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A Senate subcommittee unanimously recommended two bills to require public universities to take public comment before making a decision to raise tuition. The two bills are slightly different: one was amended to allow this public comment period at meetings of less than the full membership. The difference will be worked out in full committee, according to the subcommittee’s chair, Sen. Dick Saslaw.
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Lawmakers unanimously killed a bill on Wednesday aimed at shedding light on economic packages Virginia offers big employers like Amazon. The bill from Republican Delegate Michael Webert would have required details of such deals to be disclosed publicly at least 21 days before they could be signed by the governor. “The public deserves to know what we’re doing with their money and they deserve to know before the deal is finalized,” Webert said. Webert said the bill was inspired by “some of the more recent deals,” in an allusion to the state’s recent $1.85 billion deal with Amazon to move their headquarters to Northern Virignia. Megan Rhyne, who heads the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, said citizens deserved to know about those provisions in advance. “We’re told, you know, if we don’t get it, that the business will go elsewhere,” Rhyne said. “That’s a little bit like telling girls a few years ago that if you’re too smart, you won’t get asked to the prom.”
WCVE
Roanoke’s city council will remain unable to ban guns and ammunition from its chambers during meetings. A bill proposed by state Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, quickly died in the Senate Courts of Justice Committee on Wednesday. The party-line vote was 8-6 with Republicans in the majority. It was the second consecutive year in which Edwards’ bill regarding this issue — which came at the request of the council — didn’t make it out of the committee.
The Roanoke Times
The VCU Board of Visitors’ approval of a 14 percent bonus for President Michael Rao in a closed-door session raised questions of whether the decision conflicts with state transparency laws. The Dec. 7 vote to give Rao — one of the highest-paid state officials — a more than $25,000 one-time bonus took place while a sign barred public entry from the meeting room, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, signaling the Board was in a closed session. Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act — which allows people to request access to government records or information — holds that any measure passed behind closed doors cannot become effective unless the body reconvenes and votes in an open session, with a few exceptions. The VCU Board of Visitors can hold a closed-door meeting to discuss matters such as marketing and purchases when public knowledge of the plans “would adversely affect the competitive position of the Authority.”
The Commonwealth Times
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