RICHMOND – During the final hours of Wednesday’s reconvened session, the General Assembly approved a state budget that boosts funding for Virginia’s public schools next year.

Legislators considered changes that Gov. Bob McDonnell wanted them to make to House Bill 1500, which lays out the state budget for the 2013-14 biennium. The assembly had passed the bill in February, but McDonnell recommended 52 amendments.

The House and Senate approved most of the governor’s recommendations, including three that provided $2.35 million in additional funds for education.

For example, the General Assembly adopted McDonnell’s recommendation to add $2 million to his Strategic Compensation Grant initiative, increasing that pool of money to $7.5 million for next year. The governor said the additional funding “will allow more school divisions to participate in this program, which rewards effective teaching.”

The initiative allows school districts to provide additional compensation to teachers who take jobs at more challenging schools and help students succeed academically.

Legislators also approved McDonnell’s request to boost funding for the Virginia Community College System by $100,000 next year. The additional money will help develop the Governor’s Academy for Student Apprenticeships and Trades. The academy will target high school students looking for full-time employment after graduation.

Besides helping high school students establish careers, the General Assembly also approved more funds for medical education.

As part of the state’s community development and revitalization efforts, the General Assembly approved McDonnell’s amendment for $250,000 to plan the construction of a medical college in Abingdon.

Delegate Joe Johnson, D-Abingdon, said he supports the amendment because the proposed medical facility will bring economic growth to less prosperous areas of Virginia.

“Southwest Virginia is the poor part of the state, so to speak; there’s not a lot of opportunities down there,” Johnson said before the House voted on the amendment Wednesday. Johnson said the facility will generate more than $100 million and about 500 jobs.

The General Assembly rejected two of McDonnell’s education-related budget amendments.

One would have provided $450,000 next year for the Opportunity Educational Institution, a new state-level unit to oversee public schools that have received accreditation warnings for three consecutive years.

Legislators also rejected McDonnell’s recommendation to award $1 million to the Hampton Roads Proton Beam Therapy Institute at Hampton University. The university is a private institution that has historically served African Americans.

“We ought to give the money to public institutions, not private institutions,” said Delegate Johnny Joannou, D-Portsmouth.

On the Web

You can explore the state budget for 2013-14 at http://lis.virginia.gov/131/bud/TOC1.HTM

RICHMOND – The Senate on Wednesday upheld Gov. Bob McDonnell’s veto of legislation to boost efforts to establish a tourist train between Tazewell County and Bramwell, W.Va.

In February, the House and Senate both passed Senate Bill 819 to revive the Tourist Train Development Authority that had been working on the project until the state shut it down in 2011. But McDonnell vetoed the bill, stating, “There has been no investment to procure a train to make this a reality.”

Sen. Phillip Puckett, D-Tazewell, had sponsored SB 891. He said he wasn’t sure what the governor meant. He said local officials in Southwest Virginia and neighboring West Virginia had been working earnestly on the project.

On Wednesday, the General Assembly convened for a one-day session to consider McDonnell’s vetoes. The Senate sustained the veto of SB 819, thus blocking the resurrection of the Tourist Train Development Authority.

The veto of the legislation disappointed Puckett.

Until it was disbanded a few years ago, he said, “The Tourist Train Authority had worked pretty hard and had worked with Mercer County (W.Va.) to try and make this happen.”

The authority was originally created in 2000 by the General Assembly to establish a tourist train between the town of Pocahontas in Tazewell County and the town of Bluefield, W.Va.

“Those are the two towns that were involved in the first mining of coal in Southwest Virginia,” Puckett said.

The authority’s goal wasn’t a piece of cake. Creating a tourist train involves dealing with various state and local governments as well as private donors. While dreams to establish a tourist train still haven’t been fulfilled, other things have been.

“We have gotten a walking trail in those two areas (Tazewell and Mercer counties) along the abandoned railroad area,” Puckett said.

He said the tourist train project was the victim of misunderstanding by McDonnell.

“A couple years ago, when Gov. McDonnell came into office, he was trying to downsize government a little bit. And he looked at a lot of commissions and authorities that didn’t seem to be needed, and the tourist train authority was one of those,” Puckett said.

“I think it was one of those issues they really didn’t have a full grasp of what we were trying to do.”

Puckett said he is disappointed that people from other parts of Virginia don’t seem to care about an issue like the Tourist Train Authority that is important to the state’s rural southwest region.

