With the work of the 2012 General Assembly finally winding down, I thought it would be helpful to go ahead and provide a brief final budget update.

Monday, and into the early morning hours of yesterday, the General Assembly considered the budget amendments made by the Governor. While a large portion of the Governor’s amendments were accepted, the House and the Senate choose to keep many of the original provisions that were agreed to by the body in April.

As I have stated before, this budget provides generously for the core functions of government without raising taxes and fees. It puts over 800 million in new funding into K-12 and higher education; this will help mitigate tuition increases at our public colleges and universities and will provide additional support to our local school systems. In addition, it continues to support economic development initiatives that will foster business growth and expansion and ultimately help create high paying jobs. Among the amendments adopted yesterday, an additional $19 million was allocated towards economic development programs.

Furthermore, this budget provides for our state and local employees by ensuring the long term solvency of our government employee pension system, and it offers a bonus for state employees in November and a salary increase next year (contingent on adequate revenue collections, as adopted in the original conference report). It also generously provides for those most in need of services by maintaining the funding that was adopted in the conference report for the Area Agencies for the Aging, and over $40 million in additional funding for health and human resources over the introduced budget.

Despite the budget setbacks earlier this year, the Commonwealth is set to have a fiscally responsible balanced budget in place for the upcoming biennium. Governor McDonnell is expected to take final action on the budget sometime this week.

Town Hall

On Tuesday, May 29 I will be holding a joint town hall with Delegate Steve Landes at the Bridgewater Municipal Building, located at 201 Green Street, Bridgewater. The town hall meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers. It will be open to the public and will provide a time to discuss the 2012 General Assembly Session and take any comments or questions. Please do not hesitate to contact my office if you have any questions regarding this event.

Thank You!

I would like to thank everyone that came out to the sporting clay shoot a few weeks ago. While we were a little worried that it would get rained out, it turned out to be a nice day and an enjoyable event. Congratulations to all of the top shooters and prize winners. Because of your generous support and participation we definitely plan to make it an annual event, so start practicing now for next years’ clay shoot!

As always, please do not hesitate to contact my office if we can be of assistance to you. You can reach my district office by phone at (540) 437-1450, by email at deltwilt@house.virginia.gov or you can visit us at 2 South Main Street, Suite 401.

Thank you again for the opportunity to serve as your representative in Richmond!

-Tony

We have crossed the halfway point of the 2012 General Assembly Session, and the House has completed action on all House bills and begun to take action on the 403 bills that passed out of the Senate. On the other side, the Senate has begun to take action on the 603 bills that passed the House.

Budget Leaders Begin to Unveil Biennial Budget

With Crossover behind us, the primary focus for the second half of Session will turn to the state budget. On Thursday, Delegate Lacey Putney, Chairman, House Appropriations Committee, gave a preview of the House budget. He summed up the House budget when he said, “Our [budget] will provide additional funding for both our public schools and our local governments so that they can keep local taxes low, use one-time savings to fund non-recurring costs such as capital projects, minimize the amount of new debt, provide full funding of the VRS contribution rates, reduce the burden on Virginia’s businesses with fewer and lower fees, provide additional support to attract new industry and promote tourism, and make the largest investment in over a decade to our colleges and universities.”

Following Delegate Putney’s speech, Majority Leader Cox rose to highlight the additional funding for localities and K-12 public education included in the House budget. The House’s budget puts nearly $580 million in new funding into our children’s classrooms and begins the process to restore funding for localities that had been cut in prior year budgets.

On Friday Delegate Jones highlighted efforts to restore proposed funding cuts to health care safety net programs and continue to work to increase the number of Intellectual Disability and Developmental Disability waiver slots offered for community based care. In addition, he highlighted efforts to improve Medicaid reimbursement rates for hospitals and nursing homes. I believe the House budget will honor the committment to provide proper care and treatment for the most vulnerable citizens of Virginia.

