These days it’s not particularly shocking to hear that someone has fallen on hard times, especially if the primary bread-winner is ill.  But the State Corporation Commission is advising residents of a new law that could give a number of those who are struggling a little extra time to make ends meet.

State Corporation Commission spokesman Ken Schrad says utilities were allowed to cut the source of heat, water, and essential appliances 10 days after a notice was sent, although some did grant exceptions. The new state law establishes a 30-day exception—but only for people with a serious medical condition who can prove it.

“Keep in mind, they still owe the electric company or the water company, and there’s still a threat of service being cut off. It’s just a matter of getting additional time before that final act occurs.  Under the rule adopted by the commission, a customer can only use this provision twice in any 12-month period. So basically you have two opportunities to take advantage of this rule over the course of one year,” says Shrad.

— Tommie McNeil

The Board of Trustees of the Virginia Retirement System has once again set the level of funding that it estimates will be needed to pay into the state pension fund.

Virginia Education Association members say as the General Assembly crunches VRS numbers, it will seek ways to cut costs—and sometimes that’s been on the backs of teachers who’ve already made sacrifices. Bea Moss and other retirees say discussion of teachers paying into a 401k-type plan is unacceptable, especially given stock market downturns.

“We earn low wages for those with our level education. There’s no profit sharing, no stock purchase plan, but we are promised some dignity in retirement. The time has come to stop short changing VRS and to honor the commitment of those who have given their commitment to the students of this Commonwealth,” says Moss.

Some say another key issue is that defined benefit plans are documented to be an important tool to attract and retain a quality public sector workforce —and public employees oppose switching to defined contribution plans.

— Tommie McNeil

The state’s second annual conference on energy has wrapped up, as Governor McDonnell promotes more diverse energy sources for the Commonwealth

The Governor’s Senior Advisor on Energy, Maureen Matsen, says three very different energy company leaders— Dominion Resources’ Tom Farrell, Duke Energy’s Jim Rogers, and NRG’s David Crane—provided distinct insights. Some think the leading emerging technology may be either solar panels or electric cars, but they all agreed that the state can not move forward without traditional energy.

“I think that all three of them agreed that nuclear is a critical component of our base energy assets. That’s efficient base load that we’re going to need for the future. That coal is certainly is still a large part of what we do–we can’t keep the lights on without it. And natural gas–it was interesting–Jim Rogers isn’t sure that it’s a game changer, but others are quite sure that it’s a game changer,” said Matsen.

Dominion, the state’s largest energy provider, is diversifying its resources—but says all forms of energy will be needed to keep up with surging demand. Matsen adds that state leaders are working to make Virginia the East Coast leader in wind energy—and consulting with other countries to ensure that coastal wind power is more efficient than other projects nationwide.

State employees have accumulated hundreds of millions of dollars in unused leave and Virginia policymakers say the potential unfunded liability is enormous.  That’s because many state workers can cash out their unused vacation and sick days when they retire and that number is expected to surge as Baby Boomers leave the workforce.

Efforts are underway to overhaul the 60-year-old system.     In addition to vacation and sick leave, there are now more than 20 time-off alternatives, including community service and family illness.  But Human Resources Management Director Sara Wilson said the complex rules vary among workers. “Whether it was tenure-based, look at the different ways we provide leave.  It’s credited, accrued, earned—the different categories.  And some you can carry over, some you can’t, some have a leave year, some have a fiscal year, some have a rolling calendar year,” says Wilson.

Wilson led a study of potential changes to make the system more simple and flexible.  They include freezing old leave balances, capping paid time-off, and combining classifications into all-purpose leave that would be used or lost.  Delegate Joe May said that merits more study.  His own informal survey suggested that some abuse sick leave.  “I concluded that if you were over 50 and married, you were five times healthier than if you were under 30 and single,” says May.

Lawmakers have not yet endorsed any plan but agree there must be reforms.

–Anne Marie Morgan

Concern over patient access to certain chemotherapy drugs has prompted the Joint Commission on Health Care to research costs and cancer treatment trends in the Commonwealth.  The commission has found a disparity in insurance coverage … and is weighing whether a new mandate might be necessary.

With more than 30,000 cancer cases diagnosed in Virginia each year, treatment regimens may include oral or intravenously administered chemotherapy, or both.  But Delegate Chris Peace said a constituent told him about an unexpected problem.