“It doesn’t matter to anyone else in the state really, doesn’t cost anyone else any money, and it only pertains to Tazewell County,” Puckett said. “And, of course, Mercer County would have benefited from it in the standpoint of working with Tazewell County to develop some form of tourism along the abandoned rail line.”

Despite the demise of SB 819, there’s still a glimmer of hope: Private organizations still are interested in establishing a tourist train and may continue to pursue the idea. In his veto message, McDonnell said he supports that alternative:

“It is my understanding the interested parties have continued to work toward this activity through private organizations. During my term as governor, we have worked to reduce the size and scope of government – especially when the private sector can achieve the same goals without government action.”

In March, the organization of VA Homeschoolers celebrated their 20th anniversary.

Paige Baxter and Allison Landry
Capital News Service

GLEN ALLEN – Interested and anxious parents and rambunctious and excited students packed the Cultural Arts Center last weekend to share a common interest: home schooling.

The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers celebrated its 20th anniversary while providing introductory information for interested attendees and a new perspective for home-schooling parents and students.

There are many reasons parents may choose to educate their child at home. They include:

• The ability to cater to individual interests
• Flexibility
• Issues with the public school system

More and more parents in Virginia are opting to home-school their children. The number of home-schoolers statewide (including those with religious exemptions) has risen from about 22,000 in 2002 to more than 32,000 last year. They represent about 2.5 percent of all school-age children in Virginia.

Home schooling can be daunting at first because it requires parents to shoulder a lot of responsibility, said Stephanie Elms, a board member of the organization, which goes by VaHomeschoolers.

She said the conference helps ease parents into home schooling. “It’s very reassuring to know that the people around you don’t think you’re crazy for making this choice.”

Elms held several introductory sessions throughout the conference. On Saturday, she addressed the legal concerns and paperwork requirements involved in beginning a home-schooling program. Despite what many people believe, meeting legal standards to begin homeschooling isn’t a tedious process, Elms said.

To begin home schooling, all parents must do is submit a letter, known as an “intent of notice,” to the superintendent of their school district. Then the parents have the right to remove their children from public school.

“Regardless of your child’s age or how you choose to file your paperwork, you can educate your child at any grade level or levels you choose, and you may use any curriculum you want,” Elms said.

Virginia’s homeschooling laws require parents to meet three requirements. They must:

• File an intent of notice annually with the local school division
• Test or evaluate the child annually
• If requested, provide proof of immunization

Elms said help is available in meeting these requirements. The VaHomeschoolers website provides assistance.

Among the vendors at the fair were not only home educators and VaHomeschoolers members but also authors and home-schooling program representatives.

Kay Anderson, an author and special education teacher in Gates County, N. C., presented her recently published book, “Self-Examination of Biblical Obedience, the ABCs of Understanding Scripture.” Although Anderson was not a home educator herself, she said she sees a “lack of ethics” in the public schools

“Knowing what I know now, having raised my children in public schools and then having taught in public school, I would have home-schooled all the way,” Anderson said. “I know the truth of what happens when kids are corrupted by their peers. We’re too blended now.”

On the Web

The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers has posted “A Comprehensive Guide to Homeschooling in Virginia” at http://vahomeschoolers.org/guide/

You also can see has Virginia compares with other states on home-schooling laws at http://vahomeschoolers.org/guide/law-comparison/

RICHMOND – Gov. Bob McDonnell has signed into law legislation to expand the list of prohibited chemicals used in making synthetic marijuana and other designer drugs.

McDonnell announced Wednesday that he had signed House Bill 1941, which included an emergency clause making it effective immediately.

In a statement, the governor said the new law “continues Virginia’s commitment to combating the spread of illegal drugs in the commonwealth and preserving the safety of our schools and neighborhoods and builds on legislative efforts earlier in my administration to combat drugs and punish drug dealers.”

HB 1941, introduced by Delegate T. Scott Garrett, R-Lynchburg, expands a law that the General Assembly passed in 2011. The 2011 law prohibited specific chemicals used in making synthetic cannabinoids, sold under such names as K2 and Spice, and “bath salts,” a hallucinogen popularized on the Internet.

Since then, McDonnell said that “manufacturers and sellers continue to develop and market chemical variations outside the list of prohibited substances. This has challenged state lawmakers to stay current with the continually emerging chemical variations of these substances that appear in the marketplace.”

The General Assembly added to the list of prohibited chemicals in 2012 and again this year.

“With the enactment of HB 1941, Virginia now bans nine classes of cannabimimetic agents, including 26 specific synthetic cannabinoids and 41 specified research chemical compounds,” McDonnell said.

