Commentary

Special Legislative Sessions

Delegate Kenneth R. "Ken" Plum

On Monday, April 4, the General Assembly convened a special session to redraw legislative district boundaries based on the 2010 census.  I wrote about the process in last week's column.  Although proposals for new district lines were drawn by college students and the Governor's Commission on Redistricting, the only proposals before the legislature are those drawn by the majority party in each house.  Public hearings will be held before a vote is taken on the measures.  All proposals maintain Reston as a community of interest in one district except for the Governor's Commission which for some unknown reason proposes to cut the community into two House districts.  Congressional district lines will be redrawn before we go home.

Interrupting the special session will be the constitutionally required Reconvened Session to consider the Governor's amendments and vetoes of bills.  Unlike the federal government, the Governor of Virginia can veto line items and recommend amendments to bills.  One bill the Governor vetoed would have required 150 minutes of physical activity for elementary school students per week as a step towards ending obesity among young people.  While well intended, the bill did not provide for lengthening the school day or providing the resources to accomplish it.  Fairfax County Public Schools lobbied heavily for the bill to be vetoed; I voted against its initial passage.  A two-thirds vote of both houses would be necessary to pass the bill over the Governor's veto.

A bill that reflected a compromise between the medical and health communities and the trial lawyers that would have gradually increased the cap on medical malpractice suits was also vetoed by the Governor.  It may well be passed over his veto as it has such wide support as a compromise measure.

The Governor sent down many amendments to the budget with most reflecting proposed additional spending coming from increased revenues from an economy that is slowly recovering.  These proposals are not likely to be controversial, but oddly the Governor went back into the main budget that had passed the General Assembly unanimously just a month ago and proposed some reductions.  These were not reductions needed to balance the budget but rather reflected his belief in the role of government.  He proposed reductions to the Healthy Families Virginia program that has had amazing success in getting children in poverty areas off to a good start.  He proposed a reduction in funding for therapeutic foster care for children most in need.  He also proposed to take away all funding for NPR.

These issues will get sorted out and legislative districts drawn in about a week.  I look forward to reporting to you the final action on all these matters.