VaNews
March 7, 2020

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** Hefty Wiley & Gore
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Representing Virginia localities and providing state government relations services since 1994.

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** VPAP Visual Early Voters Missed Biden Surge ([link removed])
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The Virginia Public Access Project

If 62,000 absentee ballots are any guide, Virginia Democrats were widely split over the best candidate to challenge President Trump. Then Biden won a decisive victory in South Carolina. Three days later, Biden captured nearly 55% of in-person votes in Virginia, more than double his share in early balloting.
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** Democratic Majority in Virginia Strips Itself of the Power to Draw District Lines ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL WINES, New York Times (Metered Paywall - 1 to 2 articles a month)

Democrats in Virginia’s State Legislature took a blue-moon political step on Friday and voted to largely strip themselves of the power to draw new political maps next year — maps that could well have locked them into power for a decade. But to say they acted grudgingly is an understatement.
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** Impasse over budget could push assembly session into overtime ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

With time running short in the waning General Assembly session, so are tempers as budget negotiators face an impasse over higher education funding and employee compensation. House Appropriations Chairman Luke Torian, D-Prince William, accused Senate budget negotiators of bad faith in negotiations on higher education that threaten to send the scheduled 60-day session into overtime.
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** Virginia passes sweeping law to mandate clean energy amid questions about cost ([link removed])
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By GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

The Virginia General Assembly has passed landmark legislation mandating a shift to renewable energy amid questions about the cost to ratepayers of expensive wind and solar projects. The Virginia Clean Economy Act requires the state’s biggest utilities to deliver electricity from 100 percent renewable sources by 2045 ...
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** Virginia General Assembly caps insulin costs at $50 a month ([link removed])
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By KATE MASTERS, Virginia Mercury

One of the biggest bills of the year is one nobody is talking about, Del. Mike Mullin, D-Newport News, wrote in a tweet on Friday — a hard cap on the price of insulin in Virginia. Insurers are now limited to charging a maximum of $50 a month for the drug after Del. Lee Carter, D-Manassas, urged colleagues to accept a Senate amendment to his bill. The price is a little higher than his original cap of $30, but still the lowest ceiling for insulin in the country, he said on the House floor.
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** Norfolk publicly honored female firefighters as it quietly settled a gender discrimination lawsuit ([link removed])
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By SCOTT DAUGHERTY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The city of Norfolk kicked off Women’s History Month on Monday by honoring 18 female firefighters. “Some women blaze a trail,” read the news release, announcing a special “Women Trailblazers” ceremony to be held later this month. “And others put blazes out.” But quietly in the background that morning, attorneys for the city and a retired female firefighter were working ...
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** Pressed for time, Virginia lawmakers are pretending it’s Thursday ([link removed])
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By NED OLIVER, Virginia Mercury

At the time of this writing, it is Friday. But in Virginia’s General Assembly, lawmakers are operating under the premise that it is still Thursday. The procedural maneuver is intended to give Democratic majorities more time to hash out deals on big outstanding legislative debates on topics ranging from redistricting to the minimum wage. The legislative session is scheduled to end on Saturday, but can be (and often is) extended.
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The Full Report
25 articles, 10 publications

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** GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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** Va. lawmakers barrel toward session’s end with budget, hundreds of other bills outstanding ([link removed])
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By LAURA VOZZELLA AND GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Virginia's House and Senate are barreling toward the end of a historic legislative session with hundreds of bills outstanding and an impasse on the state budget. The General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn its 60-day session on Saturday, the first in a quarter-century with Democrats in control of both chambers and the Executive Mansion. But it appeared that the legislature might not wrap up its work on time ...
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** Amendment on Va. redistricting headed to the voters ([link removed])
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By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

After weeks of uncertainty about a redistricting reform proposal that divided the Democratic majority, the General Assembly passed a proposed constitutional amendment that would create a bipartisan commission to draw political maps. The House of Delegates voted 54-46 Friday for the amendment after members of the Legislative Black Caucus made one final plea for their colleagues not to vote for the amendment, but consider an alternative.
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** Virginia lawmakers approve redistricting measure ([link removed])
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By ALAN SUDERMAN, Associated Press

Virginia lawmakers approved a proposed change to the state’s constitution on Friday that supporters said would curb political gerrymandering, prompting an outcry by some Democrats who called it harmful to African Americans.
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** House backs sending redistricting to voters ([link removed])
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By MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

The Virginia House of Delegates, newly controlled by Democrats, voted Friday to back a constitutional amendment to reform the state’s redistricting process ahead of reapportionment in 2021. In a 54-46 vote that saw nine Democrats join Republicans, ...
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** Divided Democrats in Virginia House pass proposed amendment for redistricting ([link removed])
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By GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

