Guest post by Timothy J. Early

The National Telecommunications & Information Administration has awarded $21.5 million in broadband stimulus projects in southern Virginia. Although these projects are directed specifically at connecting Virginia Tech campuses and bringing broadband to public schools in Blacksburg, Bedford and six counties in the Appalachian region of Virginia, one report states “the projects will be high-speed and open to any ISP to build out to the community.”

That means many households and businesses, which have not had broadband available to them will be able to have the benefits of high-speed access to the Internet.

It is no secret that Virginia is bifurcated. The high-tech/military/government-based region in the northern portion of the Commonwealth has not been as negatively impacted by the economic slow-down as other regions. However the farther you go down I-95, the greater the impact of the recession. In southern and southwestern Virginia unemployment is running much higher than in the north, and is higher than the national average.

Most economists and just about every politician is pointing to small businesses as the principal driver in creating jobs. Many of those small businesses cannot exist without broadband.

Certainly buying or selling on eBay is a frustrating experience with a dial-up connection; and a service company needing online collaboration among a physically dispersed staff can’t operate without broadband.

In this economy many people are finding that they can hire themselves out to a number of companies to do bookkeeping, graphic design, technical writing, or programming while working from their homes. Again, this is difficult if not impossible without a high-speed connection to the Internet.

Companies which are reluctant to add to their full-time staffs until there is more economic clarity, are searching for telecommuters who can help ease the work load without adding to overhead by requiring parking, office space, light, heat, and equipment. Adding work-at-home contractors to their staff is a mutually beneficial arrangement in many cases.

Over the past several years the technology sector has been one of the few which has added jobs while the rest of the economy was shedding over eight million jobs. These jobs range from the major network providers, which have invested over $100 billion over the past two years, to individual programmers writing smart-phone apps in their homes.

The value of broadband extends well beyond high-tech activities. Utilizing broadband, retailers and small manufacturers can expand their marketing area from anywhere in their town or county, to anywhere in the world. Anyone who has lived in a smaller city or town knows how a relatively few new jobs, bringing a few new families can have a major economic impact because 30 – 100 new families need everything from groceries to shoes, to haircuts providing a significant multiplying effect.

Broadband access to the Internet may well turn out to be the fuse which lit the economic recovery in southern Virginia – and the nation as a whole.

As a member of the newly created Broadband for America (BfA) Virginia Advisory Board, I am working with a group of citizens in the Commonwealth to develop programs that deliver the message that broadband Internet creates jobs and provides opportunities, which foster the growth of small businesses and enhance the lives of every citizen.

Broadband for America’s core mission is bringing broadband Internet to every home and business in the nation, and there is no better to place to start than right here, in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Timothy J. Early is President/CEO, Hampton Roads Technology Council and Vice Chairman, Virginia Technology Alliance. For more information on Broadband for America, please visit the website.

I would not have believed it if someone had predicted it in November of last year, but license plates supporting Planned Parenthood might just be coming to Virginia.

For the past few months, the Assembly has been wrestling with establishing a license plate to balance the "Choose Life" plate approved last year. In the course of the sausage making, funding from sales of the plates was originally directed to go to Planned Parenthood, and then in the Assembly a Delegate reoriented the funding to go to a previously moribund state "Pregnant Women Support Fund" which had never been funded since it was established. In effect, taking the money and sending it nowhere. The Senate's legislative language retained the funding for Planned Parenthood, however, and the Senate wording was what came out of the conference committee and was sent to the Governor.

Conferees recommended retaining the Senate language, and the recommendation was adopted by the Senate on a 22-15 vote and by the House on a 64-30 vote.

The plate is a counterweight to the “Choose Life” license plate approved by the General Assembly last year.

“Since the commonwealth had provided a forum for one side of the choice debate last year, we felt it was duty-bound to give equal treatment to the pro-choice position,” Brink said.

“Planned Parenthood is a vital part of the health-care safety net for women across Virginia - securing this license plate on their behalf is more than a symbolic victory,” Brink said. - The Sun Gazette (For a laugh, check out their tagline at the top)

It's a great thing to see this legislation successfully move through the Assembly. I personally support Planned Parenthood and all they do, and am glad for a way to express that support.

