Virginia Public Radio

While some people– particularly those celebrating having electricity–  will spend the July 4th holiday relaxing with friends and family Virginia’s politicians are using it for a little good old fashioned politicking. Matt Laslo reports.

New state laws to enhance access to a number of health care services in the Commonwealth just took effect this week.  As Virginia Public Radio’s Anne Marie Morgan reports, some will also make care more affordable while others could help improve patient outcomes.

Virginia motorists need to be aware of the new state laws that will impact them that just took effect this week. Tens of thousands of drivers each year unintentionally let their vehicle registrations expire or lose their licenses, but as Virginia Public Radio’s Anne Marie Morgan reports, that will result in additional costs from now on. 

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to upheld most of the federal healthcare law, a number of business owners are discussing how the measure would hurt them and their employees as a result.  Lawmakers who support the mandate say that businesses could greatly benefit through subsidies.  But some entrepreneurs say they have yet to be informed of what they are and how to take advantage of them.

White House Catering owner David Napier says he would love to expand, but the number of his full-time staffers hovers at under 50—where he knows the law will mandate that he provide health insurance.  He says salaries are his greatest expense, but health costs would overtake that.  He has inquired, but says information is not readily available to small business-owners to learn how to stay afloat while helping his staff as he would like to.

“I don’t know if I’m better off giving them a raise and telling them to go to Obamacare or do I do it. I mean I just don’t know. The uncertainty is what’s killing everybody and what’s killing my ability to make decisions and the bigger businesses here in downtown Richmond–is their ability to make decisions. So it’s one of those things that I feel responsible–maybe some business owners don’t–but I feel responsible to my employees in a holistic way. I mean I want their lives to be good. I want them to be there 10 years from now,” said Napier.

Napier says if subsidies exist and are less than the cost of hiring more people, then he’ll lose money.  He doesn’t believe small business-owners had input into the law and would rather repeal it than tweak what he thinks was muddled from the start.

–Tommie McNeil

After initially calling the U.S. Supreme Court decision “a dark day for American liberty,” Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has revised that outlook.  He now says after reviewing the justices’ opinion that upheld the federal health insurance mandate through the power to tax, he believes it is a policy loss but a victory for liberty.  Virginia Public Radio’s Tommie McNeil reports that although the Attorney General wanted the entire mandate struck down, he says the Commerce Clause ruling actually gives Virginia more options.

Governor McDonnell has ceremonially signed into law a bill that provides tax incentives for donations that help low-income children and students with disabilities attend nonpublic schools.  The measure received support from only a few Democrats and narrowly passed the divided state Senate.

Under the law, individuals or businesses can receive tax credits worth 65 percent of their donations for private school scholarships, which must go to low-income students. The law is intended to reduce state costs for public education since more students would attend private schools. But the governor said it’s really about helping children succeed regardless of their zip code or parents’ finances.

“We’ve tried a lot the last couple of years as governor to create a world class public education system in Virginia but also to create some options and some choices for young people. Charter schools. College laboratory schools. Virtual schools and now a tuition tax credit bill all that create the range of options for young people and their parents to be able to make an effective choice.”

Opponents argue such measures siphon tax dollars away from public schools, strapping local budgets and hurting students left behind. There’s an annual state cap of $25-million, which would pay for about 7,000 students to attend one year of public school. That’s 2% of Virginia’s poorest students.

–Amanda Iacone

Local registrars or electoral board members would be able to call provisional voters to remind them to provide an ID under regulations just adopted by the State Board of Elections.  Those who vote provisionally would also receive these ID requirements in writing as they cast their ballots.

The regulations flesh out more details for carrying out Virginia’s new voter ID law.  The state will mail free ID cards to all registered voters.  Those who don’t show proof of identity at the polls would cast provisional ballots.  They would then need to bring, e-mail, fax, or mail a copy of an authorized document by noon on Friday.  State Board of Elections Secretary Donald Palmer said the few public comments the board received expressed concern about whether provisional voters would be told what they need to do.

“They do receive the provisional ballot notice, and it has all the information.  There were a few comments in there on this issue.  But it has the fax number, the address, the telephone number which they can contact, the due date for the evidence to come in.  So I think that we can provide some recommended language,” said Palmer.