Republican Delegates G. Manoli Loupassi of Richmond and Margaret Ransone of Kinsale joined Garrett in sponsoring the bill. It passed unanimously in both the House and Senate during the legislative session that ended last month.

“This legislation will help keep Virginians safe from these dangerous chemicals that are designed to profit at the expense of our children,” Garrett said.

Even as McDonnell signed HB 1941, he proposed adding more chemicals to the list of outlawed substances.

The governor noted that besides passing HB 1941, lawmakers also approved a similar Senate proposal – Senate Bill 1083, sponsored by Sen. Mark Herring, D-Leesburg. McDonnell said he will ask the General Assembly to modify SB 1083 when it reconvenes for a one-day session on April 3.

“Since the conclusion of the 2013 General Assembly Session, the Department of Forensic Science and law enforcement officials have worked together to identify five additional chemicals recently detected in evidence,” McDonnell said.

“To account for this recent development, I will be requesting amendments for SB 1083, patroned by Sen. Mark Herring, to include these new chemicals to the list of prohibited under the Code of Virginia.”

Synthetic cannabinoids are dried herbs that have been sprayed with a chemical compound that, when smoked, creates a high similar to marijuana, according to an analysis of the legislation by the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission. “Bath salts” are synthetic stimulants that mimic cocaine, LSD, MDMA (ecstasy) or methamphetamine.

The analysis noted that the penalties associated with those drugs can range from a fine or jail time (for possession of synthetic marijuana, a misdemeanor) to 30 years in prison (for manufacturing and distributing drugs, a major felony).

RICHMOND – Virginia schools must provide extra help to students in kindergarten and first and second grades who do poorly on diagnostic reading tests, under legislation that Gov. Bob McDonnell signed into law in recent weeks.

Schools already must offer reading intervention services to third-graders who demonstrate deficiencies on the state’s Standards of Learning reading test or other diagnostic measures. The new law, effective July 1, will add kindergarten and grades one and two to that requirement.

That is the result of McDonnell’s signing of two identical proposals that were passed overwhelmingly by the General Assembly during its recent session: House Bill 2068, sponsored by Delegate Jim LeMunyon, R-Oak Hill, and Senate Bill 1171, introduced by Sen. Harry Blevins, R-Chesapeake.

“For kids who are in kindergarten and first and second grade, what’s going to change for them is they’ll be able to get special reading assistance,” LeMunyon said. “So they would maybe be tutored sometime during the school day on reading by a reading specialist. Right now, that’s only happening in third grade.”

The new law also states: “Local school divisions shall report the results of the diagnostic tests to the Department of Education on an annual basis, at a time to be determined by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Each student who receives early intervention reading services will be assessed again at the end of that school year.”

State officials say there are indications that early intervention reading services already have improved student success among third-graders.

“In 2012, the General Assembly approved legislation proposed by Governor McDonnell that made the promotion of third graders who are not proficient in reading conditional on their receiving the remediation they need to improve their skills and read on grade level,” said Charles Pyle, director of communications for the Virginia Department of Education.

“While one year does not a trend make, the pass rate on the grade-three reading SOL test increased by two-and-a-half points last year.”

Reading intervention services include “special reading teachers; trained aides; volunteer tutors under the supervision of a certified teacher; computer-based reading tutorial programs; aides to instruct in-class groups while the teacher provides direct instruction to the students who need extra assistance; and extended instructional time in the school day or school year for these students,” according to the Virginia Department of Education’s website.

The new law will have little if any financial impact on the state, according to an analysis by the Virginia Department of Planning and Budget. It noted that it’s now optional for school districts to provide early intervention reading services in kindergarten and first and second grades. The state provides $18 million a year in matching funds for schools to offer such services.

LeMunyon said reading intervention services are a practical matter.

“The idea is that everybody can read at a third grade level by the time they’re finished third grade,” he said.

The co-sponsors of HB 2068 were Republican Delegates David Albo of Springfield, Scott Garrett of Lynchburg, Rick Morris of Carrollton, Roxann Robinson of Chesterfield, Thomas Rust of Herndon, and Ronald Villanueva of Virginia Beach.

Sen. Frank Ruff, R-Clarksville, joined Blevins in sponsoring the companion bill, SB 1171.

Reading intervention isn’t the only service mandated by the new law.

It also requires schools to “provide algebra readiness intervention services to students in grades six through nine who are at risk of failing the Algebra I end-of-course test, as demonstrated by their individual performance on any diagnostic test that has been approved by the Department of Education.”