The interesting question is whether Bob McDonnell will sign the bill, which is part of the overall package of legislation that has passed the Assembly this past week. It is pretty clear that Virginia must pass some kind of pro-choice license plate bill, as per court decisions on the matter of issue-plate in the past. I sincerely hope he signs it, and we can get our plates in the coming year.

Incidentally, did you hear that the pill may decrease women's risk of death, and freely available contraception reduces abortions? There's a funny thing about fighting for gender equality in services and society, when we succeed, our overall health as a community improves.

Obama: 'We need courage'
When it comes to politics "Courage" is like "ethics," "morality," and "common sense." It just doesn't exist except in speeches.

• Reddit: Soft deletes in SQL In response to a question on Reddit about how to delete with faux deletions in SQL, somebody offers this clever solution: create two views of the table, one listing all deleted records, and one all active records. Use those, and never the source table. (tags: sql mysql programming)

Each Monday morning during the men's college basketball regular season, SLANTblog will publish its new Virginia Top Five. For the third consecutive season this feature will attempt to rank what seems at the moment to be the best five teams from among the 14 Division I programs in the Commonwealth. Only games against Division I opponents are counted in won/loss records.

SLANTblog's VA Top Five

1. Richmond (26-8, No. 25 RPI -- NCAA tournament)
2. ODU (26-8, No. 27 RPI -- NCAA tournament)
3. Va. Tech (23-8, No. 59 RPI -- NIT)
4. Wm. & Mary (21-10, No. 58 RPI -- NIT)
5. VCU (22-9, No. 66 RPI -- CBI tournament)

Note: This rating feature puts more weight on the results of recent games than it does on games played in Nov. and Dec. Whereas, computerized RPIs are obliged to see all games as equal. This is the final installment of the Top Five for this season.

-- RPI numbers, which are updated frequently, from CBS Sports

Today the State Senate voted to accept the Conference Committee report from the House and Senate budget negotiators. With that, the Budget was enacted and the 2010 session came to an end. 

The Conference report is a long and complex document.   Here are the highlights:

K-12 Education:  The Senate was able to save Virginia from about 80% of the House-proposed education cuts.  The overall K-12 reduction from the introduced budget will be $253 million.  That is still a significant sum (about 2% of our schools budget) but definitely manageable.  The "true LCI" will be used to allocate educational funds.

Public Health:  The conferees used about $370M in new Federal funding to restore provider cuts to Medicaid and lift the freeze on Medicaid waiver slots.  We also adopted some new state fees to help fund state trauma centers and EMS services.  Overall, with those two new revenues, we are able to keep state services generally equal. 

Public Safety:  About $167M is restored to Sheriffs and other local officials.  We also  restored funding which supports local police.  We are phasing out two prisons to cut costs.  We are also leaving vacant several judicial vacancies (I'm going to hear about this one).  Crime continues to pay -- extra fees that is.  Each conviction will get a $10 penalty extra to fund childrens' services.

State Employee Benefits:  The VRS deferral will end up netting $620M in savings for this biennium.  That is a huge savings but it substantially changes the nature of VRS.  New employees after July 1 will be required to pay their retirement share.  The state will no longer pick it up.  We will continue the 1-day furlough proposed by Governor Kaine.

Higher Education:  Some small reductions here to TAG scholarships and other selected projects.  Otherwise, the conferees left the colleges alone.  They have already lost 25% of their funding since 2007 so there's only but so much you can do.

Economic Development:  The only winner in the budget.  The conferees agreed to put in $46M in new spending here per the Governor's January request.  We'll see how this works out.  I have my doubts but let's save that for later.

Overall, it's a tough situation.  In Fairfax City, my hometown, we are losing $350,000 in school funding which is about 5 teachers.  Of course, that's a pittance compared to larger jurisdictions like Chesterfield that lose $18M or so.  Nearly every single jursidiction will be adversely affected, except Fairfax County and Loudoun which get the one-time benefit from the true LCI (note that they still receive far less per capita than nearly every other school district).

I don't celebrate this conference report.  But I did vote for it.  And it passed 34-6 on the Senate floor.  

And I thank the conferees and staff for sticking in there to get this done.

Nice video from Senate Democrats.

The Arlington County Board took action on sidewalk snow removal yesterday, passing a 60-day ordinance until a permanent can be considered this spring:

“With today’s action, Arlington for the first time formally establishes the expectation that sidewalks are to be cleared following snowfall,” said County Board Vice Chairman Christopher Zimmerman, who presented the motion. “This is fully consistent with our commitment to be a walkable, transit-oriented community.”

