January 29, 2020
Wednesday afternoon, HB582, Collective Bargaining for Public
Sector Employees, passed the House Appropriations Committee and will head to
the floor for first read Thursday, debate on Friday, and final passage Monday.
We know that the conversations you had with your legislators on Monday helped
firm up the votes we needed. Now we need to keep the pressure on. Make a follow
up call to your member of the House of Delegates and tell them why school
employees need collective bargaining. Keep the pressure on!
The Labor Coalition met today to talk through which Senators
needed to hear more from us and we talked floor strategy. Thursday, VEA
President Jim Livingston, will be walking the halls of the Pocahontas building
getting in front of key members of the VA Senate. He will also be thanking
members of the House and making sure they know how much the VEA supports this
legislation. We expect the Senate bill to be heard on Monday in the full Senate
Labor and Commerce Committee.
Also headed to the floor Thursday are the House versions of
our due process bills. After the bipartisan passage of our bills in the Senate,
we feel good about the outcome in the House. These are big bills that, I hope,
don’t get lost in the collective bargaining excitement. Watch for HB365 from
Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy and HB570 from Delegate Elizabeth Guzman.
In subcommittee Thursday afternoon our SOL reduction bill,
SB847 by Senator Pillion, will have its first hearing. In exciting news,
Senator Jeremey McPike has a nearly identical bill. I am hopeful that we can
get bipartisan support and finally pass a bill that so many Virginian’s want. I
will update on those Thursday.
