K-12 funding Archives - Page 3 of 4

One More Day

March 11, 2016 by Creigh Deeds

With the legislature wrapping up the 2016 Regular Session of the General Assembly in a day or so, I wanted to provide a status report.

Budget

The budget deal has been reported in most of the major newspapers. It includes a three percent pay raise for state employees and faculty at our institutions of higher learning, as well as a two percent raise for teachers and other state-supported local employees. The budget deal also includes about $190 million to bulk up the Virginia Retirement System. You will recall that contributions were reduced during the recession. This action will allow us to restore those funds about six years ahead of time. The increases in teacher pay are a part of a $900 million increase in K-12 spending by the state. [Read more…]

Budget, Budget, Budget

February 26, 2016 by Creigh Deeds

The 2016 Session of the General Assembly is now in warp speed. We are merely two weeks from adjournment, and it seems everybody is in two or three places at the same time. Whether you are presenting a bill before a committee, hearing other presentations in other committees, meeting with constituents or other individuals who have an idea they wish to discuss, or taking part in long floor sessions, this is a wearisome time of the session – and a dangerous time. Bills are amended, deals are cut and things happen quickly. One simply has to pay attention. [Read more…]

Back in Richmond!

January 16, 2016 by Creigh Deeds

The 2016 regular session of the Virginia General Assembly is off and running. The long sessions are held in even years and are significant because we will be adopting a new two-year budget. Due to our budget cycle, this is the first year Governor McAuliffe has an opportunity to put forward his vision for the Commonwealth. This biennial budget will be the Governor’s opportunity to leave a legacy.

On the first night of the session, the Senate and House of Delegates convened a Joint Assembly to welcome the Governor and hear his State of the Commonwealth speech. Typically such affairs are light, and the mood is hopeful and congenial. Certainly this year was not much of an exception.

Budget Priorities: Education and Economic Development

Governor McAuliffe laid out his outline for the $109 billion two-year spending plan. His budget priorities include education and economic development, which generally receive widespread support. The Governor boosts spending for both K-12 and higher education. Those in K-12 know that spending has been very tight for at least the past seven years. The Governor’s re-benchmarking of that area of the budget was needed just to catch up.

In higher education, Virginia’s historically frugal way has left us behind many surrounding states in terms of our overall investment in higher education. This year’s plan achieves a number of important goals. First, it adds planning money and capital outlay for a number of important projects throughout the system. Of particular interest to those who reside in the 25th Senate District, money is allocated for the development of a student center at Piedmont Virginia Community College. Second, and important for our economy, there is additional investment in workforce training at our community colleges in clear recognition that a bachelor’s or associate’s degree is not necessary for every segment of the workforce. Sometimes a certification can increase earning power and productivity.

In an effort to build a budget to include something for everyone, the Governor also proposes corporate tax cuts to promote business growth in Virginia and remain competitive with other states. He also provides funding for GO Virginia, which is supported by business and local governments, to encourage regional partnerships and planning for economic development. This funding will allow jurisdictions to work together on common goals, rather than compete for business.

Medicaid Expansion

While his efforts in these areas may receive widespread support, the Governor has not avoided controversy in the budget. For the third time, the Governor put forward budget language to expand Medicaid in Virginia. The proposal and related money is woven into the budget. I have consistently argued that expanding Medicaid makes good economic and political sense for Virginia. Ninety percent of the dollars to expand Medicaid will come from the federal government. Of course, those dollars don’t just “come from the federal government”; the funding is generated by money higher earning Virginians already pay due to increased taxes in the Affordable Care Act. If we have an opportunity to bring our tax dollars back to Virginia to work for us, we have a responsibility to act. In doing so, we can provide insurance coverage for hundreds of thousands of Virginians, a significant number of whom suffer serious mental illness, who are falling through the cracks. Providing health care to these individuals is the right thing to do.

Predictably, there is a good deal of partisanship being displayed, particularly about the Medicaid issue. But I am hopeful we can put aside some of our past differences and genuinely work together for the benefit of the people of the Commonwealth.

Judicial Issues

In addition, there are a number of judicial issues before the Virginia General Assembly. Specifically, I will introduce legislation that calls for an additional fourth general district court judgeship in the 25th Circuit, the area that stretches north from Craig and Botetourt Counties to Highland and Augusta Counties. I will also carry a budget amendment to fund an additional circuit court position in the 16th Circuit, in the Charlottesville-Albemarle region.

The Virginia General Assembly must also confirm or elect a new justice to the Supreme Court. A great deal of partisanship continues to surround this issue, even though the Governor’s appointment was nominated by the Republican Chairman of the House Courts of Justice Committee. Many Republican leaders oppose Justice Jane Roush’s election. How that plays out remains to be seen.

Procedural Measures in the Virginia General Assembly

On the first day, the Senate voted on a number of procedural measures necessary for conducting the work of the people. We narrowly adopted new rules, including the controversial removal of media access to the chamber during session, and finalized committee assignments. I resumed my seat on the Senate Courts of Justice Committee, on which I last served in 2011. Longtime friends know that I spent many years on the Courts Committee while in the House of Delegates. In order to obtain that assignment, I gave up positions on the General Laws and Technology Committee and the Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee. I maintained my seats on the Transportation and Privileges and Elections Committees.