The emergency ordinance applies to areas zoned for commercial use throughout the County. It requires the owner, occupant or other person in charge of properties in such districts to remove more than two inches of snow from their sidewalks within 24 hours after the snow ceases to fall. The ordinance also applies to commercial rental properties with more than four units and condominiums with more than four units.

Persons more than 65 years old, or who are disabled or otherwise determined to be physically incapable of meeting the requirements are exempt. Violators shall be assessed a civil penalty of $50 for sidewalks less than 200 linear feet long and $100 for sidewalks longer than 200 linear feet.

The Board acted after noting that historic snowfalls this winter resulted in sidewalks in some areas remaining impassable for days or even weeks, making it difficult or even impossible for persons to walk safely to transit, schools or shops.

The emergency ordinance does not apply to residential areas. The vote was 3 to 2.

Major thanks to Chris Zimmerman, Mary Hynes & Walter Tejada for voting to pass the temporary ordinance, and I look forward to the Board passing a permanent law in the months ahead.  
Barbara Favola said the temporary rule wasn't needed because we won't get any significant snow in the next 60 days. But that's a roll of the dice -- for just one recent example, Arlington got about 9" of snow on March 9, 1999. And as a friend commented on my Facebook page, "If it doesn't snow, then this ordinance isn't used. Nothing gained, nothing lost. But if it does snow, then everyone will be really glad they enacted it. Everyone except for lazy business owners, that is."
Business opposition to the ordinance was led by Arlington Chamber of Commerce:

The Chamber also took issue with Zimmerman’s assertion that many owners of commercial property failed to adequately clear their sidewalks of snow and ice.

“The vast majority of Arlington business and commercial property owners performed exceptionally well,” the letter to Fisette said.

It's ridiculous to claim the "vast majority" of commercial property owners cleared their sidewalks. Why do they think citizens are pushing for an ordinance in the first place? Did any Chamber members attempt to walk Wilson Boulevard or Columbia Pike in the wake of this winter's storms? Do they think people were walking in the street just for fun?
One question for you as we look ahead to the permanent ordinance: Should it apply to residential properties? I understand sidewalk snow removal isn't as much of a concern on back streets (some of which may not even have sidewalks to begin with). 
But then again, there are plenty of single-family homes on busy pedestrian streets like Washington Boulevard. Shouldn't they have to clear their sidewalks? Let me know what you think in comments.

At a little before 6pm Sunday, both houses of the legislature completed this session and adjourned sine die. The extra day of session was to deal with the budget, which covers the next two years of operations for the Commonwealth.

With a $4.2 billion shortfall, some hard choices had to be made.  The budget is available for for perusal here. A decent rundown of what it entails can be found here.

The legislature may be done with their part, but a lot of hard work is still left to be done at the local level. $250 million in cuts for education mean that local school boards are going to be looking to local councils to help make up the shortfall. The 2011 Norfolk School Board budget has already considered some of that in its calculations, with a $27 million smaller budget this year than last year.  Now that the numbers are final, it will be interesting to see what the numbers look like by the time the Board meets this coming Wednesday and when the budget is adopted on March 24.

Norfolk is in the midst of creating its budget for the year beginning July 1, 2010. The budget will be presented to City Council on April 20, with two public hearings scheduled after that. (The budget schedule can be found here.) In reviewing the FY2010 budget (available from the City’s budget page), you can see that outside of revenues from the Commonwealth, the largest source of general fund revenues is – you guessed it – general property taxes. How much Norfolk will be impacted by cuts from the Commonwealth is as yet unknown, but with the decrease real estate assessments, we can already assume that city revenues will be down.

So it’s not sine die for local electeds – or for those of us who watch this process. The trickle down effect of the Commonwealth’s budget will not be pretty.

As I was reviewing the financial statements for Norfolk, I came across the organizational chart to the right (click to enlarge). Far too often we forget that the entirety of our government works for us.  At the end of the day, if we don’t express our opinions on what we think the priorities should be, we are abdicating our responsibility.  So if you live in Norfolk, go ahead and put on your calendars now the date of the budget presentation to council and the dates – April 28 and May 5 – of the public hearings.

Democracy is not a spectator sport.