But that later phone call would be optional.  The Board also drew names to decide which political party will be listed first on the November ballot.  The Republicans won.  Some observers believe undecided voters may choose the first name listed, which can be pivotal in a close election.

–Anne Marie Morgan

This month marks the 200th anniversary of the start of the War of 1812, and state officials have been preparing with a special commission, website, and historical markers at significant locations.  And as Virginia Public Radio’s Anne Marie Morgan reports, commission members are urging residents to take time to explore the critically important American event that some have called “the forgotten war.”  

To understand Virginia’s influence on presidential politics today, it might be helpful to study how each of the eight Presidents who hailed from Virginia led the country. University of Virginia Political Professor Larry Sabato says the founding fathers, many of whom were from Virginia, “were on to something” despite having varying philosophies.  In order for this country to move politically, Sabato says it must get back to its roots.  Tommie McNeil reports.

Just as summer officially kicks off, there are a few things that Virginia motorists need to be aware of.

AAA Mid Atlantic Spokesperson Windy VanCuren reminds us of the time when the husband of the Richmond SPCA head left a pet in the car, where it died.  She says it shows common sense doesn’t always translate to common practice, which is why they’ve asked motorists to be mindful of very hot conditions.

“Even on a shady day when temperatures are 80-degrees outside, after 20-minutes, the internal temperature of a vehicle can reach 109-degrees,” says VanCuren.

But VanCuren says already this week, there have been near 100-degree days, making the temperature inside most cars quickly exceed the 120-degree mark.

“At 107-degrees, a child’s brain cells are damaged and their internal organs start to shut down at core body temperature,” she says.

This is especially true for children under the age of four. “Their body absorbs the heat a lot faster than adults at three-to-five times faster.”

AAA advises people to leave something they need in the seat with the child or pet—as a reminder. VanCuren says people can dehydrate very quickly, so it’s always important to have large amounts of water stored in the car. It’s also handy in the event the car overheats.

–Tommie McNeil

Tuition at public universities across the Commonwealth will go up again during the next academic year.  But the increases are not as steep as in the recent past.

Tuition and fees will rise about 4% on average for Virginia’s public universities and colleges this fall—less than the almost eight percent increase last year.  Officials say the injection of an extra $258-million from the state budget helped keep a lid on rising tuition and fees. State Council for Higher Education Director Peter Blake told the House Appropriations Committee that varied state funding levels have had a direct impact on the price students pay.

“Mr. Chairman, this is a good news story. The good news is that because of the investment you made in higher education during the last General Assembly session, not only are tuition and fees half of what they were last year, the increase half as what it was last year, they are also the lowest tuition and fee increase in Virginia in 10 years,” said Blake.

Students will pay $70 more a year at Norfolk State compared to an extra $651 at VMI.  As state general fund support declined over the last decade, tuition rates rose, pushing more of the cost onto students.  However, Blake says the total cost of higher education in Virginia has remained flat.

–Amanda Iacone

Members of the Virginia House Appropriations Committee roundly criticized a major economic development project the McDonnell administration currently has in the works. Delegates were critical of the state’s promise to give millions in incentives to the Washington Redskins and questioned whether the team might have stayed, anyway, even without a taxpayer handout.

The Delegates shredded the state’s $4-million concession to the Redskins to keep the team’s offices in Loudoun County.  They said they rejected an incentive package during the legislative session.  Chairman Lacey Putney questioned the governor’s chief of staff, Martin Kent, on the rationale for sending tax dollars to one of the most profitable NFL teams.

Q-Chairman Putney: “When this matter was soundly rejected by this legislative body, explain to me why that didn’t count?”
A-Martin Kent:  “Why, Mr. Chair, of course it counted. Obviously the governor is very, very concerned about making sure that particularly our appropriations committees are supportive of a lot of the deals that we do.  In this situation, we felt like, given the dynamics of this deal as it changed dramatically in very short order, lended itself to a far more lucrative deal than we initially thought it would be.”

