2008 Budget and Legislative Accomplishments
During the 2008 Regular Session of the Virginia General Assembly, Governor Kaine’s legislative and budgetary initiatives helped move Virginia forward in mental health services, economic development, early childhood education, campaign and election reform, consumer protection, public safety, children’s services and environmental protection.
In December 2007, the Governor released details of his Budget in a speech to the joint meeting of the Senate Finance, House Finance & House Appropriations Committees. In February 2008, the Governor announced a revised budget revenue forecast and released a recommended budget reductions plan. The final budget is now available online.
Below are some of the major accomplishments of the 2008 General Assembly Session.
- Education
- Improved Mental Health Care and Responded to the Virginia Tech Shootings
- Health Safety Net
- Protecting the Environment
- Child Services
- Preventing and Responding to Sexual and Domestic Violence
- Addressing Home Foreclosures
- Consumer Protections
- Public Safety
- Campaigns and Elections
- Workforce Development
- Repealed the Abusive Driver Fees
For a 2007 legislative summary, please go here.
Education
Governor Kaine recognizes the vital connection between education and the sustained economic success of the Commonwealth. His legislative and budget proposals in education focused on the expansion of high-quality early childhood education, full funding of K-12 Standards of Quality, and capital and research investments in the state’s institutes of higher education.
Landmark Investment in Higher Education Infrastructure
Governor Kaine won a landmark bond package for capital construction at Virginia’s public colleges, universities and community colleges. The package is a record investment in the sustained viability of Virginia’s institutions of higher education and its workforce development efforts. The final bond agreement invests nearly $1.5 billion in projects throughout Virginia. It also funds an expansion of the state parks system and preservation of open space in the Commonwealth.
Expanded Funding for Pre-K
The Governor won a $22 million expansion of Pre-K education for at-risk four-year-olds. The expansion will allow thousands more at-risk children to enroll in high-quality pre-kindergarten in coming years. The Governor’s initiative included two key policy changes, increasing the per pupil amount for the Virginia Pre-school Initiative, and ensuring that the state pays at least half of the cost of pre-K in every locality so that more schools can afford to participate in the program.
$1.1 Billion Increase for K-12
Governor Kaine successfully fought for a $1.1 billion increase in funding for public schools in the new two-year budget.
Base Adequacy, Research, and Financial Aid Funding of Higher Education
The final budget invests $22.1 million each year for institutions of higher education to continue to meet the base adequacy funding guidelines, $33.8 million to continue the investment in research, and $18.2 million over the biennium for financial aid to help offset tuition and fee charges.
Required School Policies to Address Abuse
The Governor’s measure requires the State Board of Education and local school boards to take steps to ensure that teachers convicted of certain crimes are kept out of the classroom. The law requires local school boards to develop policies and procedures to address complaints of sexual abuse of a student by a teacher or other school board employee. In addition, the changes require the Board of Education to issue regulations including requirements for the denial, suspension, cancellation, revocation and reinstatement of licensure in its licensure regulations.
Improved Mental Health Care and Responded to the Virginia Tech Shootings
The shootings at Virginia Tech revealed significant deficiencies in several policy areas. Working in a bi-partisan fashion, the Governor and General Assembly addressed those deficiencies, including a major investment in community based mental health services, coupled with greater accountability and responsibility for Virginia’s community services boards.
Increased Funding for Mental Health
The budget invests $41 million for mental health reform. Initiatives include expanded monitoring and accountability of community services boards and continued and expanded support for jail diversion services. Funding also will establish a training program for crisis intervention, increase community services boards emergency services capacity, increase community services boards case management capacity, provide outpatient services to children and increase availability of outpatient clinicians and therapists.
Changed Involuntary Commitment Standards and Monitoring Procedures for Outpatient Mental Health Care
The criteria for emergency custody orders, temporary detention orders and involuntary commitment proceedings have been adjusted to better ensure that Virginians with mental illness get the treatment they need. The approved measure will allow a judge to order a person who meets the criteria for involuntary commitment to attend mandatory outpatient treatment, if this less restrictive alternative is appropriate and available and the person has the capacity to comply with such outpatient treatment and has agreed to abide by the treatment plan. It also sets forth how such mandatory outpatient treatment will be monitored and how a person's noncompliance with such treatment will be addressed.
Ensured People Adjudicated Mentally Ill and Dangerous Cannot Buy Guns
Persons adjudicated mentally ill by a court will be included in state databases to prevent them from purchasing firearms. This bill codifies Governor Kaine’s Executive Order 50, issued last spring.
