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Delegate Landes’ Legislative Report
By Delegate R. Steven Landes
February 11, 2015
Fourth Week of Session
As the General Assembly wraps up the fourth week of session, I have good news to report for the
House legislative agenda. The House Republicans coming into session vowed to advance an
agenda that creates jobs, improves education, and supports our veterans, while opposing attempts
to raise your taxes or infringe on your second amendment rights. After reaching the midpoint of
session, we have made progress on all of those fronts. One piece of good news that I want to
highlight, thanks to our conservative budgeting and Virginia’s improving economy I can report
that state government revenue has increased beyond our initial projections. As Vice Chairman of
Appropriations the House put forward a budget that would eliminate $10.2 million in fees
proposed by Governor McAuliffe. The budget we put forward also eliminates $42.5 million in
debt the Governor proposed, and contains no new debt provisions.
Making College More Affordable
We have excellent colleges and universities in Virginia. In fact, this week the Princeton Review
ranked the University of Virginia as the best public university value in the country. For too many
Virginians though, high costs put higher education out of reach. That’s why we passed two
important bills this week that give Virginia families more affordable options. House Bill 1692,
introduced by Delegate Nick Rush (R-Christiansburg), gives students pursuing degrees in highdemand fields the option of a more affordable “flat-fee degree.” House Bill 2320, introduced by
Delegate Ben Cline (R-Amherst) reestablishes a new cooperative bachelor's degree program in
Virginia that lets students earn a bachelor’s degree for just $4,000 per year, through a
combination of online, community college, or college or university courses.
The above mentioned bills are in addition to my House Bill 1336 which requires the State
Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), in consultation with the governing board of
each public institution of higher education, to establish a uniform policy for granting
undergraduate course credit to entering college freshman students who have taken one or more
advanced placement courses or tests. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2016. The
bill passed the House 95-3 and has now been referred to the Senate Committee on Education and
Health.
Property Rights-Dominion Pipeline
Having always been a strong defender of our constitutionally protected property rights, I therefore
decided to co-patron House Bill 1696, introduced by Delegate Dickie Bell (R-Staunton).
HB 1696 was introduced as a response to the opposition to the proposed Dominion Pipeline
which cuts across parts of Augusta and Nelson Counties. It would have made a public service
corporation subject to the public records provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act
with respect to any project or activity for which it may exercise the power of eminent domain and
has filed or pre-filed for a certificate or other permitting document. The legislation would have
increased the transparency of such an eminent domain process. Unfortunately this bill did not
make it out of the Commerce and Labor Committee and was tabled, thus killing it for this session.
Jobs
The best social welfare program is a good-paying job. I learned early on from my parents that to
be good citizens, we need to contribute back, we weren't put on this earth to take.
Small businesses account for more than half of new job creation in Virginia, and this week the
House passed House Bill 1360, introduced by Delegate Scott Taylor (R-Virginia Beach), which
makes it easier for small and new businesses to raise money through “crowdfunding.” I am also
happy to report that the House will be eliminating more than $10 million in new fees on Virginia
families and small businesses that were included in the Governor’s budget. Our House budget
will find the money to fund the core functions of government without looking to taxpayers for
more of their hard-earned money.
Health Care
This week, the House passed “Right to Try” legislation, House Bill 1750, patroned by Delegate
Margaret Ransone (R-Kinsale) that gives terminally ill patients better access to potentially lifesaving treatments that have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
We also rolled out budget proposals that would strengthen Virginia’s existing health care safety
net and increase our support for free clinics. This is a conservative plan that would help
Virginians who are most in need without dumping thousands of Virginians into the Affordable
Care Act Medicaid expansion or creating a massive new entitlement program, as the Governor
proposed. Lastly of the health care related budget proposals would be funding to provide targeted
services to 29,000 seriously mentally-ill patients, including a prescription drug benefit. All total
we are investing over $125 million for this program.
Status of My Budget Amendments
I submitted a number of budget amendments this session and am pleased to announce that several
of these have been recommended by subcommittees and have been accepted by the full
committee. The amendments address professional development for school board members, capital
equipment purchases for schools, uniform course credit for college freshmen, clarification to local
law enforcement regarding registration for the sex-offender registry, first responder training to
recognize Alzheimer’s and/or dementia sufferers, analysis of Virginia’s Medicaid program,
higher education enrollment growth, and funding for UVA Rotunda restoration and funding for
JMU for the Briery Branch Community Center.
The following budget amendments reported out of the General Government and Capital
Outlay Subcommittee:

Item 30#1h provides $300,000 in the second year from the general fund to be
used for the cost of consultants to assist in JLARC's study of the
Commonwealth's Medicaid program as directed by House Joint Resolution 637.
The funding provided would be used in addition to expected year-end balances at
the agency.

