Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 9, 1993 TAG: 9302090082
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JOAN MUNFORD
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
DELEGATE HAS TYPICALLY BUSY DAY
Because many of you cannot come to Richmond to see what we do, I would like to share a typical day during the session.\ \ Wednesday, Feb. 3\ 7:30 a.m. I arrived at the General Assembly Building and met with my legislative assistant to go over the day's schedule. I had with me three packets of legislation I had reviewed the night before, plus the work I had done for my presentations to various committees.
\ 8 a.m. My first appointment was an appearance before a subcommittee of Health, Welfare and Institutions to present my legislation, House Bill 2380. This bill is the result of five years of work and debate by the Early Childhood and Day Care Commission. It expands the criteria determining which facilities are required to be licensed. Currently, 80 percent of Virginia's 600,000 children in day care are in non-licensed facilities.
\ 9 a.m. From the subcommittee, I rushed to the sixth floor to present three resolutions to the House Rules Committee. Each of these resolutions were products of joint subcommittees and commissions that I served on during the past year.
House Joint Resolution 690 encourages the Blue Ridge Economic Development Commission to submit a proposal for the establishment of a self-help development bank in the Blue Ridge Region.
HJR 694 requests the assistance of the Department of General Services in studying the operations of Virginia Correctional Enterprises. Currently, under the law, state agencies are required to purchase certain items from corrections, thereby precluding private businesses from competing for this business.
\ 10 a.m. Returned to my office. I quickly went through some of the mail and reviewed the legislation on the docket for the Labor and Commerce Committee.
\ 10:30 a.m. Convened the Labor and Commerce Committee, which I chair. A large part of our morning was spent debating the "meet and confer" legislation. This would allow state employee organizations to meet with agency heads in matters regarding wages and employment conditions.
\ Noon Over to the Capitol for the daily session. Our calendar for the day is 71 pages long. Three hours later, we have approved 58 bills. We also have debated, amended and moved to their third reading another 100 measures.
We still have not begun deliberation on many of this year's controversial bills. I am sure that in the next several days our daily sessions will be much longer as we debate gun control, campaign reform, anti-crime initiatives and related issues.
\ 3:15 p.m. Immediately after the session, the Democratic caucus met to discuss key legislative issues. These meetings are always interesting mainly because of the makeup of the members. From Southside and Southwest Virginia, you have mostly conservative Democrats. From Northern Virginia and the Tidewater area, the Democrats are much more liberal. It's usually very rare for us to completely agree on anything.
\ 4 p.m. Left the Capitol and rushed to the sixth floor of the General Assembly Building. I had to appear before a subcommittee to present six resolutions on HIV and AIDS. The first one continues the work of the Joint Subcommittee, which I chair. The second one requests the Department of Health to develop a plan to address the needs of children with AIDS. The third requests that the Department of Education develop strategy for providing HIV and AIDS education to instructional and administrative personnel.
HJR 695 continues the study of the procurement act that I sponsored last year. HJR 696 continues the study by Virginia Tech of our welcome centers around the state. HJR 712 will continue the Blue Ridge Economic Development Commission for another year. After explaining each resolution, the committee voted to report these measures favorably.
\ 5:30 p.m. Returned to my office. I spent the next several hours reviewing phone messages and correspondence with my legislative assistant. While I had been out of the office most of the day, he and our Virginia Tech intern had received more than 150 phone calls. Our phone seems to never quit ringing.
I feel very fortunate this year to have the excellent help of our intern, Cheryl Tindall. She is a Virginia Tech public-administration major and a graduate of Blacksburg High, my alma mater.
\ 8 p.m. Left the office and returned to my hotel. I grabbed a quick bite and spent the rest of the night working on my presentation for the public hearing on Thursday night. It looks like Thursday will be a repeat of today, with meetings beginning at 8 a.m., and continuing until at least 8 p.m.
Joan Munford, D-Blacksburg, is a veteran member of Virginia House of Delegates. She represents Blacksburg and parts of Montgomery and Giles counties.