Senator Creigh Deeds

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A Contentious Week

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We are now ending the last full week of the 2018 Session prior to crossover. As explained last week, the Senate and House will have to finish work on bills originating in their own chambers by Tuesday. This has been a week full of contention.

One of the most contentious issues of the session relates to rate setting for utility companies. In 2015, Dominion Power pushed a bill through the legislature which essentially froze part of their rates, disabled the State Corporation Commission from rate-setting reviews for a period of years, and locked in Dominion’s revenues. Dominion argued that action was needed because of the expected financial impacts of adoption of the federal Clean Power Plan. I voted against that bill because I thought it was a bad deal for the ratepayers. Interestingly, one of the “concessions” that Dominion made in that deal to get the Governor’s support and that of some environmentally-minded Democrats was a commitment to produce 500 megawatts of solar energy by 2020. That goal was attained in 2017. As anyone who watches the markets knows, the cost of solar energy is going down and the demand is going up. Hindsight being 20-20, we now know that the “concession” made in 2015 was a low bar. [Read more…]

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The 2018 Session is Underway

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The 2018 regular session of the Virginia General Assembly is underway. This long session, which will run 60 days, is remarkable in at least three aspects.

First, every four years a changing of the guard takes place. Governor McAuliffe gave his farewell speech on January 10, at the end of the opening day of the 2018 Session. He laid out his accomplishments and his suggestions for the future. Governor McAuliffe and I have had our differences, as any two individuals would, but he’s been a good governor and good for Virginia. Life must be lived with urgency. This is particularly true for our governors. You only have four years. Terry McAuliffe has served with more enthusiasm and energy and a greater sense of urgency than any governor since Jerry Baliles.

On Saturday Ralph Northam will be inaugurated as the 73rd Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Ralph has been a friend of mine for many years, and I look forward to working with him. [Read more…]

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Medicaid and Mental Health

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The General Assembly reconvened on the 5th of April to consider the Governor’s amendments and vetoes of legislation from the 2017 Session. While it was a busy day, we saw few surprises. The Governor’s vetoes, which totaled 40 this year and made him the Governor who has exercised the veto pen the most often, were all sustained. [Read more…]

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Final Weeks of the 2017 General Assembly Session

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One of the strengths of Virginia’s legislative process is that legislators are part-time. One hundred forty men and women from all over Virginia and from all walks of life come to Richmond to serve in the legislature during this time of year. The sessions are 60 days in length during even-numbered years and 46 days in odd-numbered years. The rest of the year we spend our time in our communities, working and volunteering, and meeting with constituents. But there is a move, albeit subtle, to change all that. [Read more…]

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Crossover 2017

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Groundhog Day was yesterday, which means we are very close to the crossover of the 2017 legislative session. Crossover, which comes shortly after the midpoint of each session, is the point by which the Senate must act on all senate bills and the House on all house bills. The bills then cross over to the other side for consideration.

At the beginning of each session each legislator has goals they want to accomplish. I am no different. One hundred forty legislators sponsored thousands of bills this year and had policies they sought to advance. Now however we are in the heart of the sausage-making process, and many of those dreams have been dashed. By next Tuesday, everything but the budget will cross over from each side to the other. The pace now is frenetic. [Read more…]

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