HB 2209 and SB 1309: The Short Version

Yes, Virginia House Bill 2209, which was extremely unpopular with Tea Parties, has been enacted into law...

http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+ful+CHAP0593

But before you blast Delegates Albo, Anderson, BaCote, Bell, Richard P., Bell, Robert B., Brink, Bulova, Carr, Cole, Comstock, Cosgrove, Cox, J.A., Cox, M.K., Crockett-Stark, Dance, Dudenhefer, Edmunds, Fariss, Farrell, Filler-Corn, Garrett, Gilbert, Greason, Habeeb, Head, Helsel, Herring, Hester, Hodges, Hope, Howell, A.T., Hugo, Iaquinto, Ingram, James, Joannou, Johnson, Jones, Keam, Kilgore, Knight, Kory, Krupicka, Landes, LeMunyon, Lewis, Lingamfelter, Lopez, Loupassi, Marshall, D.W., Marshall, R.G., Massie, May, McClellan, McQuinn, Merricks, Minchew, Morefield, Morris, Morrissey, O'Bannon, Orrock, Plum, Pogge, Poindexter, Purkey, Putney, Ramadan, Ransone, Robinson, Rush, Rust, Scott, E.T., Scott, J.M., Sherwood, Sickles, Spruill, Stolle, Surovell, Torian, Toscano, Tyler, Villanueva, Ward, Ware, O., Ware, R.L., Watson, Watts, Webert, Wilt, Wright, Yancey, Yost, or Senators Alexander, Barker, Black, Blevins, Carrico, Colgan, Deeds, Ebbin, Edwards, Favola, Garrett, Hanger, Herring, Howell, Locke, Lucas, Marsden, Marsh, Martin, McDougle, McEachin, McWaters, Miller, Newman, Norment, Northam, Obenshain, Petersen, Puckett, Puller, Reeves, Ruff, Saslaw, Smith, Stanley, Stosch, Stuart, Vogel, Wagner, and Watkins (all of whom voted for the amended version of HB 2209), note how much bad stuff was pruned out of the version that became law. Here's the original version:

http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+ful+HB2209

For one thing, if you paste each version into Word for comparison, the original bill runs to 17 pages, the version that became law to 4 pages. The version that became law also emphasizes that the "soil and water management plans" are voluntary and that what's being funded is a certification program for people who choose to instruct other people on writing these plans. Don't be deceived--this is still Agenda 21, giving the land grabbers a toehold from which to make everything mandatory later, and there are still a lot of nasty references to other documents that aren't even linked--but do be aware that our elected officials tried to minimize the damage they were doing to our heritage and our way of life.

Readers also expressed interest in Senate Bill #1309. As enacted into law, these bills were amended to the point where they merged.

Fair Housing Board Update

Without the approval of this web site...

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2013/02/hb-1480-fair-housing-board.html

Virginia House Bill 1480, which funds and regulates the "Fair Housing Board," was enacted into law:

http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+ful+HB1480ER

Although the Fair Housing Board had been funded before this year, and the amendments to the reenactment of existing law merely clarified administrative details, a Fair Housing Board is a government expense this web site recommends cutting. Note, particularly, that this board is required to represent the mortgage lending industry and the property insurance industry (and this web site recommends simplifying our lives by shunning both), but I see nothing in there about representing any community of people who want to live simply on the land, whether in accord with, or without reference to, the substantial amount of Bible teaching on this subject. (Such communities include, but are not limited to, most Amish and Mennonite congregations and some other minority churches.)

Temporary Appointments to the Electoral Board: HB 1335

Readers are interested in Virginia's House Bill 1335, which provides for the appointment of temporary members to the electoral board as substitutes...say whaaat?

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2013/02/hb-1335-elecatoral-board-and.html

If they're fans of Delegate Richard Bell, they'll be pleased to know that HB 1335 has been enacted into law:

http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+ful+CHAP0409

Virginia HB 1616 Update: Partial Ban on Drones

Virginia House Bill #1616 called for a ban on the use of drones (unmanned aircraft) in Virginia. So did Senate Bill #1331 and House Bill #2012. After due consideration, these three very similar proposals were merged into a revised version of House Bill #2012, which has become law. Full text:

http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+ful+CHAP0755

Note that this law bans use of drones by state and local governments only for two more years. And it allows drones to be used for search and rescue missions.

If you appreciate these restrictions on drones, you may want to thank Delegates Cline, Gilbert, Landes, (Robert) Marshall, Morris, and Ramadan and State Senator McEachin, who sponsored the bill.

Boneta Farm Under Vindictive Attack

Remember Martha Boneta, the family farmer whose persecution by local bureaucracy inspired the "Boneta Bill"?

For those who don't, here's the original Boneta Bill, as co-sponsored by four of the Delegates this web site has identified as The Team...a promising beginning.

http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+ful+HB1430

Here's what the House of Delegates left of it:

http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+ful+HB1430H1

Thus declawed, the Boneta Bill died in the State Senate. And meanwhile, what's happening at the Boneta family farm? Donna Holt reports:

""The UN objective of Agenda 21, to extinguish private property rights, is met when wealth and power (property) is transferred to, and accumulated in the hands of the modern ruling elite: government agencies and trusts which form an unholy alliance to defraud rural landowners, like Martha Boneta, of their inherent right of lawful ownership and use of their land."

