Week 7 - Senate Adopts Its Budget and Negotiations Begin

Sunday, February 25, 2024

Dear Friend,

It is always tense in the last two weeks of session. Lawmakers are tired of the grind and we are still overcoming hurdles to get our bills passed and over to the Governor. Fortunately, I have a very high success rate in securing passage of my bills. I both introduced and passed through the Senate the most bills this session. My quest for creating a more perfect Virginia keeps me very busy. 

Later in this newsletter, I will discuss the bills I carried that are already on their way to the Governor. The House will be acting on more of my bills in the upcoming week, so far every indication leads to a positive reception from that body. 

Congresswoman Wexton visited the Senate this past week and we all embraced her with hugs and love. Many of us who worked with her as a colleague and friend gave testimonials about her on the floor. She was touched that so many people thanked her for her contributions to the Commonwealth and for the wonderful friend and colleague she was to all of us. An excerpt from my remarks is noted below. 

"I think her touch, her intellect and the laws she passed as a member of the Senate have made Virginia a much better place, a much fairer place and a more welcoming place."

Protecting Women:

In the next week the Governor will be given the chance to sign my Menstrual Health Data Protection Bill, a bill that protects menstrual health data from law enforcement. This year my bill expanded protection from any legal process, not just from search warrants. It also covers menstrual health data collected in any form, not just data stored on an app. Only one Republican voted for this privacy protection bill on the floor of the Senate.  

Overall Revenue Framework:

The House and Senate budgets follow the Governor’s lead in imposing a tax on digital sales (for downloading music etc.). This strategy brings the tax for online purchases in line with what consumers would pay if they purchased these same products in a store. I think this is a fair approach and something we can do to help level the playing field for our brick and mortar businesses.

The Governor’s budget includes tax decreases for individual income tax categories while both the House and Senate budgets reject this proposal. The Governor’s proposal translates into an almost $3.5 billion dollar loss of revenue. These tax cuts disproportionately benefit higher income Virginians. We all gain from the investments that a budget makes in core services, especially in the K-12 area. Granting a tax break to those who are most able to pay while requiring those at the lowest income bracket to pay proportionately more in taxes does not meet the widely accepted fairness test for raising revenue. 

K-12 Education Budgets:

The respective budgets of the House and Senate both place a high priority on K-12 public education. This commonality will make budget conference negotiations a bit easier. The discussions in the money committees regarding funding for public education commenced with the easy decision to eliminate the $60 million the Governor has allocated to support “lab” schools.  This allocation drains funding from our public schools budget. 

Both the House and Senate budgets fund raises for teachers in the 3% range for each year of the biennium. It is important to note that the Senate version of the budget replaces the dollars lost as a result of removing the 1.5% sales tax on groceries, a tax that localities use to fund public education. The Youngkin budget removed the tax but did not offer replacement funding. The House budget does not offer replacement funding either. The Virginia Association of Counties and other groups lobbied hard to keep the counties whole. As a former local official, I understand the financial pressures localities face when it comes to funding our public schools. Localities will need funds to pay their share of the teacher pay raises.

The school districts I periodically meet with have always emphasized how important it is to remove the state imposed cap on salaries for school support staff such as teacher aides. This year the Senate budget does just that. I am truly hoping that this element stays in the final budget. The Senate and House budgets contain increases in funding for reading specialists, something that the Governor’s budget provides for as well. The House and Senate budgets also increase funding for English language learners.

Health Care Budgets:

Both the House and Senate budgets contain funding for the “Cover All Kids” bill, a bill that seeks to provide health care for all children in Virginia, regardless of immigration status. This bill prioritizes the health of children in the Commonwealth who would otherwise not have access to healthcare coverage. We know that children need a medical home and on-going dental care to grow into healthy, well-adjusted adults. I consider this expenditure to be an investment in our future.

The House and Senate budgets, but not the Governor’s budget, increase funding for Free Clinics across the Commonwealth. At my insistence, we added language in the Senate budget that requires Free Clinics to prioritize access for workers in child care centers who qualify for Free Clinic services. Many child care providers who are committed to providing greater access to quality, affordable childcare frequently mention to me that the lack of benefits is a deterrent to recruiting and retaining workers.

Supporting Families with Key Investments: 

Each budget has money to ensure that state employees are paid at least the minimum wage.  Bills that have passed both bodies raise the minimum wage to $13.50 per hour, commencing on January 1, 2025, and $15.00 per hour starting on January 1, 2026. The bills to implement these increases passed each chamber on a party-line vote. I expect the Governor to exercise a line-item veto on this topic.

In addition to the minimum wage increases, the House and Senate budgets have mechanisms for establishing a paid family medical leave system for private employers with ten or more employees. The authorizing bills for this benefit allow twelve weeks of paid family leave for the birth or adoption of a child and to care for a family member. About 80% of a worker’s salary would be paid to the employee throughout the leave period. This is another family-friendly piece of legislation that merits support. Governor Youngkin has not given any indication about how he would treat this issue.  

My Bills on Their Way to the Governor:

I am delighted to say that I have the most number of bills of any Senator to have passed the House at this point in session.  This is a positive reinforcement for my model of lawmaking and the collaborative approach I use to negotiate the content of my bills. It is likely that I have referenced the bills below in earlier newsletters and provided more detail, but I am hoping that the quick summary below will be useful to you.

SB12, Children’s Advocacy Centers - This bill defines CACs in code.
SB16, Protecting Menstrual Health Data from law enforcement - This bill provides privacy protections for all forms of menstrual health data. 
SB19, Recovery Homes -This bill requires recovery homes to report serious injuries and deaths.
SB47, Firearm Transfer from a Prohibited Person - This bill monitors the requirements of current law to protect victims of domestic violence and family abuse.
SB425, Health Insurance Ethics - This bill outlines the criteria that must be met for a “clean claim.”  This legislation was the result of a study intended to establish “rules of the game” for interactions between health care providers and insurance companies.

Controversial Topics:

Marijuana Retail Sales:

I led the negotiations to ‘thread the needle” among the various interest groups determined to create a retail market for cannabis (or marijuana) sales. Delegate Krizek in the House of Delegates was instrumental in helping me develop a bill that the House and Senate could support. The Senate patrons (Senators Rouse and Ebbin) were willing to compromise and the House lawmakers were willing to compromise as well. This was an important ingredient to our success since their willingness to compromise sent a message to stakeholders that they had to find a middle ground. Given the interest in this bill by key lawmakers, I expect it will be a hot topic of discussion with Governor Youngkin.

Funding for Metro:

The Senate budget does not have funding for Metro but it does articulate that a sustainable and reliable funding source must be part of the pathway forward for Metro. The House budget does fund Metro. At the end of the day, I expect Metro funding will be part of the final budget. Metro staff have been meeting with Senator Lucas, Chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, and others to explain the economic impact to the Commonwealth of a well-funded Metro system. 

Monumental Sports Arena:

This topic continues to garner discussion in the General Assembly.  The deal is still very short on detail and my suggestion to require the sports authority to pony up bond insurance is not in the bill. There is a “re-enactment clause” that would delay any action on the part of the sports authority until and unless the General Assembly gives its permission to go forward in the 2025 session.

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,