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It was the most miserable General Assembly session in memory, but it could have been worse.

That sums up the feelings of Hampton Roads lawmakers at the end of a 61-day legislative session marked by deep spending cuts to offset a $4 billion revenue shortfall. The goal of the session was to limit losses and, in that regard, the local delegation had some success. A few thoughts:

1. Public education was cut deeply cut under the two-year state budget the General Assembly sent to Gov. Bob McDonnell.  Hampton Roads school districts – and most across Virginia – would see at least a 10 percent reduction in state funding. Hampton Roads would lose about $270 million over the next two years.

But local lawmakers fought off another $87 million in losses by leading an almost statewide outcry against the imposition of a scheduled change to the state’s school funding formula.
The formula measures the wealth of localities and determines the amount of state aid each school system receives. It is calibrated biennially and this year’s reset would have helped Northern Virginia, which suffered sharp declines in real estate values, at the expense of most of the rest of the state. The General Assembly softened the blow by allowing Northern Virginia the benefits of the new formula while holding losing localities harmless next budget year and reducing their formula cuts by half the year after.

2. The General Assembly reluctantly agreed to allocate – for one last year – $7.5 million to help Virginia Beach buy properties around Oceana Air Station. The Senate originally passed a budget that eliminated the program. Local delegates pushed hard for its reinstatement.

The money, matched by Virginia Beach, has formed a $15 million state and local commitment to acquire private properties near Oceana and thwart a 2005 federal recommendation to close the jet base because of surrounding over development.

3. The General Assembly unanimously passed legislation that would establish the Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority. This is an important first step in the dreams of Hampton Roads officials to power millions of homes with wind and establish the region as a hub for manufacturing 400-foot high steel windmills and caissons that would be implanted 15 miles out in the ocean.
The 11-member panel, appointed by the governor, will coordinate public-private efforts to establish the industry and apply for federal grants, permits and loan guarantees.  It’s first goal is to raise $3 million to build meteorological towers in the ocean to collect wind data that could give investors confidence in the offshore plan.

4. The appointment of Del. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, as a budget negotiator eased concerns that Hampton Roads was losing clout on state spending matters.  He filled a vacancy created by the scandal-tainted election defeat last fall of another regional delegate, Republican Phil Hamilton of Newport News.

Jones, a behind-the-scenes workhorse, fell out with Speaker Bill Howell and other House Republican leaders six years ago when he voted for a tax increase. No doubt, he is close to Howell now. Last year Jones convinced the Speaker to embrace public smoking restrictions. And this year, it was Howell who appointed Jones as a budget negotiator.

Hampton Roads did lose budget sway in the Senate, however. Republican Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, failed to get the seat on the Senate Finance Committee vacated by former Sen. Ken. Stolle, R-Virginia Beach.  Stolle was elected Virginia Beach sheriff last fall. He was the region’s go-to guy in the Senate and his presence was missed.

5. Next to the loss of education money, the biggest downer to the congested Hampton Roads lawmakers was the lack of any progress on transportation.

Budget negotiators have agreed to pony up – for one last year—$7.5 million to help Virginia Beach buy properties around Oceana Air Station.

The money, matched by Virginia Beach, has formed a $15 million state and local commitment to acquire private properties near Oceana and thwart a 2005 federal recommendation to close the jet base because of surrounding over development.

Legislators took aim at the program this winter, seeking savings during excruciatingly tough financial times. They were concerned that Virginia Beach still has not drawn down about $4 million of the state money appropriated last year.

Virginia Beach officials say the cash is still needed and will be spent. Each month, the city receives nearly $1.5 million in new requests to buy real estate from property owners around Oceana.

The Senate passed a two-year budget last month that eliminated state funding for the program.  Under the House biennial-spending plan, Virginia would contribute $7.5 million the first year and nothing the second. Budget negotiators have informally agreed to the House plan, according to three lawmakers participating in the talks.

Gov. Bob McDonnell, who represented Virginia Beach for 14 years in the House of Delegates, urged lawmakers to fund the program for two more years. But it’s apparent Virginia Beach will have to make its case again next winter before an increasingly skeptical General Assembly.