Murray Hill for Congress Inc...

Who impressed him this session?  You might be surprised.  Check out this clip.

The House and Senate are back in session today at 5 p.m.

Prior to that time, we'll get a briefing on the Conference Committee for the Budget.  If you're in Richmond, it starts at 3 pm in Senate Room B of the General Assembly Buildling.

I'll try to summarize here once I get the details. 

Pentagon Shooter Bought Weapon at Gunshow
Without Background Check

At the Pentagon, gunman John Patrick Bedell carried two 9 mm handguns, one of them a Ruger.

Law enforcement officials say Bedell, a man with a history of severe psychiatric problems, had been sent a letter by California authorities Jan. 10 telling him he was prohibited from buying a gun because of his mental history.

Nineteen days later, the officials say, Bedell bought the Ruger at a gun show in Las Vegas. Such a sale by a private individual does not require the kind of background check that would have stopped Bedell's purchase.

Read More:

James Webb, D-Va., a take-charge senator who in just his second year conceived and negotiated passage of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, made clear Wednesday he will continue to influence issues that impact on the lives of servicemembers, retirees, reservists and their families.

Webb has more leverage now as the new chairman of the Senate armed services’ personnel subcommittee. He also has more knowledge of — and curiosity about — military people and policy than arguably anyone in Congress.

At his first hearing, Webb called as witnesses the four political appointees who have day-to-day control of personnel policy in the Pentagon.

Webb promised “continuous and active oversight of all our military personnel matters through hearings, through consideration of the Department of Defense budget and legislative proposals, and also through day-to-day interaction with you and people who work with you.”

Note: Follow the link below to read the entire article

Military Update: Webb takes lead of personnel subcommittee | Stars and Stripes.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I woke up the other morning and thought, "It's too warm in here, better lower the heat." When I went to the thermostat, it turned out I'd forgotten to turn it on the night before. Even though it had been in the 40s that night, my apartment was still too warm for comfort.

The Green Miles lives in an apartment building in Ballston. A great deal of the apartment's efficiency comes from the building's design -- 10-story, densely-packed, concrete & brick, double-paned windows & doors, lots of natural light & bonus heat from the sun. That design gives it a great deal of temperature inertia -- it stays warm in the winter & cool in the summer.
But this afternoon it's 55 degrees & cloudy -- and with the heat off, my apartment is 73 degrees. Clearly, I'm getting a major boost from neighbors whose love of paying to keep their apartment extra toasty is spilling over into my unit. My apartment gets a similar boost of cool air in the summer from their ravenous air conditioning consumption.
I could complain about how much money they're wasting. And I could brag about how keeping an eye on the thermostat in this efficient apartment has kept my heating bill at a ridiculously low $20-30 per month this winter. But instead, I'll just say thanks for helping me save a few dollars that I can then spend on something I enjoy.

The session is winding down.  I have two major conference reports outstanding.  One should be finished today.  The other may have to get kicked over til 2011.

Last night, there was a "sine die" party at Havana 59 which is a great Cuban restaurant in Shockoe Bottom, right down the hill from the Capitol.  It was a bipartisan crowd there to sample the food, have a drink and even smoke a cigar. 

I ended up at a table with the following folks:  Morgan Griffith and his wife, Ward Armstrong, Eric Finkbeiner and David Mills.  We had a very good time. 

For those keeping track that's the House Majority Leader (Republican), the House Minority Leader (Democratic), the Governor's Chief of Staff and the Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Virginia.

Can't we all just get along?

Beat Rob!

• LA Times: 'Vaccines court' rejects mercury-autism link in 3 test cases Another thimerosal case before a court, another clear and decisive win for science. These were three of the strongest cases, too. It's time to end this foolishness. (tags: autism vaccines science)
• Overlawyered: Toyota acceleration—Why I'm skeptical The median reported age of Toyota drivers that have died from accelerator problems is 60.5. A third of them are older than 70. Unless the median age of Toyota drivers is really quite old, that certainly seems like a strong sign of user error, as opposed to a technical problem. (tags: toyota)
• Broadband.gov The FCC wants to know if broadband providers are shortchanging their customers. Their solution is this website. They want people to visit the site and run a quick connection speed test. That data alone is enough for them to conduct a national audit. I'm wicked impressed by this. I cannot envision a faster, more efficient method of conducting such an audit. (tags: fcc broadband)
• Amtrak: Privately-Owned Rail Car Thinking about buying a railroad car, but not sure how you'll actually move it around? Worry no more! Amtrak will sell you a rail car pass, allowing you to hook up your car to one of their trains and travel about the country. (tags: transportation amtrak)

A young woman wants to bring her girlfriend to the prom. The school responds by canceling the prom "due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events". Welcome to Itawamba County, Mississippi.

