"I think it's important
for the board to experience some of the anxiety that tens of thousands
of parents, teachers and students experience," said Delegate Barnie
K. Day, D-Patrick, according to the Richmond
Times-Dispatch. "It would add some credibility and comfort level
to the process."
Growth-control measures
slighted
To the dismay of 18,000
Chesapeake citizens, none of the state's representatives has proposed
a growth-control measure called for in a 1998 referendum. The citizens'
request, which was bolstered by support from Chesapeake's City Council,
would allow the city to postpone development it could not afford,
The Virginian-Pilot
reported. The call for adequate public facilities legislation helped
launch a statewide growth-control movement and convinced city leaders
to make the proposal top priority for the past two years.
According to The Virginian-Pilot,
Chesapeake activists, who fought for years just to get the question
on the ballot, last week said they were frustrated that the grass-roots
effort to stem the city's explosive growth appears to have hit a wall
in the General Assembly. "The question was overwhelmingly supported
by the citizenry, the same folks that elected them to office,'' said
Brian Whitesell, president of Chesapeake's umbrella civic organization
that led the referendum charge. "I don't think you can have a clearer
mandate from the public.''
Medical regulation disputed
Southwest Virginia Health
Systems Agency board and Health Department officials in Richmond have
been donning boxing gloves more frequently lately.
Virginia requires hospitals,
nursing homes, surgery centers and medical clinics to get state approval
before adding new buildings, operating rooms, or certain types of
major medical equipment. The clashes, according to Delegate John Rust,
R-Fairfax County, arise because of the Southwest's need for autonomy.
"People in Southwest tend
to be independent," said Rust, a critic of the existing regulations.
"It's hard to co-opt them. They tend to make up their own minds."
State officials overruled
a recommendation in 1998 to add an ambulatory eye surgery center to
the Salem-based Vistar Eye Center. Vistar ophthalmologists went to
the General Assembly for help
last year but didn't receive an exemption from the regulatory requirements.
The debate has resumed this year, according to The
Roanoke Times, over whether the state should dismantle its certificate
of public need program and deregulate the health care industry.