“His wife had been offered IV treatment and then ultimately the oral chemotherapy treatment. She developed a tremendous rash and other complications from the IV medications. There were some considerable benefits to the oral.  What they found was that the oral was much more expensive because the coverage was different,” explained Peace.

One study found that average out-of-pocket expenses for oral chemotherapy drugs were more than $2900 per month.  And one in six cancer patients with high out-of-pocket costs fails to take the medicine as prescribed. The commission’s report said one reason for the disparity is that many insurers count IV treatments as a medical benefit and oral drugs as a pharmacy benefit.  The panel said legislation requiring parity may be an option.

–Anne Marie Morgan

While large corporations are more than welcome to set up shop in Virginia, Governor McDonnell told a gathering of small business leaders that they are not being overlooked, especially since they provide the majority of jobs within the Commonwealth and the U.S.

But he also said at the first Governor’s Small Business Summit that the legislature cannot do it alone. He’s asking these business leaders to devise plans and innovative ways to become world-class local and global competitors.

The Governor said the state wants to cultivate a positive environment where businesses can prosper, expand, and hire Virginians. He also expressed how he feels about the “Occupy Wall Street” protests around the state and country.

“It’s sort of disappointing to see some people that have points to make and are free to make them, but camping out in the parks and protesting against business. Well, that’s what creates jobs. And I want people in Virginia to know that we’re pleased with our businesses coming here and investing and creating opportunities.”

McDonnell said that while Washington may not be listening to the needs of the people, Virginia lawmakers are, and he believes the entrepreneurs who head smaller businesses in Virginia are the same type of visionaries who created Microsoft and Apple. He believes that the thousands of U.S. regulations are preventing those companies from expanding. Although the Governor supports the creation of higher paying technology jobs, he would like to see a resurgence of manufacturing jobs here.

-by Tommie McNeil

This week, the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis released a report that reveals a wage gap between Virginia’s top and lowest earners.  It stressed that the top tier of earners experienced more wage growth recently than the lowest tier in the past 30 years.  But the study also defines clear trends and suggests what could be done to address them.

The Institute’s Michael Cassidy says several factors lead to the disparity, including job sectors.  Areas such as accommodations, tourism, and food service still pay much less than others that do not require a college degree.   “We’ve also seen a real decimation of the middle income jobs in our economy. So, sectors like construction and manufacturing have seen among the highest employment losses since the recession,” says Cassidy.

And he says while those with at least bachelors degrees often see higher wage gains than those without, it’s not the only factor.

“Just having more folks in the economy with a college degree doesn’t necessarily mean that there are going to be jobs there for them. Here in Virginia we’ve seen that in the recent years, that has certainly been the case.”   Cassidy says policymakers must find ways to promote workforce training in sectors that are growing, such as healthcare.  But he says state officials also must discover ways to boost demand for products and services that businesses provide–to make hiring and higher wages possible.

–Tommie McNeil

With Virginia set to add another 400,0000 Medicaid recipients in a few years due to a federal mandate, the General Assembly asked its investigative agency to find out why the program has been making millions of dollars in improper payments.  The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission found that most of the mistakes seem to originate in local social services agencies.

Medicaid is the largest program in the state budget, and it often grows by double digits each cycle… making mistakes costly.  The improper payments could be provider or recipient fraud, errors, or intentional abuse.  JLARC Project Leader Ashley Colvin said 20% of Medicaid cases had errors.  “Some improper payments were prevented through pre-payment reviews, fraud resulted in few improper payments, and the most costly improper payments appear to result from agency errors made during the process of enrolling recipients.”

Colvin said the mistakes’ budget impact may be enormous. “The greatest financial risk to the state comes from eligibility errors made by local departments of social services. But our analysis of federal data indicate that improper payments are estimated to have occurred in a range from $18 million to $263 million in federal fiscal year 2009.”

According to Colvin, the dollar range was wide since some recipients may have been eligible, but the paperwork could not prove it.  Better training of caseworkers and replacing outdated software were two JLARC proposals to mitigate errors.

— Anne Marie Morgan

The availability, costs, and practices of medical care vary significantly across Virginia, so a legislative subcommittee is examining whether a database that aggregates statewide information could help improve the state’s health care delivery system.