Kent says the incentive is smaller than the $12-million the Redskins asked for. And the income and sales tax revenue the team generates will recoup the investment within a year.

–Amanda Iacone

Over the last several years across Virginia, residents of continuing care retirement communities have expressed concerns about the fiscal health of their facilities and their ability to have an active role in their governance. Now, through a legislative work group, these citizens are representing themselves.  And as Virginia Public Radio’s Tommie McNeil reports, they have begun the process of improving services in both independent living retirement communities and nursing homes.

Visitors to the Virginia State Capitol will find tributes to presidents, senators, and governors, as well as civil rights and Civil War icons.  But whether it’s Pocahontas, Dolly Madison, or Maggie Walker, the contributions of women in the state’s history are not depicted.  As Virginia Public Radio’s Tommie McNeil reports, a state commission working diligently to fill that void has reached one of the most crucial stages: finding and funding the right artist.

Today’s employers complain that not only do students entering the workforce lack the reading, math, and science comprehension needed to perform basic duties, but also the social, communications, and problem-solving skills that help make them resilient, well-rounded leaders.  During a State Council of Higher Education for Virginia meeting, educators discussed how a Liberal Arts education could address those problems, but not without doing a better job of preparing students before they leave high school.  A new state initiative tackles that problem within a revised Standards of Learning curriculum.

While all phases have not been fully implemented, many educators know about the College and Career Readiness Initiative.  Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Linda Wallinger says it aligns college and career-ready performance expectations to national and international college and career-ready standards in reading, writing, and math.

“We have developed optional capstone courses during the senior year—one in Reading and one in Mathematics. These courses are for students who will graduate. They’ve completed all of their graduation requirements, they’ve passed all the SOL tests that they need to pass, but for some reason, either they or some of their teachers feel that they may not have the skills necessary to be successful,” says Wallinger.

These non-traditional, elective courses don’t repeat previous content, but instead allow students to apply what they know in a performance-based manner.  The state also implemented new “College Path” mathematics SOL assessments and will do so next year for English.  All will help measure whether students have mastered the skills they need for college or the workforce without remediation.

–Tommie McNeil

An estimated 40,000 Virginia businesses are improperly classifying workers as independent contractors instead of employees. That’s according to a new Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission report—which also says the practice shorts the state of tax revenue, gives the companies an unfair competitive advantage, and deprives workers of benefits. As Virginia Public Radio’s Amanda Iacone reports, the study recommends that the state make such practices illegal and penalize those companies.

Many in the law enforcement community admit that they don’t have all the resources and knowledge to effectively crackdown on criminal street gang activity—which is rapidly spreading across the Commonwealth.

During its second annual “Nuts and Bolts” training, the Attorney General’s office used information obtained during a recent gang leader’s trial to help provide those tools.

In recent years, talk of gang activity referred to “MS-13” in Northern Virginia, but now gang recruitment statewide is synonymous with the name “Latin Kings.”  The arrest and trial of member Sergio Salcedo taught law enforcement about the group’s colors, gang signs, and tattoos—and that gangs now use technology and social media for recruitment. And while many people migrated from the once-popular Myspace to Facebook, gangs began using the less scrutinized Myspace. Attorney General Ken Cucinnelli told attendees that they must learn how to process a case effectively and ALSO how to dry up gang recruitment.

“Obviously you heard me talking about prevention as well and once they learn about the scope of the threat they’re dealing with and so forth, you know a lot of law enforcement folks–some of these folks will end up as school resource officers and other things. And so we know they’ll find their way into prevention positions and we want to give them those tools too, which is why they’re in there now watching the Big Lie,” he said.

The “Big Lie” is a training video for students and others in which gang members explain their top lies to recruit kids.  It’s especially effective in helping divert young girls from human trafficking.

Those who have served this country in the armed forces already face many challenges when returning from abroad—whether it’s Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, getting readjusted to civilian life, or dealing with injuries. So it can be disheartening when services and benefits aren’t readily accessible because they can’t prove that they are, in fact, military veterans.  But effective immediately—through an executive order signed by Governor McDonnell—they now have one less burden to face when using the Virginia Veterans ID card.

