Local Connection
April 2011

Regional & State Briefing

Redistricting Done?
Slogging through a special session on redistricting, lawmakers left Richmond on Wednesday after finishing their work(HB5001) on state House and Senate districts. The House approved the measure by a bi-partisan vote of 85-9. In the Senate, the bill passed on 22-17 party line vote. The Governor has until Tuesday (April 19) to review the General Assembly's handy work and make amendments. The redistricting legislation is also subject to evaluation by the Department of Justice to ensure its compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act.  A primer on the redistricting process can be found here. In their side-by-side comparison of HB5001 with maps created by the Governor's Independent Advisory Commission on Redistricting and by Virginia college and university students, Dustin Cable of the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia and Dr. Quentin Kidd, Director of the Wason Center for Public Policy, contend the General Assembly plans  "make a bad situation worse for the coming decade." See more here

Lawmakers will return to Richmond on April 25th to complete their work on redrawing Virginia's 11 Congressional districts. The House and Senate produced dueling maps with the key difference being the inclusion of a second majority-minority district in the Senate plan. For more information, click here.
 

A Epic Showdown Brewing
After ending the will-he or won't he speculation last week, former Governor Tim Kaine recently hit the campaign trail. See more here and here. A political neophyte is considering a intra-party challenge to the former Governor. See more here. Meanwhile, former Senator George Allen is raising money at an impressive clip as primary opponent Jamie Radtke continues to question Allen's commitment to the Tea Party agenda. See more here and here. Assuming both Kaine and Allen emerge from their respective primaries, next year's clash will be one of the most highly watched and highly contentious races in the country.

Legislative Wrap-Up

On March 22, the Chamber hosted its annual Legislative Wrap-Up with our regional House and Senate officials. Each lawmaker offered his thoughts on legislation that will impact the business community and predicted how the redistricting process is likely to unfold. The Chamber would like to thank the Senators John Edwards and Ralph Smith and Delegates Cleaveland, Habeeb, Nutter, Poindexter, and Ware for sharing their views with our members and for their service to the Commonwealth. Special thanks also to our sponsors: Cox, Appalachian Power, and Lanford Brothers Company.

Two Southwest Virginia Legislators to Retire

On April 7th, veteran lawmaker Jim Shuler (D-12) announced he would not seek another term in the Virginia House of Delegates. First elected in 1993, Shuler represented a district that stretched from Blacksburg to Bath County. Delegate Clarence "Bud" Phillips is also reportedly considering retirement after his 2nd House district was combined with the 4th House district currently held by of fellow Democrat Joe Johnson. See more here.
 

Extra Credit Reading

Virginia March Revenues up 12.4%

How to Improve Freight Flow in Virginia

The "Fiscal Gap" Facing State and Local Governments

GDP and Happiness

Stat of the Month: 2, 692 bills introduced during the 2011 session of the Virginia General Assembly. For more session stats, click here.
 

Local Government Briefing

County of Roanoke

Roanoke County has scheduled a series of community meetings designed to elicit citizen input on the development of a Community Plan for the Peters Creek/Hollins area. A list of meeting dates can be found here.

Work also continues on the FY2011-2012 Budget. Updates can be found here.

City of Roanoke  
Budget Schedule
April 18 - Recommended Budget Presentation

April 28 - Public Hearing

May -  5,6 Budget Study

May 9 -  Budget Adoption

Quality of Life Projects Briefing

One of the Chamber's priorities is to monitor the development of quality of life projects in our region.  Enhancing our region's considerable amenities is vital to attracting and retaining young workers, fresh capital, and innovative thinking. Below is a list of recent developments:

Elmwood Park- Imagining Future Possibilities

As the City of Roanoke continues to finalize its budget for the upcoming fiscal year, many key capital projects and other spending priorities have been reevaluated in light of on-going fiscal constraints. On April 4th, the City Council unanimously agreed to include $300,000.00 in the FY2012 budget to move forward on architectural and engineering plans to improve Elmwood Park. Roanoke City Manager, Chris Morrill, provided members of City Council will several ideas on how to use this unique urban green space. A recent op-ed penned by the City Manager can be found here.
Position: The Chamber supports using existing studies as the foundation to move forward on improving access and connectivity to Elmwood Park. Design plans should also account for future upgrades.  

Countryside - Planning Process Nearing Finish Line
After years of uncertainty, the future of the former Countryside Golf Course, purchased by the City of Roanoke in 2005, is poised to enter a new phase. A master plan for the property developed by the Planning Commission is nearing completion and will likely be presented to Roanoke City Council in June. The property will be divided into several parcels that will include housing and commercial uses as well as several acres devoted to green space and recreational uses. On April 4^th, a representative from Kissito Healthcare, an elderly care provider, informed City Council that they are very interested in moving ahead with a $27 million development at Countryside. Members of City Council responded that they would prefer to finish the planning process before considering development opportunities.  Countryside neighborhood advocate, Valerie Garner, has expressed support for the Kissito project and has threatened to oppose the Planning Commission Master Plan if the project is not included.  
Position: The Chamber believes the master plan should be completed to help in the evaluation of proposed development opportunities.

A comprehensive list of these projects can be found on the Chamber's website.  

Do you have ideas on projects you'd like for us to follow? Send us an e-mail or write a comment on the Chamber's blog on local and state public policy issues. RSS feeds are available for both the quality of life projects page and the legislative blog. 

If you have questions about any of the blog features on the Chamber's Web site, please contact Tori Williams at twilliams@roanokechamber.org

Upcoming Events

Business & Technology Expo, Tuesday, April 19th, 3:00 - 7:00PM, Roanoke Civic Center Special Events Center. For more information, click here. 

8th Annual Economic Summit, Thursday June 2, Washington Lecture Hall, The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center, 7:30AM to 11:00AM. Keynote Speaker: Lt. Governor Bill Bolling. For more information or to register, click here.

For a list of more Chamber events, click here and to access the Chamber's Community Calendar, click here.

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