Delegate Sickles Announces 2012 Legislative Agenda

Legislation will focus on education, promoting renewable energy, and protecting our senior citizens

Richmond, VA - Delegate Mark Sickles (D-Franconia), recently elected chair of the House Democratic Caucus, unveiled his legislative agenda for the 2012 General Assembly Session last week.  In addition to protecting funding for classroom education from Pre-K to PhD, and opposing proposed cuts to basic human services to pave roads, Delegate Sickles has introduced a variety of bills, including a bill to increase sanctions on those who financially exploit senior citizens, to enhance identity protection for law enforcement officers, to conserve the shark population, to promote renewable energy conservation, and to use year-end surpluses to refund the recent raids on the Virginia Retirement System.

To protect senior citizens from financial fraud, Delegate Sickles introduced a Fairfax County—supported bill to allow prosecutors to charge those who financially exploit seniors and the mentally incapacitated with a Class 5 felony.  A recent study by the National Institute of Justice determined that elderly persons lost $4.6 million, or an average of $87,967 per elderly person, per year[1].  “We simply must increase the risk to potential felons when they consider taking advantage of our senior citizens,” said Delegate Sickles. “I look forward to working with members across both sides of the aisle to enact these increased penalties.”

Fairfax County, and Northern Virginia as a whole, is home to thousands of federal, state and local law enforcement officers.  Currently, while the Virginia State Police and some local departments offer identity protection for undercover agents, there is no statewide system for law enforcement to have their information redacted by the Department of Motor Vehicles. “When I was walking door to door last year, I met an undercover federal agent who brought to my attention the difficulty of protecting his ID from those who may be seeking revenge,” said Delegate Sickles. “Virginia has always taken pride in protecting our men and women in law enforcement.  HB 884 would allow any law enforcement officer living in the Commonwealth to easily protect his or her DMV recorded information.”

Earlier this week, Delegate Sickles introduced HB 1159, a bill to ban the sale of shark fins that have entered the Virginia market from nations that continue to engage in the inhumane practice of “shark-finning.”  Shark finning occurs when a person catches a shark, cuts off the fin, and discards the rest of the shark to die.  In 1993, the practice was banned on American ships fishing U.S. waters, but many nations still engage in this practice.  Importers continue to bring inhumanely obtained shark fins into Virginia. 

Delegate Sickles is also introducing legislation to create a 10 percent tax credit toward the purchase of solar energy equipment with a cap of $1,000.  “With the increase in energy costs, and to reduce the human contribution to climate change, it is imperative that the Commonwealth moves forward the use of renewable energy like solar power,” said Delegate Sickles.  “This legislation will help everyday citizens while providing a boost to solar manufacturers as we move toward clean and renewable energy economy.”  Similar legislation passed the House of Delegates in 2001, but was defeated in the Senate Finance Committee. 

In the 2010-2012 budget, the General Assembly failed to contribute over $620 million in payments to the Virginia Retirement System (VRS), the pension plan for our teachers, police officers, and many firefighters.  Currently, experts say VRS is underfunded by over $17 billion.  “One of the Commonwealth’s most important responsibilities is to uphold the compact we have made with our employees,” said Delegate Sickles.  His legislation would require that 25 percent of any year-end surplus be sent to the VRS until it is solvent.  

Other legislation being sponsored by Delegate Sickles includes:

• A bill to require that HOA dues must be paid in a foreclosure after taxes and any other mortgage liens.
• A resolution creating a study commission to examine the reinstitution of parole for non-violent felons. Since 1995, the Department of Corrections budget has grown from less than $500 million to over $1 billion.  The study would look at anomalies in our corrections policy to assesses whether parole can be restored for certain well behaved, non-violent offenders.
• Legislation providing for discounted fishing licenses to disabled veterans.  A similar discount was enacted for hunting licenses last session; the provision was not extended to all sportsmen.
• A technical bill to clarify the tax code with regard to survivor annuity death benefits.
• A bill to curb the frequency of out-of-state car owners who maintain non-Virginia tags while registering their cars in Fairfax County.  The increased registration fee excludes active-duty military stationed in Fairfax County and individuals who are performing car restorations.
• A bill to define “conspicuous” in authority disclosure lines for online campaign advertisements. 

Delegate Sickles is also pursuing two budget amendments.  The first restores funding that cuts the Northern Virginia “cost-of-competing” offset, which partially compensates Northern Virginia school employees for the higher cost of living in Northern Virginia.  This is an important program that has allowed Fairfax and surrounding jurisdictions to recruit the best employees and ensure they are paid a competitive living wage.  He is also sponsoring a budget amendment for the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. to equalize their Medicaid payments with those of Virginia hospitals.  In 2010, out-of-state hospitals were given lower Medicaid reimbursement rates, but the Children’s National Medical center is the only stand-alone children’s hospital serving Northern Virginia children.

Delegate Sickles legislative package would help families reduce energy costs using solar energy, help prevent the exploitation of our elder population, protect our police officers, teachers and state employees, and ensure Fairfax County is getting its fair share of education funding.

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