Currently, algebra readiness intervention services are optional. The state provides about $11 million a year as its share of the cost to fund these services in grades seven and eight.

The new law will ensure that all students struggling with algebra in grades six through nine will get help.

“What we’re going to do is, if someone looks like they’re not doing well in algebra maybe in seventh grade, they’ll get that same small-group or one-on-one assistance to help them out, so that they don’t find out at the end of the class they’re not going to pass,” LeMunyon said.

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RICHMOND – A tourist train soon could be chugging its way through historic and scenic Tazewell County and across the state line to Bramwell, W.Va.

During its recently concluded session, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation to create a Tourist Train Development Authority to pursue the project.

The nine-member authority would have representatives from the governing bodies of Tazewell County and the towns of Bluefield and Pocahontas; four Tazewell County citizens; and two legislators.

The new agency would have the power to enter contracts, borrow money, accept contributions and grants, and work with private and governmental entities in both Virginia and West Virginia in developing a tourist train. The plan is to work with Mercer County, W.Va., to seek funding for the project.

Tom Childress, a member of the Tazewell County Tourism Committee, has been involved with the tourist train idea since its inception many years ago. He said the train could have a positive economic influence on southwestern Virginia.

“We need some kind of economic stimulus,” Childress said.

He noted that in its heyday, Pocahontas was a thriving coal mining community and headquarters of coal companies. But now, Childress said, the “coal business is gone.” In the 2010 census, Pocahontas’ population was a mere 389. (It was 441 a decade earlier.)

“Our only future is our past,” Childress said.

He said a lot of history involving Pocahontas and Bramwell would appeal to tourists.

“We’re on the National Register of Historical Places, and the Pocahontas Exhibition Mine is a national historic landmark,” Childress said.

“This tourist train would run from Pocahontas across state lines to Bramwell, W.Va.. And Bramwell is the home of the original coal operators – the entrepreneurs who developed the mines and made the money. There are a number of mansions down there that are well-preserved, and it’s called the ‘millionaires’ town.’

“We could retell the story of coal in regard to the industrial development of the United States.”

Virginia actually had a Tourist Train Development Authority in the past. But it was eliminated when Gov. Bob McDonnell took office and urged legislators to remove various dormant state board and commissions.

The Tourist Train Development Authority would be re-created by Senate Bill 819, which was proposed this legislative session by Sen. Phillip Puckett, D-Tazewell. The bill was approved by a vote of 35-5 in the Senate and 59-38 in the House.

McDonnell still must sign the bill for it to become law.

If McDonnell is “on board,” the development authority’s nine members could be appointed as earlier as July. The governor would appoint one member of the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors, one member of the Bluefield Town Council, one member of the Pocahontas Town Council and four citizens who aren’t affiliated with any governmental body.

The authority’s governing board also would include Delegate James “Will” Morefield, R-North Tazewell, and Sen. Puckett. They represent Tazewell County in the General Assembly. Both supported SB 819.

Members of the board will receive no compensation. But they will hire an executive director who will help make the tourist train a reality.

Similar signs of support have taken shape across the state line in West Virginia. A nonprofit group called the Bluestone Junction Tourist Train Inc. has been formed in Bramwell and has backing from the West Virginia Legislature.

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RICHMOND – Parents of Virginia public school students will be given educational information about eating disorders under a bill passed by the General Assembly.

House Bill 1406 was proposed by Delegate Richard P. Bell, R-Staunton, and co-sponsored by Delegates Mark Keam, D-Vienna, and Kaye Kory, D-Falls Church.

Both the House and Senate unanimously approved HB 1406, which requires each school board in Virginia to “annually provide parent educational information regarding eating disorders for pupils in grades five through 12.” The bill is awaiting Gov. Bob McDonnell’s signature.

The bill lets school boards decide if they want to develop an optional eating disorder screening program. The screenings are not medical or physical but would identify risky behaviors that might lead to eating disorders.

The original version of House Bill 1406 required schools to develop screening programs for eating disorders instead of making such programs optional.

The legislation will give parents guidelines that describe the signs of eating disorders to look for in their children. Parents also will be told where they can get treatment or other help if they see that their child is at risk for or suffering from an eating disorder.

The Virginia Department of Education will work with the Virginia Department of Health to develop information and policies on providing parents with correct information about eating disorders.

The agencies will draw from medical experts such as the National Eating Disorders Association, Virginia Association of School Nurses, Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and Virginia Academy of Family Physicians.

RICHMOND – Negotiators from both the House and Senate came to an agreement Wednesday on a transportation plan that, if passed, will be the first major transportation overhaul in Virginia since 1986.

