2007 General Assembly Highlights

Crossover

The General Assembly convened on January 10, 2007 and is scheduled to adjourn on February 24, 2007. 

Budget

The House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees reported their respective budget amendments to the Governor's introduced budget on February 4th. To find out how each budget affected VCU, please click here.  

Budget conferees will be appointed by the end of the next week and will start working out the details of the final budget to be sent to the Governor. 

Transportation.  Transportation funding continues to receive considerable attention this session.  The House has passed HB 3202, an omnibus transportation bill that uses general fund money, in addition to bonds and increases of fees, to fund the Commonwealth’s transportation needs.  SB 1417, a nearly identical bill, failed to report on the Senate side, therefore leaving both sides in a current stalemate.  

Key Legislation

Out of the 2728 bills and resolutions that have been introduced, VCU is currently tracking over 300 pieces of legislation.  Bills of importance include:

·      Guns on Campus (HB 2300) – This bill would forbid any higher education institution from setting policies to prohibit the carrying of a firearm.  This piece of legislation failed to report.

·      Certificate of Public Need (HB 2155, HB 2274, HB 2276, HB 2277) – All contentious Certificate of Public Need bills were either stricken or failed to report. 

·      Medicaid/Medicare Rates for Prisoners (HB 2034) – This legislation would limit the amount that VCU Health System (VCUHS) could collect for health care services rendered to prisoners to the Medicaid or Medicare rate, which ever is lower.  As VCUHS helps a majority of the prison population in the Commonwealth, this has a large fiscal impact on the health system.  The bill has now passed the House and was heard in the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services.  Within this committee, the patron struck his bill, but similar language has been added to the House version of the budget.

·      Two-Year Transfer Grant Program (HB 1681, SB 749) - This legislation would set up a grant for individuals who have obtained an associate’s degree from a 2-year institution and then transferred to a 4-year institution.  HB 1681 will pay a grant in the amount of $2,000 for those students in the fields of engineering, mathematics, nursing, teaching, or science who have received a 3.0 GPA.  SB 749 differs in that it covers the difference between the cost of the 4-year institution versus the 2-year institution.  Financial need is also a criterion in both bills.