Chris Collins: General Assembly update

Dear Friends,

The General Assembly just concluded its first full week of session.  House members introduced over 1,000 bills, and the Senate members have introduced over 700 bills. Over the next two weeks the 14 House committees will be doing a lot of the heavy lifting to hear the bills before action can be taken on the House floor.

The House Republican caucus has been working since we adjourned in 2016 to develop our priorities for the 2017 session. Our policies aim to create a culture of opportunity where people can empower themselves to flourish in society.  This is accomplished through private job creation and entrepreneurship, healthcare reform, and modernizing education options. This week I will highlight our agenda to improve the economy and create jobs in Virginia.

Our jobs agenda has one main goal: make it easier for people to work. We have several caucus members who are carrying regulatory reform legislation. The current regulatory system is broke. Onerous permitting requirements have made it extremely difficult, expensive, and time-consuming to do business.

Now, not all regulations are bad or should be done away with. That said, regulations should be transparent, fair, and impose minimal financial burdens on businesses and families.

Several members have submitted bills to strengthen public input requirements on newly proposed regulations, create accountability for those agencies that think they should be exempt from public input, and in general scale back the tremendous amount of regulatory burden working professionals currently experience.

We will also have comprehensive legislation to reform the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEPD), the state agency tasked with marketing Virginia to potential new businesses.

Last December, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission published the worst, most disappointing report on a state agency within the last 20 years. In their briefing, they highlighted that VEDP has operated without using basic practices necessary for effective management and marketing. Further, VEDP’s unstructured and inconsistent approach to administering state incentive grant programs leaves the state vulnerable to fraud and poor use of limited resources.

Essentially, the Commonwealth’s marketing agency was operating without a marketing plan.

The systematic deficiencies at this state agency must be addressed. They are supposed to be our key management and marketing agency of Virginia’s economic development activities, but have been grossly mismanaged to the detriment of our economy. It is time to restore accountability and General Assembly oversight. Until reforms have been made, their state funding will be withheld.

We are refiling several commonsense jobs bills that Governor McAuliffe groundlessly vetoed in 2016. In fact, we’ve already passed legislation to strengthen franchisee business owner’s ability to effectively run their own business.  HB 1394 (Del Head, R-Roanoke) prevents franchise employees from being considered as an employer of the franchisor for the purposes of determining union membership, passed the House 67-31.

Caucus members are carrying legislation that supports coal workers, prevents the Governor from unilaterally submitting a State Implementation Plan as part of the Clean Power Plan, and ensures that government contractors are not forced to pay artificially high wages or benefits.

Several pieces of legislation that I introduced made it out of committee last week and will be considered by the House in the next week.  These bills include:

·   HB 1545 Delayed appeals in criminal cases; assignment of errors dismissed in part.

·   HB 1621 Preliminary hearing; certification of ancillary misdemeanors; fees and costs.

·   HB 1692 Effect of divorce proceedings; transfer of matters to the juvenile and domestic relations court.

I encourage you to read about all of the legislation that I have submitted by visiting the Virginia Legislative Information System.

Do not forget to complete my on-line session survey.  Please share the survey with your friends and neighbors in the 29th District and encourage them to fill it out.  The deadline to complete the survey is January 25, 2017.

On Saturday, February 4, 2017, I will be holding a town hall meeting at the Middletown, VA Town Hall from 9:30 am-10:30 am.  Town halls are a great way for me to directly communicate with constituents in my district and discuss the important issues for this year’s session.  Middletown Town Hall is located at 7875 Church Street, Middletown, VA 22645.

I encourage you to keep in touch with me and my office over the coming months.  I value the feedback you provide on a continual basis as it helps me do a better job of representing you. You can email me or call me at (804) 698-1029.  You can also join the conversation on my Facebook,  Twitter and Instagram pages.

Thank you for the opportunity to represent Virginia’s 29th District.

Sincerely,

Christopher E. Collins, Member
29th District