The day after crossover is always a day to reset and regroup. There is limited action in committees and on the floor as bills are referred to
subcommittees in the other body. Tomorrow’s Senate Education and Health
Committees will take up quite a few bills of interest to the VEA. I will update
you tomorrow.
Crossover always means a shift of focus to the budget. The
House and Senate budgets are very similar in overall dollars to K-12, but
different in their strategy for how the money is dispersed. Our friends at The
Commonwealth Institute have a nice comparison of the budgets (Governor, House,
and Senate). You can read that by clicking on the link below.
The big action of the day was celebrating JMU's National Football Championship! Both the House and the Senate had presentations of Resolutions commending the team for their accomplishment. I add this as JMU has a very
special place in the hearts of your Lobby Cadre! Gail Pittman, Jay Deck, and I
bleed purple and gold. We were not shy in our hunt for a photo op with JMU
Football Coach Mike Houston, quarterback Brian Shor, and safety Raven Greene.
Some may call it stalking, but we call it taking advantage of an opportunity.
Photos of your proud Lobby Cadre are below! GO DUKES!! FYI... Coach Houston took the first one. We didn't plan on what to do when there was no one available to take a picture, we just stood there for a second and then he offered. A good man!