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Delegate Landes’ Legislative Report
By Delegate R. Steven Landes
February 4, 2015
Third Week of Session
As the General Assembly wraps up the third week of session, I have good news to report for the
House legislative agenda. The House Republicans coming into session vowed to advance an
agenda that creates jobs, improves education, and supports our veterans, while opposing attempts
to raise your taxes or infringe on your second amendment rights. After reaching almost the
midpoint of session, we have made progress on all of those fronts. One piece of good news that I
want to highlight, thanks to our conservative budgeting and Virginia’s improving economy I can
report that state government revenue has increased beyond our initial projections. As Vice
Chairman of Appropriations I am going to make sure that this money is used to reduce onerous
fees for Virginians and fund core functions of government, not to create new wasteful
government spending programs.
Energy
Receiving word this past week that Norfolk Southern plans to close their Roanoke, Virginia,
location dealt quite a blow to jobs in Southwest Virginia. Norfolk Southern has been a staple
within the coal and transportation industry throughout the Commonwealth and nation. I join with
my colleagues from around the Commonwealth in asking for President Obama’s administration to
bring an end to the targeting of the coal industry.
Coal provides affordable, reliable energy for hundreds of thousands of Virginians and over onethird of electricity-generating fuel in the United States. It supports jobs in Southwest Virginia and
energy and infrastructure jobs throughout the Commonwealth. I have fought against Governor
McAuliffe’s proposal to increase the tax burden on Virginia coal. President Obama’s
administration has targeted coal with regulation after regulation since the day he took office.
Preserving the coal tax credit will show that we can do things differently in Richmond and fight
for every Virginia job.
The President signaled this week that he’s open to moving towards drilling for oil and natural gas
off of Virginia’s coast. Offshore energy exploration could create thousands of good paying jobs
in the Hampton Roads area with a ripple effect in many parts of Virginia. The drilling will also
help make our nation more energy-independent. While the White House put strict restrictions on
where we can explore for energy off of our coast, it represents a step closer to where we should
be.
Veterans
I am proud to have been a co-patron of House Bill 2018 which is currently before the General
Laws Committee. This bill will increase from 11 to 14 the number of non-legislative citizen
members on the Board of Veterans Services, thereby increasing the total membership of the
Board from 19 to 22. With the recent struggles by the national Veterans Services it is crucially
important to ensure we are protecting those that have sacrificed so much for our freedom.
Transportation
Companies like Uber and Lyft are changing the way we get around, using new technology to give
us more choices. Legislation that allows them to operate in Virginia passed out of the House this
past Friday and was placed in the Senate Transportation Committee. I supported House Bill 1162,
introduced by Delegate Tom Rust (R-Herndon), so that Virginians can take advantage of new
technologies while also making sure that we are keeping people safe.
Education
There are more than 35,000 home schooled students in Virginia. Their families chose an
education curriculum to best fit their kids’ needs. But, we all know that so many life lessons are
learned in extracurricular activities like high school sports. The parents of these home schooled
students are also tax payers just as public school parents are and it is time to let these students be
able to participate in school sports. The House passed House Bill 1626 by Delegate Rob Bell (RAlbemarle), commonly known as the “Tebow bill,” this week to give home schooled students an
opportunity to participate in public school sports. It was a pleasure for me to co-patron this bill.
The House is also working to take bureaucracy out of the K-12 education system. House Bill
1490 by Delegate Greg Habeeb (R-Salem) has passed out of committee. This legislation
expedites the retake of any Standards of Learning (SOL) test, with the exception of the writing
SOL assessment, to all students regardless of grade level or course. Currently, expedited retake is
only available for assessments that are required for high school graduation.
Additionally, House Bill 1674, introduced by Delegate Tag Greason (R-Loudon) has passed out
of committee to reduce the burden of annual accreditation by rewarding schools with a track
record of success. Based on criteria established by the Board of Education, a school’s
accreditation status may be reviewed once every two years or once every three years, rather than
having an annual review for every school. This will allow teachers and administrators to spend
more time on student learning and give local leaders needed flexibility without sacrificing
accountability in our schools.
Status of My Legislation
I introduced five additional bills prohibiting the possession of obscene materials by inmates,
improving economic development planning, an audit of Medicaid, opposing a federal
postsecondary institution ratings system, and political party registration.
It was brought to my attention that Virginia prisoners are permitted obscene reading materials.
Obviously this is not acceptable. House Bill 1958 was introduced to correct this problem. House
Joint Resolution 637 and 707 call for an audit of our Medicaid program and opposing President
Obama’s proposal for postsecondary institution ratings system. House Bill 1518 considers
political party registration and House Bill 1588 attempts to aid new gubernatorial administrations
with the creation of their economic development policy.
House Bill 1958: Requires the Board of Corrections to promulgate and the Director and
Department of Corrections to enforce regulatory policies prohibiting the possession of obscene
materials by prisoners incarcerated in state correctional facilities. This bill reported from the
House Militia, Police, and Public Safety Committee 17-4 and was read the second time in the
House today.
