Legislative Alert #3
to AAUP/FSVA
Dear colleagues,
The incredibly short
More information about legislation can be found at the Legislative Information System, http://leg1.state.va.us/.
The action this week was furious! Mainly it involved defeats – victories for us in defeating bills we opposed and the defeat of bills we supported. It is always easier to play defense.
BIG NEWS THIS WEEK:
http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-43635sy0jan31,0,4135454.story?coll=dp-news-local-final
http://www.roanoke.com/politics/wb/wb/xp-102478
http://www.freeexchangeoncampus.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=442&Itemid=55
GOOD NEWS ON OFFENSE:
BILLS WE ACTIVELY
SUPPORT THAT ARE STILL ALIVE
HJ 642 (Chief patron:
Action this week:
Substitute passed unanimously by House Rules Committee
The substitute bill resolves that SCHEV be requested to include in its current strategic planning initiative consideration of Virginia’s competitiveness in attracting and retaining faculty for public institutions of higher education, and that SCHEV will submit an executive summary to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems of the General Assembly by the beginning of the 2008 session. The substitute accomplishes our general goals, without being more directive than SCHEV was willing to accept.
HB 1972 (Chief
patron:
Action this week:
None; before the Committee on Appropriations
This bill provides that teachers and administrative faculty of institutions of higher education who are covered under an optional retirement plan (in lieu of the Virginia Retirement System) and have 10 years of service with the Commonwealth may make a one-time, irrevocable election to transfer into VRS.
SB 975 (Chief patron:
Sen. Edwards, companion bill to HB 1972)
Action this week:
None, passed the full Senate 38-0 last week and is now before the House
HB 1973 (Chief
patron:
Action this week:
None
This bill provides that the annual contribution to optional retirement plans covering certain employees at institutions of higher education would not be less than the percentage contribution rate in effect that is generally applicable for state employees who are members of the Virginia Retirement System, including the five percent member contribution rate. The Committee on Appropriations sub-committee on Compensation and Retirement recommended it for study by VRS
SB 976 (Chief patron:
Sen. Edwards, companion bill to HB 1973)
Action this week: None;
technically the bill is dead, but the Senator Chichester
informally recommended that VRS study the matter
The Senate Finance Committee recommended this bill for study
by the VRS. This is the same action
taken in the House. It was specifically referenced for reasons of competitiveness that
this bill be studied.
Budget Amendment 145
1h, to HB 1650 (the main budget bill) (Patron: Anne Crockett-Stark)
Action this week:
None
The amendment reads: “State Council shall also provide an opportunity for each institution to present data in support of a recommendation to include up to five aspirant state, regional or national institutions” (in the benchmarking process).
BILLS WE SUPPORTED
THAT HAVE FAILED THIS SESSION
SB 892 (Chief patron:
Sen. Creigh Deeds)
Action this week: defeated
in committee; defeated for year
This measure requires the Governor to appoint a nonvoting
faculty representative to the State Council of Higher Education who will act in
an advisory capacity. The faculty
representative must be employed in a full-time
teaching position at a public institution of higher education in
This bill was heard February 1 before the Senate Education and Health Committee, after receiving a negative report from the sub-committee. Senators Houck, Edwards, and Whipple voted against the motion to kill (pass by indefinitely) the bill.
SB 893 (Chief patron:
Sen. Creigh Deeds)
Action this week: None;
defeated for the year
This bill requires the State Board for Community Colleges, local community college boards, and boards of visitors of any public four-year institution of higher education to appoint one or more nonvoting, advisory faculty representatives to their respective boards. Currently, these appointments are at the discretion of each board.
SB 982 (Chief patron:
Sen. John Edwards, co-patrons: Sen. Russ Potts,
Action this week: left
in Senate Finance; defeated for year
This bill establishes the Dependent Children of University
and College Faculty Reduced Tuition Program, to provide 50 per cent tuition
waivers for the children of current full-time faculty members who have been
employed full-time by any one or more public
On
January 31, Senate Finance defeated the bill by voting to “leave it in
Finance.”
BILLS WE ACTIVELY
OPPOSE
HB 1643 (Chief
patron:
Action this week: tabled
(defeated) in sub-committee
Requests each public institution of higher education to report biennially to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) the policies the institution has adopted to ensure academic freedom in support of intellectual diversity.
Delegate Landes accepted most of our AAUP changes, but not the removal of intellectual diversity. The bill was heard before the Higher Education sub-committee of the Education Committee on Tuesday, January 30. Brian and Chris Turner spoke against the bill. The sub-committee voted to table the bill on a 5-3 vote (two Republicans not voting). Technically, the bill is still alive before the full committee, which would have to act on it next week.
HB 2300
Regulation of firearms (
Action this week: defeated in sub-committee 3-2 on a motion to pass by indefinitely
Prohibits a state agency … or a state institution of higher education from adopting any rules, regulations, or policies governing the purchase, possession, transfer, ownership, carrying, storage, or transporting of firearms, ammunition, or components or combinations thereof, unless expressly authorized by statute.