In addition on Friday, Delegate Landes highlighted measures in the budget to continue to promote economic development and job creation. Just one example of these efforts is a proposed one million dollars in support each year of the biennium to fund the Agriculture and Forestries Development Fund. The Agriculture and Forestries Development Fund came about as the result of legislation patroned this session by Delegate Landes, legislation which I was proud to co-patron and support. Agriculture is the top industry in the Commonwealth and is vitally important to the 26th District. This commitment will work to ensure that Virginia’s agriculture sector remains strong and we continue to expand and develop new markets and opportunities.

My Legislation

I have several bills that have already passed the Senate this past week and await the Governor’s signature. Among these are House Bill 20, legislation which prohibits the Governor or any agency of the Commonwealth from barring the transportation or carrying of firearms during a declared disaster. In addition, House Bill 97, the legislation which allows two motorcycles to ride abreast passed the Senate.

I am hopeful that several other measures will meet full Senate approval next week.

Visitors

This past week I had the pleasure to meet with a group of our local realtors from Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. In addition, I enjoyed meeting with several RMH representatives and JMU public policy students.

Contact Me

My staff and I are here in Richmond to serve you. My office can be reached at (804) 698-1026 or via email at Deltwilt@house.virginia.gov. Of course I always welcome individuals to stop by in person, our office is located in room 526 of the General Assembly Building.

-Tony

We are approaching the halfway point of session, also known as Crossover. Crossover is the day that the House of Delegates must complete its work on the nearly 1,300 House Bills introduced this session. Next Wednesday, the House will begin to consider all bills that have passed the State Senate.

A great deal has been accomplished in the five weeks since the start of Session with over 400 bills, covering a wide range of issues, having passed the House. I would say over one third of the legislation passed so far relates to what I believe should be the core focus of the legislature this session- helping businesses create jobs, expanding education opportunities, keeping our communities safe, and making our government more efficient and effective. These areas of focus will also be addressed in the budget, which is scheduled to be voted on by the House of Delegates towards the end of session.

House Republicans Unveil 2012 Public Safety Agenda

Last week, some of my Republican colleagues held a press conference to highlight a number of public safety initiatives to keep families safe from habitual drug traffickers, individuals who prey on children, drunk drivers, gang members, and those who commit domestic violence.

Delegate Rob Bell (R-Albermarle) discussed two of his bills, HB 968, which will increase penalties for habitual drug traffickers, keeping our kids away from drugs and drug-related violence, and HB 973, which would impose a mandatory life sentence for raping a child under the age of 12. In the last two years, 228 children under the age of 12 have been victims of these horrific crimes, and only 10 of these cases resulted in a life sentence, with a median sentence of 13 years.

Delegate Ben Cline (R-Rockingham) introduced two bills to address strangulation and gang recruitment. HB 752 raises the penalty of assault and battery via strangulation in an attempt to curb the elevation of domestic violence. To help combat gang violence, Cline also introduced HB 751, which will make it a felony to induce criminal activity or recruit a gang member via the internet, a telephone, or text message. With technological developments, gangs are using new methods of communication to recruit, discuss, and plan criminal activities.

Protecting our families and keeping our streets safe is one of the most important responsibilities of the government. I am 100% committed to doing everything we can when it comes to protecting children and keeping families safe from crime.

Making Virginia the Most Veteran Friendly State

This past week, the House passed a handful of bills aimed at accomplishing Governor McDonnell’s goal of making Virginia the most veteran and military friendly state in the Nation.

•On Wednesday, the House passed HB 938, a bill that recognizes training or instruction received in the military as meeting equivalent requirements in gaining certification or licensing for a particular profession. Basically, whatever training or education you have already received in the military that could be applied to a particular profession, you would not have to repeat that portion of instruction again to gain state recognized licensure of a particular profession.
•The House also passed HB 719, a bill that allows for a veteran with a permanently disabled service-connected disability to purchase a lifetime hunting, fishing, or combined hunting and fishing license at a discounted rate.
•In addition, the House passed HB 384, which would give hiring preference for state jobs to members of the Virginia National Guard. This bill builds from last year’s successful efforts to give hiring preference for state jobs to veterans.