Item C-14.50 #1h provides $5.6 million in general funds along with $5.0 million
non-general funds is recommended to supplement the Rotunda renovation at
UVA.

Item C-41 #1h provides maintenance dollars to the Frontier Culture Museum for
needed maintenance projects related to the public restrooms, public entrance
accessibility, and clean-up of ponds and brush.
The following are budget amendments reported from the Elementary and Secondary
Subcommittee:

Item 128 #1h provides $100,000 the second year from the general fund to help
offset any costs associated with the passage of House Bill 1962 (Landes)
requested by the Secretary of Education related to professional development of
school board members and $366,000 for principal and teacher training regarding
students with high needs.

Item 136 #3h This language amendment helps to ensure that school divisions are
able to maximize their flexibility for the related purchases made with available
funds from the Educational Technology grant initiative. The amendment was
requested by the Albemarle County School Board.
The following are budget amendments reported from the Higher Education
Subcommittee:
 Item 144 #2h requests $35,000 GF to implement the requirements of House Bill
1336 to establish a uniform policy for granting undergraduate course credit to
entering freshmen students who have taken one or more Advanced Placement,
Cambridge Advanced, CLEP or International Baccalaureate examinations.
 Item 166 #3h provides additional $1.7million general fund money to restore a
portion of the proposed budget reductions in the introduced budget and to
support in-state undergraduate enrollment growth and a portion to be used for
costs associated with the development of a collaborative practical experience
partnership in kinesiology between James Madison University and the Briery
Branch Community Center.
 Item 193 #3h provides $1.6 million additional general fund money to restore a
portion of the proposed budget reductions in the introduced budget and to
support in-state undergraduate enrollment growth at the University of Virginia.
The following are budget amendment reported from the Health and Human Resources
Subcommittee:
 Item 389 #2h provides $50,000 from the general fund in fiscal year 2016 for the
Department of Criminal Justice Services to provide training to local law
enforcement to aid in identifying and interacting with individuals suffering from
Alzheimer's and/or dementia.
The following budget amendment reported from the Public Safety Subcommittee:
 Item 389 #1h This language amendment clarifies that local law enforcement are
required to accept and transmit to the state police information for the sexoffender registry.
Visitors, January 2-6
My staff and I have had another busy week here at session trying to meet with as many
constituents and visitors as possible. Dr. John Downey, President of Blue Ridge Community
College, brought down another group of students to visit House and Senate Members. Constituent
Chris Harman of Waynesboro and Mitch King of Charlottesville came in for a visit.
I was proud to have my Pastor Reverend Jonathan Ytterock from Mt. Horeb Presbyterian Church
visit on Tuesday and give the invocation on the House floor. Dr. Shelley Snodgrass of Crozet
came down with the Medical Society of Virginia.
Members of the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office and the Virginia State Police stopped by to
discuss the budget. Many members from Augusta County Board of Supervisors and the
Rockingham County Board of Supervisors were led in by their respective County Administrators,
Pat Coffield and Joe Paxton.
To cap off the week we had a very caring and compassionate group of mothers stop by to
advocate for a bill in the House that would allow parents to obtain cannabidiol oil to be used for
the medicinal purpose of treating epilepsy. House Bill 1445, patroned by Delegate Dave Albo
(R-Springfield), passed the House 98-0 with one member abstaining and one not voting.
Contact Me
As always, my staff and I are here in Richmond to serve you. My full time Legislative Director,
Judy Wyatt, who works session as well as in the District, will be handling constituent concerns,
legislative issues, and ensuring things run smoothly. During session, James Lawrence is onboard
as a legislative assistant to aid me in my Education and Appropriations duties as well as to assist
Judy with constituent inquiries and office duties.
Carolyn Musika, our Session Secretary, is the main contact for appointments. This year our intern
is Emily Herring, a Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) senior, who has been assigned to
our office through the Virginia Capital Semester Program.
I want to hear what you think about the legislation pending before the House, or if there's
anything we can do to help you in dealing with a state government agency. While in Richmond,
my office can be reached by phone at 804.698.1025 or by email at [email protected].
If you are planning to visit Richmond during Session, I encourage you to call our Secretary to
make an appointment. Our office location is on the 9th Floor, Room 947. Our Richmond address
is Post Office Box 406, Richmond, Virginia 23218. Please visit my website at
www.stevelandes.com for my newest press releases and newsletters.
Also, be sure to “like” my Facebook Fan Page or you can now follow me on
Twitter @steve_landes by clicking the buttons below:
Thank you again for allowing me to serve as your Delegate.
Sincerely,
Steve Landes
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