BY CHELYEN DAVIS
RICHMOND--With the legislative elections less than two months off, House Democrats yesterday launched what they said will be a series of policy briefings designed to tell voters about Democratic priorities for the next session.
They chose veterans' issues to kick it off, unveiling plans for a "Veterans Bill of Rights" in a press conference featuring 88th House District candidate Carlos Del Toro.
The strategy is identical to one initiated a few weeks ago by House Republicans, who also held a press conference yesterday, to propose new ways of funding school construction.
The Democrats want the state to provide more services for veterans, particularly of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They propose allowing active military and veterans to opt into the life insurance program of state employees; creating a public-private partnership to provide more counseling services for veterans, focusing on those with brain injuries and post-traumatic stress syndrome; ensuring through the state code that National Guard and Reserve members who are state employees are paid the difference between their state salary and their active duty salary; and for private employees, offering state tax credits to encourage companies to provide that compensation.
"We have an obligation to take care of these returning soldiers," said House Minority Leader Del. Ward Armstrong, D-Henry.
House Democratic Caucus chairman Del. Brian Moran, D-Alexandria, said the state has to step up where the federal government is failing.
Del Toro, who is challenging Del. Mark Cole, R-Spotsylvania, in the 88th House District, is a veteran and said the Democrats' proposal is "a wonderful first step" to provide more support for the more than 26,000 service members and their families in Virginia.
"I know the hardships that our military service members and their families face," Del Toro said.
The Democrats also acknowledged that the upcoming elections--in which Democrats hope to win more seats in the House and possibly even a majority in the Senate--played into the timing of yesterday's policy proposal.
Republicans have been doing that for a few weeks, and yesterday their focus was on school construction.
They want to create a new revolving loan fund that local school districts could go to for help in getting money to build new schools.
Republicans said that in fast-growing localities, such as much of Northern Virginia, the need for new schools far surpasses the resources with which to build them. Loudoun County, for example, is expecting 20,000 new students in the next five years.
While school construction is primarily a local responsibility, the state has traditionally provided some help, such as the Literary Fund.
But the Literary Fund provides only up to $7.5 million per school, and new schools these days cost much more than that. Additionally, the waiting list for that money can take years.
So the Republicans want to build a separate fund that would be administered outside of state government, perhaps through the financing system run by the Virginia Association of Counties and the Virginia Muni- cipal League.
"There is a huge pent-up demand," said Sen. Walter Stosch, R-Henrico. "We have to look for every creative, innovative way there are lots of opportunities for us to do things more efficiently, more creatively."
The idea is to take some of the pressure off local governments to raise their real estate tax to pay for schools, while also focusing the loans on high-growth localities.
Chelyen Davis: 804/782-9362