Survey Results

Listed below are the results to the final questions in my legislative survey. Again, I thank you for your feedback on my survey.

The Virginia Retirement System (VRS) administers retirement programs for state workers, public school teachers and various local workers and constitutional officers. At present, the VRS is underfunded. Which of the following alternatives would you support to help reform the current Virginia Retirement System?

Moving from a defined benefit system (a traditional pension) to investment in a defined contribution plan (such as a 401 (k) or an IRA)
70.1%

Increasing the employee contribution share for VRS
61.7%

Raising the age of eligibility for VRS
48.6%

Do you support implementing sunset procedures in all state agencies and programs that would require the Governor and General Assembly to periodically review their performance and usefulness?

Yes
92.4%

No
7.6%

Should the Commonwealth forbid Project Labor Agreements and Prevailing Wage Laws, which respectively require construction workers doing public construction to join a union and forbid states from contracting with the lowest bidder if such bidder does not pay a “prevailing wage” based on union pay scales?

Yes
65.6%

No
34.4%

Though Virginia does not currently allow uranium mining one of the largest uranium deposits in the nation is located in southern Virginia. Mining this deposit has positive economic potential and negative environmental potential. Do you support uranium mining in Virginia?

Yes
64.3%

No
35.7%

Virginia currently derives 20% of its electrical power from nuclear power. Do you support expanding the sources of nuclear power in Virginia?

Yes
82.5%

No
17.5%

Visitors

I had a great time meeting with some Rockingham 4-H’ers this past week. I also met with some folks from Valley Associates for Independent Living (VAIL), Eastern Mennonite University nursing program, and Joe Paxton and Supervisor Pablo Cuevas representing Rockingham County. I enjoyed learning more about what issues are important to each of these groups.

Contact Me

My staff and I are here in Richmond to serve you. My office can be reached at (804) 698-1026 or via email at Deltwilt@house.virginia.gov. Of course I always welcome individuals to stop by in person, our office is located in room 526 of the General Assembly Building.

We are now in the heart of the 2012 General Assembly Session. This week was an extremely busy one for me as nearly all of my legislation was either before committee, sub-committee, or on the House floor. The dockets have expanded as we are considering most all House legislation at some level.

Improving Care for the Intellectually Disabled

This week, Virginia took a big step forward to improve the care for some of our most vulnerable citizens, those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

On Thursday, Governor McDonnell announced that Virginia will move forward with the transition to community-based care by adding 4,710 new Intellectual Disability (ID) waiver slots and closing four of the five training centers around the state. This is long-overdue news for many families across the Commonwealth who are waiting for an ID waiver. An ID waiver funds services to help individuals with an intellectual disability remain in the community and avoid institutional care. Since 2002, the General Assembly has increased the number of ID waiver slots by about 58 percent, from about 5,386 slots to 8,467 slots currently. Last year, I co-patroned legislation that invested $30 million into a trust fund to begin the process of transitioning those with intellectual disabilities from institutional care to community-based care.

The Governor’s announcement came as Virginia reached a settlement agreement with the Department of Justice regarding Virginia’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the 1999 Supreme Court decision in the Olmstead case.

My Legislation

As I had mentioned earlier, the majority of my bills made progress in at least one stage of the process throughout the course of this past week. In last week’s email I had mentioned House Bill 96, related to the delayed implementation of certain regulations upon public schools; House Bill 336, related to withholding funds from the federal government for organizations that administer conservation easements; and House Bill 337, which allows certain state agencies to punish fraudulent acts when it comes to taking exams to receive a license for a professional occupation. All three bills successfully passed the House this past week and will now move on to the Senate for consideration.

I did want to mention the status of one piece of legislation that had sparked the interest of several constituents. House Bill 341, which would have required the Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts to procure the majority of its auditing services, was tabled in sub-committee. However, I am working with the Auditor of Public Accounts to devise a plan, with the input of respected CPA organizations, of how a privatization of this agency could occur. I feel very strongly about exploring avenues to move forward with this effort, and I intend to continue to pursue it in the interim.