All Constance McMillen wants to do is to be herself and bring the date of her choice to her senior prom. The small-minded and mean-spirited officials of the Itawamba County School District seem to think differently.

This from the Associated Press:

A lesbian student who wanted to take her girlfriend to her senior prom is asking a federal judge to force her Mississippi school district to reinstate the dance it canceled.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi on Thursday filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Oxford on behalf of 18-year-old Constance McMillen, who said she faced some unhappy classmates after the Itawamba County School District said it wouldn't host the April 2 prom.

"Somebody said, 'Thanks for ruining my senior year,'" McMillen said of her reluctant return Thursday to Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton.

The lawsuit seeks a court order for the school to hold the prom. It also asks that McMillen be allowed to escort her girlfriend, who is a fellow student, and wear a tuxedo, which the school said also violated policy.

The district's decision Wednesday came after the ACLU demanded that officials change a policy banning same-sex prom dates because it said it violated students' rights. The ACLU said the district violated McMillen's free expression rights by not letting her wear a tux.

McMillen said she never expected the district to respond the way it did.
"A lot of people said that was going to happen, but I said, they had already spent too much money on the prom" to cancel it, she said.

McMillen said she didn't want to go back to the high school in Fulton the morning after the decision, but her father told her she needed to face her classmates.

"My daddy told me that I needed to show them that I'm still proud of who I am," McMillen told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "The fact that this will help people later on, that's what's helping me to go on."

The school board statement said it wouldn't host the event "due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events" but didn't mention McMillen. District officials didn't return calls seeking comment Thursday.

****

McMillen says she hopes her fight will make it easier for gay students at other schools facing discrimination.

"I want other kids to know that's it not right for schools to do that," she said on CBS's "The Early Show."

In 2002, a gay student sued his school district in Toronto to allow him to attend a prom with his boyfriend. A judge later forced the district to allow the couple to attend and stopped the district from canceling the prom.

U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., said a bill he's introduced in Congress would make it illegal to discriminate against gay and lesbian school students. He said at least 10 states have such laws, and his bill is modeled after those.

"This situation with the prom is a perfect example of why we need to protect students from discrimination. In this case it's a prom. It other cases, it's getting beaten up or killed," Polis said.

The school district had said it hoped a privately sponsored prom could be held.
Southside Baptist Church Pastor Bobby Crenshaw said he's seen the South portrayed as "backwards" on Web sites discussing the issue, "but a lot more people here have biblically based values."

Itawamba County is a rural area of about 23,000 people in north Mississippi near the Alabama state line. It's near Pontotoc County, Miss., where more than a decade ago school officials were sued in federal court over their practice of student-led intercom prayer and Bible classes.

A Facebook group, Let Constance Take Her Girlfriend to Prom!, has been started and already has 74,000 fans.

Italy to host Europe's biggest solar plant

In it's first year alone it will provide enough electricity to power 17,000 homes and prevent the emission of 40 metric TONS of carbon dioxide. What do we have in Virginia? A bunch of not-too-bright politicians beholden to Big Oil, yelling "Drill here, Drill now."

Is nuclear necessary? Duke study touts power of renewables

Study finds renewable energy, including solar, wind and hydroelectric, can provide all but 6% of North Carolina's electricity.
But yet the GOP continues to push for fossil fuels which endangers our national security and send troops to the slaughter in needless oil wars.

On my drive into work, I listen to POTUS on XM. This morning, Tim Farley (who is an excellent anchor for political news and talk in the morning, balanced, credible and engaging) had an expert on Senate procedure on the show to discuss the latest machinations over health insurance reform. I am the parliamentarian of my local Democratic Committee, and it was really gratifying to hear someone explain correctly that the role of the Parliamentarian (of the Senate or any other organization) is to advise the presiding officer on procedure, not to make rulings on order or procedure themselves.