Piedmont Environmental Council’s One-Two Combination on Boneta Farm Shows Easement Abuse

Conservation Easements: A Vehicle for Land Confiscation

By Donna Holt, Virginia Campaign for Liberty http://fauquierfreecitizen.com/pecs-one-two-combination-on-boneta-farm-shows-easement-abuse/

Martha Boneta’s small 70-acre farm, previously the center of the famous “pitchfork protest”, is once again under attack.

2000 Tomato Plants at Paris Farms, VA.

She purchased the farm with a Conservation Easement from the Piedmont Environmental Council. http://www.pecva.org/about/our-strategic-plan Conservation Easements are touted as a means to protect resources such as productive agricultural land, wildlife habitat, historic sites or scenic views. They are used by landowners (“grantors”) to authorize a qualified conservation organization or public agency (“grantee”) to monitor and enforce the restrictions set forth in the agreement. Federal and state governments grant vast sums in tax benefits to the grantor in exchange for relinquishing all or part of the development rights and meeting the specified terms of the agreement.

Mrs. Boneta was not the grantor of the easement on her property nor was she awarded any tax benefits or subsidies. She bought the property with the easement and is bound by the terms of the original agreement that are passed on to any subsequent owner permanently. She had a reasonable expectation that the easement on her farm would assure that the land would be preserved for her intended purpose – farming.

What could possibly go wrong?

One minute she is a responsible organic farmer with the required license to sell her vegetables and fruits; the next, she is bullied and fined for contrived violations by Fauquier County Administrators.

They never obtained a warrant nor set foot on her property to gather actual evidence. Instead a county bureaucrat relied on unscrupulous, unlawful methods to bring charges against Mrs. Boneta. They ignored due process of law which is a common practice used to intimidate citizens into forfeiting their rights and ultimately their property.

One would think the PEC would be in her corner and stand up for her right to farm per the conservation agreement.

But it wasn’t enough for the PEC that Martha was bullied into shutting down her farm out of fear of further uncertain charges by Fauquier County carrying possible criminal penalties. The PEC has now put Mrs. Boneta on notice that they intend to inspect the Barn Complex and Smithy “for the purpose of determining if improvements have been made to accommodate residential use”.

The conservation easement agreement authorizes the Piedmont Environmental Council the authority to monitor and enforce the terms of the agreement but the notice completely ignores that the agreement allows 1600 sq. ft. of residential space in the Barn Complex.

PEC Vice President, Heather Richards, further believes she can ignore the law by prohibiting Mrs. Boneta from photographing or video recording anyone entering her private property, even to inspect, while asserting the PEC’s right to do so.

In essence, Fauquier County Administrators and the PEC are attempting to pull the land right out from under the feet of Martha Boneta without due process of law and totally ignoring the terms of the conservation agreement.

Their position assumes they are above the law and Mrs. Boneta is but a mere serf or tenant on what is her land, while she is still burdened by taxes and other expenses, and subject to the whim and will of Fauquier County Administrators (the king) and the Piedmont Environmental Council (the privileged lords and nobles).

The UN objective of Agenda 21, to extinguish private property rights, is met when wealth and power (property) is transferred to, and accumulated in the hands of the modern ruling elite: government agencies and trusts which form an unholy alliance to defraud rural landowners, like Martha Boneta, of their inherent right of lawful ownership and use of their land.

Donna Holt is the Executive Director of the Virginia Campaign for Liberty.

"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." - Thomas Jefferson Virginia Tea Party Patriots www.virginiateapartypatriots.com Danville Patriots http://danvillepatriots.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyqTlje8RxQ "

Sounds as if Fauquier County needs a whole new set of administrators...and the P.E.C. needs to be disbanded.

HB 2313 Passes as Amended

Earlier in the week I said that, without clicking on all the links, it looked as if Governor McDonnell's amended version of Virginia House Bill 2313 was a more modest proposal, and as if the money raised by this tax increase was at least going into transportation-related projects.  Some Tea Partiers, who didn't claim to have clicked on all the links but who seem to be the type who would, have commented that it's still a $6 billion tax hike.

http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+bil+HB2313

In any case, it passed by a clear majority. Effective in July.

This web site does not like tax hikes, not even the ones intended to discourage behavior that this web site agrees is undesirable. This web site thinks it probable that, if we were hired as frugality consultants, we could find places where budgets could actually be cut...yes, even for Metro. However, this web site reserves its major blasts of indignation for tax hikes that are not based on undesirable behavior, such as family members driving to the same place in two or three separate cars so that every little nut in the household can rattle around in a big empty shell with an equal appearance of, well, nuttiness.

