Legislative Advocacy Archives - 2007

March 16, 2007

The General Assembly Report:

Short Session Ends on Time - Conference Report Provides New Funding for Higher Education and Virginia Tech

The General Assembly Session ended the “short session” as scheduled this year on Saturday, February 24 despite lengthy debates on legislation dealing with major policy issues including transportation, energy re-regulation and eminent domain. After unsuccessful attempts during last year’s session, an extended session into late June and a special session in September, the legislature approved a statewide transportation plan on the last day of the 2007 session. The legislature also passed the conference report with amendments to the 2006-2008 biennial budget, including a 4% pay increase for faculty and classified staff effective November 25, 2007.

For higher education, the conference report allocated $15.3 million for base operating needs and 2006-2007 enrollment growth. In addition, the conferees set aside $7 million for a Tuition Moderation Incentive Fund which will provide additional operating support to institutions that do not raise tuition more than six percent for in-state undergraduates. Undergraduate financial aid received a boost of $13.7 million.

Virginia Tech received $750,000 in partial funding for 676 additional full time equivalent students enrolled this academic year and $900,000 for undergraduate student financial aid. The University is eligible for $1.3 million from the Tuition Moderation Incentive Fund if tuition increases for in-state undergraduates do not exceed six percent. The Board of Visitors is scheduled to approve tuition rates at the March 26 meeting.

The conference report retained the capital funding provided in the Executive budget amendments for higher education as well as recommended funding for additional cost overruns for projects already under construction.  For Virginia Tech, this included funding for the Hazardous Waste Facility and project supplements for the Building Construction Lab, ICTAS I and Cowgill HVAC. The conference committee also approved a non-general fund appropriation for the Shultz Hall renovation project.

Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Agriculture Experiment Station received $461,000 for seven additional positions as part of the Commonwealth Staffing Initiative.

A few research projects at the University received funding in the conference report. The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, along with Colleges of Natural Resources and Engineering, will collaborate on a noise reduction study funded by the Virginia Transportation Research Council. Cooperative Extension will conduct a study on the plight of Virginia’s beekeepers. The Virginia Coastal Energy Research Consortium, of which Virginia Tech is a founding member, received $1.5 million to implement research and develop Virginia’s marine renewable energy resources.

A special thanks to all the students and alumni who participated in this year’s legislative session when they came to Richmond on January 31 for Hokie Day in the General Assembly. The Alumni Association coordinates Hokie Day each year for alumni to meet with legislators and advocate for Virginia Tech and higher education.  Over seventy alumni and students came to Richmond for the day, which ended with a photo opportunity with Governor Kaine. In addition to participating in Hokie Day, the Student Government Association organized a group of students to visit legislators in the fall prior to the legislation session. 

Out of the 3,000 bills introduced during the session only about 1,500 bills were sent to the Governor’s desk for review and signature. A reconvened session is scheduled for April 3, when the legislature will act on the Governor’s amendments or vetoes of legislation and the conference report on the budget. For additional information about the 2007 legislative session, please contact Laura Fornash, Director of State Government Relations (Fornash@vt.edu.) or visit the government relations website at www.govrel.president.vt.edu.

December 20, 2007

Hokie Day at the General Assembly has been scheduled for February 6

Greetings from Blacksburg… I write to you as we end a busy semester. Last week we awarded over 1,000 undergraduate degrees and 400 graduate degrees, adding to our total of more than 100,000 alumni in Virginia. As you may know, last Thursday Governor Kaine held a press conference to announce his higher education initiatives in the 2008-2010 Executive Budget. The key item was a $1.65 billion bond package for a variety of new construction and renovation projects for colleges and universities. The bond package includes $117.8 million for Virginia Tech to support the renovation of Davidson Hall, the construction of a new sciences building and a facility in Roanoke for the proposed private medical school and research institute - a public-private partnership with Carilion Clinic. The package also includes $28.2 million for a new Human and Agricultural Biosciences building. 

Other higher education items in the budget included restoring a portion of the budget reductions proposed in October. You may remember that in October the Governor announced over $300 million in budget reductions for state agencies, including colleges and universities, to help cover the revenue shortfall (about $90 million came from higher education). For Virginia Tech, over $10 million was cut from the university budget and over $2 million from the Cooperative Extension and Agriculture Experiment Station budget. The new Executive Budget allocates $3.6 million to Virginia Tech as partial restoration of the cuts.

The legislative session begins on January 9. We need our alumni and friends to continue to advocate for increased operating funding for higher education, beyond the Governor’s proposals, and for the proposed bond initiative. A bond program, if approved by the General Assembly, must be approved by all voters the following November. The latest figures calculated by the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia estimate higher education is underfunded by $411 million. This includes over $70 million for Virginia Tech’s underfunded programs.

Our next Hokie Day at the General Assembly has been scheduled for February 6.
I hope you can join us in Richmond to advocate for higher education and specifically for Virginia Tech. Please contact Nancy Hagen at nhagen@vt.edu or (804) 786-8110 for additional information or to RSVP if you can join us.  Next month, an agenda, key talking points, and directions can be found at http://www.alumni.vt.edu/. We will send you regular updates during the session. Please feel free to share this information with other interested alumni and friends who will serve as advocates like you do so generously for Virginia Tech.

Spirits among our students, faculty and staff have been healthy at the university all this fall.  The good wishes and support of you and other alumni have helped tremendously.  And we hope to see many Hokies at the Orange Bowl in January to signal the start of 2008 with another victory.

Best wishes for the holidays,

Tom Tillar
Virginia Tech Alumni Association