More Defeated Bad Bills

Today the House Education Committee, once again, defeated a bad bill. Senate Bill 1236 from Senator DeSteph is the bill that would have the state define what is or is not an "education employee association" and further, would put very strict requirements on local school boards on types of policies they would have to develop and implement. The VEA sees this as the state taking a huge step into the role of local governments. Education professionals are not state employees and the local governments, not the General Assembly, should determine how those local governments work with their own employees. There is no where in the Code of Virginia where the state takes this step and they shouldn't start now. Police officers are local employees, should the state be defining how the local governments work with those employee associations? What about firefighters? Would they be next as the state oversteps their role?

The School Boards Association tried to work with the Senator to improve the bill and there was actually a place where event he VEA could have gotten behind the bill, but Senator DeSteph rejected that language. In the end, the VEA, AFT, School Boards Associations, and the School Superintendents all opposed the bill. The bill died 11-10 with Delegates Collins and Helsel voting with the Democrats to kill the bill. This bill took some work, but in the end it paid off and we protected local employees and local employers from an overstep of the state.

Here is the vote. The vote was to report the bill (which means pass the bill) so a "NAY" vote was the right vote:

SB 1236 Public schools; equal access, education employee associations, etc.

02/11/19  House: Failed to report (defeated) in Education (10-Y 11-N)

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YEAS--Landes, Bell, Richard P., Cole, Pogge, Robinson, Yancey, Davis, Leftwich, LaRock, McGuire--10.

NAYS--Helsel, Collins, Bulova, Keam, Bagby, Bourne, Hurst, VanValkenburg, Turpin, Rodman, Sullivan--11.

ABSTENTIONS--0.

NOT VOTING--Tyler--1.