If you want to know how your elected officials voted, here are the roll call lists:

In the House:

"YEAS--Albo, BaCote, Brink, Bulova, Cosgrove, Cox, M.K., Dance, Dudenhefer, Filler-Corn, Greason, Head, Helsel, Herring, Hester, Hodges, Hope, Iaquinto, Ingram, James, Jones, Keam, Kilgore, Knight, Kory, Krupicka, LeMunyon, Lewis, Lopez, Loupassi, Marshall, D.W., May, McClellan, McQuinn, Merricks, Minchew, Morris, Morrissey, O'Bannon, Orrock, Plum, Poindexter, Purkey, Putney, Rust, Scott, E.T., Scott, J.M., Sherwood, Sickles, Spruill, Stolle, Surovell, Tata, Torian, Toscano, Tyler, Villanueva, Ward, Ware, O., Watson, Watts, Webert, Yancey, Yost, Mr. Speaker--64.
NAYS--Anderson, Bell, Richard P., Bell, Robert B., Byron, Carr, Cline, Cole, Comstock, Cox, J.A., Crockett-Stark, Edmunds, Fariss, Farrell, Garrett, Gilbert, Habeeb, Howell, A.T., Hugo, Joannou, Johnson, Landes, Marshall, R.G., Massie, Miller, Morefield, O'Quinn, Peace, Pogge, Ramadan, Ransone, Robinson, Rush, Ware, R.L., Wilt, Wright--35.
ABSTENTIONS--0.
NOT VOTING--Lingamfelter--1.

Delegate Lingamfelter was recorded as not voting.  Intended to vote nay.
Delegate Webert was recorded as yea.  Intended to vote nay."

In the Senate:

"YEAS--Alexander, Barker, Blevins, Carrico, Colgan, Deeds, Ebbin, Edwards, Favola, Herring, Howell, Lucas, Marsden, Marsh, McEachin, McWaters, Miller, Norment, Northam, Puckett, Puller, Ruff, Saslaw, Stosch, Wagner, Watkins--26.
NAYS--Black, Garrett, Hanger, McDougle, Newman, Obenshain, Petersen, Reeves, Smith, Stanley, Stuart, Vogel--12.
RULE 36--0.
NOT VOTING--Locke, Martin--2."

This web site got these links in an e-mail that points back to Candidate Jack Weaver. Back in January, due to my failure to figure out whatever system an e-mail contained for attributing quotes, I read a quote from Delegate R.G. "Bob" Marshall as a quote from Jack Weaver and typed a reply that referred to him as "Delegate Weaver." A Tea Party e-friend added a comment along the lines of, "See, Jack, we're not the only ones who think you ought to be a Delegate." So now he's running. This web site doesn't have a vote for him, but will now identify him as a lawyer, bill reader, and friend of Bob Marshall, which may be enough reason for some readers to use their votes for him.

And car-pool, Gentle Readers. A gas tax is to dodge. Use those other seats in your car--that's what they're for. Don't share the road with neighbors going in the same direction; share the car. The most efficient way to discourage legislators from passing and re-passing gas taxes is to shrink the revenue from gas taxes.

HB 2313: Governor's Substitute (Part II)

After reading http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+ful+HB2313H5 as best I could without clicking on all those dozens of links, I can report this much to you: The car licensing tax has been replaced by a gas tax.

Realistic? Existing cars don't pollute, nor do they crowd the highways, unless they're burning gas. So, yes, this version's even more realistic, and even more ethically acceptable, than a per-vehicle licensing tax. You can afford to keep that "showpiece" car in the garage, as long as you're not driving it.

The revised version of HB 2313 looks as if its goal is to collect a smaller amount of tax money, overall, for more specific purposes. It won't all be for roads, and most of it may be used in aid of northern Virginia, which already has plenty of roads and needs to learn how to use them not abuse them (as in: Centerville, or even Manassas, is not a suburb of Washington), and the places that really need roads (e.g. Nickelsville) may not get them. Still, at least Governor McDonnell's recommendation for HB 2313 looks as if it's more modest and more transportation-specific than the original version was. That's definitely an improvement, and a correction of what some correspondents hated about HB 2313.

Bad news? The sales tax has become more complicated, and looks as if it may apply to more people in more situations. Make life a little harder for Virginia businesses, why don't they?

There's a tax on "mobile homes," or trailer houses. I have a feeling that somebody from northeastern Virginia, where trailer houses are despised, put that in. Here in southwestern Virginia, some nice people have bought and maintained trailer houses, even made actual houses out of them over the years, to the point where sometimes it's hard to tell that a house used to have wheels on it. Not all trailer dwellers are in the lower income brackets. Many of the ones who are in the lower income brackets are retirees who don't want to waste their limited energy maintaining a full-sized house, and may have sold a big brick house and moved into a trailer house for that reason. Maybe they can afford an extra tax on the ownership and maintenance of a trailer house. But some trailer dwellers cannot, and the position of this web site is that a lot of poor people are being unfairly hit with a tax on a behavior that contributes relatively less to pollution and congestion than unnecessary driving does.

