READER'S VIEWS: Busy week for the General Assembly

As the 2012 General Assembly session advances, we are getting to the point where major legislation is passing out of House committees and being acted upon by all delegates on the floor of the House.

My focus continues to be on legislation that helps Virginia businesses create jobs and opportunities, improves the educational opportunities for all, as well as reforms to make our state government more efficient and effective. This week the House advanced several important measures that will support open competition on public contracts and improve our public schools.

I am a co-patron of House Bill 33, a bill that prohibits mandatory project labor agreements and guarantees full and open competition in bidding on public contracts.

It is estimated that a mandated project labor agreement can raise the cost of a project by ten to twenty percent, so prohibiting these mandatory agreements will help ensure Virginia gets the most out of our taxpayer dollars on infrastructure projects.

This legislation also ensures all of Virginia’s qualified contractors and their skilled workforces, regardless of labor affiliation, can compete on a level playing field for Virginia projects. Legislation similar to HB 33 has also passed the Senate, indicating that this bill will likely pass the General Assembly and be signed into law by Gov.McDonnell.

On the education front, the House of Delegates has passed a measure to repeal the so-called “King’s Dominion Law.” House Bill 1063 allows a local school division to establish its own starting date for the school year. This measure seeks to remove an unnecessary mandate on our local schools that require a school division to apply for a waiver to start the school year prior to Labor Day. Currently, 77 local school divisions already have a waiver. This has become particularly important for students who are participating in dual enrollment programs with our community colleges.

Visitors this week included members of the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association and the Virginia Grain Producers Association as well as students and alumni of Virginia Tech. As part of United Methodist Day at the Capitol, I had the opportunity to meet with Barbara Drinkwater of Gordonsville. School board members and superintendents from Culpeper, Madison, and Orange also made the trip to Richmond.

The coming days will be busy as we work to complete work on a number of bills prior to the Feb. 14 crossover deadline, but we welcome your visit to our office in the General Assembly Building as well as letters, e-mails, and phone calls.