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Beltway On The James—A Virginia Political Blog
Delegate Kory honored as a "Conservation Hero"
The Virginia League of Conservation Voters is proud to honor Delegate Kaye Kory as a 'Conservation Hero.' Her first year at the General Assembly has shown her to be a legislator who understands that protecting our environment goes hand in hand with promoting healthy, livable and economically viable communities.
Notes from Community Hours
On Saturday, June 26 and Thursday, July 1, I invited School Board Members Sandy Evans and Patty Reed to join me at my Community Hours at the James Lee Center and the Woodrow Wilson Library.
Join me as we celebrate Autism Champions
Please join me and Good Morning America Anchor, Sam Champion, this Friday evening, July 2, from 6pm to 8pm at the Country Club of Fairfax, 5110 Ox Road, as we raise money to support the Virginia Autism Project.
Thank you for a successful event!
Many thanks to the hard-working volunteers who made our First Year Celebration such a great success! And more thanks to the many supporters who joined me to celebrate.
First Year Celebration
You are invited to celebrate the first year with Delegate Kaye Kory, Virginia House of Delegates, 38th District. Sunday, June 27th, 2010, 5pm to 7pm at the home of Mr. David Feld, 6405 Lakeview Drive, Falls Church, VA 22041.
Kaye's Community Drop-in Hours
We had a good turnout at the George Mason Regional Library a couple of weeks ago for my community hours. People from around the 38th district came by to talk politics, transportation, redistricting, upcoming legislative issues and more.
The Long View
Governor McDonnell and the Republican-dominated House of Delegates crafted and passed a budget for the 2010-2012 Biennium that fell short of funding program priorities I believe are vital to Virginia’s quality of life. This budget was based on Governor Kaine’s recommended budget, which closed the gap between projected revenues and spending with a combination of program cuts and revenue enhancements. The Kaine budget proposed eliminating the state’s car tax reimbursement and adding a surtax to individual income tax. The Governor and the House chose to eliminate the tax changes, which required them to find an additional $1.9 billion in program cuts and funding deferrals.
Diverting attention from the real work at hand
Since Attorney General Ken Cuccinnelli launched his nullification efforts the day after President Obama signed the Health Care legislation, I have been receiving a steady flow of constituent mail mostly critical (90+%) expressing feelings ranging from ridicule to outrage. Governor McDonnell's ill-considered "Confederate History Month" proclamation and his decision to add the additional requirement of a persuasive essay to the already cumbersome application process that nonviolent ex-offenders must follow in order to regain their voting rights have added increased volume to my mailbox - both in numbers and intensity of opinion.
College Credit for IB Courses
Good News: We unanimously passed the International Baccalaureate College credit bill on Friday afternoon. This bill states that Virginia Colleges and Universities must award equal course credit to IB and AP courses when determining student placement. While this measure might be seem like a no-brainer (and for me, it is), it has long been an issue for many parents and students. Most Virginia colleges have not given equal weight to IB & AP and this is a problem in 2 ways:
Well, I guess it all depends upon where you are sitting.....
Members of the House of Delegates have issued press releases describing this first half of the 2010 Legislative Session as successful in getting our economy moving. From my seat, I saw the House debate more than 20 gun rights bills in one afternoon, several of which would allow those carrying concealed guns to carry those guns onto private property without that private property owners' permission or in spite of having been denied permission by the property owner.
Making up Snow Days
I have been talking to Fairfax County School Board Members, other Fairfax County Delegates, meeting with Delegate Bob Tata, Chair of the House Education Committee, and staff members from the Governor's office and the Department of Education to look at options for easing the burden that the extraordinary number of snow days so far in this school year has placed on FCPS.
News Flash Update
HB 629 was brought back to the floor by a member who voted on the prevailing side and a vote was taken again. This time the bill failed by one vote. At least 2 members of the House did not vote. So, the bail-out goes forward!
News Flash
After being snowbound for several days, I arrived to today's session in time to cast the deciding vote to defeat HB 629. This bill would effectively release a 'successor corporation' from any asbestos-related liabilities. This bill was specifically a bail-out for a certain company. I am proud that I was able to cast the deciding no vote!
Delegate Kory's Report from Richmond
Report from the capital city after three and a half weeks: as the days of this 2010 session go by, the stronger the partisanship displayed in the House. We have dealt with the perennial Virginia General Assembly social issues: abortion, and the death penalty--gun control will be up soon. The votes have all lined up along party lines. We have barely touched education.
Fighting to raise teachers' salaries
Yesterday my bill calling for Virginia to pay its teachers at a rate that is competitive with the national average teachers salary was killed in subcommittee on a totally partisan vote. This bill is purely goal--setting without any financial commitments. There was no clear reason to kill it--just a 'we've spent enough time on this and she needs to go away'.
Governor McDonnell refuses to overturn the LCI freeze
I just learned that Gov McDonnell has publicly stated that he will NOT overturn the LCI freeze in Gov Kaine's December budget. This is disastrous for Northern Virginia! Refusing to re-benchmark/update the Local Composite Index--the formula that all state education funding is run through to determine the exact amount of $ going to each school system--cheats Fairfax County Public Schools out of $61 million dollars. Prince William & Loudoun lose a total of $60 million.
Delegate Kory’s Report From Richmond
Today I completed my first week as the Delegate from the 38th district to the Virginia House of Delegates. One of my highest priorities in this role is to inform and engage the citizens of the 38th in the sometimes opaque legislative processes that unfold in Richmond. One note of caution, though. I have heard it said that there and two things you don’t want to see in the making: sausages and laws!
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