I, personally, think unnecessary driving is a sin, and driving alone when it's possible to share a motor vehicle is a sin. How much of the driving youall did during the past week was necessary, I have no right to say; that's between you and your consciences. Driving that is really necessary, and is competently done, might reasonably be considered virtuous or even heroic. I don't think most of the driving that is being done in Virginia these days is necessary. But this is a democracy, Gentle Readers. I think all of us could benefit from recognizing our fascist fantasies about imposing our beliefs on other people, hauling them out into the light, and consciously putting them in the same category with the dreams we may have had about jumping off the bell tower and flying. If I really want youall to pay a car tax, even if I were to be elected governor, I have no constitutional right to force that tax on you; I have to sell it to a majority of you, such that it could pass a popular vote.

This web site salutes all those who kept up the pressure and demanded at least a substantial amendment to HB 2313. This is the way the system is supposed to work. There are other things in Virginia law where I would have preferred to see the system work. Maybe youall now feel encouraged to turn your attention to some of them.

Sandy Garst Differs with Tea Party Federation

Sandy Garst comments on some bills heard in the Virginia General Assembly, 2013, pertaining to property rights and "Agenda 21":

"Agenda 21/Property Rights Bills

*Important Reminder: As of 2010, each bill submitted costs approximately $3000-$5000 to process.*

 

I have reported on 57 bills relating to Agenda 21 and/or Property Rights.  There were many more bills this session that could have been included. 

Because the people on my distribution list know about Agenda 21, I am only going to explain my positions on a couple of bills that differ from Tea Party positions.  I am not saying that the Tea Party Federation is wrong because they have valid reasons for their assessments.  I just came to a different conclusion based on my bias and what I could interpret.   

HB 1757 Aquatic Resources Improvements Fund; established.

“Establishes a special nonreverting fund known as the Wetland and Stream Replacement Fund to receive moneys paid to the State Water Control Board for mitigation of any impacts that a project may have on wetlands. The moneys in the fund are to be disbursed to purchase mitigation bank credits…”

Ø  I oppose all funds that do not relate to a specific core governmental function and even then I question the need when a budget would suffice.

Ø  This fund supports the Agenda 21 tool of wetland mitigation that is in opposition to private property rights.

Ø  Wetland mitigation banking is similar to the carbon credit exchange the federal government wanted to force on us.  It is a cap and tax scheme. 

Fiscal Implications: “DEQ anticipates requiring one position at an annual cost of $80,000 for salary and benefits. If the revenues derived from this fee are insufficient to cover the entire cost of the position, the agency will have to absorb the remaining impact, absent some general fund support.”

Ø  This is an expansion of government that will cost not only those poor folks whose property has been labeled a wetland but most likely every taxpayer.

 

HB 1790 Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium.

SB 1138 Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium.

“Establishes the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority as a political subdivision of the Commonwealth for the purposes of making the Commonwealth a national and global leader in nuclear energy and serving as an interdisciplinary study, research, and information resource for the Commonwealth on nuclear energy issue.”

 

·         “Summary: This legislation establishes the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority (Authority) as a political subdivision of the Commonwealth. The Authority will be governed by a 17-member board of directors, ten of whom are appointed by the Governor, five representing specific public institutions of higher education, and two representing the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. The Authority is required to form a nonstock, nonprofit corporation, which would be referred to as the “Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium” (Consortium). Membership in the Consortium will be opened to both public and private institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth, Virginia-based federal research laboratories, nuclear-related nonprofit organizations, business entities with operating facilities in Virginia that are engaged in activities directly related to the nuclear energy industry, and other individuals whose membership is granted by the Consortium's board of directors. The purposes of the Consortium include carrying out the rights, powers, and duties of the Authority and conducting other activities useful in:

·         making the Commonwealth a leader in nuclear energy,

·         serving as an interdisciplinary study, research, and information resource for the Commonwealth on nuclear energy issues, and

·         raising money on behalf of the Authority in the corporate and nonprofit community and from other nonstate sources.”

 

Ø  This creates a public-private partnership and public-private partnerships are an Agenda 21 tool.

Ø  This creates an unelected Authority that will affect the nuclear energy industry.

Ø  This “political subdivision of the Commonwealth” represents an expansion of government.

Ø  This Authority is going to need money to operate and it would be naïve to think tax dollars will not be allocated to fund it through grants, tax credits, or direct funding.

Ø  If Virginia were to become a national and global leader in nuclear energy, it would best happen through the free market.  Government and Academia usually just add expense and interference.

 

 

HB 2190 Stormwater management ordinances; requires localities to adopt more stringent requirements. “Summary: This bill requires localities to report to the Department of Conservation and Recreation when a more stringent stormwater management ordinance or stormwater requirements are developed by the localities.”

Ø  This takes power away from localities. 

 

“Fiscal Implications: This bill could result in administrative costs to the Department of Conservation and Recreation resulting from greater regulatory review requirements. Specifically, the addition of language directing appeals of locality decisions regarding BMP usage limitations to the Department may result in additional time and resource impacts depending on the magnitude of such appeals. Such costs are indeterminate.”

Ø  This will be an added expense.  Who will pay?"

Sandy Garst on the Education Bills

Thanks to Sandy Garst for sharing this review of education issues in the Virginia General Assembly 2013:

"Comments on Selected Education Bills

*Important Reminder: As of 2010, each bill submitted costs approximately $3000-$5000 to process.*

60 Bills were tracked.

22 passed.