Twelve states have all-payer claims databases, which gather medical, pharmacy, and dental claims from private and public payers, including insurers and Medicaid.  Delegate —and Doctor— John O’Bannon chairs the Health Care panel that’s exploring the idea.

“The whole goal of this is to begin to measure things across various systems, tests, or procedures across providers to see if we can get begin to get a handle on some of the things that are driving up the costs of care—but more importantly, to focus on the quality side to make care better,” says Dr. O’Bannon.

O’Bannon said the data could answer many questions, such as which diagnostic tests are used, outcomes of different treatments, which providers cost more, who uses emergency rooms, or how clinical guidelines are met.  He envisions that everyone, including communities and businesses, could use the data.  He says to protect privacy, names would not be collected.

–Anne Marie Morgan

There’s a lesson to be learned for those who say that Virginia is still fighting the Civil War.  It comes straight from the halls of the State Capitol—which was once the Confederate capital—to mark the War’s sesquicentennial.  The bronze statue is called “Brothers” …and it symbolizes how amidst opposing views and divisive issues, it’s how they’re resolved that makes the nation great.

The life-sized statue depicts two brothers: the older Confederate—poor, weathered, and battled-torn—and the younger Yankee—recently recruited and supplied.  On a field of battle, they have set aside their arms and fallen to their knees embracing.  One faces the sky as if thanking his Maker for the chance to make amends.

“After the Civil War was finished, Southerners began to organize into camps–United Confederate Veterans and they would establish camps in different cities. Likewise, the Union Veterans would associated together in Grand Army of the Republic posts that began dawning the landscape. And what I can’t help but notice, is that by the 1890’s when Civil War veterans were holding various reunions, they began to invite their counterparts to the same reunions,” says State Capitol Historian Mark Greenough.

The statue is the work of nationally recognized sculptor Gary Casteel … but was donated by an anonymous Virginian.

–Tommie McNeil

People seem to either love or hate timeshares—and although some say their timeshares have paid for themselves many times over, others find the costly maintenance fees or unfulfilled promises of amenities burdensome.  A large number of Virginians have tried to unload their properties but found that they could not.

At first, Delegate John Cosgrove thought of legislation to allow owners to divest themselves of their timeshares, but the state constitution forbids it. So now he’s trying a new approach to help those with problems. “Basically, there are some really unscrupulous groups out there saying, ‘We’ll sell your timeshares, send us 500-bucks,’ and you never hear from them again. Luckily, I haven’t fallen victim to that scam, but a lot of people have.”

His proposed bill does not solve all problems entirely.  “But what it does do–it looks forward so that when people sell timeshares they must disclose on a separate piece of paper in larger print that you can’t buy a timeshare as an investment—that resale is very difficult. That once you buy it, it’s for your personal use and, you’re pretty much stuck with it,” says Cosgrove.

It also requires companies that resell timeshare weeks to comply with stronger regulations to do business in Virginia, including describing their costs and consumer benefits.  But those who feel cheated will still have to take a timeshare developer to court, and Cosgrove says there have been many such lawsuits in Virginia.

–Tommie McNeil

With the election only a month away, the campaigns for all 140 House of Delegates and Virginia Senate seats have kicked into high gear.  Dozens of seats are uncontested, but the stakes are especially high in one chamber of the General Assembly.

 A number of long-time incumbents are defending their seats.  But the Senate is more competitive than the House, with the two major parties vying for control.  State Election Services Assistant Manager Matt Abell says the Senate has only 14 uncontested seats.  “That leaves 26 contested races of the 40.  Twenty-four of the 26 are contested between the major parties—the Republican and Democratic candidates.”

The House has only 37 contested seats, with 27 between the major parties. The rest have Independents, Libertarians, or Independent Greens on the ballot.  But Abell says the number of competitive House races has recently declined. “In 2007, there were 59 uncontested House of Delegate races. That dropped to 32 in 2009.  And now in 2011, we’re up to 63 uncontested races,” he says.

Virginia will also hold local elections, including those for constitutional officers, supervisors, and school boards.
–Anne Marie Morgan

Many consumers don’t know this, but the State Corporation Commission has very extensive shoppers’ guides on buying various types of insurance.

Given the ease of shopping via the Internet, the SCC says it is  imperative to know the best practices.

