The 2009 General Assembly is now in session
Week 6 Update—February 20, 2009
The last day for committee action on bills is Monday, February 23. House and Senate budget negotiators have until midnight on Tuesday, February 24, to reach a compromise spending plan for the remainder of the 2008-2010 biennium. Adjournment is scheduled for Saturday, February 28.
The House Education Committee meets on Mondays at 9:00 a.m. in House Room C and Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m. in the Appropriations Room. The Senate Education and Health Committee meets on Thursdays at 8:30 a.m. in Senate Room B. Sub-committees meet periodically throughout the session. Click here for a schedule of weekly meetings (Meetings).
Budget Issues
A conference committee of senior legislators will meet over the coming days to try to reach a compromise spending plan for the remainder of the current biennium. Members of the budget conference committee are Senators Colgan (Prince William), Houck (Spotsylvania), Howell (Fairfax), Saslaw (Fairfax), Wampler (Bristol) and Stosch (Henrico), and Delegates Putney (Bedford), Hamilton (Newport News), Cox (Chesterfield), Hogan (Halifax), Sherwood (Frederick) and Joannou (Portsmouth). They face a deadline of next Tuesday night to make recommendations on a compromise funding package; in recent years, legislators have missed their deadline for reaching a compromise, and with the difficulties and uncertainties being faced this year, it is possible that deadline could be missed again.
The House and Senate have taken vastly different tracks in addressing the budget this year. While the House proceeded to approve its budget following release of the plan by the House Appropriations Committee, the Senate opted to postpone consideration of it version of the budget until several days ago, in order to be able to take into consideration a revised revenue report and more definitive word from Washington about federal stimulus dollars coming to Virginia. As reported last week, revenues for the month of January declined 15% from a year ago, pushing the revenue collection drop for the first seven months of the fiscal year to 5.5% (below the 4.8% decline on which the FY09 budget is built). This increases the budget shortfall another $822 million (roughly $400 million in both FY09 and FY10), for a total gap in the current biennial budget that now stands at $3.7 billion.
Legislators have learned that the federal stimulus package will send about $216 million to Virginia for revenue stabilization and another $808 million for Medicaid reimbursements. The Senate, in approving its version of the budget on Wednesday, used these dollars to avoid further reductions that otherwise would have been necessitated by the additional $822 shortfall. Details about the various streams of funding that may be coming to the state and localities from the federal package are still coming out, with administrative rules and guidance possibly available by the end of next week. All told, state officials at this point are anticipating more than $4 billion in federal stimulus dollars will be available to Virginia over the next 27 months. In addition to so-called “state fiscal stabilization” funding that will be directed to educational uses, the package includes additional education funding in the areas of Title I, Title II and special education; the state’s share of Title I dollars is estimated at about $202 million, Title II dollars should be just under $11 million and special education dollars are expected to account for $295 million.
The Senate plan would restore funding cuts in public and higher education, “contingent” upon the availability of federal stimulus dollars earmarked specifically for education. For elementary and secondary education, the Senate amendments restore $429.8 million in cuts proposed by the governor in FY10, including the lottery funds seizure, textbook funding, and the proposed cap on certain support positions included in basic aid (the plan eliminates the governor’s proposal in this regard); instead local school divisions will have discretion on where the funding reduction may be taken. Still, the plan does reduce state funding for textbooks by 50% (or $39.7 million) as a one-time action in FY10, and stipulates that localities are not required to provide a local textbook match. The proposed budget also restores $27.5 million to the School Construction Grants Fund and allows those funds to be used for recurring, operational expenses in FY10.
Further, the Senate plan calls for the Board of Education to review reporting requirements, evaluate current staffing standards for instructional positions, and review the appropriateness of establishing staffing standards for support positions; and it requires a review of state laws, procedures and regulations to see what changes can be made to alleviate administrative requirements on school divisions. Finally, the Senate plan establishes a statewide health insurance program for school and local government employees beginning July 1, 2010.
Click here for additional information about the House and Senate versions of the budget (State Budget).
Education Legislation
The following measures have been reported by the Senate Education and Health Committee and are awaiting a final vote on the Senate floor:
HB 1624 Directs the Board of Education to include, in its model policy, standards for school board policies about the use of electronic means for purposes of bulling, harassment, and intimidation
HB 2070 Requires local school board policies that allow a parent of twins in the same grade level to request, within the first three days of the school year, that their children be placed in the same classroom or in separate classrooms if they are at the same elementary school
HB 2112 Requires school boards to establish K-12 educational objectives that emphasize economic education and financial literacy
HB 2166 Delays for one year, the implementation of new requirements related to the accreditation of schools, passing rates and graduation
HB 2304 Provides that any party aggrieved by a decision made in a due process hearing may appeal to a circuit court for a period of 180 days (the House-passed version called for a one year appeal period). A current proposal before the Board of Education would allow for a 90-day appeal window, in line with federal regulations.
HB 2474 Requires school boards to ensure that all elementary school teachers are provided an average of 30 minutes/day of planning time
The following bills await final action in the House after being reported by the House Education Committee:
SB 1285 Requires local governing bodies and school divisions to publish the estimated required local match in the school budget
SB 1367 Requires school boards to ensure that personnel having direct contact with students receive training in the causes and prevention of food allergies, related symptoms and responses. Opposition to the bill has delayed a final vote on this measure for several days.
The following measures have been defeated in the Senate:
HB 2063 would have changed the distribution method for sales tax to public education to one based on average daily membership in a school division, while eliminating the triennial census of school population. It was left in the Senate Finance Committee.
HB 2104, which would have created a Students with Disabilities Tuition Assistance Grant Program, to provide tuition assistance for attendance at an eligible private school for any student diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, failed to report in the Senate Education and Health Committee.
HB 2632 would have directed the Department of Human Resource Management to develop a statewide, optional health insurance plan for all school board and local government officers and employees, and an alternative plan covering all retirees. This measure was left in the Senate Finance Committee, but a similar initiative is included in the Senate version of the budget (as noted above).
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