Oppose – Failed but not Really

HB 2094 Virginia Longitudinal Data System; established, report.  Mike Watson

SB 1069 Virginia Longitudinal Data System; established, report. Charles Carrico

 “Requires the Board of Education to establish the Virginia Longitudinal Data System to track and examine student progress from early childhood to postsecondary education to the student entering the workforce. The bill also establishes the Virginia Longitudinal Data System Advisory Council…”

A legislator explained that these bills failed in Appropriations because there was no funding. However, an amendment was added to and approved with the Budget Bill HB 1500:

“137 1c Va Longitudinal Data System - (This amendment provides $120,000 the second year from the general fund for the Virginia Longitudinal Data System to help offset the increased costs related to VITA charges.)”

So it appears that despite these two bills “establishing” a longitudinal data system being defeated, the system already exists and will be funded.

Our children will be tracked from early childhood until they enter the workforce.  There is no limit in the bill as to what data can be collected.

Oppose – Passed

SB 1324 Opportunity Educational Institution; established, report. Ryan McDougle

(HB 2096 Opportunity Educational Institution; established, report.Gregory Habeeb – failed)

 “$150,000 the second year from the general fund is provided to the Department of Education to support implementation of the Opportunity Educational Institution.” http://leg2.state.va.us/WebData/13amend.nsf/ebea1c0863d2f61b8525689e00349981/bfaf9eac0df5d66c85257b1b004cb311?OpenDocument

The Institution will be administered by a Board:

That is a policy board in the executive branch of government

That has all the powers and duties of a local school board

That consists of 9 appointed members including two Delegates and two Senators

An appointed policy Board that is part of the executive branch of government and that has no accountability to parents is going to educate their children. 

HB 1406 Public school students; health screenings for eating disorders.  Dickie Bell

The school board will be required to annually provide parents with information on eating disorders for children in grades 5 -12.

There is also the option of developing a screening program.

The Department of Education and the Department of Health will be responsible for providing the information.

http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+oth+HB1406FER122+PDF

This fiscal impact statement states that it cannot predict the fiscal impact of this legislation but lists the significant staff time necessary to provide information and update regulations and the cost of annually providing the information to parents.  The report does not address the local fiscal impact if screening is implemented.

If this information even gets into the parent’s hands it will likely be tossed without being read.  If this information is provided on a website, it will likely not reach the individuals who would need it. It is not the purpose of public education to provide health screenings.

HB 1344 Deaf and hard-of-hearing children; special education.    Dickie Bell

SB 1097 Deaf and hard-of-hearing children; special education.    Emmett Hanger

Fiscal Impact Statement:  http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+oth+HB1344FER122+PDF

Is this bill really necessary?

“The enrolled bill permits, but does not require, school divisions to ensure that IEP teams consider the specific communication needs of hearing-impaired children and address those needs in the child’s IEP. However, many of the provisions of this bill are already established in federal and state special education laws and/or regulations…”

How much is it really going to cost?

“if any school divisions elect to implement the provisions of this legislation, it could result in a local fiscal impact. There could also be a state fiscal impact if any such school divisions incur additional expenses related to the provisions of this bill and report those expenditures to the Department of Education…”

I submit that even though it would feel good, it is not possible for the public education system to meet every need of every child without bankrupting Virginians. 

HB 1871 Bullying; defines term and requires school boards to prohibit acts by students and school employees. Jennifer McClellan

(SB 951 Bullying; defines term and requires school boards to prohibit acts by students and school employees. Barbara Favola – failed)

“It is possible that the development of policies and procedures related to the prohibition of bullying in schools, as required by the legislation, could result in additional administrative costs for the Department of Education and local school divisions; however, it is anticipated that such costs could be absorbed within existing resources.”

We cannot legislate for every bad behavior.  It is a waste of time and resources.

Bullying is not a new behavior and should be handled the same way as any other unacceptable behavior. 

HB 2084 Teach for America; creates two-year provisional license for participants.  Kirk Cox

SB 1175 Teach for America; creates two-year provisional license for participants.  Frank Ruff

“According to their website, Teach for America seeks a "diverse group of promising future leaders who have the leadership skills to change the prospects of students...." Those recruited do not have to have any prior teaching experience.”

Teach for America is a non-profit organization but is associated with AmeriCorps which means it receives federal funding. How much is this costing us?

I like the idea of bringing in non-educators to teach their subject.  For instance, I think it would be great to bring in an accountant to teach accounting or a chemist to teach chemistry but I think this could be done at a local level.  I also think it would be preferable to have someone with experience instead of fresh graduates.

Oppose – Failed

HJ 598 Public education; recognizing need to tackle problem of hunger in classroom.

SJ 280 Public education; recognizing need to tackle problem of hunger in classroom.

In the Budget Bill, HB 1500 http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+bud+21-134

“School Nutrition (18502)                                  $ 1,532,843             $ 1,532,843”

Under the category Direct Aid to Public Education these are the figures listed for the School Breakfast Program  http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+bud+21-139

“School Breakfast Program                                 $3,693,543                    $3,837,586”

It is not the purpose of public education to feed the children.  It is the responsibility of the parents to feed their children.  Think of the savings to the taxpayers if parents fed their own children!