This card is the brainchild of Department of Veterans Services Commissioner Paul Galanti and Delegate Richard Anderson. As Galanti explains, veterans who have the documentation indicating their discharge status—with the exception of a dishonorable discharge—can pay a 10-dollar fee at a DMV-affiliated outlet, and apply for the new card.

“There are a lot of merchants who give good deal–discounts for veterans but if he didn’t retire from the military or doesn’t have a VA rating, he doesn’t have an ID card that says that. So this is just one way Virginia can help veterans get all the good things our citizens want to throw at them,” said Galanti.

Unlike a driver’s license, the Veterans ID card never expires. Those who apply will receive a temporary card immediately, and should receive the permanent card in the mail within a week.  Currently, 70-percent of the state’s retail merchants offer veterans’ discounts, and several retail associations say they are aggressively recruiting the remaining merchants to follow suit.

–Tommie McNeil

Although parole was abolished in Virginia in 1995, approximately one-fifth of the state’s prisoners were incarcerated before then, are exempt from the law, and can potentially be paroled.  But each year, only six-percent of those who are eligible are granted parole, giving the state one of the lowest approval ratings nationwide.

Delegate Patrick Hope sponsored legislation during the General Assembly session that requires the Parole Board’s guidance documents to be available as public records under the Freedom of Information Act.  It was tabled and referred to the Advisory Council, and now a subcommittee will study the bill’s feasibility.

“And so what we want to do is try to determine what exactly goes into their thought making process, what’s in their policies and their guidelines. Right now we get very little information, nothing is disclosed other than a denial based on the serious nature of their crime–nothing more than that, and we’d like to learn a little bit more,” said Hope.

One concern about making the Parole Board’s actions public is that very personal information about the inmates while they’ve been incarcerated could be revealed, so one Council goal will be to exclude that information without violating the FOIA law.  Some prisoner advocates argue that the state spends millions of dollars unnecessarily by keeping parole-qualified inmates behind bars—while others have even called for replacing all Parole Board members.

–Tommie McNeil

More than 70,000 Virginia children are provided homes or shelter by someone other than their biological parents.  Kinship care diversion helps many of them avoid foster care, but not all children have that option due to enrollment barriers in SOME school divisions. Now Governor McDonnell is being criticized for vetoing a bill with bipartisan support that would have made school enrollment easier for relatives.  But as Virginia Public Radio’s Tommie McNeil reports, at least one Democratic lawmaker says the Governor made the right decision.

As the long Memorial Day holiday weekend approaches, many travelers will now be able to take advantage of a new and improved 511 Traffic Information System.  Virginia has tweaked its program so that it’s more user-friendly and compatible with many mobile devices. As Virginia Public Radio’s Tommie McNeil reports, the free application is now available to Android and I-phone users and is accompanied by a new interactive website.

Most military children attend schools in six to nine different school divisions from kindergarten to 12th grade.  Virginia has joined a number of other states in an effort to adopt consistent rules to help ease these frequent transitions.

State officials found that some special education students who transferred have encountered steep hurdles.

With 80,000 children who have one or both parents on active duty, Virginia has the largest number of students in military families of any state.  But in a briefing, the Virginia Council examining related issues learned the state has received numerous complaints about special ed transfers.  Although federal law prohibits interruption of a student’s Individualized Education Program [IEP], Council Chair and Senator John Miller said apparently, that’s not always the case.

“A child moving from Texas to Newport News has an IEP, and that IEP remains in effect and the child is supposed to continue to get services.  But sometimes, when they get to the new school system, they’re told, ‘We’ve got to do our own evaluation,’ and so all services sort of stop,” said Miller.

Other common complaints include that comparable services were not provided and that schools claimed they had insufficient resources.  A sample of schools revealed that one-third of special ed directors surveyed were not aware of the basic rules in these cases and will need additional training.

–Anne Marie Morgan

Virginia has joined a national initiative to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes over five years.  The state’s Department of Health has challenged the same number of Virginians to get their blood pressure checked in May … and then take appropriate steps to modify their lifestyle if needed.  And as Virginia Public Radio’s Anne Marie Morgan reports, health care providers statewide are also participating in the Million Hearts challenge.

