2007 Virginia Legislative Agenda:
Issues for Consideration
Transportation
Increase and protect dedicated transportation funding:
- Support efforts to fulfill the requirements of the federal legislation to secure $1.5 billion in federal funding over 10 years by adopting a dedicated funding source for Metro that provides $50 million annually;
- Support efforts to ensure, in conjunction with local governments, that the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority has the necessary power to raise and distribute the dedicated Metro funds;
- Support efforts to increase overall funding for critical transportation projects in Virginia, and especially in Northern Virginia, by securing a long-term, sustainable and dedicated funding source(s) that provides at least $400 million in new funds for Northern Virginia;
- Encourage localities to adopt comprehensive plans and zoning ordinances that promote land use patterns that will accommodate job and population growth, provide for effective transportation infrastructure and provide the quality of life desired by citizens; support planning and zoning tools that encourage appropriate cluster and high density development in designated corridors; oppose efforts to implement mandates that would have localities rely solely on new development to provide the infrastructure used by all;
- Support efforts to change the transportation funding formula to consider important factors such as the number of vehicle miles traveled, population, or other stand-in measurements for congestion;
- Support efforts to protect the Transportation Trust Fund revenues from being diverted for other purposes; and,
- Support any additional legislation needed to move critical projects forward such as widening I66 inside the Beltway, an additional Potomac River crossing, completing the Dulles Rail initiative, a Western Transportation Corridor and HOT lanes.
Higher Education
Protect access to higher education and promote Virginia’s colleges and universities as world class institutions:
- Support efforts to keep higher education in Virginia affordable;
- Support policies that allow access to Virginia’s colleges and universities by
undocumented immigrants provided that they:
1) have graduated from a Virginia high school
2) have lived in Virginia for five years
3) have filed an application to become a permanent U.S. resident
4) have a parent or guardian that has paid Virginia income taxes for at least three years. - Support increased autonomy for Virginia’s institutions of higher education to further eliminate needless bureaucracy and wasteful spending;
- Support policies that expand and make easier the licensing of intellectual property and commercially attractive innovations; and,
- Support greater funding for research and development.
Health Care
Encourage and participate in the study of options to increase health care access and affordability for all Virginians.
Workforce
- Encourage the state to develop a reliable worker verification process, such as through a state or federally-maintained database, to allow employers certainty they are not hiring individuals who are in the United States illegally;
- support a policy that presumes employers are in compliance with state law if they rely on state or federally collected information.
Governance
Actively promote greater accountability and effectiveness in the way government works:
- Encourage transparency and accountability in the legislative process by supporting a requirement for recorded votes at the subcommittee and committee levels;
- Support policies to allow Virginia’s Governors to succeed themselves in office with a two-term limit; and,
- Support continued dialogue among representatives from the federal, state and local
levels from throughout the Greater Washington Metro area to coordinate the region’s
efforts and policy direction on issues such as dedicated Metro funding, building an
overall effective region-wide transportation infrastructure, securing federal
procurement dollars, mitigating the impact of BRAC changes, and emergency
preparedness.