After long allowing development around Oceana, Virginia Beach in recent years has been trying to keep the Navy happy. The air base provides 12,000 jobs and pours about $1 billion a year into the local economy.

Now that the General Assembly has endorsed development of an ocean windmill farm, Hampton Roads officials want to cut red tape in Washington.

Eighteen mayors and county commission chairmen have signed a letter to the local congressional delegation asking them to help resolve two snags that could hinder the offshore project.

Hampton Roads officials hope to power millions of homes with wind and make their region the East Coast hub for manufacturing the 400-foot high steel windmills and caissons. They envision a wind farm of 250 towers standing between 12 and 15 miles offshore. They say the industry could create 20,000 jobs and pump $15 billion a year into the economy.

The Navy is worried the towers would hamper offshore training exercises; the Air Force fears the giant structures would create shadows that interfere with radar. 

Radar concerns are also threatening plans to redevelop Virginia’s Beach’s resort strip. The Navy, which flies jets out of nearby Oceana Air Station, has said it could live with 180-foot high buildings at the oceanfront. The Federal Aviation Administration, however, insists anything above the current 110-foot limit would obstruct air surveillance.

“While alternative energy development is a top priority for the (Obama) administration,” the local leaders wrote, “the Hampton Roads area and localities face obstacles in balancing these energy interests with our nation’s homeland security causes.”

“The federal government must have a process in place to evaluate the impact of offshore energy development on military training and operations, homeland defense requirements, and air traffic safety needs,” they added. “It does not currently exist. The region is eager to undertake work in partnership with a private developer to harness the wind energy off its coast; however, without clear guidance from the administration on the balance that will be required between energy development and national security, the region cannot proceed.”

Local leaders also complained about a 7.5-year federal permitting process before construction of the windmill farm could begin. “If this is not compressed, all the forward movement and development that is currently underway in the offshore wind industry will grind to a halt,” they wrote. “Turbine manufacturers have already made it clear that if steps are not taken to reduce the permitting timeframe, they will not even think about moving forward on offshore wind in the United States.”

The General Assembly on Monday unanimously passed legislation that would establish the Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority. The 11-member panel, appointed by the governor, would coordinate public-private efforts to establish the industry and apply for federal grants, permits and loan guarantees.  It’s first goal would be to raise $3 million to build meteorological towers in the ocean to collect wind data that would give investors confidence in the offshore plan.

Sen. Yvonne Miller, D-Norfolk, has never been much of a speechmaker during her 25 years in the General Assembly. But she gave a stem-winder on the floor Tuesday, calling efforts to expand charter schools a “kick in the gut” to public education.
A little background: Miller, 75, was a professor and head of the Department of Early Childhood/Elementary Education at Norfolk State University until she retired in 1999. In 1984, she became the first African-American woman elected to the General Assembly.
Miller was among several members of the Black Caucus to speak out against sb737, a bill aimed at expanding charter schools in Virginia. She lamented that the bill would drain funds from public education – poor school districts, especially—at a time when schools are already facing deep budget cuts. Despite her emotional speech, the measure passed, 27-12. Here’s what she said:

“My heart is extremely heavy about these bills and I’ll explain to you why that’s the case.
“I’ve been in Virginia since the age of seven. I’m the oldest of 13 children. I have nine brothers and three sisters. We grew up in a neighborhood that was extremely poor. The fact that I’m on this floor as a senator is a distinct miracle.  The fact that I’m on this floor with an earned Ph.D. is an even greater miracle. I was told that it was impossible for someone to go from no degree to an earned Ph.D. in one generation. I am an example of whatever people say cannot necessarily be the truth.
“One of the things you must understand is I’m the product of public schools in Norfolk, I’m a product of Norfolk State University, I’m a product of Virginia State University, a product of Teachers College, Columbia, New York, and a product of the University of Pittsburgh.
“I am here to tell you that this bill at this time is like a kick in the gut and the reason it’s like a kick in the gut is because we are underfunding public education, we are cutting public education, we are in a global competition for intellectual power, and we are saying in Virginia it’s OK to skim from the population that needs a high quality education and to relegate the largest part of that population to an inferior, underfunded education.