Surprisingly, the SCC lists the top 50 insurance carriers statewide.  Although there are a handful of well-known insurers, many more exist, including some that do not have great reputations and offer bargains that turn out not to be so good. The SCC’s Rick Wright says his agency recommends that consumers shop their insurance periodically, even if they’re satisfied.

“What we recommend though is that insurance, when you’re shopping for insurance, you start out with an apples to apples quote. Have your own policy in hand and make sure that whoever you’re dealing with is quoting the same coverage that you’ve got on your existing policy,” says Wright. “And that way, you’ve got a fair measure to go by whether or not you’re getting a better deal or not.”

But Wright says a cheaper deal is not a better deal if consumers do not get equal or better coverage. He says one essential part of auto insurance is the maximum liability coverage paid to each person in a vehicle if you are at fault. The person who’s liable must pay for everything that the insurer does not pay, which can cause financial ruin due to one fender bender. Wright also suggests shopping for umbrella policies that extend the automotive coverage; they are typically less expensive than traditional ones.

-by Tommie McNeil

A project that’s a hobby of a Virginia Web developer will soon be made public. It will enable citizens who are not attorneys to find and understand the Commonwealth’s laws.

The goal is to make statutes that appear to be perplexing more interesting and user-friendly.

The Website is the brainchild of Waldo Jaquith, the Web Developer for the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. Jaquith wants citizens to be able to access and comprehend state laws free of charge whenever they need to do so. He told the Virginia Code Commission, which works to update state laws, that the Commonwealth’s current Website is confusing. Jaquith said the laws are more useful when cross-referenced with context.

“I want to take the state Code to connect it with Court decisions, Attorney General opinions, scholarly publications, bills that have been or currently are before the General Assembly that propose to modify the state Code, Legal Aid Societies, legal self-help guides, you name it. Iif we can tie it back to the Code I want to do it in one place on one Website.”

The site also refers to each law’s history and will be automatically updated.  It is in the final testing phase and will soon be officially rolled out.  Jaquith has received a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to develop similar sites for other states.

-by Anne Marie Morgan

At least 17.6% of Virginia’s unemployment benefits during the last three years were paid in error.  That’s according to the U.S. Labor Department … which has targeted the Commonwealth and a handful of other states for special monitoring in an effort to decrease the rate of mistakes.  85% of the overpayments were caused by three errors.
The 3-year total of overpayments was $434-million.  11% of claimants collected benefits after going back to work. 12% were paid before notice was received that their work separation made them ineligible.  62% were paid even though it could not be validated that they met work-search requirements.

Attorney General Ken Cuccinnelli said his office will be advising the Employment Commission about the problem. But he adds that employers had to pay higher taxes to the state trust fund after it was depleted last year. “ We do have businesses that are strained.  They’re struggling to keep on the black side of the ledger versus  the red side of the ledger.  And if we can keep their tax rate from rate from artificially rising—improperly rising—we’ll leave them with more assets to grow, to invest, and to create more jobs,” said Cuccinnelli.

The state budget had to include funds this year to repay interest on federal loans given to keep paying jobless benefits.  The state does try to recover improper payments, but it’s now required to submit a strategic plan and be monitored until the error rate falls below 10%.

–Anne Marie Morgan

One of the key strategies in incarcerating criminals is rehabilitating them while they’re in prison so that they can become more productive citizens upon their release.  However, statistics show that many re-offend … and say they returned to their former lives because they can’t reintegrate into society.  But  a state Prisoner Re-Entry Policy group led by the Secretary of Public Safety says it will propose a plan that could help reduce those recidivism rates.

Chief Deputy Superintendent at the Virginia Department of Correctional Education Drew Malloy says many proposals will not only make prisoners useful upon release, but while they’re in prison. One of his department’s cost-savers is a commercial drivers’ license program, which will help low-risk offenders find work upon release, but also allow them to be delivery drivers for the DOC for a lower cost than outside contractors. Malloy says they’ve also been concerned about younger offenders.

“The fact is we want the juvenile offenders to come back into the communities so that they can go right back into their old schools if possible, or at least back into their communities with a G.E.D. or a high school diploma, and some cases, post-secondary work already, because we do have community college programs,” says Malloy.

The group will also propose providing housing for youth and adult ex-offenders …and allowing working inmates to deposit some of their wages into accounts that they will have upon release.  Another measure would map what each prisoner should do during each stage of incarceration before reentering society.