HB 2286 Electronic textbooks; specifics for use in elementary and secondary schools, report. Kaye Kory

“The bill finally requires the Board, in conjunction with the Center for Innovative Technology, to annually report to the General Assembly on the level of broadband connectivity of each local school division as well as the level of computer ownership and access to broadband services for each student and make the data available through the Commonwealth's broadband connectivity map for the purpose of aiding each local school board in its decision to purchase electronic textbooks.”

It is nobody’s business if the student has a computer or broadband.  I also do not wish to have my taxes raised to pay for students to have a computer and broadband.

HJ 619 Study; state-supported preschool programs; report. Chris Jones

Taxpayers should not have to pay for preschool.

HB 2171 School safety audits; school crisis, emergency management, and medical emergency response plans.  Delores McQuinn

Bimonthly audits and reviews are a waste of time and money.

HB 2337 Public schools; school crisis, emergency management, and medical emergency response plans.

Kaye Kory

“Directs each local school board to hold and require the parents of each student in the local school division to attend an informational session no later than August 31 of each year at which the school board shall distribute and present an overview of the school crisis, emergency management, and medical emergency response plan. The bill requires each parent to sign a form to certify that he attended the informational session and received a copy of the plan.”

I oppose the state requiring me to attend any meeting. This information can be posted on the school website and at the school office if parents are interested.

HB 1469 Higher educational institutions; State Inspector General to conduct a comprehensive financial audit.    Dickie Bell

Fiscal Impact Statement: http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+oth+HB1469F122+PDF

The cost is too great:     

“The OSIG estimates that to perform comprehensive financial and performance audits on the state’s 14 institutions of higher education would require 25 FTEs and approximately $4,000,000.”

HB 2287 Local school boards; mental health first aid training plan.  Rob Krupicka

“…each teacher in the local school division would be required to participate in a 12-hour interactive course initially provided by community services board staff members on the risk factors, warning signs, symptoms, and treatment of depression, anxiety disorders, trauma, psychotic disorders, eating disorders, and substance use disorders.”

Teachers are not nurses, doctors, psychiatrists, or parents.

This will be another education expense that has nothing to do with education.

SB 1153 Public schools; kindergarten instructional time.  George Barker

Very expensive and unnecessary:

“The estimated state fiscal impact is $2.0 million per year to fund full-day kindergarten in Loudoun County. It is estimated that the required local effort for Loudoun County approximately $2.6 million each year...Moreover, Loudoun County could incur additional local operational and capital costs …”

HJ 602 Constitutional amendment (first resolution); right to early childhood education.Rob Krupicka

Education is not a right.

Early childhood education should come from the parents not the government.

HJ 684 Constitutional amendment (first resolution); charter schools. Scott Lingamfelter

SJ 302 Constitutional amendment (first resolution); charter schools. Mark Obenshain

“Grants the Board of Education authority to establish charter schools within the school divisions of the Commonwealth.”

The first issue is that this should not be an amendment to the Constitution.

Second, charter schools are not the answer to our education issues because they are still public schools subject to the same state mandated Standards of Learning and Standards of Quality.

Third, charter schools will lead to higher taxes because money will be pulled from the regular public school system to help fund the Charter schools.

HJ 693 Constitutional amendment (first resolution); statewide school division for schools. Greg Habeeb

SJ 327 Constitutional amendment (first resolution); statewide school division; schools denied accreditation. Ryan McDougle

Not worthy of an amendment and a waste of money.

The answer to improving our schools lies in returning control to the local level.

 HB 1730 Standards of Quality; full-time uniformed school resource officer.  Mark Cole

Local Fiscal Impact: http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+oth+HB1730F165+PDF

“The estimates ranged from $55,271 per year in Prince Edward County to $7,000,000 per year in the City of Virginia Beach.”

State Fiscal Impact:  http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+oth+HB1730F122+PD

If the state shares costs with localities: “the state share of SRO costs would be $73.6 million the first year and $39.7 million in subsequent years”

If the assumption is that the state will cover the cost of all SROs, the cost for the existing 935 officers would also need to be added to the costs cited above for the new positions. This cost is estimated at an additional $64.5 million each year with the state share being $35.5 million

Adding resource officers will not make our schools safer and it is too costly.

Support – Passed

HB 2144 Standards of Quality; waivers from third grade Standards of Learning assessments.

“Allows a public elementary school that had an adjusted pass rate of less than 75 percent on the third grade Standards of Learning reading assessment… to apply …for a two-year waiver from the science or history and social science Standards of Learning assessment requirement, or both, for third grade students….”

The only problem with this bill is that it expires in 2015 and does not apply to all grade levels. The most important subjects in school are still reading, writing, and arithmetic.  Science and history can wait.

Support with Reservations– Failed

HB 1442 Public school interscholastic programs; participation of students receiving home instruction. Rob Bell

SB 812 Public school interscholastic programs; participation of students receiving home instruction.

Tom Garrett

I support these bills with reservations because I do not think the taxpayer should fund school sports programs at all.  I realize that is heretical thinking but extracurricular sports are not a necessary part of education. 

