We hit the ground running this week, with Wednesday marking the first day of the General Assembly Session. Governor McDonnell outlined his priorities during his State of the Commonwealth Address on Wednesday evening, and set the tone for what we all hope to accomplish over the next 45 days.
At this point, all bills have been assigned to a specific committee, and those committees have begun to consider each piece of legislation. You can track the progress of my bills by visiting the General Assembly’s website at http://legis.virginia.gov. In addition, I will be keeping you up to date on the latest news from the General Assembly through Tag’s Take.
Spotlight Bill: HB 1493 – Career and Technical Education
This is a bill that I am very excited to carry. As many of you realize, we spend an enormous amount of time, energy, and money preparing our young adults for College. And when our kids graduate from High School, they are usually very well prepared to jump into college on Day 1 of their freshman year.
We do NOT do nearly as much for those kids who might not want to go to college. In many cases, we don’t prepare them adequately to directly enter the work force. My House Bill 1493 says that where there is a nationally recognized certification for a specialized skill, the Board of Education shall require such certification as part of the career and technical curriculum. This will ensure that the student who wants to become an HVAC Repairman is as well prepared to start his first day in a new career as the Freshman at Virginia Tech is prepared to start her first day of class.
Spotlight Bill: HB 1976 - Virginia Council on the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunities for Military Children
I am honored that the Governor has asked me to carry this bill on his behalf as we try to enhance the membership of this very important Compact by adding one representative from a military installation in Virginia. The Compact was designed to remove barriers to educational success imposed on children of military families because of frequent moves and deployment of their parents. Anything we can do to help our Veterans and their families is a good thing in my book.
I was glad to see several of you in Richmond this week….Betsy McIntire, Cheryl Beebe, Gary Shook, Tom Eck, and David Ramadan….to name a few. Thanks to all of you who stopped by to visit. I hope more of you can come visit in the coming weeks…it is always nice to see friends from home!
Lastly, I was very excited to have Mary Beth join me for the Agri-Business Dinner on Thursday night. This is one of the best functions that we attend during the Session and having Mary Beth there with me was something special! Thanks to all of you who helped her make that happen.
As always, my staff and I are here in Richmond to serve you. We want to hear what you think about the legislation pending before the House, or if there’s anything we can do to help you in dealing with a state government agency. We can be reached at (804) 698-1032 or via the email at DelTGreason@house.virginia.gov. If you are planning to visit Richmond during Session, please make time to stop by Room 513 to say “Hi.”
Thanks again for allowing me to serve as your Delegate.
Sincerely,
Delegate Tag Greason
