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House Education Committee Passes School Safety Bills Set Forth By First Select Committee In 155 Years

The House Education Committee took up a few bills Wednesday stemming from the findings provided by the Select Committee on School Safety. The first select committee formed in the Virginia state legislature in 155 years was created after the February 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

After the November authorization of the 24-point priority recommendation plan to increase security in schools, Speaker of the House of Delegates Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights), who leads the committee, said the “final product would be comprehensive and consensus-driven.”

Addressing the committee, Speaker Cox said the work done by the select committee was “groundbreaking.”

Referencing comments made by the Virginia General Assembly’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC), Cox added, “good news for Virginia…in so many different areas, Virginia was a leader…in the top five of states on school safety.”

The plan from the bipartisan select committee includes realigning the role of school counselors, statewide mental health and suicide prevention efforts, increasing funding for school resource officers, and bolstering school security grants, according to the Select Committee on School Safety’s “Priority Recommendations” report.

Even though dozens of school safety-minded bills have been forwarded, just a few were taken up Wednesday morning.

House Bill 1733, patroned by House Majority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah), would require a school division to enter into a memorandum of understanding with a local law enforcement agency that sets forth the powers and duties of the school resource officers (SROs). The legislation was passed unanimously by the 22 members on the committee.

House Bill 1725, introduced Delegate Barry Knight (R-Chesapeake), dictates that each school board must cooperate with local building officials and a local fire marshal to develop a procurement plan to ensure that all security enhancements to public school buildings are in compliance with the Uniform Statewide Building Code and Statewide Fire Prevention Code. The bill passed with a unanimous vote.

House Bill 1732, sponsored by Delegate Israel O’Quinn (R-Bristol), would set forth annual safety training in public elementary and secondary schools. Principals would be required to develop and deliver – to each student and employee – training on safety procedures in the event of an emergency situation on school property. The bill passed with a unanimous vote.

House Bill 1738, introduced by Majority Whip Nick Rush (R-Floyd), would require a licensed architect or professional engineer to approve all plans and specifications for new or remodeled public school building construction. Moreover, the designee must be trained and experienced in crime prevention through environmental design. The bill passed with a unanimous vote.

House Bill 1729, introduced by House Education Committee Chairman Steven Landes (R-Augusta), would require school counselors across the state to spend at least 80 percent of their time counseling students. The bill passed with a unanimous vote.

House Bill 1752, patroned by Delegate Paul Krizek (D-Alexandria), would create a school holiday on the first Tuesday of November, which is Election Day. The legislation would alleviate the chance that schools are full of students, staff, and teachers when elections are held in case of an emergency on school grounds. The bill passed with an 18-3 vote.

Delegate Landes also proposed House Bill 1615, which would change the date of June primary elections from the second Tuesday of the month to the third Tuesday so schools will not be in session. That bill, however, was not taken up Wednesday.

Delegate Rush’s House Bill 1739 specifies that security equipment in schools includes software and mobile applications, which is eligible for grants through the Public School Security Equipment Grant Act of 2013, but was not voted on.

Featured News

Republican Rocky Holcomb Announces 2019 Bid For House Of Delegates

Former Virginia House of Delegates member Norman Dewey “Rocky” Holcomb III announced his candidacy for the 85th House District Wednesday morning, promising to bring “strong, effective leadership” to the General Assembly on Bank Street in Richmond. Holcomb represented the district in the lower chamber of the state legislature from 2017 to 2018 after former delegate Scott Taylor won the Virginia Beach seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In a video to his supporters, Holcomb, a former marine and current chief deputy of the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office, described how his fighting spirit began as a young child, which has fueled his work ethic in representing everyone in his community.

Holcomb said that many of the challenges faced in the statehouse are on account of “dysfunction in Washington, D.C.,” especially on the issue of healthcare.

The Virginia Beach Republican said, if elected, he will work to fix the state’s broken healthcare system, calling it a “complete mess.” He explained that he will find solutions to lower skyrocketing premiums and protect Virginians with pre-existing conditions.

“We must have leaders who will put working families first and develop commonsense solutions to today’s problems…solutions that provide accessibility to affordable healthcare while ensuring those with pre-existing conditions are protected,” he said.

Highlighting his time in local law enforcement, Holcomb is also calling for criminal justice reform in the Commonwealth.

“As a career law enforcement officer, I can speak firsthand about the need to reform our criminal justice system. Locking people up is not the only answer. We must find programs for rehabilitation and re-entry into society,” he remarked.

On his campaign website, the Republican hopeful states that he will work to grow Virginia’s economy, strengthening small businesses and create a pro-business environment based on low taxes and a balanced state budget. Furthermore, he posited that reform will be coming to Virginia’s Standards of Learning (SOL) program while rewarding teachers for their achievements and making sure more tax dollars reach the Commonwealth’s classrooms.

Solving the state’s transportation woes and pushing for tuition freezes at colleges and universities is also a part of his campaign to provide for a better future for all Virginians.

Holcomb added that the hyper-partisan political environment that is beginning to consume much of the lawmaking in Richmond could lead the Commonwealth down a “path similar to Washington.” Following 2017’s “blue wave” that erased the GOP’s 2-to-1 majority in the House, progressive Democrats have attempted to usher in “New York-style regulations,” which included over $770 million in new tax increases that were voted down by the Republican majority in last year’s 60-day session.

“We must fight back against the extremes that want to stifle small business growth with higher taxes and more regulations that kill jobs,” Holcomb stated.

Delegate Cheryl Turpin (D-Virginia Beach), whom Holcomb will challenge, is part of the Democratic Party’s progressive left-wing that has proposed numerous job-killing economic measures. The liberal caucus has forwarded legislation that would levy taxes on, as Holcomb explained, “everything from electricity to plastic bags…and the list goes on.”

In the beginning of the 2019 General Assembly session, Turpin suggested repealing Virginia’s Right-to-Work law, which has enjoyed strong bipartisan support for over 70 years, providing employees the right to not be forced to join a union or pay membership dues as a condition of employment. Moreover, she even tweeted a photo of herself in December along with three fellow Democratic House candidates standing in front of a poster declaring “Right to Work is WRONG.”

Instead of governing on partisanship, Holcomb he said he will “fight for an agenda that represents the interests of ‘all of us’ in Virginia Beach…not just a few.” He will also ensure that Virginia upholds a “common sense government that works for everyone.”