If the Obama administration asked, former Governor Doug Wilder would tell campaign advisers to beware of the “Reverse Bradley Effect.”  The always perceptive Wilder is providing some insight from his own gubernatorial campaign and suggesting that there may be some similarities between the two electoral contests.

In 1982, Los Angeles African-American Mayor Tom Bradley lost his gubernatorial bid after polls predicted a huge win.  Lying to pollsters has since been called the “Bradley effect.”  Years later, the first elected African-American Governor, Doug Wilder, narrowly won after similar polls.  But Wilder says he learned from Bradley’s failed bid.

“The only poll that’s important is the one taken on Election Day when you cast your vote at the polls,” says Wilder, who warns of a a reverse “Bradley” or “Wilder” effect if President Obama assumes that all African-Americans who voted for him in droves before, will do so again:

“What I’m saying is that there are any number of African Americans who are going to vote for the President, they say they’re going to vote for him, but are they going to vote for him? Now, they’re not going to vote against him, but is that motivation going to be there? Is is going to be, ‘Hey look, I’ve got to get there because if I don’t, somebody else might get there,’ and I hope that is not the case,” said Wilder.

He says instead of campaigning against the GOP, Mr. Obama should push policies that show exactly how he will get the economy moving again and restore faith in those whose support has waned.

–Tommie McNeil

Although many will not be able to attend next Thursday’s two nationwide public hearings held by the Environmental Protection Agency, more than one-million collected comments will have been submitted to the EPA—with more than 31,000 coming from Virginia.  The public hearings address the EPA’s proposed Carbon Pollution Standard for new industrial power plants. As Virginia Public Radio’s Tommie McNeil reports, supporters celebrated the regulations with a small gathering in Richmond to discuss their significance.

Through the use of inexpensive computer software or the toggle of a smart phone switch, anyone can follow another person’s every move.  Now, although his bill failed to pass two consecutive years, a Virginia lawmaker is trying once again to place limitations on who can lawfully use electronic devices to track another individual.  Delegate Joe May has raised awareness about how easily one’s privacy can be invaded—but some say restrictions could hamper their investigations.

May’s bill was sent back to committee after it sparked debate this legislative session.  It restricted tracking a person without a warrant–and this year, would have granted law enforcement agencies exception. But private investigators protested and said it limited their ability to do their job. So May and the Joint Commission on Technology and Science are now revising it, although he says not much will change.

“We have it reduced I guess, to a page or page-and-a-half and you have heard my comment earlier, that some of the other states who have tried it have ended up with pages, and pages, and pages of exceptions, and exclusions, and carve outs until they’re virtually impossible to interpret.  Ours is very clean, and the real challenge right now is getting our colleagues  comfortable with something that is really, really new,” says May.

May says technology is evolving so quickly that it’s hard to draft legislation that addresses every exception. May sponsored the bill after a constituent complained that his ex-wife had paid a private investigator to track his whereabouts after the two had divorced.

–Tommie McNeil

Starting this month, Virginians can openly, and legally, carry guns into state parks. The change in state regulation comes after years of debate about whether Virginians should be allowed to carry their handguns on hiking trails or leave their shotguns inside their parked vehicles while they go swimming with the family.

Although the new state rule officially took effect this month, the Department of Conservation and Recreation stopped enforcing the decades-old gun ban a year and a half ago. DCR spokesman Gary Waugh says it’s been business as usual ever since.

“We have not seen any increase in people carrying guns. We’ve had no complaints from non-gun carrying folks about others being there. Attendance continues rise. Virginia state parks remain a very safe and enjoyable place to spend time with the family,” said Waugh.

Lori Haas with the Virginia Center for Public Safety says she supports the safe use of guns for hunting or sport, but there is no reason for Virginians to bring a gun with them to a state park.

“It isn’t a problem until it is. There are people who you or I would look on or the general public would look on and say oh no they’re not a danger. And then one day they break, one day they crack. One day they get angry. One day they make a bad judgment call. And guess what, firearms are lethal,” said Haas.

Haas says trained law enforcement should be the only ones carrying guns in the state’s parks.

–Amanda Iacone