Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 25, 1995 TAG: 9502270030
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A concealed-weapon bill, which passed the General Assembly on Thursday, has drawn a great deal of attention. In fact, no single bill this year has precipitated more calls and letters to my office, with the vast majority favoring the bill. This bill would require a circuit judge to issue a concealed weapon permit unless the applicant is disqualified by one of the several conditions in the bill. The House Courts of Justice Committee, on which I am ranking minority member, reported it to the full House by a 16 to 6 vote. The floor debate began Wednesday morning and was continued into the afternoon. Well over 20 floor amendments were offered with all but two or three being rejected. The bill passed, after approximately two hours of debate, by a vote of 69 to 29.
I voted for the measure, both in committee and on the floor.
In other action, the House of Delegates was to decide on whether or not to borrow approximately $192 million for prison funding, as proposed in the Senate plan, or whether to borrow approximately $97.5 million and pay another $8.6 million, with current funds, to construct new prison space under a compromise worked out between the House and Senate. The Senate plan would create approximately 9,100 beds, while the compromise plan would create approximately 10,300 new prison spaces over the next five years.
I voted for the compromise version to build more with current funds. The Senate plan would have cost more in the long run and moved us away from pay-as-you-go. I believe the compromise was the more fiscally prudent route, and it passed by a vote of 65 to 35.
Other matters of interest included a constitutional amendment that would allow the General Assembly to enact legislation to give teachers binding arbitration on grievances. This was the law prior to a 1978 Virginia Supreme Court case. Since then, the local school boards have had the final say on issues such as whether or not a teacher could be fired. I supported this measure as a matter of fairness, considering that other state employees have similar grievance procedures. This passed by a vote of 67 to 31.
A constitutional amendment to allow the state to appeal decisions of circuit court judges to our appeals court was also approved. I believe the commonwealth's attorneys should be able to appeal rulings by judges that might otherwise let criminals escape justice because of a "technicality." The bill passed on Wednesday.
Another constitutional amendment taken up Wednesday would have allowed future governors to run for a successive term after the year 2002 election. The resolution was defeated by a 48 to 50 vote. I voted against the resolution as I believe the one-term limit we currently have lets the governor focus on issues important to the state, rather than governing with an eye toward re-election. Many good arguments can also be made for successive terms, but I believe our Virginia tradition has basically served us well thus far.
Prior to adjournment Saturday, we are scheduled to vote on the final version of the budget. The proposal restores funds for Cooperative Education and state pay raises, as well as funding for other items such as for local police, Head Start programs for children and, very importantly, increased funding for public school children.
I plan on voting for the budget.
I want to again thank you for all the input you have given me during this session.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995
by CNB