Mandated Emergency Plans for Institutions of Higher Education
Institutions of higher education are now required to develop, adopt, and keep current a written crisis and emergency management plan.
Health Safety Net
Governor Kaine led the way to better meet the health care needs of Virginia’s one million uninsured and underinsured citizens. The Commonwealth will be a more active partner with community-based health care providers to promote healthy Virginians, especially children and expectant mothers.
Invested in Community-Based Health Care Services
The new budget will provide over $5 million over the biennium to increase the capacity of the Commonwealth’s health safety net providers to expand services to unserved or underserved Virginians.
Expanded Dental Services
The Virginia Dental Health Foundation Mission of Mercy (MOM) project will receive $25,000 each year to purchase dental equipment and supplies to treat uninsured and underinsured patients.
Extended Prenatal Care for Expectant Mothers
Additional funding will allow the FAMIS MOMS program to offer expanded prenatal care for women earning up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, beginning July 1, 2009.
Expanded Cancer Screenings
A $300,000 appropriation in FY2010 will provide women with free breast and cervical cancer screenings and tests through the Virginia Breast and Cervical Cancer Detection Program.
Protecting the Environment
Governor Kaine is passionate about protecting the environment and natural resources of the Commonwealth. Major initiatives were enacted to preserve open space in Virginia and reduce run-off pollution that finds its way into the Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation will also receive $150,000 over the biennium to continue its education field studies.
Land Conservation
At the Governor’s request, the General Assembly approved a $30 million bond package for open space preservation and parks, and an additional $9 million in the new two-year budget for various land conservation programs including funds to preserve Civil War battlefields.
Since the Governor set a goal of protecting 400,000 acres of open space during his term, Virginia has doubled the rate at which we permanently protect land. Over 250,000 acres have been protected in the last two years, and we are well on our way to meeting the Governor’s goal.
Non-point Source Pollution
One of Virginia’s most valuable environmental assets is the Chesapeake Bay. The budget invests $20 million for agricultural best management practices that will help farmers to reduce the impact of their activities on Virginia’s waters. It also includes $3 million for combined sewer overflow projects in Richmond and Lynchburg to protect the bay from excessive discharges during significant storms.
Child Services
Governor Kaine made improvements to services for the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable children, including more funding for foster care and adoption efforts and an initiative to serve children in the communities where they live. The goals of the reforms were to better serve Virginia’s children who rely on comprehensive services and mental health care systems, to increase the number of children in permanent living arrangements, and to move to a system of care for at-risk children that is more child-centered, family-focused, and community-based.
The related budget measures were based on recommendations by the Annie E. Casey Foundation after its review of Virginia’s approach to foster care and at-risk children’s services. The Casey Strategic Consulting Group’s recommendations emerged from its work with First Lady Anne Holton, state child service agencies, and Child Trends, an independent, nonpartisan research center focused exclusively on children.
Foster Care and Comprehensive Service Ace
The Governor’s initiative provided nearly $44 million to improve the Commonwealth’s child welfare system. These dollars will help place foster children in community-based, family settings, enhance the quality of existing foster homes, and enrich the training provided to child welfare workers. Additionally, reforms in the Comprehensive Services Act will provide better outcome data on these children and incentives to ensure that they are being served in the most beneficial settings.
Established Minimum Training Standards for Foster Care and Adoption Workers
The Department of Social Services is now required to establish training requirements and to provide educational programs for foster and adoption workers and their supervisors. This will ensure that these employees are well trained to deal with children and families in what are often fragile situations.
Adjusted Ineligibility Period for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Waivers
This measure ensures that children removed from their parents' home by child protective service and placed with a relative do not lose eligibility or have to go through a waiting period for TANF assistance.
Preventing and Responding to Sexual and Domestic Violence
Governor Kaine’s initiatives will also improve the state’s efforts to prevent and respond to sexual and domestic violence. These measures were based on recommendations from the Governor’s Commission on Sexual Violence and bring the Commonwealth into compliance with the federal Violence Against Women Act of 2005.
Eliminated Archaic Defense for Statutory Rape
Governor Kaine won the repeal of the law that allowed a man to marry a child (14 years of age or older) in order to avoid prosecution for statutory rape of the child.
Banned the Use of Polygraph Tests on Victims of Sexual Violence
Under this new law, a rape victim cannot be required to submit to a polygraph examination as a condition of the investigation of the offense.
