Legislative Updates

At the request of Governor Kaine, the General Assembly convened a special session on Monday to address the problems Virginia faces in transportation.

Senator Deeds' legislative agenda this year was designed to continue moving us forward and give a stronger voice to Virginians from all walks of life. His leadership in the State Senate is earning praise from all over the Commonwealth...

At the turn of the New Year we began the legislative session in Richmond with two paramount issues before us: reforming our mental health system and enacting the recommendations of the Virginia Tech review panel, and closing a growing deficit in our state budget...

Virginia Needs a Statewide Transportation Vision for the 21^st Century. As our Commonwealth has grown and changed over the years, so have our transportation needs. Yet our transportation policy has not adapted to the changing dynamic of a 21^st century economy...

Not every line in the budget requires the state to spend money-the budget is also an area where we can make important policy decisions about how your tax dollars are spent. This year I have included two policy line items that will take us one step closer to reducing greenhouse gasses and conserve energy:

One proposal I have this year seems to me to be just plain common sense: SB 266 eliminates the annual fee charged to our veterans who have Purple Heart license plates. The impact on our budget is very small and is certainly worth it considering the sacrifices these soldiers have made for our country.

On Monday I was disappointed that my proposal to bring necessary reforms to the sub-prime mortgage industry failed to report out of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee. The bill I introduced would have required lenders to offer homeowners the best loan for which they qualified and prohibited lenders from steering them into a loan that was profitable for them, but not the homeowner.

Throughout the country Democrats, Republicans and even some independents will head to the polls to cast in a ballot in the presidential primary today—24 states will hold nominating contests for either the Democratic or Republican parties, or both. With Virginia’s presidential primary just a week away, I wanted to update you on the election reform legislation I have before the General Assembly this year:

For the last six years I have introduced a proposal to create a bi-partisan redistricting process that will make our state legislative and congressional elections more competitive and help to end the partisan rancor and bitterness that hold our government back.

I believe it is the duty of public servants to ensure that every child in Virginia receives a quality education. Not only does our state constitution mandate it, but we also know that investing in a child's education will pay dividends in the long run by preparing them for adult life and the challenges of the 21st century economy.

This year I have three pieces of legislation and a package of budget amendments to improve both K-12 and higher education in Virginia: