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February 16, 2009 - Planning Time Bill Amended for the good and reported, Stimulus funds from DC prevent total melt-down of state budget

In a startling turn of events, Del. Hugo's elementary planning time bill HB2474 was amended and unanimously reported by the Senate Committee on Education and Health's Public Education Subcommittee.  The bill had not been on the published docket, and Delegate Hugo received a patron's notification for a later date.  At meeting's end, Senator Blevins asked me why Hugo had not attended as they would have taken up the bill.  When I indicated that it had not been on the docket, Blevins asked staff about it.  The Committee clerk said it had been added after initial publication of the docket.  Blevins called Hugo, who came down to present his bill to the reconvened committee.

Hugo presented the bill effectively.  VEA offered testimony in support of the bill as did VAESP.  VASS spoke against the bill.

Senator Howell moved to strip the crippling House amendments from the bill, and her motion passed on a unanimous vote.  Senator Locke moved to report the bill, and the vote was unanimous!  We can thank Senators Howell, Locke, J. Miller, Ruff and Chairman Blevins for their support.

The bill will now go to full committee most likely on Thursday morning.

Please follow the link below and personalize the pre-prepared letter to your Senator on this issue:

http://capwiz.com/nea/va/issues/alert/?alertid=12677066&type=ST

We need letters!  Urge your colleagues to write as well.

The funds from Obama's American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act (AERRA) of 2009 may well save the jobs of many educators across Virginia.

The economic news today went like this:  The hole in the State Budget grew by
$.8 billion  The state gets $.8 billion from AERRA for Medicaid.  So we broke even there.  Now the good news - there is $.9 billion for K-12 and Higher Education.  The days ahead will tell how these funds will be used in Virginia, but VEA will first and foremost try to urge lawmakers to use it to prevent job losses among teachers and support personnel.