What's important at the
Capitol: House bills & C. Bills
Looking back on her high
school years, Carmela Bills says her least favorite subject was government.
She hated everything to do with it -- history, geography, politics.
So, years later, what
does she do? Get a job with the government.
Bills, the information
and public relations officer for the House of Delegates, began working
at the Virginia Capitol in 1982.
>>> Read the full
story by Holly Clark.
Legislators are always
headed back to school on SOLs
It is an issue that will
not disappear.
Every year, it seems, the
General Assembly struggles with the state's Standards of Learning
-- the basic skills tests that determine whether students may graduate
and whether schools are accredited.
This year turned out to
be no exception. And the legislators have already insured that the
SOLs will be on their agenda for the 2003 session.
>>> Read the full
story by Geoffrey Rowland.
Layoffs loom as Virginia
plummets further into recession
Gov. Mark Warner's dim
view of Virginia's economy just got a little darker.
Warner announced Monday
that the state's budget shortfall is much greater than anticipated
and could prompt tax increases, layoffs and tuition increases, according
to The Virginian-Pilot.
The governor, who vowed
not to raise taxes in his campaign, said he is now open to the suggestion,
adding that the shortfall is $614 million worse than what he forecast
last month.
"Maintaining the fiscal
stability of the state is our most pressing goal," he said.
The governor has ordered
across-the-board agency spending cuts of 3 percent and a 5 percent
college tuition increase for the current budget year.
Although job cuts are not
a priority, Warner said they might be necessary.
An anticipated 700 state
workers would have to be laid off and another 1,400 jobs cut through
attrition to meet the governor's goal.
"Any suggestion that
this is going to be easy belies the message we are trying to give,"
Warner said.
"You're going to see
it in the increased fees the state charges," he said. "You're
going to see it in long lines at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Arts and cultural organizations are going to see it in reduced hours.
You're going to see it in the way people interact with state government."
Using their heads: House
keeps mandatory helmet law
Legislators wearing helmets
Monday killed a bill in the House to repeal the state's mandatory
motorcycle helmet law, saying helmets alleviate the impact on the
head in an accident.
The bill's patron, Delegate
Jack Reid, R-Henrico, argued that studies by the National Highway
Safety Administration showed riders without helmets suffered fewer
brain injuries in accident than those with helmets, according to The
News & Advance of Lynchburg.
"Your head is nothing
but a 12-pound weight on a rubber band, and if you misuse it, you're
going to suffer a neck injury," Reid said. "The one thing
that a helmet does provide is a false sense of security."
Other delegates, such as
Delegate John O'Bannon, R-Richmond, and Delegate Frank Hargrove, R-Glenn
Allen, disagree.
Hargrove, a long time motorcycle
rider, said although he spent many years riding without a helmet,
he was glad he was wearing one when he was in an accident.
"It put me in the
hospital for about a week, it pushed one of my ribs through one of
my lungs, but I didn't have a head injury," Hargrove said.
After the debate in the
House, the bill failed 51-45.
Legislature endorses land
transfer, trail development
The House Appropriations
Committee killed a bill Monday that would have increased taxes by
one-half percent to fund school construction, according to the Richmond
Times Dispatch.
The measure is firmly opposed
by House Speaker S. Vance Wilkins Jr., R-Amherst. Gov. Mark Warner
supports the idea in concept but hasn't done much publicly to back
the legislation.
Delegate James Dillard
II, the bill's patron, said, "The main cause of the defeat was
that the speaker didn't like it." He added that four Appropriations
Committee members broke their promises to support the bill.
Although the House bill
was defeated, a similar measure is still alive in the Senate.
Although it defeated the
schools proposal, the Appropriates Committee approved a bill that
would increase taxes by one-half percent in Northern Virginia to address
transit issues.
Last year, both bills were
killed because of heavy feuding; some legislators fear the same will
happen this year.
House Minority Leader Franklin
P. Hall, D-Richmond, said, "This is just the first step in a
long dance."