“This is a huge moment for Virginia,” said Sen. Frank W. Wagner (R-Virginia Beach), one of the conference committee members. “We are on the cusp of bringing home real and lasting transportation solutions that will move Virginia forward now and in the future.”

The transportation compromise, which was hammered out by a 10-member conference committee over the past week, would potentially raise close to $900 million a year in transportation revenue.

The plan greatly reduces the gas tax by replacing the current 17.5 cent per gallon tax with a 3.5 percent wholesale gas tax. The tax on diesel would be 6 percent.

Although McDonnell had initially proposed eliminating the gas tax altogether, he expressed satisfaction with this substantial cut.

“When we launched our effort to fix transportation, we called for decreasing Virginia’s reliance on the steadily decreasing transportation revenue source of the gas tax. The plan agreed to today achieves that goal.”

According to McDonnell, the new plan would reduce the cost that Virginians pay at the pump by an estimated 6 cents per gallon. This would add up to almost $272 million per year saved by motorists.

The plan compensates for the decrease in gas tax revenue by proposing to raise the state’s sales tax from the current 5 percent to 5.3 percent.

“Tying transportation funding to a tax that every Virginian pays is a common-sense move,” McDonnell said. “In addition, the sales tax is a less regressive tax than the gas tax.”

According to Del. Beverly Sherwood (R-Frederick), this will help relieve the burden on families in rural areas who are affected by the gas tax.

“By reducing and replacing the current gas tax with a wholesale tax, we will reduce the gas tax burden on Virginia families,” Sherwood said. “This plan addresses the long-term needs of both rural and suburban areas of the Commonwealth without unfairly increasing the burden on Virginia families.”

The negotiators also agreed to devote 0.675 percent of general funds to transportation revenue. Although this number is lower than the 0.75 percent McDonnell and the House of Delegate’s proposed, it is significantly larger than the 0.55 percent the Senate proposed in its previous version of the transportation overhaul plan.

Del. Onzlee Ware (D-Roanoke), the only Democratic delegate on the conference committee, said the reason for the Senate’s original proposal of 0.55 percent was due to concerns among Democrats that dedicating large amounts of the general fund to transportation would hurt other areas of government.

“Throughout this process, it has been important to our party to develop a long term solution that generates enough revenue to adequately address our needs without stripping funding to other core government services,” said Del. Onzlee Ware (D-Roanoke).

Governor McDonnell stated, however, that transportation was vital to the prosperity of Virginia and deserved to be given priority.

“Transportation must be treated like a core function of government, and it must share in our growth in general fund revenues to a greater extent than currently structured,” he said.

Throughout the session, the proposal of imposing new tolls within the state of Virginia has been at the center of the transportation debate. Although reports have stated that restrictions on imposing new tolls are included in the conference report, specific language has not been announced yet.

The conference committee’s 98-page compromise now has to gain approval from both the House and the Senate before it can be signed into law by Governor McDonnell. With only two days left of the General Assembly’s session, legislators will be cutting it close to pass the transportation bill this session.

“This is a moment to find common ground and get results for the people of Virginia,” McDonnell said. “It is why they sent us here. Not to argue and posture, but to cooperate and solve problems.”

Gov. Bob McDonnell on Wednesday approved a bill to extend the 30-cents-per-100-pound excise tax on peanuts until July 1, 2016.

McDonnell signed House Bill 1320, which keeps the tax from reverting to 15 cents per 100 pounds on July 1. The tax generates more than $100,000 a year to fund the Virginia Peanut Board, which promotes the sale of peanuts grown in the state.

The Virginia Peanut Growers Association supported legislation to keep the tax at 30 cents, as it has been since 2010.

HB1320 was proposed by Delegate Rick Morris (R-Carrollton) and co-sponsored by Delegate Roslyn Tyler (D-Jarratt). It had been approved 87-0 by the House on Jan. 21st and 34-6 by the Senate on Feb. 7th.

Sen. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) introduced an identical measure – Senate Bill 698. It also has been passed by both chambers of the General Assembly: on a 37-3 vote in the Senate on Jan. 16th and then on a 97-0 vote in the House on Feb. 8th.

Peanuts are one of the top farm commodities in Virginia. According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, Virginia’s peanut producers harvested 84 million pounds of peanuts last year, up 37 percent from 2011.

The peanut excise tax is levied on peanuts grown in and sold in Virginia for processing. The tax is paid by the processors – companies, cooperatives and other entities that clean, shell or crush peanuts.