Dear Friend,
The General Assembly adjourned today sine die, meaning the two bodies have completed their work. A conference report for the budget was passed that is being referred to as a “skinny budget.” This abbreviated conference report addresses pressing and required financial commitments for the state, but does not necessarily reflect a full compromise. Below is an update on the last week of session, the upcoming firehouse primary, and local news.
Vote in Tomorrow’s Firehouse Primary
There will be a firehouse primary Sunday, February 26, 9 AM - 6 PM. This election will select a democratic nominee to run in the Special Election on March 28 to fill the seat being vacated by Jennifer McClellan, who has just won election to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Tomorrow, voters will choose between Delegate Dawn Adams, Delegate Lamont Bagby, or Alexsis Rodgers. Polls are open 9 AM - 6 PM and locations are limited as this is a quickly organized election and is being administered by the Virginia Democratic Party. Any voter registered in the 9th Senate District and who considers themselves a Democrat can vote tomorrow. Valid proofs of identification are photo IDs such as a Driver’s License, or address-verifying documents such as payroll stubs, W2s, or a recent monthly bank statement.
Find polling locations below (note that IBEW 666 is no longer an available option) and more information on the firehouse primary at this link. If you are unsure whether you are in the 9th Senate District, use this link to verify.
Session Update
Many House & Senate bills that have differing forms are resolved by conferences. Conferences occur when a bill passes its house of origin, and then passes the other house, but with an amendment. If that amendment is rejected by the house of origin, then a conference is called to resolve the differences between the House & Senate forms of the bill. Conferences consist of about 6 legislators (3 from each body) who are known as conferees. Five conferees must agree on a conference report which is given to each Clerk who distributes it to their body’s members. Then both the House & Senate will vote on the conference report.
Legislators spent much of this past week working on conference reports. Yesterday and today many conference reports were finalized. One conference report that was agreed to today is this Session’s budget bill. The House & Senate were unable to reach a substantive agreement due to the Governor’s introduced tax cuts over funding for education and healthcare, which were priorities in the Senate budget. Saturday’s conference report is a “skinny budget” that simply provides 4 urgent funding needs to meet State financial commitments.
The conference report includes the following:
Over $250 million in funding for public education that reflects the combined impacts of technical adjustments to average daily membership (ADM), sales tax forecasts, and program participation rates. It also provides $16 million to ensure no school receives less funding than was communicated by the Department of Education due to their technical error.
Over $900 million in funding to the “rainy day fund” to meet constitutionally required deposits.
$250 million to the Virginia Retirement System to continue addressing unfunded liability.
An additional $100 million to the Capital Supplement Pool to address supply chain issues and inflation that have been driving up the cost of previously approved capital projects. With this deposit, the supplement pool will have $450 million within it.
You can read a recap of the House & Senate budget negotiations in this article from the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
In addition to conference reports, we heard several retirement speeches from legislators.
You may find Delegate Rob Bell’s (R-Albemarle, Chairman of the Courts of Justice Committee) retirement speech and reflections on his 22 year career to be an interesting look at the career of a legislator, the spirit of the General Assembly, and the historic grounding in which we root our work. You can find his retirement speech at this link.
In addition to Delegate Bell, the past two days have brought many retirement and farewell speeches. Other retirement speeches include:
Delegate Jeff Bourne will not seek re-election. He addressed the House Saturday. Watch his speech at this link.
Delegate Dawn Adams addressed the House one last time. She is running for Senate and will not seek re-election in the House. Her floor speech can be seen here.
Delegate James Edmunds, II, announced he will not seek re-election. His speech is available here.
Delegate Kathleen Murphy spoke on the floor to announce she will not seek re-election. Her speech can be watched here.
Delegate Roxann Robinson will not seek re-election. Her speech is available here.
Other colleagues in the House & Senate have announced they will not be returning to the General Assembly. Virginia Mercury has an article tracking retirements. You can find this article here. It has been an honor serving with my colleagues and their diverse voices. Their presence and institutional knowledge will surely be missed.
Richmond City Budget
On Monday, Richmond City Council will begin their budget process. Monday’s meeting, at 2pm, is the first of many workgroups to take place. You can find the agenda and meeting information here.
In addition, Mayor Stoney is expected to announce his proposed budget on March 6.
Richmond Public Schools Calendar
RPS has adopted their calendar for next school year, find it here.
Students will be in school starting August 21, 2023, and ending May 31, 2024, which aligns RPS with Henrico’s calendar.
Department of General Services’s eVA Program
The Department of General Services (DGS) is the Commonwealth’s department responsible for state construction & development as well as a wide array of administrative responsibilities.
DGS is hoping to raise awareness about their eVA web service. eVA is the state’s procurement hub, where all requests for proposal (RFPs) are posted. DGS is hoping to increase enrollment of businesses in eVA.
In addition to having a streamlined dashboard of RFPs, enrolled businesses have access to virtual and in-person trainings, professional development, and much more.
Visit eVA’s home page for more information.
Dominion Bill Assistance
Dominion Energy provides several bill payment assistance programs for its customers. You can view their entire list of programs at this link, which includes housing assistance and scam awareness resources.
Additionally, the Virginia Poverty Law Center has a utility helpline for those struggling to pay their bills. You can file a client intake form on their website.
Jazz Night at The VMFA
Every Wednesday, 6-8 PM, there is live jazz from local performers in the Cochrane Atrium at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
You can find scheduled acts at this link.
Community Events
The Library of Virginia’s quarterly First Fridays series will begin March 3, 5 - 8 PM. More information is available at their website.
The Black History Museum will host a book reading & signing with the Honorable John Charles Thomas, the first African American Justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia. He will be reading from his new book The Poetic Justice: A Memoir. More information is available here.
The Monument 10k Race registration prices will increase March 1. Visit their website for more information.
The American Civil War Museum’s final special Black History Month program will be on March 4, 11 AM - 4 PM. More information available here.
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts “Storied Strings” closes March 19. Visit their website for more information.
The Valentine Museum’s next “Richmond Short Stories” will focus on trailblazing Richmond women and will be March 2, 6 - 6:30 PM. More information is available here.
The Virginia Museum of History & Culture will host Pulitzer Prize winning author Stacy Schiff for a lecture on March 12, 4 PM. Visit this link for ticketing information.
The Science Museum of Virginia has several dome shows and exhibitions, including The Hyperwall, an immersive experience that brings local social, environmental, and climate science stories to life.
The Visual Arts Center offers art classes for adults and children on topics such as woodworking, sewing, drawing and much more. Visit their website to see the schedule.
Thank You
It is an honor to serve in the House of Delegates. Please never hesitate to contact me at delegate.carr@betsycarr.org or 804-698-1069 if I can be helpful to you.
Sincerely,
Betsy