By: Joe Stanley, Director of Virginia Interfaith Power & Light
Though it isn’t often that we’ve found ourselves working with Del. Bill Janis (R-56th) on issues of mutual concern, this year we have found a piece of legislation that is both common-sense as well as integral to advancing our causes. HB389 creates an offshore wind authority that will have the responsibility of collecting the data for how the Commonwealth can most safely and efficiently harness electricity from the strong winds off of our coast.
Members of the General Assembly heard your voice and both budgets released by the Senate and House take some steps toward ending corporate tax giveaways and raising revenue. The question now is: how much?
Over the past several weeks, faithful Virginians have been making the case for a moral budget and taking a balanced approach to filling the over $4 billion budget hole. Well now the debate is over. Members of the General Assembly heard your voice and both budgets released by the Senate and House take some steps toward ending corporate tax giveaways and raising revenue. The question now is: how much?
Despite periodic frustration with our friends in the General Assembly, there are times when, if we step back from the moment, we can learn something about them and even more about ourselves.
Listening to my friend Sen. Emmett Hanger (R-24th) of Mt. Solon, Virginia in the lower Shenandoah Valley, for example, you get a sense that he has been deeply forged by his Brethren faith, his rural upbringing, and the tenacity so characteristic of valley families. Sen. Hanger was the first in his family to graduate high school and attend college — Madison College (now JMU). He was able to attend this public college because of a basketball scholarship. Sen. Hanger speaks of perseverance and loyalty in ways that are inspiring even when you disagree with him on issues.
A review of the “Communities of Opportunity Tax Credit” being debated in the General Assembly
Ideally, when a landlord considers an applicant for housing, he or she should not consider the source of an applicant’s income, just whether the income is sufficient. The reality is that families with Housing Choice Vouchers (formerly called Section 8 vouchers) are disproportionately affected by income discrimination when landlords refuse to accept voucher-holders.
Many Virginians will be glad that Governor Bob McDonnell has changed his mind on the Recovery Act. Several news stories today report how Gov. McDonnell supports more Recovery Act money to help prevent deep cuts to the states Medicaid program.
As Virginians of faith, we are concerned with how we treat low and middle income Virginians in these lean economic times. Now is when our principles will be tested. We are glad to hear that Governor McDonnell has seen how valuable the Recovery Act was to protecting health care for children, pregnant women, the elderly and the disabled.
Fred Phelp’s Westboro Baptist Church has decided to make Virginia the target next week of its attention-seeking national tour of hatred toward anyone who is a member of the military, Jewish, LGBT, and/or not a member of their church.
In the first issue of Legis-Link, I wrote about the shift in party makeup in the House of Delegates, and the role that the new math of vote counts would play in how legislation would move through the General Assembly. You can get that original article at the link at the bottom of this page. Here at crossover, it is worth looking back at that projection to see how things have turned out.
By: Joe Stanley, Director of Virginia Interfaith Power & Light
As we approach crossover in the General Assembly, Virginia Interfaith Power & Light has done well in achieving our objectives on energy efficiency and creation care. Much of our work has been in the Senate so far. With the party makeup of the House of Delegates being so skewed away from support for our issues, the course of many bills through that chamber can be accurately predicted with or without advocacy work. It is oftentimes too difficult to flip the needed votes for what are generally considered left-leaning bills, and right-leaning bills have no real obstacles any longer to getting sent over to the Senate. With that in mind, I want to focus on five pieces of legislation that have taken been the focus of our work on the stewardship of creation.
It’s half time. Only instead of marching bands and a trip to the concession stand, the players here at the General Assembly stay on the field as the clock counts down to the final whistle. Crossover was Tuesday. That’s the day where each chamber has to complete work on its own legislation, and then everything they’ve done “crosses over” to the other chamber for their consideration. Much legislation has died. But there remains much to do.
The article below is a reminder of how important good health care and a loving spouse really are! Even though Mr. Verga thinks the best way to expand coverage for health care is to do away with those pesky hospital regulations, a position we strongly disagree with, we wish him and his wife all the best during this dangerous procedure and hope it is a tremendous success.
Republican congressional candidate Laurence Verga might take a temporary break from the campaign trail to receive a kidney from his wife.
Verga, one of eight GOP candidates hoping to face Rep. Tom Perriello, D-5th, in the fall, was diagnosed as having polycystic kidney disease in his early 40s. He is 46 now. His father had the disease, and it claimed the life of a great-grandfather, a grandfather and an uncle.
The disorder is a genetic condition in which cysts form in the fabric of both kidneys, impeding their ability to cleanse impurities from the body. The disease occurs in an estimated one out of every 20,000 people.
“Other than the kidney challenge, I am in excellent health,” Verga said. “My doctor says I’m like a Ferrari with a bad battery.”
Verga has been on a waiting list for a donated kidney for a little more than a year. However, wait times for organs in Virginia often can last four to seven years.
Highlights of Gov. Bob McDonnell’s proposed budget cuts and spending announced Wednesday, grouped by area of the budget and by cost. (Figures rounded to the nearest million):
Public Education
$225 million from restoring base funding for public schools to 2008 level.
$130 million cut from support for supplemental salaries such as coaches and department chairs.
$92 million from eliminating Lottery support for some education programs.
$32 million cut for lease and rental support.
$30 million in travel funding cut.
$19 million saved by extending the useful life of school buses from 12 years to 15.
