Transparency News, 4/16/20

 

House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn is exploring remote, online voting for the chamber’s veto session and any special sessions that follow this year, in what would be an unprecedented set up for the 400-year-old chamber amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Filler-Corn said in an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Wednesday that when lawmakers gather near the Capitol on April 22, she will ask members to vote on a plan that will allow members to cast votes on legislation from their homes or other remote locations. The plans, she said, are still unresolved as staff work through the logistics of such a move, including the technology that would power it. “It’s my intention that we vote on the 22nd on a plan that would provide us the opportunity to do our business remotely, for reconvene and any special session,” said Filler-Corn, a Democrat from Fairfax.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

More than a week after Gov. Ralph Northam announced a $27 million contract to procure more personal protective equipment for medical providers, state officials have yet to make a copy of the contract publicly available or provide specific details on the order. In response to a Freedom of Information Act request submitted last week by the Virginia Mercury, Jessica Killeen, deputy counsel to Northam, wrote Tuesday that “due to current events, including bill review, it is not practically possible to provide potential requested records within five working days.” The governor’s office needed an additional seven work days to provide the records, she wrote. That would ostensibly push the release date to April 23, more than two weeks after the governor’s announcement.
Virginia Mercury

Virginia’s U.S. senators, Democrats Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, expressed interest in ensuring clear and accurate information is being circulated about who has COVID-19 during separate interviews this week. While discussing the impact of the new coronavirus locally and what information is being released about cases in the Central Shenandoah Health District, Kaine and Warner said they would try to work at the state and federal level to keep the public better informed. Central Shenandoah Health District Director Dr. Laura Kornegay and Virginia Department of Health staff have declined to give much information about local COVID-19 patients, citing privacy restrictions. “I think the greater transparency, the more we’ll be able to then devise the strategies we need to get through the public health emergency,” Kaine said. “Not knowing information raises anxieties.”
Daily News Record

The Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office has created a database where it will post daily numbers on coronavirus testing and positive cases within the city jail. The VBSO’s new database  will be updated every day by 5 p.m.
WAVY

An updated proposed fiscal year 2021 budget for Albemarle County will look different than one that was presented in February due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During its meeting Monday, the county Board of Supervisors voted to postpone a budget public hearing scheduled as part of Monday’s meeting to give the public time to review an updated proposed budget due to shutdowns amid the pandemic. During a public hearing on the calendar year 2020 tax rates, no one from the public spoke or provided comments through the county’s online commenting system. Another action item is a proposal to move $200,000 from the county’s Economic Development Fund to the Economic Development Authority for a microloan program administered by the Community Investment Collaborative in response to the COVID-19 emergency. In March, the board approved removing the general public comment agenda item during the pandemic, which usually allows time for people to speak about items or topics that are not already on the agenda for a public hearing, such as action items. County spokeswoman Emily Kilroy said that it was recommended for removal as one way to streamline the meeting agendas at least through April. Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, said the Virginia Freedom of Information Act doesn’t require public comment, but if a locality already does it, it should attempt to keep as many avenues open for public comment as possible. “You wouldn’t want to take away something that you’ve been doing before,” she said.
The Daily Progress

Although no citizens were in attendance, the Warren County Board of Supervisors received feedback on the county’s proposed tax rates and budget during a Tuesday public hearing. Supervisors Clerk Emily Ciarrocchi read comments regarding the budget that were submitted to the county before the public hearing. She also read what people typed into the comment section on YouTube, where the meeting was live-streamed. Three of the supervisors and County Administrator Doug Stanley were present in the Warren County Government Center while supervisors Delores Oates and Tony Carter participated via teleconference.
The Northern Virginia Daily

 

More than a month after the first confirmed coronavirus case here, Maine is the only New England state that is unable to provide daily reports on the number of people who have been tested for it. The other five New England states have provided such information for weeks, even though at least three of them rely on outside laboratories for part of their testing, as is the case in Maine. Massachusetts even publicly posts a table of results for each of more than 26 labs that test its patients. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention has also lagged in gathering or disclosing other types of data relating to the pandemic. The agency was unable to say how many COVID-19 patients were hospitalized on a given day – a key metric of the burden on hospitals – until last Friday, three days after the Portland Press Herald published a story on the shortcoming. The agency had not even asked hospitals for the information until March 31.
Governing