“In a state as rich as Virginia, in a state with huge defense contracts, in a state with a marvelous port that serves the world, we are saying we are not willing to educate our children. Our children are our replacements. The education of children should be a top priority for all Virginians, not just the ones who are the recipients of the luck of the draw in a lottery. All of our children should have a high-quality, first-rate education. We have the resources to do that.
“We are now running a scam of some of our families, saying this is a way to solve some very serious problems. Education is the great equalizer. We can do with a wonderful education many wonderful things. But before considering charter schools we should first fund the public schools.
“The public schools in Virginia are very interesting to observe. Just the accident of birth in Virginia often determines the quality of schools that children will attend. If you are born in a rich locality, your public schools are very, very good. If you are born in a poor locality in Virginia, your education may be substandard. As citizens of the Commonwealth, we have an obligation to educate all the children of all the people. These bills are saying let’s not educate all the children of all the people, let’s select a few children and educate them very well.
“This is a very bad bill based on a history. We should be ashamed of ourselves even to introduce such legislation.”

 

A bill that would have stripped Sen. Tommy Norment of a controversial state sinecure that paid him $120,000 last year was killed Thursday by a state Senate subcommittee.

HB664 would have banned legislators from serving as commissioners of accounts – a judicially appointed post that oversees the disposition of estates. Norment, R-James City, is the only current member of the General Assembly holding the politically connected job, although many legislators before him have also held the posts. The ethical propriety of legislators accepting patronage from judges they appoint has been long debated.

Gov. Bob McDonnell is urging lawmakers to restore a $7.5 million annual state contribution to help Virginia Beach buy properties around Oceana Air Station.

The money, matched by Virginia Beach, formed a $15 million state and local commitment to acquire private properties near Oceana and thwart a 2005 federal recommendation to close the jet base because of surrounding over development.

The state Senate, seeking to save money, last week passed a two-year budget that would eliminate Virginia’s contribution. Under the House spending plan, the state would pay its share the first year, but not the second.

McDonnell, who represented Virginia Beach in the House for 14 years, has personally urged House and Senate budget negotiators to fully fund the program both years.

“The Governor knows the significant and positive economic impact that Naval Air Station Oceana has on Virginia’s economy,” said Tucker Martin, McDonnell’s communications director. “ Over 10,000 jobs and $1 billion in economic activity is directly tied to the base, and thousands of other jobs, and critical economic activity, is indirectly tied to the presence of the facility. The appropriation of state funds to ensure that the base remains in the Commonwealth is a smart use of limited resources.”

Washington is imposing new regulations on saltwater fishing and a protest that would bring joy to Patrick Henry has arisen in the House of Delegates.

The fed periodically promulgates new rules on saltwater fishing and coastal states have a Hobson’s choice: They can either adopt the rules and incorporate them into their standards for granting a state fishing license; or they can ignore the regs and thereby force anglers to acquire a special federal saltwater fishing license in addition to their state permit.

Either way, the standards go on the books and are enforced, by state game officials or the U.S. Coast Guard.

The latest federal regs are far-reaching. They require licensing of saltwater anglers who cast lines from their own property and their guests. They require licensing for people on boats who once were allowed to fish under the permit of the vessel’s owner.
Amid grumbling, the state Senate earlier this month approved legislation that incorporated the regs into state law. But the House said the federal government has gone too far. Two delegates – Democrat Albert Pollard of Lancaster and Republican Lee Ware of Powhatan – convinced colleagues to approve an amendment under which applicants for state saltwater fishing licenses would receive a document saying:

“WARNING: The federal government, through the National Marine Fisheries Service, has pressured the General Assembly of Virginia to discontinue certain exemptions to Virginia’s fishing license laws. The exemptions Virginia is pressured to remove include the exemption for fishing off of a private dock and fishing from a recreational boat if such boat is already licensed. The General Assembly has declined to end such exemptions. As a result, any fisherman harvesting rockfish, shad, or other incidental anadromous species and any fisherman fishing more than three miles off the coast must obtain a separate federal license.