Two quotes stood out for me. The first is about scriptural and theological source for how we should help the unemployed:
Most Christian and non-Abrahamic faiths emphasize two methods in addressing poverty—charity and the pursuit of justice. Charity describes an attitude of love and caring which results in benevolent acts. It typically operates on a small, localized scale. Justice, however, looks to address structural problems so that all are treated in a fair and just manner. Psalms 82:3 in The Old Testament states, “Defend the poor and the fatherless: Do justice to the afflicted and needy.” In Islam, it is believed that the poor have a claim on the rest of society in providing for their needs. Thus, Muslims are required to pay zakat, a portion of their excess savings to the needy. Most faiths believe that alleviating poverty is a moral obligation.
Senators Saslaw, Puckett, and Puller joined Republicans in Senate C&L in supporting car title interest rates at over 300% interest.
Even though the majority of Democrats on the committee agree with Senator Mamie Locke that interest on secured loans should never be higher than 36%, the majority leader, a SWVA banker, and a NOVA legislator disagreed.
Predatory lender lobbyists swarm Senator Saslaw
On the subject of payday loan interest caps the payday lenders picked up Senator Edwards as well:
SB 21 Payday loans; limiting interest to a maximum annual rate of 36 percent. 02/15/10 Senate: Failed to report (defeated) in Commerce and Labor (5-Y 10-N)
Some faithful Virginians in the New River Valley have begun a conversation in their community about creating a more just and compassionate Virginia. Take a look at their column in the New River Voice written by one of our Chapter Leaders, Stephanie Gilmore:
One of the questions I am asked often is, “Is it right to mix religion and politics?” We tend to shy away from expecting faith organizations to promote political stances, and that is as it should be. The important thing about the work of the Center, though, is that it is non-partisan.
We do not endorse candidates or promote party-specific issues. Rather, we draw from all the world faiths lessons about how to promote the greatest good for the least among us.
Nearly 700,000 Virginians have been able to keep food on the table as a result of the increase in food stamp benefits passed as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act last February, according to new data released recently by The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis.
“The Recovery Act’s food stamp increase has played a critical role in supporting Virginia’s families who are struggling to make ends meet amidst unexpected job loss, cuts in wages, and cuts in hours,” says Michael Cassidy, Executive Director of The Commonwealth Institute.
The Senate Courts of Justice Committee will hear three death penalty bills on Monday February 15: SB7, SB54, SB520. Each of these bills would expand the kind of crimes for which prosecutors can seek the death penalty. The Virginia Interfaith Center opposes any expansion of the death penalty on both theological and economic grounds.
Politics involves money. Lots of it. That’s no secret. And while legislators are hesitant to discuss the influence of money on votes, often outright denying the fact and openly denouncing those who suggest it, a curious exchange occurred this week at an early morning sub-committee meeting dealing with redistricting that shines sunlight on the role of all of that dough.
The Speaker of the House, Bill Howell, gets called out by today’s Roanoke Times for his much-too-cozy relationship with Crown Cork, particularly given how hard he worked yesterday to protect the corporation from asbestos lawsuits filed by Virginia workers. In this kind of economy it is difficult to be a worker.
SPEAKER HOWELL HELPS HIS FRIEND
A Philadelphia firm with few Virginia employees, but large campaign donations to lawmakers, wins a favor from an influential friend.
The Roanoke Times Editorial
Think repulsive backroom deals are reserved for congressional Democrats? Let’s peek in on Virginia’s House of Delegates, where Republican House Speaker William Howell just won an important legislative battle. Well, it’s important to Howell, anyway, and to his friends at Crown Cork & Seal, a Philadelphia firm with about 300 employees in Virginia.
Howell came to know the Crown Cork people through his affiliation with the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC allows lawmakers like Howell to join for a pittance of $50 a year but charges companies $7,000 in dues. Membership does have its privileges, though. For example, Crown Cork is facing a difficult time, having bought a company years ago that manufactured asbestos. Crown Cork is now liable for people becoming ill and dying — more than 300,000 cases already, costing $600 million so far.
Crown Cork found that it is considerably cheaper to buy membership to ALEC, which ghostwrote favorable legislation exempting Crown Cork — and only Crown Cork — from most liability for these claims. The company then hired lobbyists and helped bankroll campaigns for loyal friends like Howell. The plan has worked in 11 states so far.
Howell tried to repay his friendship to Crown Cork by pushing ALEC’s bill, sponsored by Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott. Howell sold it up as “tort reform,” usually a darling of Republicans, but it still met defeat in committee two years running.
This time, Howell took no chances. He used his power as speaker to replace delegates on the Commerce and Labor committee with ones who would vote his way. Crown Cork did its part as well, directing a total of $100,000 to 46 legislators, including members of the committee.
Finally, Howell’s pet bill squeaked through committee. Because it is such a bad bill and disliked by other manufacturers, Howell still couldn’t muster enough votes in the full House, despite refusing to allow delegates to speak poorly about it on the House floor. It was defeated 49-49, but House rules allowed it to come up a second time.
So Howell and his henchman, Salem’s own Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, twisted arms, including one attached to Del. David Albo, who told The Washington Post that he was ordered to switch his vote if he wanted to see his own priorities live. The bill then passed.
The Senate can, and should, stop this bill before it turns up in Gov. Bob McDonnell’s office — where one of Crown Cork’s other friends, a former lobbyist for the company, is now employed.
Howell won the day for his influential friend but lost the respect of Virginians who trusted he’d use his power for the commonwealth’s benefit.
With the budget easily dwarfing all other public policy discussions in Richmond this legislative session, many Virginians are confused about where they can find details about the process and numbers. These resources are online, but not it any one organized place.
This week, the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee reported out SB 239, which would expand eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits to include individuals who leave their jobs for compelling family reasons and individuals enrolled in certain job training programs.
