This past week we began the process of amending the House budget proposal. I joined a number of my colleagues in objecting to cuts to public safety and economic development programs as well as to the proposal to spend $450 million on a new office for the General Assembly at a time when we are not adequately funding core state services. I introduced three floor amendments. The first is to adequately fund the General Registrar so they can comply with the Voter ID laws. Virginia's Voter ID law requires all voters to have a valid identification in order to cast their ballot. Over 330,000 active Virginia voters currently don't have a driver's license. However, the proposed budget only has enough funds to provide free voter ID cards to about 4,000 people. By not fixing this, we risk disenfranchising tens of thousands of Virginia voters and we also put the constitutionality of Virginia's Voter ID Law into question.
The second amendment I introduced was to de-fund the Opportunity Educational Institute. The proposed budget cuts funding for the Opportunity Educational Institute down to only $150,000 a year and removes 6 out of the 7 staff positions. This is a good step, but we should finish the job and completely de-fund this school take-over program. If we want to help struggling students in Virginia, we should start with a full study of what those students need, to understand where they are excelling and where they are struggling so we can put forward a policy based in fact and evidence. Lastly, I introduced an amendment to ensure there are enough funds available to help train teachers as we reform our student testing and assessment system and move away from so many SOL tests.
The big fight remains Medicaid expansion. While some Senate Republicans are proposing interesting solutions to move forward to expand health coverage, House Republicans are digging in their heels and are refusing to consider any compromise that includes taking Federal funds to expand health access for working Virginians. We've learned from recent studies that increased coverage would have a significant and positive impact on our economy, would create jobs and cover an additional 400,000 currently uninsured Virginians. Instead, to offset the shortages caused by not taking our tax dollars back from the Feds, they are trying to take funds from other priority areas of the budget including our already cash-strapped schools. We need to cover healthcare for working Virginians, not cut services because we won't cooperate with the Federal Government.
On Friday my bill HB275 passed through the Senate unanimously. This bill would allow for photocopies to be made of certain records of the State Board of Elections that are currently not available to the public. This not only removes tiresome burdens and increases efficiency, but it also broadens the category of records available to the public. As ethics reform and transparency in government have been big topics this year, I am happy to bring a little more sunlight to government by increasing people’s access to election records.
It is an honor to represent you, I look forward to communicating with you in the future.