OpenLeft is running a campaign to "fix" the Senate by revising the filibuster at the opening of the next Congress. The idea is to pass different operating rules for the Senate at the commencement of the next Congress, when only 51 votes are necessary to establish the rules of procedure for the Senate during that term. I believe a similar reform outcome could be achieved if that effort does not pan out. My idea would involve having Vice President Biden act in his Constitutional capacity.

As per the Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land (and thus cannot be thwarted by the procedural resolutions of one of its creatures, the Senate), the Vice President presides over the Senate. That means it is the Vice President's duty to make rulings on order and procedure when the Senate is in session. By convention, this authority has devolved to a Senator appointed on behalf of the President Pro Tem to preside during debate, most often among the most junior members of the majority.

In much discussion and reporting on procedural issues, it is implied that the presiding officer simply enforces clearly understood rules of debate with little-or-no room for interpretation. But this is clearly false, for if it was true then members of the minority would be just as likely to be appointed to preside as members of the majority. Members of the majority always serve as presiding officers because interpretations of rules do matter.

The power to rule on order is one that has inherent authority to define process. As a nationally-elected leader who served in the Senate, Vice President Biden has the popular authority to restore the precedent of the first 150 years of our republic, and exercise his powers as Presiding Officer over the Senate to manage debate in that body. Furthermore, Vice President Biden served in the Senate for longer (1973 - 2009) than the current Parliamentarian (1977 - present), giving Mr. Biden ample clout to disagree with the advice of that office if he so chooses when ruling on motions and questions of order.

Thus, a mechanism for solving the current impasse for actually getting anything done in the Senate would be as follows.

1. During debate, a Republican Senator engages in a standard obstruction tactic, such as a hold, actual filibuster, or proposing numerous, non-germane Amendments.

2. The Vice President, as Presiding Officer, rules that Senator's hold, filibuster or spurious amendments out of order.

3. The Senator who holds the floor, and had attempted the hold (filibuster, or amendments), could then appeal the decision of the Presiding Officer to the Senate as a whole.

4. (And here's where it gets interesting.) A simple majority (51) can then vote to uphold the ruling of the Presiding Officer that the hold (filibuster or amendments) were out of order.

And with that, the filibuster would be dead for debate on that bill. A simple majority is all that is necessary to uphold the ruling of the Presiding Officer, not 60 votes. Doing this would shut down the ability of a minority from our least-populous states to thwart the popularly expressed will of the majority.

Ruling filibuster tactics as out of order would not require changing the rules of procedure in the Senate. I propose a change in the interpretation of those rules. I believe that having a Vice President who was elected by a national majority, has the Constitutionally-explicit authority to preside over the Senate, and has more experience in the Senate than the Parliamentarian, offers us a unique opportunity to fix the filibuster in the least-disruptive manner possible, through a change in interpretation rather than the rules themselves.

And for those who say that such a tactic would be "unprecedented" and violate all rules of comity and good relations for the Senate, I would note that this method is not only precedented, it is exactly how the filibuster rules were changed the last time.

In 1975 the filibuster issue was revived by post-Watergate Democrats frustrated in their efforts to enact popular reform legislation like campaign finance laws. Senator James Allen of Alabama, the most conservative Democrat in the Senate and a skillful parliamentary player, blocked them with a series of filibusters. Liberals were fed up with his delaying tactics. Senator Walter Mondale pushed a campaign to reduce the threshold from sixty-seven votes to a simple majority of fifty-one. In a parliamentary sleight of hand, the liberals broke Allen's filibuster by a majority vote, thus evading the sixty-seven-vote rule. (Senate rules say you can't change the rules without a cloture vote, but the Constitution says the Senate sets its own rules. As a practical matter, that means the majority can prevail whenever it decides to force the issue.) In 1975 the presiding officer during the debate, Vice President Rockefeller, first ruled with the liberals on a motion to declare Senator Allen out of order. When Allen appealed the "ruling of the chair" to the full Senate, the majority voted him down. Nervous Senate leaders, aware they were losing the precedent, offered a compromise. Henceforth, the cloture rule would require only sixty votes to stop a filibuster. - The Nation

Vice President Biden was a member of the Senate in 1975 when this happened. The current Parliamentarian was not. Clearly, the Vice President has more experience in such matters than the current Parliamentarian and can render his own judgment on the matter.

