The third week of the 2017 Session will long be remembered for the upwards of 4,600 visitors per day through mid-week who came to engage with legislators, gather on the Capitol grounds or take a Capitol Tour.
How wonderful to know so many people are interested in visiting their Capitol and legislators, especially since no particular issue prompted the large volume of visitors. Despite long lines and waiting times throughout Capitol Square, most people maintained gracious attitudes appropriately reflecting ‘the Virginia way.’ I met with as many visitors as possible. However, this also was the week that members of the House were considering hundreds of bills and the budget as we moved forward to complete our bills by February 7. The budget reports out on February 5. In my three committees (Appropriations; Agriculture, Natural
Resources, and Chesapeake; and, Counties, Cities and Towns), I estimate I already have read, discussed and voted on more than 300 bills and a significant number of budget amendments. One major priority issue of the House this Session is education, especially K-12 and higher education. For K-12, we are focusing on bills for school choice, virtual (on-line) offerings, and Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), which means the money ‘follows the students’ per the parents’ and students’ needs and wishes for selecting a method of education.
Also, while I do not believe statewide mandated pre-school is the best approach, we are focusing on providing families with at-risk four-year-olds not served by Head Start with tax credits to enroll their children in a pre-K program. In regards to higher education, access, costs and student debt to attend our state universities and colleges has grown to unacceptable and unaffordable levels. To address these issues, we are pursing improvements in dual enrollment; incentivizing students to graduate in four years instead of five or six years or even longer; providing a state on-line education consortium and network; and taking steps to provide additional workforce certifications and licenses for technical trades. This week, as chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Compensation and Retirement, I participated in a press conference at which the money committees announced the compensations (raises) to which the House and Senate have committed to-date. We announced a 3% pay raise for state employees, significant funds to address understaffing and pay of the Virginia State Police (VSP), and a compression pay package for sheriffs’ deputies. The latter funding addresses the issue of newly hired personnel having to be recruited at higher salaries than current employees are receiving. We continue to work towards compensation improvements for state supported local employees (constitutional offices, etc.) and school divisions. We will announce our proposals for those employees by February 5, if not sooner. The Governor has previously proposed a 1.5% bonus, but the General Assembly clearly is of the mind that meaningful raises are a priority, especially as, for example, his proposal for teachers did not contain language requiring the bonus money to be spent on salary.
At this point in the process, there seems to be strong support for freeing up the ‘strings’ on lottery money sent to the school divisions so they can spend more of their funds on raises, the coming-due increases in the local match for retirement contributions, or other items specific to a local school division’s needs. Between a full schedule of committee and subcommittee meetings, I had the pleasure of meeting in my office with University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan. Also visiting were Patrick County Commissioner of Revenue Janet Rorrer and Patrick County Treasurer Sandra Stone. To arrange a tour of our capitol or to schedule a meeting with me, send an email to DelCPoindexter@house.virginia.gov or call (804) 698-1009 or write to me at P.O. Box 406, Room 802, Richmond VA 23218. I invite you to like and follow me on Facebook and to send me your email address if you would like to receive my newsletters throughout the year.