The main function of the Auditor of Public Accounts is to audit the agencies and functions of state government. Most states procure a large portion of this function from CPA firms in the private sector. If Virginia were to do the same, I believe this could save the taxpayers a large sum of money over time.

Survey Results

I want to thank everyone that took the time to complete my legislative survey. We saw an increase in response from last year. I have decided that rather than listing all of the results in one newsletter, I will reveal the results of a few questions each newsletter over the course of the next several weeks. Again, I thank you for completing the survey as I will take these results into consideration as I am faced with decisions related to the respective issue. The results to the first five questions are listed below.

Would you support the creation of public charter schools in Virginia sponsored by corporations or trade associations?

Yes- 64%

No- 36%

Do you support awarding Virginia’s many good teachers with “merit” or “bonus” pay when the students they teach consistently score above the state average on standardized tests, or would you rather award additional pay based on how long a teacher has taught?

Based on Student Test Scores – 70%

Based on years of service- 30%

Do you support creating a system by which every Virginia student attending college has a specific amount of state funding that will follow the student to the public or private (not-for-profit) college of his or her choice?

Yes- 45%

No- 55%

Should the children of illegal immigrants who grow up in Virginia be eligible for in-state tuition at Virginia’s public universities?

Yes- 35%

No- 65%

Virginia continues to face budget constraints due to the lingering effects of the nationwide recession. How do you believe the General Assembly should address such budgetary constraints?

Rating Scale

1

2

3

4

5

Average Rating

Raise general or statewide taxes (sales, income, gas, and/or personal property)

(10.16%)

(9.38%)

(7.81%)

(7.81%)

(64.84%)

4.08

Increase certain fees to cover the actual cost of providing certain government services

(12.50%)

(14.06%)

(14.06%)

(39.06%)

(18.75%)

3.38

Cut needless government spending and eliminate earmarks

(73.44%)

(13.28%)

(7.81%)

(0.78%)

(3.91%)

1.47

Streamline, consolidate and/or eliminate state agencies and bureaucracy

(42.19%)

(20.31%)

(21.88%)

(7.81%)

(5.47%)

2.12

Cut outdated, duplicative and unnecessary boards and commissions

(58.59%)

(17.97%)

(18.75%)

(1.56%)

(2.34%)

1.70

Visitors

I would like to thank the folks from back home that were able to visit the General Assembly this past week. I enjoyed meeting with some Farm Bureau members and area Treasurers and Commissioners of Revenue. While I was tied up in Committee, my legislative aide, Chad, enjoyed meeting with individuals from the Humane Society and some local teachers.

Contact Me

My staff and I are here in Richmond to serve you. My office can be reached at (804) 698-1026 or via email at Deltwilt@house.virginia.gov. Of course I always welcome individuals to stop by in person, our office is located in room 526 of the General Assembly Building.

The first full week of the 2012 Session is now behind us, and at this point we are reviewing full dockets of legislation in our respective committees and sub-committees, along with presenting our own bills for consideration.

While most bills are still being debated in committee, there are a number of important issues that I would like to bring your attention to in this week’s newsletter.

Uranium Mining

On Thursday, Governor McDonnell announced that he will not seek legislation to lift the moratorium on uranium mining in Virginia until a pending comprehensive study of the issue is completed by a newly-created multi-agency state workgroup. I applaud the Governor’s decision to allow everyone to continue to gather information and learn more about the issue before positions are taken on whether or not to lift the moratorium. Uranium mining has been a widely discussed topic over the past year, but more time is needed to ensure that the uranium can be mined safely. While uranium mining offers a potential positive economic impact for Southside and the entire state, the safety of all Virginians must come first.

Local Mandates Task Force

On Monday, Governor McDonnell announced the findings of a task forced aimed at reducing mandates on localities. The task force has recommended the removal of twenty mandates, such as the Circuit Courts current ability to mandate that localities construct a new courthouse.