“If you do not support this federal law, please contact your elected officials serving in the U.S. Congress.

“Please be advised that no law-enforcement officer of the Commonwealth, including the Virginia Marine Police and conservation police officers, shall enforce the requirement to obtain such a federal license. Only the U.S. Coast Guard or other federal authorities shall enforce the additional federal license requirement.”
§ 28.2-302.1:1. Saltwater recreational fishing; federal licensing requirements.

“No law-enforcement officer, as defined in § 9.1-101, shall enforce federal laws and regulations requiring a resident of the Commonwealth to obtain a fishing license issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service.”

The Senate has rejected the amendment and SB668 is headed to a conference committee.

I have enjoyed saltwater fishing for over 53 years and I have witnessed the many regulations that have been made by the state and federal government over the years. Some have been clearly understood and some have not. It seems now that the latest from the government is treading on basic rights. I know that I have to show responsibility and through conservation and restraint insure that we do not deplete our coastal waters of fish. The government officials do not have the right to put a cost on everything. Next I will need a breathing license. Cost to be determined by my lung capacity. I have a license from the state , thats enough and don’t tell me what I or my guess can do on or from land I own as long as its not a criminal act. It’s time to get rid of CAREER politicians.

Many years ago the VA General Assembly had to deal with the issue of licensing VA’s fresh water fishermen. There have never been any boat licenses available to these fishermen nor have their been any exemptions for those fishermen fishing from the banks of rivers or from piers that extend into to public waters that allow them to fish without licenses. Why should this be any different for salt water fishermen?
In 2006 the re-authorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act required that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) must start considering the economic impact of salt water recreational fishermen when developing fisheries managemnt plans. The only way to do this is to know, in as much as is practical, how many people in the US are recreational salt water fishermen, thus the requirement for individual licensing of all salt water fishermen, either through a Fed. Gov. system or through acceptable state licensing systems.

During the 2010 VA General Assembly session the VA Senate passed SB668 which would establish an individual license for all of VA’s salt water fishermen and also allow for exemptions to those fishermen who fished from licensed charter and head boats, provided for short term licenses as well as considerations for the ederly etc. The House of Delegates passed an amended version of the bill that said that VA would not be required to enforce any federal mandate of the required licensing and that enforcement of the federal registry would not be honored. However, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) Law Enforcemnt divison has an agreement with the National Ocean & Atmospheric Administration (via NMFS) to enforce national fisheries regulations.

The decision of the VA House of Delegates to essentially gut the original bill has resulted in a delima. The VA Senate has rejected the House decision (amended bill) by a vote of 36-2 and now the bill must go to a Conference Committee for a final decison. 

Up for consideration are 1) submit the original bill SB668 to the Governor for his approval or 2) provide for an angler registry that will require each recreational salt water angler to register with VMRC and acquire a Fisherman Identification Number (FIN) which will cost VMRC approximatley $450,00.00 per year to manage. However, with the current budget crisis, there is not enough money in the Recreational Fisheries Development Fund (RFDF) ( monies collected from the sale of the sale of recreational salt water licenses) to cover the costs of this type of program. Therefore there will have to be an increase in the cost of the current licensing program for VA’s recreational salt water fishermen.
What does this mean? Clearly, those anglers who purchase a license will be paying for the registration of those who do not feel they must pay their fair share by buying an idividual license.
For those of you who don’t or did not support the original version of SB668 and who support the House of Delegates amended version, here is the possible outcome of your decision.
Not only will you have to buy your individual or boat license, you will also have to pay ( in 2011) for a Federal License that will be $25.00 per person. This Federal license money will revert to the Fed. Govmnt. and VA will not receive any of this money for recreational fishing enhancement.

Many things are at stake here. 1)Proper recognition of the National Receational Salt Water Fishermen,2) Better data collection and 3) proper allocation of Wallop Breau Funds (excise taxes paid on fishing equipment)to the state of VA. Having an individual recreational salt water fishing license for every VA ciitizen who fishes salt water fisheries will help accomplish this. Contact your Delegate or Senator today and tell them to support SB668 in its origianl version.