–Tommie McNeil

Participants from 14 states and the District of Columbia convened in Richmond for the “Northeast Family Strengthening Conference” hosted by several Virginia state agencies.  The programs focused on strategies to build positive family relationships, increase financial assets, improve workforce development, and other best practices.  State officials believe a holistic approach could significantly decrease the number of poor and fragile families.

Using federal data, the speakers drew a correlation between higher poverty rates and fractured families … which they said increases dependence on the public sector.  “Virginia families that are headed by women have a 31% chance of experiencing poverty, while families that consist of married couples have only a 4% chance,  says Lietenant Governor Bill Bolling.

The cost for child support cases and many social services—is nearly $2.4 billion in Virginia per year.  “Children who are raised by single parents are at greater risk of dropping out of school.  They’re at greater risk for teenage pregnancy, juvenile delinquency, living in poverty, and experiencing health, emotional, and behavioral problems,” says Bolling.

Children living with one parent with an unmarried partner had the highest rates of abuse.  A new state initiative is developing multi-prong strategies that include reducing non-marital births, connecting fathers with children, and increasing household income through innovative policies.

–Anne Marie Morgan

Virginia is in an unusual position of having to ask the federal government for disaster assistance as result of four natural disasters occurring back-to-back.  But  even if FEMA denies some claims, the Commonwealth will still have to rebuild and find funding to help repair the damage.

FEMA already denied assistance for the tornadoes in May, but has granted SOME funding for the earthquake, Hurricane Irene, and Tropical Storm Lee.  Virginia Department of Emergency Management Director Michael Cline told the Senate Finance Committee that the earthquake alone caused $14-million in damage.

Cline says it remains to be seen if FEMA will provide funds for other claims.  He said some state costs were mitigated because for the first time, the primary flooding areas had flood insurance.  Additional damages include $87 million  to private property, $130 million  to agriculture, and $52 million in local government costs.

–Tommie McNeil

Futurologists predicted this day was coming—when children would no longer spend their days in school learning … but work instead in the comfort of their own homes using the latest innovations.  But Virginia is still laying the groundwork to make that a reality, and the Senate Finance Committee is examining the cost-effectiveness of virtual schools and how they can provide high-quality education to students.

While several states have adopted Virtual Schools, none has totally submerged its students in a world with no school walls or daily interactions with teachers and others.  Allison Powell, the Vice-President for the International Association for K-12 Learning, admits that each state and local jurisdiction will have different needs.  States would need universal rules for full implementation and some regions may still have funding challenges based on the variety of schools and courses they offer.

“You do still have the administrative piece of running a school, the instruction is a little bit different, they’re not necessarily using textbooks. Some of these companies do ship out boxes of books and videos, and science kits, and all that kind of stuff as well, so the kid isn’t in these full time programs sitting in front of a computer for eight hours a day,” she says.

Powell says many costs are similar to brick and mortar schools ….but without transportation or building expenses. She says another benefit is providing students with alternative teaching methods designed to keep their attention and use individual learning styles.

–Tommie McNeil

Ahead of a hearing and vote in Congress on the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulatory policy-making, a group of environmental activists has released a report that details the effects of smog on the Commonwealth. The pending action by Congress could ease EPA regulations.  The group says the legislation would allow big industrial companies to further contaminate the environment.

Near House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s district, the activists and state Delegate Jennifer McClellan urged Virginia’s Congressional delegation to vote against the TRAIN Act, which is spearheaded by Cantor.  They say his district and other parts of the state rank among the highest in smog pollution nationwide.

Environment Virginia’s Caroline Kory adds that while the Act’s supporters say EPA regulations hinder job creation, industry leaders ignore data suggesting that those businesses contribute to a decline in health.  She says it costs less to address pollution now before the problem gets worse.  Delegate McClellan rebuts the claim that regulations harm jobs.  She says there’s a nexus between the environment and jobs … such as when cleaner natural resources attract tourists—thus helping that industry.

–Tommie McNeil

Virginians who were members of criminal street gangs share their riveting stories in a new documentary produced by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.  “The Big Lie” exposes the methods that gangs use to convince children to join their ranks …but also describes the dangerous lifestyle of gangs and the distress of life in prison.

The goal is to prevent children and teens from being lured into a gang’s trap.

