By Sen. Bill Stanley

Note: Last week we received Sen. Stanley’s column too late to print it. The first part of it concerned the actions in the General Assembly regarding Pioneer Community Hospital, and is included below. The second part of the column is his column for the current week.

This was week three, with five remaining. We are on track to complete our work on time before Cross-Over on February 13 when both Houses exchange their passed bills for consideration, and by March 10 when session adjourns.

For this Session, the Senate has filed a total of 983 bills; the House of Delegates total is 1,606. I am carrying 34 bills that require numerous presentations to the various Senate Committees and to my colleagues in the full Senate.

One of my bills that came out of the Senate this past week is the licensing of the Patrick County Hospital as an acute care facility.  Fortunately, SB 866 was unanimously passed 39 to 0 by the Senate on Tuesday after having been re-introduced for the second time in as many weeks.

The overwhelming support received from many Patrick County citizens and public officials was very much appreciated and was definitely instrumental in ensuring its passage. The many letters, emails, and visits from Patrick citizens did not go unnoticed by me or my colleagues in the Senate. My personal thanks to everyone for your efforts!

The next step in the legislative process for SB 866 is for it to be considered by the House of Delegates. Assuming a similar favorable result in the House, the bill, along with a similar House Bill sponsored by Delegate Poindexter, will proceed to the Governor for his signature. Since this bill was classified as “Emergency” legislation, it will become law immediately following a signing ceremony.

As a result of the legislation, the license will take effect retroactively to January 1 for the remainder of the year. I expect SB 866 to become law by the first week of February. Even though this legislation appears to be on the fast-track to passage, my staff and I continue to work with local officials to try to get the hospital up and running again. Here are some of the steps we’ve taken to date:

• we have met with the lien holder, Virginia Community Capital, in order to keep the hospital’s physical plant operating;
• we met with AEP to assist the county with the cost of electricity during the time when a new hospital operator is being identified;
• and we are working with the Virginia Hospital Association in locating a new owner/operator for the Patrick County Hospital.

We will not rest until this problem is solved.

This is my fourth Weekly update since the session began three and a half weeks ago.

Before we get into more detailed issues, here are a couple general comments about the progress we are making thus far this session. It’s not uncommon for most people when hearing the word “Senate,” they think of the United States Senate, a legislative body that is not necessarily known for moving very quickly. Judging from this year’s session however, the Senate of Virginia is very different from the Senate in Washington.

My fellow senators and I have already passed over 200 bills during this year’s session.  Having completed work on more than half of the bills submitted by our members, we are in the midst of the Senate’s most productive General Assembly session in anyone’s memory.

For the most part, we are on time to hear and vote on all Senate bills before crossover, the legislative halfway mark of the session on February 13. With a new month upon us, we’re getting closer to the point where we approve a new Virginia’s two-year budget.

As I continue to present the remainder of my 34 Bills in Senate Committee and before the full Senate, I am also looking to the near term where the full legislature will be tackling the issues related to healthcare and energy.

I had two Bills pass this week that I want to mention, SB 37 (The Virginia Grocery Investment Fund to combat “Food Deserts”) and SB 172 (Pre-K School Choice Scholarships).

• “Food Deserts”: My Bill SB37 creates the Virginia Grocery Investment Program and Fund that would help to provide funding for the construction, rehabilitation, equipment upgrades, or expansion of grocery stores, small food retailers, and innovative food retail projects in underserved and underprivileged communities that have very limited supermarket access. Areas such as these have been referred to a “food deserts.”

This Bill would help independent grocery stores locate in underserved areas, and help Virginians gain access to healthy, nutritious food in their communities. This initiative would combine $1 of state investment with $3 of private capital investment in impoverished communities to establish grocery stores that would not only serve the community with healthy choices for our citizens and their children, but also would create jobs, support other small businesses in the area and create local tax revenues that would elevate the economic conditions in these regions. This is a two year pilot program, but if successful, can be applied throughout the state in the future.

• SB 172 is an education bill. It passed this week in the Senate by a vote of 28-12. It would expand the Education Improvement Scholarships tax credits program, by including children enrolled in or attending nonpublic pre-kindergarten programs. It passed the Senate with a vote of 28-12.