The Virginia House of Delegates narrowly approved a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at creating a bipartisan commission to draw political maps, resolving an issue that divided the Democratic majority as time was running out on this year's session. Friday's contentious 54-to-46 vote came over the objections of several members of the Black Caucus ...
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** Lawmakers pass resolution to form redistricting commission; voters to get final say ([link removed])
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By MARIE ALBIGES, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Citizens in November will decide if they want a permanent commission to draw the political maps every decade starting in 2021, after a divided General Assembly voted to change the constitution Friday. The constitutional amendment that forms the redistricting commission was the subject of heated debates and even a few tears from lawmakers throughout the General Assembly session, which is supposed to end Saturday.
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** County registrar grappling with the costs of proposed voting requirements ([link removed])
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By CALEB AYERS, Danville Register & Bee

During the six-weeks leading up to the 2018 general elections, Pittsylvania County Registrar Kelly Keesee worked 135 hours overtime. In the upcoming 2020 presidential election, she expects that number to climb even higher because of a reduction in local funding for temporary staff and a state-mandate — one that is still pending the governor’s approval — that would require no-excuse early voting for a 45-day period prior to the election.
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** Virginia lawmakers send ‘historic’ energy bill to governor ([link removed])
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By SARAH RANKIN, Associated Press

Virginia lawmakers gave final passage Friday to a sweeping energy bill that would overhaul how the state’s utilities generate electricity, a measure environmental groups and other renewable energy advocates considered a historic step toward addressing climate change.
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** Virginia Senate approves clean energy bill ([link removed])
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By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)

The Virginia Senate agreed Friday to a compromise version of the Clean Economy Act which gives a reprieve to a Wise County power plant. Senators voted 22-17 Friday morning to approve Senate Bill 851 which imposes regulations on Dominion Energy and American Electric Power, ...
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** Lawmakers OK bill to bring solar to low-income communities ([link removed])
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By MACY PRESSLEY, VCU Capital News Service

The General Assembly passed a bill that aims to increase access to renewable energy for lower-income communities. House Bill 573, introduced by Del. Mark Keam, D-Fairfax, amends an existing solar development pilot program that requires utility companies to invest in renewable energy.
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** Virginia will ban surprise medical bills for out-of-network care ([link removed])
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By DAVE RESS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Hospitals and doctors won’t be able to hit Virginia patients with charges their insurers won’t cover — sometimes totaling tens of thousands of dollars — after the General Assembly passed legislation to ban such “balance billing.” The effort took two years and pitted some of the most influential lobbies, health care providers and insurers, against one another ...
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** Lawmakers Aren’t Fully Funding Supports for At-Risk Students, Say Some Advocates ([link removed])
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By MEGAN PAULY, WCVE

Advocates and lawmakers are upset that the General Assembly hasn’t fully funded proposals by Virginia’s Board of Education to increase funding for at-risk students, support staff, and more. Sen. Jennifer McClellan (D- Richmond) and Del. Lashrecse Aird (D-Petersburg) carried sweeping education legislation this session that would have lowered student-to-teacher ratios, and granted greater state funding to support at-risk students and students struggling academically.
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** Lawmakers OK bill to get excess food to eligible students ([link removed])
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By NOAH DABOUL, VCU Capital News Service

The General Assembly passed a bill that will allow Virginia schools to distribute excess food to eligible students, in an effort to provide another meal to students The bill introduced by Del. Danica Roem, D-Prince William, will allow school districts to create a program to distribute excess food to students eligible for the School Breakfast Program or National School Lunch Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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** Virginia lawmakers OK bill to manage wildlife collision rate ([link removed])
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By MACY PRESSLEY, VCU Capital News Service

The General Assembly recently passed a measure that will create a plan to reduce wildlife-related vehicle accidents, though opponents tout the bill as an example of wasteful government spending. The bill, introduced by Sen. Dave Marsden, D-Fairfax, directs the Virginia departments of Game and Inland Fisheries, Transportation, and Conservation and Recreation to conduct a study ...
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** Lawmakers tackle changing bawdy place, prostitution laws ([link removed])
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By CONOR LOBB, VCU Capital News Service

The General Assembly passed measures this session repealing restrictions on sex before marriage, swearing in public and being a “habitual drunkard,” but Del. Mark Levine, D-Alexandria, said he is considering updating another “outdated” Virginia law next year. He’s considering changing the statute for keeping, residing in, or frequenting a bawdy place.
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** Advocates, Including Ex-Fairfax Staffer, Call for Updated Sexual Harassment Policy ([link removed])
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By BEN PAVIOUR, WCVE