Of course, there may be good reasons why this would not work, and I'm sure David Waldman will be able to correct me if that is the case.

In all the bluster over civil rights and budget fights, it is nice to see something good come out of the Virginia General Assembly for a change. In this case, an agreement to rein in the massive overcharging of citizens who take out car title loans.

It would put a one-year limit on the loans, set up a maximum interest rate and require the lenders to be licensed.

Currently the lenders are unregulated, charge more than 300 percent annual interest and can repossess a borrower's vehicle if he falls behind on the payments.

Supporters said the reforms would protect borrowers from an endless cycle of debt while stopping short of running the lenders out of the state.

"I told the title lenders, if you don't want the front of your place looking like a used car lot, don't make loans to people who can't repay them," said Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw. "This also tells the people who are going to borrow that you need to understand that if you don't make these payments you will lose your car, but you won't be making payments forever."

Saslaw cited the example of a Harrisonburg man who took out a $1,500 car title loan, paid $380 per month for about a year, and after paying more than $4,700 he still owed the $1,500 principle.

In Saslaw's bill, lenders could charge between 15 percent to 22 percent per month, depending on the amount of the loan. The companies could not lend more than 50 percent of the vehicle's value, and borrowers must own the car.

It would require the loan be repaid in full within one year, and at least 8.25 percent of the principle must be paid each month. Saslaw said those provisions would put a stop to endless payments that never reduce the amount that is owed. - The Daily Press

Now, if we could just get something done on payday lending.

My postseason projections for Virginia's best five college basketball teams are here at the Fan District Hub. Along with brief scouting reports, I've got three teams in the NCAA tournament and two in the NIT.

The last couple days of the session are the perfect case of "hurry up and wait."

All over the State Capitol, legislators are dealing with legislation which is "in conference."  That means that the Senate and House versions passed in different forms and the bills must be reconciled before we adjourn tomorrow. 

As part of the process, the Committee Chair from where the bill originated (e.g. Agriculture, Courts, Commerce) picks a minimum of three conferees to represent his body (either House or Senate) in negotiating the final version. 

Those conferees meet and if a majority in each body (i.e. at least two) agree and support the final version, it is then presented to the full body for a vote.  If it passes both House and Senate, it goes on to the Governor.

I'm on 5 conference committees so I'll be busy for the next 36 hours.  Most have to do with legal issues, e.g. the admissibility of electronic records or the ability of families to recover attorney fees in an IEP case.

Will keep you posted ....

America's Leader leads the final push for Health Care Reform:

A senior administration official tells The Associated Press that Obama now plans to leave Washington on March 21 and return March 26. The original dates were March 18 to March 24.

Standing should-to-shoulder with the Speaker, and most powerful woman in the U.S. - Rep. Nancy Pelosi. Git 'er done.

Love it:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Dozens of activists with the Alliance for Appalachia visited Sen. Jim Webb's office this week, asking him to join their efforts to end mountaintop removal coal mining. The Virginians pictured here were part of a much larger group from across America that was lobbying for change this week on Capitol Hill (more details in the great video at the bottom of this post).
As investigative journalist Jeff Biggers writes at Huffington Post:

Webb's state of Virginia stands on the frontlines of the clean energy and climate debate--and Webb, born fighting for progressive causes in Appalachia and America, now must decide whether he will come to the forefront of the battle for clean energy and an end to deadly coal mining and burning, or quietly watch the fate of his state decided by outside interests.

Every Virginian--and American--needs to call Sen. Webb today to not only support desperately needed clean energy and climate legislation, but to sign on as a co-sponsor with Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of the Appalachian Restoration Act to end mountaintop removal at Virginia's climate ground zero.

Biggers then quotes from Webb's book, Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America:

The ever hungry industrialists had discovered that West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and southwest Virginia sat atop one huge vein of coal. And so the rape began. The people from the outside showed up with complicated contracts that the small-scale cattle raisers and tobacco farmers could not fully understand, asking for "rights" to mineral deposits they could not see, and soon they were treated to a sundering of their own earth as the mining companies ripped apart their way of life, so that after a time the only option was to go down into the hole and bring the Man his coal, or starve. The Man got his coal, and the profits it brought when he shipped it out. They got their wages, black lung, and the desecration of their land.

You can reach Sen. Webb's DC office at (202)-224-4024.