Currently, students in grades K-12 are eligible for this scholarship opportunity. SB 172 would provide pre-K students and their families with a choice as to which school most meets their expectations, when either there are no public school Pre-Kindergarten opportunities in the region for their children, or when the public school alternative is less than adequate.

School choice should be available to all parents, regardless of their zip code or economic station in life. This bill, building upon the historic School Choice bill that I authored and became law in 2012, gives our parents that ability to choose. I am proud to say that this legislation has helped thousands of Virginia’s children achieve their academic success when the public schools have failed them.

Both SB 37 and SB 172, after being passed by the Senate, now move on to the House of Delegates for their consideration.

Another of my bills that I want to highlight is SB 171, which if passed by both chambers, will establish the creation of the “Henrietta Lacks Commission” that would create the blueprint for the development, through a public-private partnership, the Henrietta Lacks Life Sciences Center to be located in Halifax County as a state-of-the-art cancer research and treatment center designed to (i) transform and accelerate cancer research and treatment through the use of biodata tools, (ii) provide tailored cancer treatment to an underserved portion of rural Southern Virginia, and (iii) incubate new biotech businesses across the Southside Virginia region.

Henrietta Lacks, a Halifax County native, lost her life to cancer in 1951. She gifted her unique legacy—the HeLa Cell—to cancer research, transforming the speed and success of cancer treatment. Specifically, A Henrietta Lacks Life Science Center would begin as a foundation with that would build, operate and champion its multipurpose mission with stakeholders that would include the Lacks family, the Commonwealth of Virginia, resident research institutions, healthcare providers and Halifax Industrial Development Authority.

Together, they will accelerate cancer research and treatment via cutting edge “precision medicine,” provide tailored cancer treatment medicine to an underserved portion of rural Southern Virginia, research, develop and commercialize new therapies, and at the same time transform the Southern Virginia economy and appropriately honor Henrietta Lack’s unique legacy here where it is most appropriate—her home place.

It has been an honor to author and be the sponsor of SB 171, and will begin to shepherd this most important piece of legislation through the Senate next week.

I also want to bring everyone up to date on my SB 31 which would establish the Interstate 73 Corridor Development Fund. As you know, this project is near and dear to my heart will continue to push for the I-73 Corridor as I see it as a critical element for the economic vitality of our district.

Creating new infrastructure in Southside like I-73 will bring to our area new companies to invest capitol and bring new high paying jobs into our counties can be achieved with I-73 funding, and will connect our region to three deep water ports in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, which in turn, will once again connect Southside to the global economy.

As a first step in the approval process, SB 31 was passed by the Senate Finance Committee this week and is on its way to the Committee on Commerce and Labor.

My Bill, SB 170-School Discipline, would eliminate the suspension or expusion of a child aged 5 to 8 and attending third grade or below.

Instead of removing a young child from the classroom environment and sending them outside the school environment, we should be looking at ways to reward good behavior and keeping the child engaged in the school experience.

SB 170 will be scheduled to be introduced in the Senate Committee on Education and Health next week. I am pleased to report that a deal has been reached between the school superintendents, State School Boards and Virginia Teachers Association that will make this bill (as amended) a law by the summer of 2018.

I continue to enjoy the many visitors from the District. I know it’s a long three-hour drive, or more for some depending on the county, to come to Richmond so I do my very best to at least say a quick hello in between the tons of meetings that I attend each day of session.

If you are paying a visit to our historic Capitol before we adjourn on March 10, please make a stop by our office.

Recent visitors included: Jane Fulk and Mary Dellenback Hill, both of Ararat; Charlie Bowman, Patrick Springs; Sandra Belcher, Woolwine; Steve Helms, Meadows of Dan; and David Stanley, Stuart.

Our new location is on the 6th floor (Room E610) in the Pocahontas Building located across the street from the Virginia’s Capitol public entrance on Bank Street.

My office contact is JoAnn Lankford, administrative assistant The telephone number is (804) 698-7520; the email address is district20@senate.virginia.gov. My Facebook address is Senator Bill Stanley.

Safe travels to all who make the trip to visit with us in Richmond during the 2018 General Assembly session.