The General Assembly just passed the halfway point of the 2012 session called “crossover.” All bills that have passed one house will now be considered by the opposite body- House bills in the Senate, Senate bills in the House.

To discuss some of the legislation considered thus far, I will be holding a tele-town hall meeting this coming Wednesday evening, February 22, at 7:30 p.m. A tele-town hall meeting is similar to a district-wide conference call. I will provide an update about the session and take questions. For the tele-town hall, our office will only call constituents of the 67th district and if you have indicated a “do not call” preference in the past, that will be honored.

Budget

Governor McDonnell introduced a balanced budget for the July 2012-June 2014 period. Next week the House will consider the budget along with amendments proposed by the Appropriations Committee. The Governor’s budget proposal includes providing additional funding for the Virginia Retirement System to help ensure its long-term solvency. As you may know, VRS is the pension plan for state and local employees, including teachers.

Transportation

I reintroduced legislation in the 2012 session, H.B. 599, to require that planned transportation projects be rated based on the amount of congestion reduction achieved per dollar spent on each project. In this way, the highest priority projects that offer the biggest “bang for the buck” can be identified in a publicly available list. Because our transportation dollars are limited, we should be funding these kinds of projects first. H.B. 599 passed the House of Delegates this week and will now be considered by the Senate.

The House also passed H.B. 864, a bill I cosponsored to provide Northern Virginia with more representation on the Commonwealth Transportation Board, which is the decision-making body that allocates transportation infrastructure funds. The bill passed 51 to 47, which was due to the fact that Northern Virginia now has more representation in the House of Delegates as a result of redistricting, following the 2010 census. Northern Virginia’s delegation worked effectively with a coalition of legislators from other regions in Virginia that have traffic problems to provide the winning margin. This vote is significant because it shows that Northern Virginia has more votes than in the past to better address transportation funding issues.

Government Reform

I have been working with the Governor and other members of the House of Delegates on H.B. 1291, to eliminate duplicative and outdated boards and commissions from state government and unnecessary regulations. During the process of considering H.B. 1291, I offered amendments to strengthen the law that prevents the government from competing with the private sector. The General Laws Committee recently approved these amendments. The Governor’s restructuring bill passed the House this week and will now be considered by the Senate.

On another matter, I introduced H.B. 601 to give Virginia a permanent statewide seat on the Metro Board. Virginia provides more than $100 million annually to support Metro rail and Metro bus operations. I believe Virginia needs a permanent watchdog on the board to monitor how our tax dollars are used, especially given the cost overruns and safety problems that Metrorail and Metrobus service has encountered in recent years. H.B. 601 passed the House, 71-26 and will now be considered by the Senate.

As you may know, I was the first member of the House of Delegates to post my voting record online. Legislation I authored last year requires all recorded votes of each member in the House of Delegates to be posted online, effective January 2012. You can access this information by going to my website, www.LeMunyon.com, and clicking on “voting record.”

If you are unable to participate in the tele-town hall meeting on Wednesday, you are always welcome to contact my office by phone, 804.698.1067, or by email, deljlemunyon@house.virginia.gov. I appreciate and value your advice and suggestions.