Session Ends: Negotiations with the Governor Begin

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Dear Friend,

The big news of the session is the adoption of a progressive budget by a Democratically controlled General Assembly. The budget we adopted aims to make investments that are necessary to ensure our future prosperity while raising the needed revenues through business-to-business taxes. Some of these taxes were recommended by Governor Youngkin, such as a sales and use tax on digital services like software downloads and streaming services.

However, I am proud that the Democrats rejected Governor Youngkin’s across the board twelve (12) percent income tax cut and a proposed bump in the sales tax to partially pay for the tax cut. Instead, we opted to stand with working Virginians and rejected policies that favored the wealthy. Governor Youngkin's affinity for tax cuts is in line with other state and national Republican lawmakers. I expect negotiations over the budget will be long and arduous. Moreover, the arena at Potomac Yard was not included in the General Assembly passed budget.

The Democratic Budget Accomplishes The Following:

--Teacher Pay: Enough state dollars are allocated  to give teachers a 3 percent raise each year of the biennium when combined with the local match.

--Public Education: An additional $2.5B is allocated above the current services budget to K-12 public education to increase funding to at risk schools and improve literacy programs, among other initiatives. Unfortunately, the cap on support services remains at its current level in the final compromise.

--Health Coverage for Low Income Virginians: Funding is available to ensure that Virginians are not left uninsured as a result of Medicaid unrolling.  We are expecting a significant increase in Medicaid enrollment going forward.

--Mental Health Funding: Significant funding is allocated to mental health prevention services as well as to crisis intervention programs. Over the past two budget cycles, we increased the Virginia Mental Health Access Project, STEP Virginia and pilot programs aimed at better coordinating MH programs in schools.

--Higher Education: Money is earmarked (approximately $205M)  to improve access and affordability at our public institutions of higher education.  Some of these dollars will be used to reduce the cost of tuition, bolster efforts to help students graduate within a four-year time frame and expand offerings in high-demand workforce tracks.

The Governor’s Legislative Actions to Date:

Regarding legislation outside the budget process, Governor Youngkin has already acted on eighty-four bills (84). These bills were sent to him before the last week of session and he is constitutionally required to take action on them within seven (7) days.  Of the bills in the seven (7) day category, the Governor signed sixty-four (64), amended twelve (12) and vetoed eight (8). Given the pace of the legislative session, bills that made it to the Governor’s desk as described above were very straightforward and for the most part non-controversial.  The Governor’s actions on these bills and all other bills will be accepted or rejected when we return on April 17 for a Veto session.

The Governor’s Actions on my Early Bills:

Three of my bills were in the seven day category as recently described.  The Governor signed my SB19, a bill that requires recovery homes to report serious injuries and deaths in the same manner that operators of licensed group homes must abide by.  My second bill (SB 12) establishes the definition of Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) in code and asks that Child Protective Services and law enforcement use the trained forensic interviewers at the CACs when attempting to gather information from child victims of sexual assault or abuse. The Governor's office asked me to rework the definition of CACs to eliminate a reference to the national qualifying agency for CACs.  Fortunately, we found common ground and I will be accepting his amendment at our Veto session on April 17.  My third bill (SB47) garnered a veto simply because it related to firearms. The fact that the bill ensured the enforcement of current law did not seem to matter.

Senate Bill 47 was intended to close a loophole in the protective order and assault and battery statutes where the relinquishment of a firearm is currently required.  In these situations, the offender may relinquish a firearm by transferring the firearm to another person.  It is the current statute that allows for this transfer which has a loophole in it.  My bill attempted to fix that loophole by requiring the offender to submit a form to the court which would identify who the recipient of the transferred firearm would be and give assurances that the recipient was legally eligible to possess a firearm, was at least 21 years of age and did not reside with the offender.  You can understand my surprise that this “law and order” governor vetoed my bill. I expressed my displeasure in a statement shared with the news outlets.  Here is a link to the statement.