The DVD also features resistance strtegies—and will be available through schools and the Attorney General’s office.

–Anne Marie Morgan

Virginia’s General Fund revenues rose in August … bringing the total year-to-date increase in tax collections to 8.8 %.  That’s ahead of the annual forecast of 3.7%  growth.  But state officials are nevertheless urging fiscal caution as lawmakers begin planning for the new biennial budget.

Finance Secretary Ric Brown’s testimony before the House Appropriations panel could be summed up in one sentence.
“Let me say that the news I bring to you for the first couple of months is good, but I would like to see it continue, I’m not sure that it will.”

Brown said the recent revenue increase was driven mainly by individual income taxes—which provide two-thirds of general fund revenue.

Receipts in recordation taxes also rose, but declined in other major sources.  For example, corporate income tax collections were down  $2.8 million for the fiscal year—compared to $8.4 million last year.  But Brown said he hoped sales tax receipts that were below the forecast did not signal a tipping point.

 “The concern here is that normally you would see weakness in sales tax before you see it in withholding— weakness in demand. And then as employers start to layoff or cut back in the face of weaker demand, you see some tail-off on withholding,” he said.

Brown also said national indicators suggest a slowdown in economic growth … with now a 40%  probability of a double-dip recession.

–Anne Marie Morgan

In honor of Constitution Week, Virginia’s rare copy of the U.S. Bill of Rights was on public display today at the Library of Virginia.  The story behind it reveals that the Commonwealth played a pivotal role in its adoption as part of the supreme law of the land.

The document is the actual Bill of Rights sent by Congress to the General Assembly.  The Library’s Director of Special Collections, Tom Camden, notes that in 1791, Virginia was the final state needed for ratification. “It’s designed solely to protect personal liberties and states’ rights.  There was a lot of concern that the federal Constitution had too much power concentrated in the federal arena,” says Camden.

Virginia’s copy has the original 12 amendments, including two on the number of Congressmen and their compensation, that were ratified by the House of Delegates but not the Senate.  It is made of sheep or goat skin and is worth at least $40 million

-by Anne Marie Morgan

The Virginia Board of Health will vote Thursday on emergency regulations regulating the Commonwealth’s 22 abortion clinics.

The regulations are in response to a bill signed into law by Governor McDonnell earlier this year.  It requires the state to draft emergency regulations to treat abortion clinics as hospitals. If approved, the regulations would go into effect December 31st and would be in place until permanent regulations are enacted. It’s an effort to make the clinics safer, says Chris Freund of the Family Foundation of Virginia.

“The regulations cover a lot of ground, including licensing, including inspections of the facilities, including record keeping, sanitation, a lot of areas for health and safety.”

However, the regulations getting the most attention are architectural guidelines.  For instance, a clinic would be required to have 5 foot wide hallways.

“If you have an emergency situation and paramedics need to get a gurney into a facility to get to someone who, say is hemorrhaging or in cardiac arrest, then you want a hallway that’s wide enough for emergency personnel to get in there.”

Jill Abbey runs the Richmond Women’s Medical Center, which operates clinics in Richmond, Roanoke, Charlottesville, and Newport News.

“The cost of the procedures will go up to women because when you add costs, that’s what has to happen.”

Abortion clinics in Virginia currently fall under the same regulations as doctor’s offices and are not inspected by the state health department.  But the department would be charged with inspecting the clinics and enforcing the new rules if the regulations are approved Thursday.

— by Beverly Amsler

More than 1000 people assembled at the Richmond Convention Center for an event featuring Texas Governor and GOP Presidential hopeful Rick Perry.

The luncheon was scheduled to raise funds for November’s General Assembly elections.  But the focus quickly turned to national politics and the Commonwealth’s role as a pivotal battleground state. The attendees included Christopher Raymond, who drove from Connecticut to assess both Perry and Governor McDonnell.

“It’s worth the drive to see potentially the next President of the United States and to be honest, potentially the next Vice President—because I think Bob McDonnell is going to be at the top of that list, with Marco Rubio and the Governor of Nevada, who just endorsed Governor Perry.”

The speakers stressed that Virginia is the path to victory next year.  McDonnell agreed, but did not endorse Perry and reminded the crowd to work to impact the fall elections.  He also praised Perry’s record, saying 40% of U.S. jobs created in the last two years were in Texas.  Perry received a standing ovation, pledged to follow those same job-creating principles if elected President, and said the country is in trouble.