However, as long as sports are included in public education, all children should have access to them. 

This was just an interesting item I found in the amended items of the Budget Bill HB 1500:

http://leg2.state.va.us/WebData/13amend.nsf/Conf%20List?OpenForm&Start=59&Seq=16

138 2c Va Teaching Scholarship Loan Program - $708,000

Top 10% Students to the Teaching Profession (This amendment restores funding in the second year to continue and better target the program in order to help attract top students into the teaching profession. The amount of the award is updated from $3,720 to $10,000.This appropriation includes $708,000 the second year from the general fund for the Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan Program. These scholarships shall be for undergraduate students at or beyond the sophomore year in college with a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.7 who were in the top 10 percent of their high school class…)  

What value is being in the top 10% of your high school class when you only have a 2.7 in college? A 2.7 equates to a top student for the teaching profession?

The above are just my opinions. My opinions are based on the belief that education is not a right. I have formed these opinions from my experience of having 5 children in the public school system and a brief experience with home schooling.   I have experience with preschool, special needs, academically gifted, dual enrollment, community college, and university education.  I have been a volunteer in the classroom, treasurer of the PTA, and worked in the school cafeteria. I have reviewed and reported on SOLs and textbooks. However, I am still learning. 

Thanks,

Sandy"

Susan Lascolette Rates Legislators on Tax Votes

Completely regardless of our legislators' success on other important issues, the Virginia Tea Party Patriots here rate them on tax and spending proposals alone. Note that one of the highest ratings goes to a Democrat:

 

"The HALL of FAME:

 

Voted 4/4 times against increased taxes/spending - 100%

 

BEN CLINE

Special mention

Johnny Joannou (D)

Elected in 2010

 

Voted 2/2 times against increased taxes/spending -100%

 

ROB BELL

ROXANN ROBINSON

 

THANK YOU - CLASS of 2012 Republicans who voted NO to new taxes/spending on 2/22/13

(7 of 15)

 

MATT FARISS

PETER FERREL

ISREAL O'QUINN

DAVID RAMADAN

MARGARET RANSONE

NICK RUSH

MICHAEL WEBERT

 

The HALL of SHAME:

 

Voted 4/4 times for increased spending/taxes -100%

 

Ingram

Jones

Danny Marshall

May

Orrock

Rust

Tata

 

Voted 3/3 times for increased spending/taxes - 100%

 

Iaquinto

Scott

 

Voted 3/4 times for increased spending/taxes - 75%

 

Albo

Cosgrove

K. Cox

W. Howell

Kilgore

O'Bannon

Purkey

Sherwood

 

Freshman Delegates (elected in 2012) who voted YES for the biggest tax increase in VA history:

 

Dudenhefer, Head, Hodges, Minchew,

Morris, Watson, Yancey, Yost

 

The four biggest tax and spending votes taken by the VA General Assembly starting with the Warner tax increase of 2004 are shown. All were disguised as transportation bills.

 

HB5018 The Warner Tax increase. 1.4 Billion

HB3202 (All taxes/fees have been struck down by the courts - UDAs are now optional)

HB2527 Accelerated bond issuance. 3 Billion

HB2313 6.1 Billion tax increase (3.5 for transportation - maybe!)

 

Special thanks to Susan Lascolette for pulling all of this together in an easy to comprehend spread sheet. We trust you will find the information handy as we move toward the November House of Delegates election. (FYI...The filing deadline for Republican Primary Candidates is March 28th :)

 

Thanks

Carol and The CoLA Team

Cooperative Legislative Action (CoLA)

Va Tea Party Patriots Federation

 

Sign up to receive VA Tea Party Patriots Federation, CoLA Action Alerts direct to you!

http://cola.virginiateapartypatriots.com/cola-alert-sign-up/

--

"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." - Thomas Jefferson Virginia Tea Party Patriots www.virginiateapartypatriots.com Danville Patriots http://danvillepatriots.com/

" 

Remaining Calm: Lingamfelter Is Right

Upon opening Delegate Lingamfelter's campaign e-mail, I recognized that it's formatted in a way that's not going to work with this system. However, I appreciate his message--megadittos to him!--and I'm glad to report that the text can be viewed as a web page here.

The message? About that bad old HB 2313 that nobody loves...although it's not nearly as horrible as some things that were seriously considered in General Assembly 2013, and yes, this abomination passed too...

http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+ful+SB1279S2

...Virginians are indignant, and rightly so. HB 2313 was a good way to raise taxes, if there'd been any reason to raise taxes, which there wasn't. SB 1279 is the most loathsome of several excuses for raising taxes to do things that nobody, except the unemployable busybodies who want to do them, has ever thought needed to be done. Pressure was clearly applied to the General Assembly; you talk to people in your neighborhood, you look up the records of your legislators, you can see that.

Maybe one reason why my e-mail's relatively light, today, is that these people are coming home and some of you are calling them (or whatever), asking what they were thinking.

Personally, I'm still cogitating.

