Here is Senator Mark Obenshain‘s latest report on the General Assembly.
The fourth week of the General Assembly has been filled with hotly contested battles over the basic rights of every Virginian. We’ve taken huge strides in some areas and suffered setbacks in others, but on property rights, fiscal responsibility, and family values, the biggest fights loom ahead.
Right to Work Victory with PLA Bill
Last week, I told you about SB 242, my bill banning government-mandated project labor agreements. These are public contracts that are open only to union closed shops. I believe in the free market and see no reason why Virginia should ever close bidding to non-union shops – especially when 96% of our construction workforce is non-union. The best bid should win, whether union or non-union.
I’m pleased to report that the Senate passed the bill on a 20-20 vote, with Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling breaking the tie. (Later in the week, another one of my bills (SB 57) required the Lieutenant Governor to break the tie, thus far the only two bills on which he has voted.)
Virginia Property Rights Amendment Victory – Followed by Peril
The Virginia Property Rights Amendment moved one step closer to ratification this week. It cleared committee on a bipartisan 13-2 vote earlier this week, with support from all eight of the committee’s Republicans and five of seven Democrats. The committee recognized that the protection of private property from the abuses of eminent domain is extremely important to Virginians, and I was grateful for the strong support of several Democrats, including Senators Creigh Deeds (a chief copatron) and Phil Puckett. This remains an issue that unites Virginians across party lines.
That’s why it’s all the more alarming that there is now a move to kill the amendment by referring it unnecessarily to the Senate Finance Committee, where it would be left to die. The amendment deserves an up or down vote on the Senate floor- and if you click here, you can tell your Senator exactly that! I am tremendously grateful to the nearly 600 Virginians who have already done so following my urgent email on Thursday night. This issue should come to a head in the next two or three days.
Election Laws – Party Identification and Ballot Integrity
The debate over election laws is also a debate over terminology. Republicans have termed the issue as one of “integrity.” Democrats have cast the issue as one of “suppression.” It is not surprising that after the abuses and excesses attributed to groups like ACORN in 2008, this would be a controversial topic in 2012 – another presidential election year. Opponents of common sense reforms, like voter ID requirements, ignore the fact that they were actually a bipartisan recommendation of the Commission on Federal Election Reform, appointed after the 2000 Presidential election and co-chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker. In their report, they actually called voter identification one of “five pillars” that would “build confidence” in the integrity of federal elections.
Next week there will be a vote on a voter ID bill. The US Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of voter ID laws and in recent weeks there have been high profile stories problems like the 953 “dead voters” who actually voted in South Carolina. Here’s a great video highlighting the issue – showing New Hampshire poll workers handing ballots to primary voters giving the names of dead people. I expect the vote on this issue to be closely divided, unfortunately along party lines.
Unfortunately, with hotly contested bills there are bound to be defeats. One such loss was SB 56, a bill to increase the transparency of local elections by requiring local ballots to list the party affiliation of a candidates nominated by a political party. It wouldn’t have ended nonpartisan elections; it would simply require that the fact that a candidate is the nominee of a political party be disclosed to the voters. That’s a basic transparency issue.
Contracting Preferences (SWAM) – More Accountability and Transparency
Elsewhere, my bill increasing the transparency of preferential procurement passed the Senate with much less controversy. Virginia sets aside numerous state contracts every year for firms that qualify under a Small, Women- and Minority-owned business (SWAM) preferential procurement program. There is no way of knowing how much money this preferential treatment has cost taxpayers since bidding was not opened to any other business. SB 250 will require a quantification of the costs associated with preferential procurement and establishes a mechanism by which abuses of the system (especially fraudulent pass-through entities) can be halted.
Visitors
This week, it was great to see school board members and superintendents from three of my localities (Harrisonburg, Rockingham, and Rappahannock), as well as representatives of the hospitality industry in the Shenandoah Valley, members of United Methodist churches in Virginia, Virginia Tech students (for Hokie Day), and Sheriff Carter from Shenandoah County. I look forward to more visits from friends and supporters as session marches on. Have a great weekend!
With best regards,
Mark D. Obenshain
Virginia State Senator