This bill would prohibit campuses from regulating students’
possession of guns on campus, and if they have a permit to carry a concealed
weapon, students could bring weapons into the classroom, your office, the
library, a campus party, or anywhere else permitted by law. Bizarrely, the bill does permit workplace regulations, so employees of
our institutions (faculty, staff, and students while employed) could be denied weapons.
The legislation recalls a bill passed last year in
The bill was heard in sub-committee
#3 of the House Militia, Police, and Public Safety Committee. Bob Andrews spoke against it, as did the
institutions. The room was packed with campus safety officers from a number of
campuses. The sub-committee, with a
majority of Democrats, refused to accept a compromise amendment in order to
defeat the bill in its most unacceptable form.
The bill is still before the full committee, but that committee would
have to call a special meeting to hear the bill before Crossover Day.
OTHER BILLS, ALL
STILL ALIVE
HJ 639 Encouraging the development of guidelines to ensure
religious freedom in higher education (
Action this week: Reported out of Rules Committee on a
13-2 vote.
This bill is a
response to the US 4th District Court of Appeals decision in Mellen v Bunting (2003) which banned enforced
prayer for cadets at Virginia Military Institute. The intent is to provide guidelines so that
students’ right to religious freedom is not abridged
as institutions comply with the Mellen decision.
We find no concern
with this bill at this point.
HB 2513
Economic education and financial literacy programs at
institutions of higher education (
Action this week: House
amended version reported out of Sen. Education and Health 15-0
This bill intended to require public institutions to require first-time entering freshmen to complete a one-hour lecture course on the principles of economics education and financial literacy. It sought to amend the section of the code that was passed into law two years ago to require student life skills in this area through either a course, orientation, or other program.
The amended version merely added areas to be covered in these programs without the requirement of a course. I do not believe the patron understood the full meaning of a “one-hour lecture course.” I spoke against the bill on the grounds of it setting a precedent for the intrusion of the General Assembly in the setting of curriculum in higher education. The Committee did not seem too concerned about this, but rather about the impact of a “requirement” on students. The bill that passed is not much worse that what passed two years ago, but I am concerned about the legislature’s lack of concern about establishing curricular requirements.
HB 2408
Higher education; articulation agreements (
Action this week: House
amended version reported out of Sen. Education and Health 15-0
The original bill required that articulation agreements
between public four-year institutions of higher education and institutions
within the Virginia Community College System include minimum numbers of
associate degree graduates that the institution of higher education will admit
and enroll annually as transfer students from
The amended version merely requires the four-year institutions to report to SCHEV the number of community college transfer students admitted, enrolled, and graduated. The idea of establishing a minimum number of students to be admitted is not something we should support, as faculty must have a role in determining admissions standards.
HB 2869, HB 1828, SB 1331 VRS Divestment
from
Action this week: SB
1331 reported from Finance with a substitute (14-0), Jan. 31, and re-referred
to Rules; House bills no action
These bills would require the Virginia Retirement System to
investigate its investments related to
The AAUP has taken no formal position on these bills. An area of concern is that the fiscal impact could be considerable given technical provisions of the bill combined with the fact that VRS is only funded at 85% of Board Certified Rates. On the other hand, the bills’ bipartisan support, which could be characterized as an alliance between the Christian Right and the Human Rights Left, does try to limit divestment proposals to extraordinary violations of international law, so as to protect VRS from more prosaic political projects. VRS itself is opposed.
HJ 594 Feasibility study on establishing an online public
institution of higher education (
Action this week: None, sitting in Rules Committee
without action
The title explains
the bill. A proposal to create a public
on-line university undoubtedly would strike many of us as of concern. Should this bill pass, we should work to
assure that faculty are fully consulted and included in the
study process.
SB 785
Income tax deduction;
Action this week:
Reported from Senate Finance (14-0), before full Senate
Increases from $2,000 to $4,000 the annual income tax
deduction allowed for purchases and contributions for prepaid tuition contracts
or savings trust accounts entered into with the Virginia College Savings
Plan. The increase would become
effective for taxable years beginning on or after
The bill seems like a reasonable measure to encourage savings and access to college. The question will be its fiscal impact.
HB 1711 (Callahan,
chief patron), SB 770 (
Action this week: HB
1711 passed the House (99-0); SB 770 reported from Finance (14-0) and before
the full Senate
Authorizes the issuance of up to
$98,883,000 in 9(c) debt for capital projects at public institutions of higher
learning. The projects are at
We support these bills.
HB 1681 (Callahan,
chief patron) Community College Transfer Grant Program
Action this week: Reported from Appropriations with
substitute (22-2)
Establishes the Community College Transfer Grant Program to
provide grants to domiciles of
This measure is actually the combination of a variety of
different proposals to encourage