB 1067, which requires Board of Health regulations setting nutritional guidelines for all competitive foods sold during the school day; the Senate unanimously approved its version, SB 414. Carried over for the year was HB 528, which would have required a school principal to notify parents of a student whenever action has been taken to physically restrain such student. Finally, HB 780 has been defeated. It would have required local school boards to develop policies providing for the open enrollment to any school of any pupil in the school division.
This coming week will be a busy one, as committees race toward the deadline to clear bills from their dockets
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