Many conservative legislators often criticize the seemingly endless federal mandates handed down from Washington that are forced upon states and localities. It is appropriate for us to take a closer look at the mandates that the state places upon the localities to eliminate those that may pose an unnecessary burden upon them.

My Legislation

While the majority of my bills have yet to go before committee, I did have several that successfully passed sub-committee.

House Bill 96: This legislation, which I also successfully patroned last year, extends the delay of the implementation of certain new regulations placed upon public schools. Even if the proposed increase in funding for k-12 education remains in the final biennium budget that is adopted, many public school systems will still be struggling to provide the quality of education necessary to meet our current standards. They do not need additional burdens placed upon them.

House Bill 97: This legislation would permit two motorcycles to ride side by side in a single lane. Currently, Virginia treats this as reckess driving, a class one misdemeanor. Only Vermont and Virginia prohibit this practice.

As a motorcyclist myself, I find that sometimes it would be helpful to pull aside another rider to communicate. Additionally it is often standard for motorcyclists to pull aside each other at a stop sign or stoplight. Both of these aforementioned examples would currently be considered reckless driving under Virginia law.

HB 336: Provides that in distributing revenues of the Virginia Land Conservation Fund (VLCF), these funds are not to be distributed to the federal government. Starting just last year, a portion of the funds in the VLCF were used to compensate administrators of land conservation easements. These administrators are entities that make sure landowners understand and follow the terms of conservation easements that the landowner entered their property into. The administrators of a few of these easements are federal government agencies.

The Commonwealth is in no way mandated by the federal government to compensate these federal agencies. These resources that are currently being paid to the federal government can be better utilized by state and local organizations. The federal government places a lot of unfunded mandates upon the states, so in instances when we have no reason to pay, we shouldn’t!

HB 337: This bill gives state agencies that administer licensing and certification exams a broader ability to seek punishment against those that fraudulently obtain, or help others in fraudulently obtaining, a license or certification for a particular profession.
Broader language is needed because there has been a steady rise in individuals taking exams for others. As the code is currently written, there is no authority to punish those paying others to take the exam, and questionable authority as to whether or not the person taking the exam can be punished.

Visitors

I was fortunate to have a number of constituent visits regarding numerous issues over the course of this past week. Among these visitors were a number of student groups, including folks from JMU, EMU, and several homeschoolers. In addition, I visited with local individuals with the Family Foundation, Tea Party, Boys and Girls Club, Collins Center, Virginia Interfaith Center, and several school officials including President Rose of JMU.

Contact Me

My staff and I are here in Richmond to serve you. My office can be reached at (804) 698-1026 or via email at Deltwilt@house.virginia.gov. Of course I always welcome individuals to stop by in person, our office is located in room 526 of the General Assembly Building.

By: Jeremy Hunt

HARRISONBURG — When businesses botch their local tax filings, Rockingham County taxpayers often pay the price. In 2011, the Board of Supervisors authorized refunds of about $2.2 million in overpaid taxes to companies that made mistakes on their personal property tax returns over the last several years.

To read more, please visit: http://dnronline.com/article/there_s_big_money_in_mistakes

RICHMOND- Following the opening of the 2012 General Assembly Session, House Speaker William J. Howell announced Wednesday that Delegate Tony O. Wilt (R-Broadway) has been appointed to three committees. These committees include the Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee; the Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee; and the Counties, Cities and Towns Committee. During the 2011 General Assembly Session Delegate Wilt served on these three committees.

The Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee mainly handles matters related to agriculture, the Chesapeake Bay, conservation, hunting and fishing. The Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee hears all bills related to law enforcement, the National Guard, gun rights, and issues concerning the physical safety of citizens. The Counties, Cities and Towns Committee hears matters related to local government.

“I’m honored to once again be appointed to these three committees,” stated Wilt. “Agriculture is vital to the economy of the 26th District, and therefore I appreciate the Speaker acknowledging this fact with my re-appointment to the committee. Public safety is a core function of government, and I will make every effort to champion reasonable measures that ensure the safety of the citizens of this Commonwealth without reducing our individual liberties. It is said that local government is the government closest to the people, for this reason, I look forward to serving on the committee that handles matters that affect our localities, and thus directly influence citizens.”