David Nobles
Providence Forge VA

Thank you David. That makes it clearer.

Virginia Beach lawmakers are urgently seeking restoration of $7.5 million in annual state funds to help the city acquire properties around Oceana Air Station.

The money, which is matched by Virgininia Beach, formed a $15 million state and local commitment to buy properties around Oceana and thwart a federal recommendation to move jets stationed at the base to Florida.

The Senate budget eliminates the state’s contribution. Under the House biennial-spending plan, Virginia would contribute its share the first year, but not the second.

“Ending this program would send a very negative message to the Navy about the Commonwealth’s commitment to maintain Oceana,” wrote Bob Matthias, an assistant to Virginia Beach’s city manager, in a letter to local legislators.

The immediate focus is to convince the Senate to join the House in backing a $7.5 million contribution for the next budget year, which starts July 1. Local lawmakers say they’ll worry about future appropriations further down the road when, hopefully, the economy has improved. The matter will be ironed out by House and Senate budget negotiators.

There is high support for the program in Gov. Bob McDonnell, who represented Virginia Beach for 14 years in the House of Delegates. Oceana Air Station kicks in an estimated $1 billion a year to the local economy.

Educators from all regions except Northern Virginia on Thursday urged Gov. Bob McDonnell to rethink his support of changing the state formula for funding schools.

Although the change would help 39 localities, the vast benefit would go to Northern Virginia schools which stand to gain $134.4 million. In contrast, 93 school systems – including those in Hampton Roads and metropolitan Richmond – would lose a total $119 million. Educators from 87 of those losing districts signed a letter of complaint to McDonnell.

The formula, as noted frequently on this blog, measures the wealth of localities and determines the amount of state aid each school system receives. It is computed every two years. But former Gov. Tim Kaine recommended skipping the reset this year to spare Virginia a $29 million increase its overall share of education costs. That upset Northern Virginia lawmakers because tumbling real estate prices cut their region’s wealth and entitled it to more state aid. They lobbied McDonnell, who took office in January, not to freeze the formula.

Here’s the letter:

Dear Governor McDonnell:
We, the undersigned school districts, are among the 93 that stand to lose a combined $116.4 million in funding if the Local Composite Index (LCI) is not frozen for Fiscal Year 2011. For the past several months, school districts have been hard at work developing operating budgets for next fiscal year that take into account the dire economic circumstances affecting state and local revenues and thus school funding. Your initial support of Governor Kaine’s proposal to freeze the Local Composite Index promised to bring much needed fiscal relief to many school districts already facing significant revenue losses. Unfortunately, your recent decision to change your position on this issue leaves the majority of Virginia’s school districts with little choice but to recommend more substantial cuts which ultimately will prove devastating to both classroom instruction and staff.

We want to make it clear that we do understand the need for an accepted funding structure such as the Local Composite Index. We also understand why the Region 4-Northern Virginia school districts (which stand to gain $134.4 million) pushed so hard for elimination of the proposed freeze, citing the importance of adhering to this historical funding arrangement. Indeed, all school districts are facing cuts and even the most affluent are suffering. However, we believe there is a moral imperative to protect as many children as possible from irreparable educational harm. We also believe that unprecedented fiscal times call for extraordinary measures and creative solutions. The need exists to find solutions, such as freezing the LCI, because in our districts the proposed freeze would immediately help to protect educational programs while giving us time to plan for the eventual losses that a change to the Index would bring in FY 2012. Moreover, a decision to freeze the Local Composite Index benefits the Commonwealth financially, saving approximately $29 million at a time when Virginia is arguably in the throes of its worst fiscal crisis ever.

Certainly you must realize that more school districts will be hurt than helped (only 39 would gain). The extensive cuts many of us now have to consider are so drastic that they threaten the health of public education in our communities. In addition, these cuts are often on top of program reductions that are already proposed or in some cases have already been executed. For example, in the past 18 months Roanoke City Public Schools has closed four of its 29 schools; privatized transportation; eliminated 88 positions; eliminated early retirement; frozen wages; and eliminated health insurance for retirees. If the elimination of the freeze becomes a reality, that school system will lose an additional $1.4 million. The Roanoke City School Board is now contemplating the elimination of up to 146 more positions that directly affect classroom instruction as well as the elimination of some academic and athletic programs; and is also examining staff furloughs.