Advocates for people who have been sexually assaulted held a press conference on Friday calling for lawmakers to strengthen the General Assembly’s sexual harassment policies. They connected their demands to two accusations of sexual assault levied against Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax last year. The women also called on Fairfax and a vocal defender, Sen. Joe Morrissey (D-Richmond), to apologize for attacking the accusers.
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** 'It was wrong what they did': Morrissey defends Fairfax ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Sen. Joe Morrissey, D-Richmond, is coming to the defense of Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who was accused last year of sexual assault by two women. Morrissey said Friday that Fairfax did not receive adequate due process after the women went public with the allegations in February 2019 as the state’s top three elected officials — Gov. Ralph Northam, Fairfax and Attorney General Mark Herring — were enveloped in scandal.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** Virginia game department pays $900,000 in settlement of fatal boating case ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has agreed to pay $900,000 to a Martinsville family over the alleged mishandling of a fatal boating accident on Smith Mountain Lake almost four years ago.


** TRANSPORTATION
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** I-66 tolls push more commuters into car pools or buses, report says ([link removed])
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By DANA HEDGPETH, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Car pools and commuter buses are a bit more common along a stretch of Interstate 66 after some drivers began paying tolls two years ago during peak commuting hours, according to a new report. The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission conducted the study to determine whether mass transit ridership and commuter behaviors have changed along the 10 miles of I-66 inside the Beltway.


** LOCAL
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** Portsmouth could vote to close city jail that judge ordered it to repair ([link removed])
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By MARGARET MATRAY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Months after a judge ruled Portsmouth could not condemn its downtown jail and had to repair it, City Council members are scheduled to vote Tuesday on a resolution ordering the city manager to close the 50-year-old building by August. Sheriff Michael Moore, who operates the jail and is responsible for inmates held there, said he had no advance notice of the resolution.
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** Norfolk’s Waterside District developer wants casino there, threatens lawsuit over one planned nearby ([link removed])
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By RYAN MURPHY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The company behind Norfolk’s Waterside District apparently wants to open a casino there, and it has threatened legal action against the city over Norfolk’s involvement with the Pamunkey Indian Tribe’s proposed casino, which would be less than a mile away. The Cordish Cos.’ first letter, dated January 13 and first reported by WAVY-TV, says the agreement it signed with the city in 2013 calls for Norfolk to help the company get government approvals to open a casino ...
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** Orndorff seeking mayoral reelection ([link removed])
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By DONALD LAMBERT, Northern Virginia Daily

Mayor Rich Orndorff Jr. announced Wednesday that he will seek reelection in the upcoming May election, despite ongoing legal troubles..... He stands charged in Shenandoah County Circuit Court with one count of driving under the influence, a second offense within five years of a previous conviction of the same offense. The charge stems from a May 17 incident in which authorities accuse the mayor of driving an all-terrain vehicle on U.S. 11 while intoxicated after the town’s annual Mayfest event concluded. The vehicle crashed into the Strasburg Community Library and Orndorff suffered injuries that left him hospitalized for roughly eight weeks.

Today's Sponsor:


** Hefty Wiley & Gore
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Representing Virginia localities and providing state government relations services since 1994.


** EDITORIALS
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** When everyone has an electric car, how will we pay for roads? ([link removed])
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Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Virginia legislators have been arguing over whether and how often to require vehicle inspections. The current law calls for every year. Gov. Ralph Northam had called for eliminating them entirely, which put the Democratic governor on the same side as two Roanoke County Republicans — state Sen. David Suetterlein and Del. Joe McNamara, who have also proposed their abolition. Now it looks like they’ll stay.


** COLUMNISTS
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** Schapiro: An accelerating - and historic - departure on road financing ([link removed])
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By JEFF E. SCHAPIRO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Access to this article limited to subscribers)

Doug Fugate, the chief engineer and, later, head of the state highway department who worked for the agency nearly 50 years, used to say road-building was a way “to lift Virginia out of the mud.” Asphalt, as a path to prosperity — particularly in the countryside — demanded a highly centralized approach to transportation planning. And Fugate, who died in 1988, came to symbolize it.


** OP-ED
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** McAuliffe: School meal access central to Dr. Bishop's legacy ([link removed])
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By DOROTHY MCAULIFFE, published in Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

When Dr. Rita Bishop retires as the superintendent of Roanoke City Schools at the end of this school year, she leaves a legacy rich in academic success. Her credentials on that score are well documented and well deserved. She would be the first to tell you, though, that these achievements are inextricable from the reforms she put in place to help address the needs of the whole child.

McAuliffe is chair of No Kid Hungry Virginia and former first lady of Virginia.
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