“This administration called food stamps an economic stimulus.  I think food stamps are a symptom of the problem—they’re not the solution.  The problem is too many Americans cannot find work, Mr. President.  That’s the problem.”

Perry later told reporters that it was thinking too far ahead to say whether McDonnell could be his running mate.

Former Governor Tim Kaine’s Democratic U.S. Senate campaign sent out an e-mail saying, “It’s no surprise that Governor Perry wants to help folks who would support his extreme right-wing views if he becomes President.”

-by Anne Marie Morgan

Virginia Democrats are pressing Governor McDonnell to clarify his stance on Social Security … a day before Texas Governor and Presidential candidate Rick Perry is scheduled to attend a Richmond event with the Governor.  Perry has claimed that the current Social Security system is flawed and is a “Ponzi” scheme that must rely on new donors to pay out benefits to previous contributors.

Leading the charge is former DNC Chair Tim Kaine, who is also running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Senator Jim Webb.  Kaine spoke to a group of elderly residents in the Richmond neighborhood where he resides …and called one Republican proposal to privatize Social Security a scare tactic. Kaine said the current system has worked just fine and will continue to do so.

“The way the program works is you contribute that six-point-four percent and the employer contributes the same out of the paycheck, that goes into the trust fund, and the trust fund is then used to pay the retirements of the retirees at the time, and then by doing that, there’s an expectation that, hey, when I’m a retiree, people will be doing the same for me,” he said.

Kaine says Social Security is often the only source of income for the elderly, and to privatize it would mean possibly risking their money in the stock market. Democratic leaders in Virginia have asked Governor McDonnell in a letter to explain whether his luncheon with Perry Wednesday is an endorsement of Perry’s controversial plan to change the current system.

–Tommie McNeil

Despite achieving most state and federal benchmarks, Virginia’s students have a problem. Many of them are not reading on the levels that they should by third grade. Students who have not caught up by then will often all behind in other courses, and are likely to never catch up.

The state’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission is weighing recommendations to enhance third grade reading performance statewide. Commission members acknowledged that some of the proposals will be expensive.

Delegate Johnny Joannou found it hard to support English as A Second Language program development and funding additional staff.  He said his immigrant background had socio-economic challenges and many children of his generation overcame those challenges without programs.  He asked JLARC project leader Kimberly Sarte, why is there such a disparity in learning between older and current generations.

“I think that some kids aren’t getting the support they need at home, and perhaps if they’re not getting… you know, if they’re English language learners, if there’s other reasons outside of the school that they may come in kind of deficient, they’re going to have—a lot of kids— not all, a lot of kids are going to have difficulty. And so if you can kinda raise the classroom program—the level of the classroom program with some of the strategies that we’ll discuss, that’s obviously going to help these kids. If they come in and there’s maybe a classroom program that’s not as strong or there’s not as many resources available to kind of assist them, it’s hard for them to catch up,” said Sarte.

The proposals include providing more engaging reading materials, book rooms with those works, and using new digital technology.

— Tommie McNeil

While President Obama was in Richmond promoting his new jobs bill within the district of one of his toughest critics on policy … that same official, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, was preparing to promote his own jobs plan nearby.  Some say that both visits were preliminary campaign stumps for next year’s Presidential election.

President Obama’s speech at the University of Richmond on the jobs bill was much like a confident healthcare reform speech he gave in Virginia a few years ago.  One supporter and occasional commentator on Mr. Obama was there—and was asked if the speech was relevant for Virginians.  Former Governor Doug Wilder said yes, and that the President has gone back to basics.

“To say,’ hey wait a minute, I’ve been in office a couple of years. I didn’t do all the things I promised that I wanted to do, I’m not saying I was right or wrong, however, this is where I am today,’ and I think to the extent that he continues that, to let people know,’ I have not forgotten, I know what to do, I know how to do it, I need your help, let’s get it done,'” said  former Governor Wilder.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said there IS room for compromise.  “The President did talk about some measures that will provide some tax relief for small business people, and as we know in Richmond, and elsewhere in the Commonwealth, and the country, they’re the jobs engine. So hopefully we can get some progress on that very quickly, and I intend to try and do that.”