Your Hillbilly Name Is: Big Bessie Dallas

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Barbara Saunders, candidate for the Norfolk council seat in Ward 1, will have a campaign kickoff this coming Sunday, March 14. The event begins at 1pm and will be held at Ocean View Baptist Church. More details are available in the flier (pdf).

[Update] Wow, I missed pretty big here. The Governor issued an "Executive Directive" not an "Executive Order," which does not carry the same legal weight. In essence, this was entirely a PR move, not a change in policy.

From the Post:

But McDonnell might have alienated social conservatives in his own party who see the directive as an endorsement of the idea that there is no sin in homosexuality, while failing to satisfy gay rights advocates, who note that it provides no legal protections for college students or employees. (Emphasis mine - P13)

My original post:

So after national opprobrium and mocking on The Daily Show, Governor McDonnell has extended legal protections to members of the GLBT community that work for state agencies.

The directive is a formal statement of McDonnell's position that hiring, promotion, compensation, treatment, discipline and termination of state employees can be based only on an individual's job qualifications, merit and performance.

"We will not tolerate discrimination based on sexual orientation or any other basis that's outlawed under state or federal law or the Constitution, and if it is reported, then I will take action, from reprimand to termination, to make sure that does not occur," McDonnell said. "I believe this properly takes care of it and assures the good people of Virginia that we will absolutely not have discrimination in this state." - The Washington Post

The good of this outcome should not be minimized. Our neighbors deserve the right to get and keep jobs without fear of losing them because of bigotry. In the midst of relief and congratulations about the outcome, however, it is important to note that while the Governor changed the ruling, he did not change his opinion on the question of gay rights itself. The Governor's reasoning for changing the policy begs a number of questions about his leadership.

In issuing the executive order without protections for GLBT employees in the first instance, the governor's reasoning followed from the advice of his Attorney General.

Cuccinelli says that only the General Assembly has the authority to extend legal protections to gays.

McDonnell (R) has said he supports the legal reasoning of that opinion, which mirrored his advice on the issue as attorney general. The governor said Wednesday that he continues to believe that without legislative approval, universities and state agencies cannot issue orders that would allow employees or others to sue in state court over discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. - The Washington Post

There is no evidence that the new executive order was issued because the Governer no longer holds to that opinion. In fact, the quote above indicates that he still believes that only the Assembly has the power to extend the protections he, himself, extended in the Wednesday Executive Order. (Of course, the Attorney General who originated this interpretation of the law disagrees with how our current AG has tried to apply it.)

So, if the Governor believes only the Assembly has the power to issue the necessary protection, why did he issue the Executive Order extending the necessary protection?

But McDonnell said Wednesday that Cuccinelli's letter had caused confusion and anger among students, college presidents and others that he could address with a clear statement opposing discrimination and a promise to use the human resources process to punish an employee found to have shown bias. - The Washington Post

Confusion and Anger.

Apparently, the Governor reversed his position and violated legal reasoning that he agrees with because of confusion and anger. Placating the confused and angry trumps fidelity to his Administration's interpretation of the law? Forgive me if I remain suspicious about the depth to which the Governor holds his newfound anti-discrimination principles.

Time will tell whether this Executive Order actually carries any weight, or whether it is only so much puffery.

[Delegate Bob] Marshall said last night that McDonnell's directive carries no force and is no more than a "press release with fluff around it."

Again, the good of this reversal should not be minimized. It is important that the formal policy out of the highest executive office in Virginia is inclusive and nondiscriminatory. It is a problem, however, if the authority issuing that policy continues to actively doubt and undermine its own power to issue that policy. A policy undermined and unenforced is a policy in name only.

I am of the opinion that this is not a true reversal of policy, it is a publicity move. When the state is distracted by a major budget battle in the next few months, funding and support for anti-discrimination enforcement will be eliminated within the Administration, taking the teeth out of the new policy, and we will once again hear that it is the Assembly that must act first.

So far, Governor McDonnell's leadership has been avoiding the tough decisions, and reversing himself on discrimination, while maintaining the legal interpretation that contradicts the discrimination policy itself. But I'm skeptical, and hope I Governor McDonnell will prove me wrong. Time will tell.

[Update] From the comments.

actually, it was an Executive Directive, not Executive Order, and provides no legal protections. So, Del Marshall was correct. Just a bit of puffery. - Joy

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