I am car-free. My home town, Gate City, has no real public transportation, only a ghastly New-England-based charitable mess that has destroyed a prosperous private taxicab industry. Most of the time I walk where I'm going. Most of the time I give thanks that I still can walk where I'm going. Sometimes when the weather changes while I'm on the road, and car after car speeds past, and people who are eager enough to remind me that we've met, in other situations, speed past trying to pretend they're not relatives--especially when I used to walk out the Yuma Road, which has no sidewalks and hardly any shoulders, so these cars were whipping past within inches of me--I think about how the road system could be improved by taxing the everlovin' daylights out of all these motor vehicles. I think about how many of these people would rather pay rent all their lives, like flippin' students, than grow up and be public-spirited enough to pay property tax, and how, if I were in charge of these things, taxes on motor vehicles would be way higher than taxes on houses or land. I know very well who's to blame for these relatives' lack of consideration--namely, the insurance companies that give them discounts on their mandatory coverage if they don't share their cars with passengers--and I think of all kinds of ways a really competent government could stick it to them.

But I've never posted these thoughts here, before today, nor have I shared them with Terry Kilgore. I don't make a habit of crying on the shoulders of even my close relatives, nor am I under any delusions about being influential enough to sell otherwise unpopular ideas to our community. I understand that we live in a democracy and that, no matter how indignant you or I may feel with the majority of our neighbors, in a democracy the majority rules. I read HB 2313 and thought, "Wow, great minds think alike!" first, and then I thought, "But what are we raising taxes for? More of these rotten Boards? For these Boards nobody should raise taxes...they should raise axes," just like everybody else did.

I could live with HB 2313, if the federal government had read Broke and recognized its need to cut expenses and thrown the entire welfare system back onto the states, if HB 2313 were being used to pay for food stamps and Medicaid. I would imagine that most of the Tea Parties would accept HB 2313, too, if that were the case. I'm not willing to live with HB 2313 while it's being used to pay for un-American boondoggles like SB 1279. Nor are the Tea Parties, and HB 2313 might have been calculated to restore the flagging numbers of Tea Parties, reasonable and otherwise.

However, hysteria rarely helps anything.

One e-mail, whose senders shall be anonymous but local Tea Parties probably remember who they were, was an example of the kind of thinking I think we do not need. The sender pasted in a list of Delegates and State Senators and told all readers, "If you live in their districts, please seriously consider running against them."

Right. This person doesn't know me personally, so far as I know, and probably had someone else in mind while typing that line, but let's consider it as if it were addressed to me personally. I am not a lawyer, although I've worked for lawyers. I am dysnumeric. I am also dysphasic, rarely reading things backward, but apt to say (or write) things backward if I think or write fast. In conversation I make a joke of it, and I can deliver a lecture successfully, but I'd be hopeless in an unstaged debate. I also have an astigmatism and might be considered unelectable, like Hillary Rodham Clinton, merely because I don't rely on eye contact to communicate. So you have, in my district, one of the best lawyers in Virginia, and you're proposing to replace him with a, a learning-challenged writer who's never taken a single college-level law course? To write laws, you're proposing this? What are you drinking? This e-mail went out to people who are not even writers...

No. Some people seriously would like to see a bunch of amateurs campaign against the Republican legislators. So that, in an overwhelmingly Republican state, Democrats would get control of the legislature. And not necessarily the modest and temperate sort of Democrats like Rick Boucher of blessed memory, either.

I would like very much to know what Delegate Kilgore was thinking about either HB 2313 or SB 1279; he has a record of voting in accord with the will of the people of Scott County (which is not necessarily mine, and I respect that)--and this is an aberration. Maybe some day I'll find out. But the last thing Scott County needs is to go into a spin and try to replace him with some Tea Party amateur, or with someone who could be packaged as the Extreme Left's better qualified alternative to the said amateur.

We need to work with the people who've generally done a good job. Maybe they need closer and more critical attention...haven't I been inviting more of you to take a crack at this bill reading business? Maybe some of them are ready to step down and train their successors for all I know, but the last thing fiscal conservatives need to do is to split the fiscally conservative vote and throw the legislature over to the apres nous le deluge crowd. Better we should rally around clearheaded leaders, not all of whom are Republicans but the vast majority of whom are, and continue to exert pressure against the existing, and powerful, pressure that's being exerted on our legislature to go along with Agenda 21 and Obamacare and all the other things that pushed the Tea Parties into existence.

This web site has yet to pick candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, or attorney general, but one thing I can say about all of them. For political purposes, we need a reasonable degree of unity. We can afford unity about ideas, e.g. the idea that SB 1279 is very bad and needs to be completely dismantled before anybody gets any lunatic ideas about enforcing it as law, but we can't afford to let the Loony Left split our vote the way we need to focus on splitting the useless Boards that belong in the furnace.

Scott Lingamfelter is right. Calmness is one thing we need to look for in our elected officials.

Teamwork is another thing. Maybe the various conservative candidates can afford to vie for the title of most conservative, but they can't afford to campaign against one another; they need to be willing to work together. The ones not elected to statewide office need to stay in their districts and support the other fiscal conservatives in the legislature. We need to rally around the general idea of fiscal common sense and frugality.