VIRGINIA STATE LEGISLATION NEWSLETTER

2014 Legislative Outcome: How did we do?

Virginia State Capitol

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How did our State Legislative Plan fare this year?

A synopsis: Two of our four legislative proposals received strong backing from a number of Democrat and Republican legislators in the Virginia Senate and the House of Delegates. A third VFC proposal was sponsored by one legislator in the House. In all, nineteen separate bills were sponsored that either mirrored these proposals or provided similar legislation. Yet all of the bills eventually died without debate in committees of the GOP-controlled House of Delegates.

Each case is different. Here’s what happened:

Our Senior Absentee Voting proposal received bipartisan support in the Senate. This proposal would have allowed persons age 65 or older to vote

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absentee without providing a formal excuse/reason. It was intended to help many seniors who have difficulty standing for long periods of time at polling sites but who do not currently quality for absentee voting by being officially “disabled.” As a result, one of the main contributing factors to long lines during key elections is curbside voting in which a voting machine is taken out to the curb so an elderly voter can cast a ballot from his/her vehicle. Our proposal would not only have eased the voting process for seniors but also enhanced access to the polls for everyone by eliminating the need for curbside voting.

Senator John Miller (D), 1st District, a longtime NARFE supporter, has been the lead advocate for improved absentee voting rights for several years. His 2014 Senior Absentee

Voting bill, SB16, served as the linchpin under which three other identical or similar bills, sponsored by Sen. George Barker (D-39th), Sen Barbara Favola (D-31st), and Sen Jeffrey McWaters (R-8th), were incorporated. SB16 passed the Senate on a 28 to 10 vote in January, and was then assigned to the House Elections Subcommittee for action. (See page 2 for Senate vote breakout.) continued on next page…

March 2014, Issue #2

Articles:

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2014 Legislative Outcome: How did we do?

Other News from the Virginia General Assembly – Recapping the 2014 Session

State Legislation Meeting - June 10

Senior Absentee Voting Bill (SB16) – Breakout of Senate Vote

Virginia Federation of Chapters (VFC)

2014 Legislative Outcome: How did we do? continued…

Del Kaye Kory (D), 38th District, sponsored three of

our four legislative proposals. Champion of increased

protections for vulnerable seniors.

YEAS (28):

Democrats: Alexander (5th), Barker (39th), Deeds (25th), Ebbin (30th), Edwards (21st), Favola (31st), Howell (32nd), Locke (2nd), Lucas (18th), Marsden (37th), Marsh (16th), McEachin (9th), Miller (1st), Petersen (34th), Puckett (38th), Puller (36th), Saslaw (35th)

Republicans: Carrico (40th), Hanger (24th), McWaters (8th), Norment (3rd), Reeves (17th), Stanley (20th), Stosch (12th), Stuart (28th), Vogel (27th), Wagner (7th), Watkins (10th)

NAYS (10):

Democrat: Colgan (29th)

Republicans: Black (13th), Cosgrove (14th), Garrett (22nd), Martin (11th), McDougle (4th), Newman (23rd), Obenshain (26th), Ruff (15th), Smith (19th)

Senior Absentee Voting Bill (SB16) – Breakout of Senate Vote

Sen John Miller (D), 1st District, sponsored SB16.

Strong NARFE supporter.

Virginia Federation of Chapters (VFC) NARFE

In the House, seven Democrats sponsored bills identical or similar to SB16: Delegates Rosalyn Dance (D-63rd), Charniele Herring (D-46th), Kaye Kory (D-38th), Alfonso Lopez (D-49th), T. Monty Mason (D-93rd), Marcus Simon (D-53rd), and Luke Torian (D-52nd). Most of the House bills were incorporated into Del Simon’s bill, HB75, by the House Elections Subcommittee. However, the Subcommittee subsequently tabled the House bills and SB16 by voice vote without meaningful discussion or debate.

Our Enhanced Protection of Incapacitated Adults proposal received its greatest support this year within the House of Delegates. This proposal would have provided

vulnerable seniors better protection from financial exploitation by 1) broadening the definition of “incapacitated,” 2) ensuring asset recovery for victims, and 3) increasing the criminal penalties.

Del Kaye Kory (D-38th) led the way with her bill, HB315, the only one of four House bills that contained all three elements of change promoted by the VFC proposal. Other sponsors of similar legislation were Del Vivian Watts (D-39th) and Del Joe Yost (R-12th). All of these bills were assigned to the House Courts of Justice Committee where all but one died without action being taken. Del Watts’ bill, which had a specific focus on fraud and scams, was assigned to the Criminal Law Subcommittee – but it was eventually carried over to 2015 by voice vote.

(continued on page 3)

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Virginia Federation of Chapters (VFC) NARFE

In the Senate, Sen George Barker (D-39th) sponsored similar legislation, but his bill was also carried over to 2015.

A third VFC proposal, Income Tax Subtraction for Retiree Health Insurance Premiums, had one patron within the General Assembly. Del Kaye Kory (D-38th) sponsored HB314 that essentially would have permitted retirees to subtract their health insurance premiums from their Virginia taxable income. The bill was carried over to 2015 by Finance Subcommittee voice vote.

No legislative sponsors were found for our fourth proposal, Required Geriatrics Training for Professional License Renewal. It offered one solution for the state’s critical shortfall of medical providers with special Geriatrics training. The proposal recommended a legal mandate whereby medical and health care professionals providing diagnosis and direct care to Virginia’s seniors would be required to take continuing medical education (CME) credits in Geriatrics as a condition of their license renewal.

Why didn’t our proposals fare better?

While our proposals on Senior Absentee Voting and Enhanced Protection of Incapacitated Adults received bipartisan traction through a good number of bills in both the House and Senate, they were ultimately blocked by leaders of the House Elections Subcommittee and House Courts of Justice Committee, respectively.