Provided for Reimbursements for PERK Kits
The state will now directly reimburse a health care provider for the costs of performing the physical evidence recovery kit (PERK) examinations used in cases of sexual assault, regardless of the victim’s decision about prosecution. The defendant, upon conviction, is required to reimburse the Commonwealth.
Required Faster Reporting of Protective Orders
When a protective order is issued, the district court must enter and transfer identifying information to the Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN) system no later than the end of the business day on which the order was issued.
Addressing Home Foreclosures
In November, Governor Kaine announced the formation of Virginia’s Foreclosure Prevention Task Force. The intent of the task force was to protect and preserve homeownership for Virginia’s working families and communities in light of the current foreclosure trends. The Governor championed legislation recommended by the task force to help homeowners with sub-prime loans overcome pending foreclosure before they lose their homes.
Helped Homeowners Keep Their Homes
The Governor’s imitative requires mortgage lenders to provide 10 days written notice when they want to accelerate the repayment of high-risk loans, and grants the homeowner an additional 30 calendar days to try to resolve the situation, if they request an extension.
Consumer Protections
As more commerce and financial data is transmitted and stored digitally, consumers have become more vulnerable to identity theft and fraud. The Governor’s initiatives help consumers take steps to protect their credit and their identities.
Added Protection from Identity Theft
Under the new law recommended by the Governor, any time an individual’s personal information has been accessed by an unauthorized person, the keeper of the information– whether business or government – must notify the individual and the Office of the Attorney General that a breach has occurred.
Allow Credit Report Freezes for Consumers
Any consumer in Virginia may now freeze access to their credit report and, during that time, prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing the credit report, or any information in it, without the consumer's express authorization.
Public Safety
Governor Kaine took steps to improve public safety, keep our first responders safer and better manage our corrections system to reduce the chances that offenders commit a new crime when they are released from prison.
Improved Management of Corrections System
Two measures passed that will allow a probation and parole officer to place low-risk defendants with the Department of Corrections to be evaluated for participation in the Detention Center Incarceration Program or the Diversion Center Incarceration Program, if approved by the court.
Made Our Troopers Safe on the Road
Governor Kaine introduced a bill that clarifies existing law to require that motorists give emergency vehicles stopped on the side of the road a full lane of clearance as they pass, when the lane space is available.
No ABC Licenses for Meeting Places of Criminal Street Gangs
An ABC licensee may now have his permit revoked if the licensee has allowed his premises to become a meeting place or rendezvous for members of a criminal street gang.
Campaigns and Elections
Governor Kaine also took steps to increase transparency in campaign financing, efficiency in the execution of elections, and ballot access for Virginians in the armed forces.
Made It Easier for Military Stationed Overseas to Vote
Virginians entitled to vote absentee under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act may now receive absentee ballots electronically, making voting easier for citizens who are serving our country in the military and National Guard.
Added Flexibility for Scheduling Special Elections
This law grants more flexibility for scheduling special elections to avoid the situation experienced by residents of the Northern Neck this year. These residents were unrepresented during a portion of the General Assembly session because overlapping deadlines in the law prevented them from filling their vacant seat in the House of Delegates. The new law provides that voting equipment must be secured after an election only until the recount deadline has passed (generally 10 days after the election results are certified). It also reduces to 55 days the required period of time between a general or primary election and a special election.
Improved Transparency in Campaign Contributions
Political Action Committees who receive donations designated for a specific candidate in Virginia will be required to provide that candidate's campaign committee with information about the contributor. This information is to be included in campaign finance reports and will ensure that campaign contributions made to Virginia candidates remain transparent.
Workforce Development
Workforce development efforts in the Commonwealth are spread across several agencies and Secretariats. Governor Kaine’s initiative streamlines and better coordinates Virginia’s workforce development efforts, increasing efficiency and accountability.
Transferred Workforce Development Responsibility to Community College System
Transfers responsibility for the management of the Commonwealth’s workforce development program to the Virginia Community College System and requires that the workforce strategic plan be developed in coordination with the economic development strategic plan.
Added VCCS Chancellor to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority Board of Directors
This bill adds the Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System to the board of directors of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority to improve communication between employers and educators.
Repealed the Abusive Driver Fees
Repealed Abusive Driver Fees
In his State of the Commonwealth address, Governor Kaine called for the repeal of the unpopular abusive driver feels. These fees were repealed and refunds provided for drivers who had the fees charged against them.