He does say that the President’s plan does not pay for itself, and GOP leaders will remain adamant about not adding to the current massive federal debt.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed two lawsuits that challenged the constitutionality of the federal health care law.

The judges had heard an appeal of a U.S. District Court ruling declaring that the federal mandate for most Americans to buy health insurance or pay a penalty is unconstitutional.

During oral arguments in May, Virginia and Liberty University had urged the 4th Circuit to uphold Judge Henry Hudson’s ruling striking down the mandate.

The three-judge panel did not address the mandate’s constitutionality, but ruled that both do not have standing to bring the lawsuit … and said allowing such lawsuits made the states “roving constitutional watchdogs.”

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli had argued that the Commonwealth does have that right because of its state law establishing that Virginians cannot be compelled to buy health insurance.  The Attorney General has said that rather than asking the full 4th Circuit to hear the case, he will appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Two other Appeals Courts have also handed down decisions.  The Sixth Circuit upheld the federal law, while the 11th Circuit struck down the individual mandate in a lawsuit representing 26 states.

–Anne Marie Morgan

This weekend is the 10th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks, and one activity that Governor McDonnell would like Virginians to do in commemoration is to help those who can’t help themselves. His administration, along with the AARP of Virginia, the Central Virginia Food Bank, and NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon, have coordinated a statewide effort to help the hungry, especially the elderly population.

Gordon will not only take part in a NASCAR race in Richmond, but also the Drive to End Hunger, which has already donated $10,000 to the Central Virginia Food Bank. But Gordon also issued a challenge to racing fans and others—to text the word “Hunger” to 50555.

“Every contribution is a $10 donation when you text that and for every one that happens, I’m going to match it myself personally.”

Gordon says he’s so passionate about these types of initiatives because the U.S. is a rich country, but millions describe themselves as being food insecure or not having money for food.

The Governor says as many as 16% of Virginians fit that description.  “That’s tough–we’re the eighth most prosperous state in terms of income per capita in America and yet we’ve got that, so I am very much committed to helping the food banks, the Ruritan club, the AARP, Americorps, all these other great groups that are working on this.”

They’ve also coordinated a community food drive September 9th and 10th in which 150 collection sites will accept food donations statewide.

–Tommie McNeil

Recently, we took an in-depth look at human trafficking and how it impacts many within this country, especially immigrants and children. Virginia’s Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has some  new initiatives that aim to combat the fastest-growing criminal industry in the world.

He agrees with the groups fighting human trafficking, who say that the perpetrators of the crime will not be stopped and prosecuted if law enforcement agencies don’t recognize it in all its forms—or know how to act when they do.  One challenge is stopping online traffickers who solicit through such Websites as Craigslist and Backpage.com.  The Attorney General says Craigslist has been cooperative in removing ads and links that may be underground prostitution rings.

“But even within Craigslist, the bad guys come up with new ways to advertise themselves, so there’s this continual cat and mouse game, but that’s where it’s most obviously different from …you know, prostitution rings and other things like that.”

So far, Backpage.com has not complied with requests by the Attorney General and his state counterparts to remove similar ads.  To proactively address online and other trafficking, Cuccinelli recently hosted a first-of-its-kind training seminar–with the Justice Department, law enforcement, and prosecutors.
— Tommy McNeil

Virginia students who are home-schooled may be granted an opportunity to play on public school sports teams under legislation being considered by a special House of Delegates education panel.  Home-schooled students have at least some access to public school sports in 22 states.

Several students told lawmakers that they don’t want quotas but a chance to try out.  Bill sponsor Delegate Rob Bell agreed that the public schools should offer equal access and opportunity.

“Sports teaches teamwork, fitness, and leadership.  High school sports, in particular, can be an avenue to college.  It can provide scholarships to students who are athletes.  In rural areas, it is literally the only game in town,” he said.

The Virginia High School League sets general rules for sports eligibility.  Both the League and Delegate Jennifer McClellan said the bill does not guarantee that home-schooled students would adhere to the same behavioral and academic qualifications:

“You keep talking about a level playing field.  And we want a level playing field, too.  But we want a level playing field where the home-school student doesn’t have an advantage over the public school student because they’re not held to the same standard,” she said.

For example, home-schooled students cannot take the Standards of Learning tests.  But Bell said the state has approved other accredited tests for the students, so they should not be penalized.

–Anne Marie Morgan