Although the Virginia General Assembly Session just began on Wednesday, lots of bills have been introduced and standing committees have begun working through the over 2,000 bills already before us. I urge you to please let me hear from you if you have any information or ideas about the legislation currently before us.

It remains a high honor to serve you in the Senate of Virginia. If I may be of assistance, or if you wish to share your thoughts with me, please contact me at [email protected] or (804) 698-7525. I look forward to hearing from you.

Best,

Creigh

Why I’m Running for Re-election

May 4, 2015 by Creigh Deeds

After much thought, I want to announce that I will run for re-election to the State Senate this fall. I am proud of the many things we have been able to accomplish, working together, to protect the most vulnerable, Virginia’s children, to conserve Virginia’s open space, to rebuild Virginia’s economy, and recently to reform our system of mental health care. I will be humbled to ask the voters in the 25th Senatorial District for their votes on November 3rd so that I may continue my work. [Read more…]

Budget Deliberations Begin

February 13, 2015 by Creigh Deeds

The 2015 Session of the General Assembly is hurtling toward adjournment. The word around here is that we may complete our work earlier than the scheduled February 28 adjournment.

Election year jitters, and a clear partisan majority in both houses, makes it less likely we will find ourselves at a stalemate this year. Medicaid expansion, the issue that held the General Assembly up last year, has been shoved aside. Many Republicans acknowledge that the policy reasons for Virginia expanding Medicaid are compelling. Virginia’s economy could use the $2.5 billion bump that would be fully funded by the federal government through 2016 and that health insurance for 400,000 people who are currently uninsured would be a boost to Virginia’s economy and health. The problem is political. Virginia’s working poor took a backseat to election year politics.

Both the House and Senate have passed versions of the budget that appear to be close on most issues, thus the optimism about an early adjournment. The last two weeks of the General Assembly will be spent working out the differences in a conference committee. I will only touch on a few areas of the budget.

Pay increases for public employees

Because revenue projections have improved since last December, both the House and Senate included money in the budget for pay increases for public employees. The Senate bumps up the salaries of state and state-supported local employees by three percent, two percent for college faculty, and 1.5 percent for the state share for public school teachers. The Senate budget includes $5.8 million generated by Senator Carrico’s bill I discussed last week to address salary compression issues at the Virginia State Police.

K-12 education funding

The Senate and the House proposals incorporated the Governor’s priorities with respect to K-12 education. The budgets adopted by the House and Senate yesterday do not cut funding to our public schools. The increased revenue, which has allowed some flexibility with this year’s budget, should not be viewed too optimistically. The economy is changing in dramatic ways, and we must diversify. As a result, many of the increases enjoyed in this revenue spurt are being spent on one-time expenses rather than being built into the base budget. The Senate in particular agreed with the Governor’s recommendation of $50 million for school construction and to subsidize interest rates for school divisions with an additional $25 million.

The Governor also proposed using $537,000 for new school breakfast program designed to encourage all school divisions to serve breakfast. The Senate budget targets this program only at elementary schools where free and reduced lunch eligibility exceeds 45 percent.

Mental health services

Last year I feared the legislature would lose focus on the importance of revamping mental health services in Virginia. We took some steps last year but much work remains. The budget proposals adopted this week allay my fears. Both the House and Senate infused significant funding into an array of services. The Senate provided new money for permanent supportive housing, two new PACT teams, and for child psychiatry and crisis response. The House included some of those priorities but also provided funding for four new therapeutic drop-off centers. While the differences need to be worked out, I am heartened to see the continued commitment of my colleagues to improve services in Virginia.

Transportation funding

An area of interest to many of my constituents is transportation funding. For the first time in many years, the administration actually has some transportation money to spend. The transportation funding formula, which historically has benefited rural areas, has not been working since 2009. The money which fueled those formulas has slowed to trickle. With the passage of House Bill 2313 in 2013, additional dollars are flowing to transportation. While the slowdown in the economy diminished those anticipated funds, there are at last dollars flowing to much needed transportation projects.

A couple of bills, HB 1886 and HB 1887, have been introduced Delegate Chris Jones with the support of the McAuliffe administration. The legislation does not change many of the basic principles of the formula, but divides the money up into different pots. The end result is that each district should be getting roughly the same or more money than in prior years, but the money will be targeted in different ways.

Under these proposals, forty percent of the money will go into what will be known as “state and good repair” purposes, which includes major bridge and overpass reconstruction and other significant maintenance projects. That money will flow into each of the transportation districts.

Thirty percent will go to a statewide fund for “high priority” projects, which are defined as “projects of regional or statewide significance” that address such things as congestion, safety, economic development or environmental quality. Projects that might fit into this project include the Route 220 project in Botetourt and Alleghany Counties. The road project not only cuts across county lines but cuts across transportation districts and is clearly a project with regional and even statewide significance.

The remaining thirty percent of funds go to “highway construction districts” grant programs. These are projects that are high priorities within each district.

We are still working through all of the details of the bills, and I am honored to serve on the subcommittee responsible for reviewing the legislation. I am hopeful that the end result will provide real opportunities to move forward on critical transportation projects throughout Virginia.

It continues to be my high honor to serve you in the Senate of Virginia. Please let me know if you if I can be of service to you in any way. You can reach my office during the legislative session at PO Box 396, Richmond, VA 23218, [email protected], or (804) 698-7525.