Other Early Bills that Were Vetoed or Significantly Amended:

Governor Youngkin vetoed SB606, which would have required Virginia to return to the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a multi-state compact which uses member states’ Department of Motor Vehicles and Department of Elections data to ensure accurate voter rolls.  The Youngkin  administration removed Virginia from ERIC last year, citing concerns about how the data is shared.  Many folks, myself included, believe that those concerns are unfounded and the benefit ERIC provided with respect to ensuring accurate voter rolls was significant and needed to support a thriving democracy.

Senator Hashmi had a bill, SB238,  that would expand coverage for contraceptives. Current law says health plans and insurers have to cover prescription contraceptives and prohibits the application of cost sharing. Senator Hashmi’s bill broadens the scope of contraceptive care to include drugs and methods like Plan B or intrauterine devices and extends the prohibition on cost sharing to these new items. The Governor’s amendment allows for employers and other group plans to claim a religious exemption. I expect the Democrats can hold together and defeat this amendment.

My Remaining Bills on the Governor’s Desk:

SB11 Keeps companion animals out of the possession of animal abusers.

SB13 Allows child daycare programs to operate in commercial office buildings.

SB39 Helps to place foster children with extended families.

SB59 Convenes a work-group to study how to make the Medicaid Works program better.

SB60 Provides transparency for parents in how the IEPs are established.

SB80 Sets guidance for decreasing the probation period for a defendant if certain criteria are met.

SB85 Allows those with disabilities to fully participate virtually in public meetings as long as they are voting members of state commissions and public utilities.

SB98 Requires insurance carriers to honor pre-approval agreements for prescription drugs.

SB125 Increases membership on the State Behavioral Health Commission.

SB176 Intends to divert individuals with neurocognitive disorders from state psychiatric facilities.

SB177 Improves policies related to working hours for nurses working in state psychiatric hospitals.

SB178 Ensures that the State Inspector General creates a plan to better investigate complaints at state psychiatric hospitals.

SB179 Establishes a pilot program intended to lighten the burden for community services boards in implementing the discharge planning for state hospitals.

SB 220 Individualized Education Program (IEP) reform that includes more parent resources and financial support to school systems.

Reforms in the IEP Process:

The conference report on the major IEP reform bill I have been working on provides a pathway forward to better tailor services to students, more opportunities for integration into mainstream classes and more supports for parents.  Although these elements are not fully funded, enactment clauses layout the expectations that the Department of Education must meet as funds become available (over time) and new contracts are negotiated with our technology providers.  One element that is funded, and I hope stays in the budget, is a study on the dispute resolution process.  In the budget, the Commission on Youth (a body which I chair) is charged with reviewing the dispute resolution process in the IEP system. Dollars have been appropriated to hire an outside consultant and to gather input from all stakeholders, including parents and students. 

There is also funding in SB220 for parent resource centers and language that directs each school system to identify a faculty member responsible for serving as a parent and family liaison for students on IEPs.  I believe that parents have valuable information to provide when it comes to identifying supports needed to help their children succeed.

Sports Arena at Potomac Yards:

The Governor seemed very surprised to learn that the arena was not included in the budget adopted by the General Assembly, although lawmakers have been saying for weeks now that more information is needed for us to make an informed decision.  In fact, it was just a few days ago that Ted Leonsis actually called Senator Lucas, Chair of our Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee. I have to say that his timing was out of sync with the legislative timeline because the conferees had the budget wrapped up by Thursday afternoon.  At this point, I believe there are many more reasons to reject the sports arena proposal than there are to support it.  The transportation impact alone is mind-boggling and there is still no protection for the state should revenue projections for the arena and its concession activities be lower than expected. However, the Governor can insert the arena project into the budget or come back with new legislation, so the conversation on this topic is not over.

Next Steps:

I will keep you posted as the Governor acts on more bills and the deal making takes shape. Every day I am reminded how important it is to include diverse voices in the decision-making process and to tell voters the difference between the Democratic agenda and the Republican agenda.

Lastly, thank you for the ongoing calls and emails. Although the volume of correspondence from constituents and others has been very high, I do appreciate hearing from you. 

It is an honor and privilege to represent you in Richmond.

Sincerely,