Delegate Wilt represents the 26th House District, which includes the City of Harrisonburg and part of Rockingham County. He was first elected in June of 2010, and has now officially begun his first full term.

Reporter: Elizabeth Lamb

Local delegates to Virginia’s General Assembly met Saturday at the Rockingham County Administration Building to discuss everything from education to retirement in a town hall style meeting.

Delegates Tony Wilt (R)-26 and Steven Landes (R)-25, met with Rockingham County residents to hear what they have to say about Gov. Bob McDonnell’s proposed $37 million increase to the state’s budget.

“That’s exciting to me, for folks to have a venue to come out and share their thoughts and their concerns that affect them here locally,” Wilt said.

Hot topics included funding for the state’s retirement program, and how education standards should be set.

Wilt said no more bills can be proposed to the General Assembly, but he said ideas from the meeting will help him better represent his district.

“We’ll glean from what we heard here today and certainly keep those concerns in mind as we go forward, as we go to Richmond,” Wilt said.

Ramona Sanders attended the meeting and said was looking forward to meeting Wilt.

“It was very interesting, it was very knowledgeable. I’m very pleased that Delegate Wilt has a mentor like Steve Landes,” Sanders said.

Wilt said the government’s programs are far-reaching, and they all come back to how much money is available.

“The trick is going to be is that we don’t fall back into old, bad habits,” Wilt said.

“It’s been tough seeing some of the cuts now, but some of the cuts have actually been healthy, and we need to remember those things. We don’t need to fall back into bad spending habits when the economy turns around.”

McDonnell’s budget for Virginia is $85 billion; the additional $37 million would go toward economic incentives and development.

To view the video footage, please visit: http://www.whsv.com/home/headlines/Delegates_Hold_Town_Hall_Meeting_for_Valley_136889598.html

Author: PRESTON KNIGHT

Date: January 9, 2012

Publication: Daily News-Record (Harrisonburg, VA)

HARRISONBURG – Education and environmental concerns dominated most of the discussion during a town hall meeting for two local delegates Saturday afternoon in Harrisonburg.

Dels. Steve Landes, R-Weyers Cave, and Tony Wilt, R-Broadway, held the joint meeting at the Rockingham County administration building in Harrisonburg. Together, the lawmakers represent most of the county, and Wilt’s district also covers the city.

The 2012 General Assembly session convenes…

To read more, please visit: http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=13C2D97C66E77CE8&p_docnum=1

With the start of the 2012 General Assembly Session just next week, I want to gain as much input as possible from constituents on measures that may come before the body. I would encourage you to respond to my legislative survey, so that I can use the results as a tool to gauge support on the particular issues addressed in the survey.

Please click here to take the survey. The results will be published in a future email.

Joint Town Hall

Just as a reminder, on Saturday, January 7 at 1:00 pm I will be holding a joint town hall with Delegate Steve Landes to discuss the upcoming General Assembly Session. It will take place in conference room A of the Rockingham County Administration Building, located at 20 East Gay Street, Harrisonburg.

Please come join us to learn more about my legislative package and what we may expect for the upcoming General Assembly Session. It will also be a great opportunity for me to find out what priorities are important to you and what your concerns are for the upcoming Session. Please email deltwilt@house.virginig.gov if you have further questions.

Reach Out to Us in Richmond

Beginning Monday, January 9, we will begin working entirely out of our Richmond office. As always, I encourage you to reach out to us during Session with any of your thoughts regarding legislation or any other matters. We can be reached by phone at (804) 698-1026 or by email at deltwilt@house.virginia.gov.

I value personal visits from constituents while in Richmond, so if you are able to make the trip, I will try my best to meet with you in person. To better accomodate you, it would be helpful if you are able to schedule an appointment in advance. My office is located on the fifth floor of the General Assembly Building, room 526.