By Del. Charles Poindexter
While the hectic pace to complete Session on February 25 continued during Week #6, the House emphasis shifted focus to address bills coming over from the Senate and House bills with proposed Senate amendments returning to the House.
On Tuesday, of course, we paid tribute to Valentine’s Day with decorations, expressions of appreciation, and tasty chocolates everywhere. Unfortunately, I had to refrain from indulging my love for chocolate since I was not fully recovered from the miserable stomach virus that afflicted many of us in the General Assembly and around the state this winter.Our conservative budgeting work continued with conferees appointed to sort out the differences in House and Senate versions of the proposed budget. The conference report reflecting the reconciliations is expected by the middle of next week. We can then vote the budget up or down. The two current budget versions are so close, I believe that decision will not be difficult this year.Several Senate bills received a lot of attention this week. Recall about three years ago Congress passed laws to require inspection of produce farms due to the E-Coli and Salmonella outbreaks from vegetables that killed or made seriously ill many consumers. The regulations have been issued and call for the inspections to be performed by outside federal inspectors unless states sign up to perform them.
SB1195 would make Virginia the 41st state to do our own inspections via the Virginia Department of Agriculture instead of the Federal Department of Agriculture. The bill limits the inspections to large commercial produce farms; contains a sunset clause so the law goes away if the federal regulations are repealed, unfunded or ruled unconstitutional; eliminates criminal prosecution and jail time for farmers, as was proposed by the Obama Administration; and, provides any fines levied go to pay for farm BMPs.
The objections have mostly been over unannounced inspections and entry onto properties. Those certainly are strong concerns. Yet, the fact is that unannounced inspections are common, such as for restaurants or OSHA arriving without warning at a factory or other work site. SB1195 passed the House on Friday 73-26. I voted for it as the far less of two evils; the entire federal approach was too much overreach.SB866 would require The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to establish and use an electronic database to confirm if a boat operator has taken the boater education course. While that works in many cases, many boat operators will not be in the database. Among those are out-of-state operators, military exempted, operators who took the class many years ago, and others. Also, cell service is spotty and that places the burden of proof from the operator to DGIF. The bill passed, but I voted against it for the above-stated reasons.Ethanol gas is simply unrealistic for and harmful to gas powered farm vehicles and small equipment of many types. SB899 will permit on-farm delivery for non-ethanol gas. I voted a hearty Yea! for the bill. A couple of years ago, the General Assembly began requiring a personal financial literacy course in our school curriculums. SB1245 adds college-related information to those courses. The information would include the value of a college degree, degree selection options, jobs available and potential compensation value by degree, anticipated costs, and college debt service considerations.HB1408 deals with vision testing in our schools. After misunderstanding the introduced bill as resulting in stopping the excellent and productive Lion’s Club sight testing efforts, clarifying language was added to assure the Lion’s Club programs can and will continue. I voted for the resulting bill.The House of Delegates is a strong supporter of our veterans. We currently have important bills in the legislative process which I anticipate will pass. HB2206, the Virginia Veteran and Family Support Program, would provide assistance for navigating the complex network of healthcare services available. HB1582 allows active duty military members aged 18-21 to apply for a concealed handgun permit.
HB1721 provides for community colleges to charge reduced tuition to active duty military enrolled in classes that lead to a military occupational specialty. HJ562 is a constitutional amendment that would provide a property tax exemption for the spouse of a disabled veteran.For the next week, I can be contacted in Richmond at (804) 698-1009 or DelCPoindexter@house.virginia.gov. As always, I invite you to “like” my Facebook page.
