Everything
in Richmond was closed except the General Assembly. They stop for nothing. Solo performance at VEA today, and the walk
over to the Capitol was interesting.
Richmond is a snowy ghost town.
SB 624, Senator
Newman's bill to provide immunity from liability for school board employees who
provide emergency medical care to students passed the House 91-1. This fine bill is headed for the Governor's
desk.
HB 1115,
Del. Greason's virtual school bill to facilitate sharing of virtual courses
among public school systems passed the Senate on a 40-0 vote.
The Senate
passed the Senate substitute for Del.Landes' HB 1229, 3 year delay of
implementation of the A-F school grading bill.
The House position is one year is reflected in the House substitute for Miller's SB324. These bills now go to
conference. What's the compromise
between 1 and 3?
The House
Appropriations Committee took up Senator Stuart's SB 532, the diabetes
bill. This bill was conformed to
Delegate Cole's HB 134, putting the bill in proper posture to head for
conference. We have worked in
coordination with the entire education community to address the concerns we had
with these bills as introduced. Most of
the problems have been addressed, but the House language is preferable.
This was the last day for committees (with the exception of conference committees) to act on bills.
The budget bill was supposed to have been completed by the end of the day today - that isn't going to happen!