House Joint Resolution 637: Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission
(JLARC) to study the Commonwealth's Medicaid program. In conducting its study, JLARC shall
analyze the impact of major cost drivers on the growth of Medicaid program expenditures;
identify highest-cost Medicaid recipients and services and assess whether opportunities exist to
improve the cost-effectiveness of health care delivery; examine the
efficiency of the administration of the Commonwealth's Medicaid program, including financial
processes and controls and the recovery of third-party payments, and review the implementation
status of recommendations made in 2011 JLARC report on improper payments and other reports
related to improving efficiency and cost-effectiveness; identify evidence-based practices and
strategies that have been successfully adopted in other states and that could be used in the
Commonwealth to provide cost-effective care, strengthen patient outcomes, and maximize the
efficiency and integrity of internal processes; and review other relevant issues and make
recommendations as appropriate. JLARC shall complete its work by November 30, 2016. Studies
Subcommittee of the Rules Committee recommended reporting the bill 4-1.
House Joint Resolution 707: Recognizes the quality and value of diversity and innovation in the
institutions of higher education in the United States and strongly disagrees with the proposal of
the President of the United States to create a federal Postsecondary Institution Ratings System.
This bill reported from the House Education Committee 15-7.
House Bill 1518: Adds party affiliation to the information that an applicant is asked to provide
when registering to vote. The applicant may indicate that he is an independent. Voters registered
prior to January 1, 2016, will be designated as independent unless they provide a political party
designation in writing to the general registrar. Voters may change their party affiliation or
independent status by written notice at any time before the registration records are closed prior to
an election. The state party chairman of each political party must notify the State Board of
Elections by January 31 of each year of the rules adopted by the duly constituted authorities of
the state political party governing who may participate in the party's primaries held from April 1
of that year through March 31 of the following year. The Campaign Finance Subcommittee of the
Privileges & Elections Committee failed to recommend reporting the bill on a vote of 3-3.
House Bill 1588: Adds the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry to the committee established to
assist the Secretary of Commerce and Trade to develop during the first year of each new
gubernatorial administration a comprehensive economic development policy for the
Commonwealth. This bill has now passed the House 99-0.
Visitors, January 26-30
My staff and I have had another busy week here at session trying to meet with as many
constituents and visitors as possible. In the first part of the week, Dennis Cupp with the Briery
Branch Community Center, Crista Cabe and students from Mary Baldwin College, Megan Speth
from Albemarle County, Chase Crickenberger from Crozet, and Lorne Seay of the Electrical
Workers Local 26 came in for visits.
Paul Kingston was here to advocate for consumers with Multiple Sclerosis. Glenn Slack
representing The ARC of Virginia came down to speak to me about those with mental and
developmental disabilities and Wriley Wood shared further concerns regarding the closure of the
state training centers. Leigh Wion, Executive Director of Virginia Neurological Care, shared her
concerns regarding brain injuries.
Members of the Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative were led in by Myron Rummel,
President & CEO. Stephen Koleszar, Member of the Albemarle County School Board, and Nicole
Storm stopped in to discuss their schools. Jason Buyhai, also a Member of the Albemarle School
Board, and his daughter stopped by during a visit to the General Assembly. I was also able to
meet with Dr. Carol Fenn, Superintendent of the Rockingham County Schools, and Board
Members Bob May, LaDonna Shiflet, and Renee Reed. Todd Garber, Rockingham County
Treasurer, and Dr. Jon Alger, President of James Madison University, also visited.
Dr. Rita Dunaway and Neal Menefee from Harrisonburg stopped by, as did Randy Cosner from
Dayton and Bobbie Hepner of Bridgewater. John Avoli, Executive Director of The Frontier
Culture Museum of Virginia, came down to update us on concerns regarding the museum. The
Executive Director of the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce, Frank Tamberrino,
stopped in on Chamber Day as well as a group led by Linda Hershey, President of the Greater
Augusta Regional Chamber of Commerce.
A delightful group of homeschoolers stopped in for a visit with their mother, Laura Parr. Bob and
Susan Threewitts along with other members of the Rockingham County Farm Bureau came down
on their advocacy day. Also, a group from MillerCoors came down which included Amy
Michtich, Peter Coors, and Steve Miller. It was a very full week!
Contact Me
As always, my staff and I are here in Richmond to serve you. My full time Legislative Director,
Judy Wyatt, who works session as well as in the District, will be handling constituent concerns,
legislative issues, and ensuring things run smoothly. During session, James Lawrence is onboard
as a legislative assistant to aid me in my Education and Appropriations duties as well as to assist
Judy with constituent inquiries and office duties.
Carolyn Musika, our Session Secretary, is the main contact for appointments. This year our intern
is Emily Herring, a Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) senior, who has been assigned to
our office through the Virginia Capital Semester Program.
I want to hear what you think about the legislation pending before the House, or if there's
anything we can do to help you in dealing with a state government agency. While in Richmond,
my office can be reached by phone at 804.698.1025 or by email at [email protected].
If you are planning to visit Richmond during Session, I encourage you to call our Secretary to
make an appointment. Our office location is on the 9th Floor, Room 947. Our Richmond address
is Post Office Box 406, Richmond, Virginia 23218. Please visit my website at
www.stevelandes.com for my newest press releases and newsletters.
Also, be sure to “like” my Facebook Fan Page or you can now follow me on
Twitter @steve_landes by clicking the buttons below:
Thank you again for allowing me to serve as your Delegate.
Sincerely,
Steve Landes
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