Albemarle County is facing a $15 million reduction to its budget ($5.2 million would be directly attributable to elimination of the proposed freeze). Just a few of the budget reduction strategies now under consideration there include increasing class size up to three students; elimination and reduction of intervention support including K-8 summer school and in-school and after-school tutoring; a five-day furlough for all employees; a 50 percent reduction of the learning resource/textbook adoption budget for all schools; and elimination of funding for most co-curricular and extra-curricular activities beyond athletics for which a student fee is proposed. These are just a few examples. Scenarios like these are under consideration in cities and counties all across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Should they become a fact of life, we believe our communities will erupt with dissatisfaction.

We also ask you to take this important point under consideration: There is a considerable difference between having to cut real money from budgets as we will be forced to do versus not gaining additional money (as would be the case in Northern Virginia). And finally, among those 93 districts negatively affected are some of the most fiscally stressed in the Commonwealth of Virginia. They include many urban and rural districts with high concentrations of poor and at-risk children.

We implore you to do what is right for the majority of school districts across Virginia; what is the most fiscally responsible for the Commonwealth’s budget; and most importantly, what is best for our children. Support a freeze to the Local Composite Index for Fiscal Year 2011. We can’t afford for you to do anything less.

A letter to those 93 counties who stand to loose from the bi-annual recalculation of the LCI.
For the past 40 years you have been able to keep your property tax artificially low by the using the state’s coffers to fund a large portion of your children’s education.  The LCI now shows you are more able to pay for your children’s education, the number of students have decreased or some combination there of compared to the rest of the state.  If your student population has fallen you need to right size your schools system through cuts, if not your board of supervisors need to raise your property tax so YOU are paying a slightly larger portion of YOUR children’s education.  Rest assured, the more affluent areas of the state will still pay for a large portion of YOUR CHILDREN’s education, but YOUR SHARE of the RESPONSIBILITY has slightly increased. 

To sum it up, TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR CHILDREN.  Oh.. and you might want to look up terms such as “socialism” and “redistribution of wealth” and see if these are parts of your value structure.

Hampton Roads lawmakers wrote a letter to Gov. Bob McDonnell on Thursday, asking him to reconsider his support for a change in the state’s school funding formula that will cost the region dearly.

The change would generate $124 million for Northern Virginia. Almost half the money would come from a $58.4 million cut in funds flowing into Hampton Roads. The lawmakers noted in their letter that 93 of the state’s 135 school systems would lose cash under the new formula.

The formula measures the wealth of localities and determines the amount of state aid each school system receives. It is calibrated every two years. But former Gov. Tim Kaine recommended skipping a scheduled reset this year to spare Virginia a required $29 million increase in the state’s total share of education spending. That irked Northern Virginia officials because a sharp decline in real estate prices has cut their region’s wealth and entitled it to a greater share of state funds. They lobbied McDonnell, who took office in January, not to freeze he formula.

The letter was drafted by Del. John Cosgrove, R-Chesapeake. “We urge you to take action in a way that preserves the majority of your school districts from irreparable harm,” he wrote McDonnell.

“We can say without exaggeration that if this latest decision becomes a reality, the effects will be debilitating to communities across the state: Children will lose services; employees will lose jobs,” Cosgrove wrote.
The four-page missive is rife with statistics about the impact the formula change would have in each Hampton Roads school district. It urges McDonnell, if he can’t stomach the freeze, to phase in the new formula over two years.

Del. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, has declined to sign the letter. He’s a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, which will be releasing its state budget proposal on Sunday. Jones, an effective behind-the-scenes worker, is concerned his signing could put him at public odds with fellow budget writers. He said there there will be ample opportunities to negotiate school spending in the four weeks left in the General Assembly session.

The formula change is one in a series tremors that is rocking education funding. Kaine and McDonnell have proposed separate rounds of cuts that would reduce state aid to schools by 9.3 percent for the budget year starting July 1.