1) GOP leaders in the House Elections Subcommittee opposed

2014 Legislative Outcome: How did we do? continued from page 2…

2) In the case of Enhanced Protection of Incapacitated Adults, a prominent group of House Republicans within the Courts of Justice Committee have consistently blocked the type of reform recommended by the VFC and other groups. All of these Delegates are former prosecuting attorneys. What we do know about their concerns relates to the scope of prosecutorial discretion.

Specifically, they believe that the reforms we recommend could lead to prosecutorial “overreach.” Resolving these concerns would require indepth discussions with these House Republicans –notably Del David Albo (R-42nd), Del Rob Bell (R-58th), Del Todd Gilbert (R-15th), and Del Manoli Loupassi (R-68th). If we are able to find common ground, then dramatically increased lobbying efforts would be needed to persuade the legislators to enact reform.

3) Income Tax Subtraction for Retiree Health Insurance Premiums will continue to be an unpopular subject with the Finance Committees of the General Assembly. Despite the state’s revenue surpluses, some Virginia lawmakers view the loss of such tax revenue – from what they perceive as “well to do” seniors – as a showstopper.

4) Finally, since the issue of Required Geriatrics Training for medical and health care providers is complex, we’ll need a better strategy if we continue to pursue a legislative remedy for the problem. Such efforts should include forming tight alliances with state organizations specializing in this area. Comments from lawmakers’ staffs indicate that such medical issues are not well understood within the General Assembly. Time spent better preparing the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Health and Finance (and ourselves!) would be well worth the effort.

the Senior Absentee Voting bills as unnecessary. They also mirrored the actions of their GOP counterparts in other states and in Congress by challenging voting rights in general – even a small–step improvement like this one.

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As of this writing, Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) and Virginia Senate Democrats face a continuing standoff with Republicans in the House of Delegates over the state’s budget and Medicaid expansion. Whether the state’s July 1 budget deadline will be missed is not yet clear, but the gridlock in Richmond looks depressingly similar to that in Washington.

Meanwhile, about 800 bills passed the General Assembly session ending on March 8. Here’s an overview of the more notable actions:

Political/Ethics Reform. A $250 cap was set on tangible gifts from lobbyists. Personal financial reporting requirements for lawmakers and their families were increased. However, critics of the legislation believe that too many loopholes still exist: the legislature failed to put limits on intangible gifts, including meals, transportation, and trips.

Education. The number of standardized tests required for students in elementary and middle schools has been reduced. Implementation of a new A-F grading system has been delayed two years.

Mental Health Reform. A number of measures were passed that improves the state’s oversight

Other News from the Virginia General Assembly - Recapping the 2014 Session

Virginia Federation of Chapters (VFC) NARFE

and treatment of the mentally ill. Also approved was a four-year study of the state’s mental health services to recommend further reforms.

Transportation. A new borrowing and tolling authority for the Hampton Roads area was created. About $200 million per year will be allocated to Hampton Roads as a result of new sales and fuel taxes set last year.

Utility Regulation. Dominion Virginia Power will be allowed to deduct from its profits about $400 million in spending on nuclear energy research. This action will likely allow Dominion to avoid a refund to consumers in 2015 and a rate cut in 2017. Dominion was the largest gift donor to lawmakers last year.

Agriculture. The measures will increase consumer access to locally produced food. Localities can no longer prohibit agri-tourism activities unless they have a major impact on public health and safety.

Animal Welfare. Reforms passed are intended to 1) prevent people from unknowingly purchasing a pet bred in inhumane conditions; 2) crackdown on cruel fox and coyote hunting and killing; and 3) save pets from domestic abuse situations.

Hybrid Electric Vehicles. The measure repeals the widely unpopular $64 annual license tax imposed on these vehicles last year.

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Donec interdum

State Legislation

Meeting June 10, 2014

OK, What’s Next?

How do we align our state legislation strategy to the

FON Report’s recommendations?

Are we choosing the right issues?

Should we re-think how to measure “success?”

Virginia Federation of Chapters (VFC) NARFE

Please mark your calendars for Tuesday, June 10. Our annual State Legislation Meeting will take place at Hilton’s Double Tree Hotel, 1021 Koger Boulevard, Richmond.

This year, our primary task will be to decide whether or how our state legislative strategy should change in light of the Future of NARFE (FON) Committee Report recommendations. In particular, our focus will be on these recommendations:

#1. Engage in viable strategic planning on an ongoing basis.

• What is our strategic vision for state legislation? Should we model state-level advocacy on core NARFE goals? Example: Secure and robust pay, health care, and pensions for all Virginians?

• Should we move to a multi-year state plan instead of changing issues every year?

• Given the tough political environment, how should we measure “success?” Success doesn’t have to be measured solely on the basis of whether a specific piece of legislation is passed in a given year. Should we also measure success through our ability to partner with like-minded local groups? To market our agenda statewide? To increase the level and quality of our lobbying efforts?

#3. Enhance NARFE’s mission to include championing good government and public service.

• Should we broaden our state legislative portfolio to include “good government” issues, such as transparency, campaign finance reform, and redistricting reform, or, championing public service at the state-level?

#35. NARFE must use the most beneficial technology and communications methods possible.

• How do we better market ourselves? Advertising? Information booths at local events? How about online brainstorming and crowd sourcing for problem solving, generating new ideas, soliciting contributions, supporting legislative petitions? Other?

Instructions on how to prepare for the meeting will be e-mailed to you soon. Bring your ideas and issues to the meeting – I look forward to seeing you there.

-- Patti Downs, VFC State Legislation Chair patti10@centurylink.net, (cell) 703-772-7537

State Legislation Chairs!

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