Every week, Mitch Van Yahres sends an update of what he’s been up to at the General Assembly. This week, his bill HB378, which allows cities to hold City Council elections in odd-numbered years, has passed the Senate, having already been approved by the House. Van Yahres also says that he’s going to start voting against all special interest license plates until “the Assembly can get a handle on the program.” Keep reading for his full update. I’d also be interested in getting comments from y’all as to whether we should continue to post his weekly updates on cvillenews.com.
Report from the General Assembly
Delegate Mitch Van Yahres
Friday, February 8, 2002
Every week during session I will send out an e-mail update of activity at
the General Assembly. I hope that this helps you understand some of what
is happening here. If you have any questions or issues that you would like
to see raised in this communication, e-mail me at
del_vanyahres@house.state.va.us. Also, please forward this message to any
other interested parties.
* Well, today I had my first bill pass both the House and Senate.
HB378, which will allow cities to hold city council elections in the fall
of odd numbered years, sailed through the Senate this week. Benefits would
include having city elections concurrent with state elections rather than
national elections and a cost savings to the locality. The law goes into
effect in July 2002.
* HB154 is my favorite bill this year. I introduced this bill after a
local physician contacted me about the amount of medication that nursing
homes were forced to destroy when a patient’s status changed. He wondered
if there wasn’t a way to donate these unused drugs to free clinics. I
agreed and had legislation drafted. It didn’t take long before I was
getting wind of opposition. So I postponed the first committee hearing on
the bill in order to work out the kinks. Before I could get to work on it,
several individuals who opposed the bill, but liked the idea, came to see
me. They had already met together and developed language that they could
all agree on. By the time this bill got to committee the following
organizations were working together: The Board of Pharmacy, Department of
Health, Department of Health Professions, Department of Medical Assistance
Services, the Virginia Pharmacy Association, Virginia Health Care
Association, Virginia Association of Non-profit Homes for the Aging, and
the Virginia Free Clinic Association. These groups are often at odds, but
this time they came together and found a way to collaborate. This bill
will not change the world, but it will help out a small part of it. In
this year’s difficult political environment, this is a great example of
government that works. HB154 passed the House today by a vote of 97-2.
* Every year more and more special license plate bills are introduced.
This year, new plates you can choose from include a plate with a picture of
a Holstein cow, one celebrating the Parrothead Club, another commemorating
the 250th anniversary of the Town of Smithfield, one bearing the legend
“Fox Hunting,” and many many others. Three of my colleagues in the House
and I have decided that the proliferation of special license plates has
gone too far and have decided to vote against all of them until the
Assembly can get a handle on the program. To date, it’s only the four of
us, but maybe someday?.
* This week the Republican-led House of Delegates today refused to
consider amendments offered by Dels. Jim Shuler (D-Blacksburg) and Karen
Darner (D-Arlington) to ensure that Virginia’s public schools are first in
line for additional revenues when the state’s economy turns around and to
add school construction and renovation to bond bills now making their way
through the General Assembly. Shuler’s amendment to HB 1284 would provide
the same amount of bond funding for public school (K-12) construction,
renovation, and upgrading — $900 million over six years ? as for new
buildings on college and university campuses. Darner’s amendment to HB
1285 would earmark future surplus revenues for a new “Education First”
fund. The current bill designates those funds only for college and park
projects listed in the Republican bond package.
* If you want to know more about these or other bills before the General
Assembly this year, try the on-line Legislative Information System. The
URL is leg1.state.va.us (www is not necessary). This site will provide you
a summary of the bill, the full text of the bill, its current status,
member’s votes in committee and on the floor, and other interesting
information. I encourage you to take advantage of this great resource.
13 Responses to “Del. Van Yahres’ Assembly News”