As the 2015 Virginia General Assembly draws near, I am considering legislation to introduce.  The Session will start January 14, 2015.  As I have done in the past, I am considering bills that will make the lives of my constituents and Virginia’s citizens better.  I am looking to submit bills that will focus on items such as ethics reform, improving public K-12 education and/or make higher education more accessible, improving transportation, land owners rights and pro-business, job creating legislation.  I’d be very interested in hearing …

Delegate Bobby Orrock Session Update:  Reconvened Session

April 24, 2014

Yesterday was the “Veto Session” where the General Assembly reconvened to take action on the bills that the Governor amended or vetoed.

There were three of the sixty such bills that I had heard the most comments and concerns from folks in my district.  The first was SB377 introduced by Senator Bryce Reeves.   It establishes a process to be administered by the Department of State Police so that firearm dealers can find out whether a firearm …

I am pleased to announce that the Governor has signed several bills that I introduced during the 2014 General Assembly Session.  These new laws will go into effect on July 1, 2014.  These laws pertain to agritourism, immunizations, the Board of Pharmacy, dams, veterinarians, and animal shelters among other issues.  To learn more information about these bills, please see my “Your Delegate” page on my website at https://bobbyorrock.net/your-delegate/.

http://www.passthebudgetterry.com/
The single most difficult issue dealing with budget negotiations is that the Senate has inserted in their budget the requirement that we would have to expand Obamacare by the expansion of Medicaid.  The House and Senate last year agreed that this issue would be best addressed by a bi-partisan legislative commission that would also be able to find ways to make the program more effective and efficient.  Unfortunately, this year the Senate and the Governor have so far said that they will hold the budget …

As we end our 2014 Legislative session, I will share the current status of all of my bills for this session and give an overview of a number of bills on which I received significant input.

I introduced a total of 13 measures this session.  Two of them were for special license plates at the request of local groups.  Unfortunately, neither of these groups had secured enough pre-buys for the plates in order to meet the required threshold for consideration.

Two of my measures that attempt to …

From the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles:

“RICHMOND – The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles’ five mobile customer service centers, called DMV 2 Go, are traveling across the state to serve customers. Each full service office provides all DMV transactions.”

DMV 2 Go is scheduled to be in Caroline County on:

Wednesday, March 12, 2014 – Ladysmith Fire Department – 17401 Jefferson Davis Highway from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Also, from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles:

DMV Offers Online Tracking of Disabled Parking Placard Delivery
Customers Can Follow Production and …

As the 2014 session of the General Assembly draws to a close, I wanted to give you a quick update on some of the priorities in our budget that we have been working on. The General Assembly has seven days left in the scheduled 2014 Session and finalizing the budget is the last, and arguably the most important, task we have left.

Jobs and economic growth continue to be a top priority in our budgeting process. To support this effort the House budget includes an additional …

Thanks to all who took the time to share your opinions on key issues facing our state.  We received the largest number of responses to my surveys ever.  In order for me to effectively represent the views of you, my constituents, your input is critical.

Your responses as to the top priority of our states efforts was:

Creating jobs and improving the economy      30%
Cutting taxes and state spending                   16%    
Protecting traditional values and freedoms     15%
Reducing road and …

Sunday the Virginia House of Delegates released its version of the biennial budget.  Outlined below are some of the highlights of the proposal.

The House proposal provides a path to fully fund state retirement plans almost three years ahead of schedule, doing so by 2016.

Additionally, the House proposal includes over $200 million as a health care safety net for our most vulnerable citizens.  This includes over $118 million for our hospitals and teaching hospitals, over $111 million for our nursing homes and $6 million for our …

At this the mid-point of our legislative process, a number of issues have already been decided.  The prospect of calling for a constitutional convention to require the Federal government to have a balanced budget was defeated.  Also, bills that will repeal the hybrid tax (a part of last years’ transportation package) have passed both bodies.  “Sunday” hunting bills have passed both chambers that will allow year round hunting on private property on Sundays.

Still pending are bills that address changes to our Mental Health system and …