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MissPenny

From Mark Obenshain

Session Recap: My Legislation

Yesterday, I wrote you to share my thoughts about the state budget, the first email in a three-part series that form my attempt to provide you with a detailed overview of the 2009 session of the General Assembly, and of my efforts on behalf of the citizens of the twenty-sixth district. Today I continue that series with a review of my own legislation, and I will conclude the series tomorrow with a run-down of other important bills and a few closing thoughts.

Much of this legislation will be familiar to those of you who have kept up with my emails, and especially with my Facebook updates, but I wanted to provide for your information a list of some of the bills I worked on this session (complete list here). I believe an informed citizenry to be a prerequisite of our political system, and believe that each of you should have the opportunity to evaluate my performance, and that of all your elected representatives. Towards that end, I encourage your feedback, comments, criticism and suggestions.

I have always held that the three fundamental roles of state government are education, transportation, and public safety, and that many of the state's incursions into other areas of our lives are unwarranted at best. If the bills I introduce have a theme, therefore, it is improving the quality of these three areas, and limiting the Commonwealth's authority elsewhere. Here are a few of the bills I patroned this year:

In This Issue:

* Closing the Triggerman Loophole (SB 961)
* Creating Voter Identification Requirements (SB 963)
* Enhancing School Safety (SB 1218)
* Expanding School Choice (SB 1221)
* Helping Private Schools and Non-Profit Organizations (SB 1222)
* Banning the Hanging of Nooses with Intent to Intimidate (SB 1219)
* Divesting ABC Stores (SB 1542)
* Protecting Private Property (SJ 290)

Closing the Triggerman Loophole (SB 961)
Under a law enacted while the very constitutionality of the death penalty was in doubt, Virginia is one of a small minority of states that allows criminal defendants who participated in a premeditated murder and shared the intent to kill to escape prosecution for capital murder if they did not actually pull the trigger. It is a distinction without precedent in the common law, and unheard of in Virginia until a few decades ago. Closing this loophole has long been a priority of the law enforcement community. My bill to do so passed the Senate 24-16 and the House 74-26, but met its demise at the point of the Governor's veto pen. All four candidates for governor support this legislation, so I look forward to reintroducing it next year and seeing it signed into law.

Creating Voter Identification Requirements (SB 963)
The right to vote is a fundamental one in a representative democracy such as ours, and it has a corollary: the right to have one's vote counted. Whenever someone casts a fraudulent ballot, they are diluting the legitimate votes of others. Requiring voters to show some form of identification is a common sense way to combat voter fraud. My bill allowed a wide range of options for proving one's identity, and is carefully crafted not to impose any undue burdens. You can't collect unemployment compensation, open a bank account, buy alcohol, obtain a driver's license, or generally even get a job without some form of identification – but, at least for now, you can still vote. This bill failed to report out of committee, but I will continue to champion it to ensure that no legitimate ballot is diluted.

Enhancing School Safety (SB 1218)
This legislation requires the Department of Corrections (DOC) to share information with schools about juvenile offenders who they believe pose a threat to students and school personnel. Presently, schools may be notified only of an arrest and adjudication; if the DOC learns that the juvenile is likely to endanger others, it is prohibited from sharing that information. My legislation balances privacy with safety, and provides schools with the information they need to keep our children and their staff safe. It passed both chambers unanimously and awaits the Governor's signature.

Expanding School Choice (SB 1221)
This bill would have created a tax credit for corporate contributions to scholarship organizations that help children from low-income households. This approach has been immensely successful and popular in other states, including Pennsylvania, Florida, and Rhode Island. With the average per pupil expenditure in Virginia's public schools north of $8,000 and 26% of schools (and 59% of divisions) still failing to make “adequate yearly progress,” improving the quality of education should be a priority, and just throwing more dollars at the problem simply isn't working. Private schools provide a valuable alternative to struggling public schools, and can provide some much-needed competition. The program would have improved educational quality, increased the per pupil expenditures for public schools that lost students to the scholarships, and saved taxpayer money – a win-win-win situation. Unfortunately, the Senate was not willing to support this innovative approach; the bill died in committee.

Helping Private Schools and Non-Profit Organizations (SB 1222)Although the tax code already allows non-profit organizations to claim a sales and use tax exemption, doing so previously required financial reporting standards that are both costly and superfluous. Non-profit organizations are already required to file a 990 tax form and submit a financial review, and schools must undergo the accreditation process, which includes a financial evaluation component. By eliminating more onerous audit requirements, my legislation, which met with widespread bipartisan support, eliminates an unnecessary burden on private / parochial schools and charitable organizations, freeing them to devote more resources to their primary mission. The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in both chambers.

Banning the Hanging of Nooses with Intent to Intimidate (SB 1219)
When two African-American workers in the Shenandoah Valley found nooses hanging at their worksites in 2007, local prosecutors discovered the law was silent on the matter, making any prosecution difficult. Burning crosses with intent to intimidate is already on the books; my bill simply adds hanging of a noose on public property, or the property of another, with similar intent, to the statute. This is not hate crimes legislation, as it does not enhance a sentence based upon thoughts or beliefs, nor does it prosecute anyone for holding or even expressing those opinions, however repugnant they may be. Instead, it targets an action that conveys a threat – a specific, intimidating action on property not their own. The bill passed both chambers unanimously and is pending action by the Governor.

Divesting ABC Stores (SB 1542)
This legislation would have brought Virginia in line with the thirty-two states that have divested all or part of liquor operations within their borders. There are some things that government does well, but I do not believe that operating a chain or retail business is one of them. Privatization would offer consumers greater convenience, better hours, wider selections, lower prices, and the innovation inherent in competition-driven systems – in short, what you would expect of private enterprise, but not, perhaps, of government bureaucracy. The bill died, but I am not letting the idea drop, and will return next year with revised legislation on this subject.

Protecting Private Property (SJ 290)
Just two years ago, Senator Ken Cuccinelli and I worked together to enact legislation limiting the uses of the power of eminent domain, and already the legislation is under siege. This session alone saw the introduction of several bills to water down the protections we put in place. That's why I believe we need a constitutional amendment establishing that private property may not be taken for economic development purposes. The amendment died in committee on an 8-7 vote, with one Democrat crossing over in support.

Some of my bills passed, others failed, and all took a back seat to the budget debate, but I believe that the agenda I advanced was a good one, grounded in the principles of limited government and individual liberty, and in the desire for safer communities, stronger schools, and fiscal responsibility.

I will be wrapping up this session recap tomorrow with a summary of other noteworthy measures considered by the General Assembly, some of which received precious little public attention. As always, I encourage you to share your thoughts with me, and to forward this email to anyone who may be interested.

Mark Obenshain
Virginia State Senator
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Penny Adams
Virginia Freedom Riders - Legislative Officer

"Government is too big and too important to be left to the politicians."
Chester Bowles (1901 - 1986)