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Home Educators Association of Virginia (HEAV)

To: Home Educators of Virginia
From: Joe Guarino, director of government affairs
Date: Wednesday, February 16, 2005

2005 GENERAL ASSEMBLY UPDATE: Update on Bills of Interest

Each house of the General Assembly finished their bills by "crossover" on Tuesday, February 8. Now they will consider the other house’s bills.

This has been a very active session, and as always, has had some unexpected twists and turns. Some bills have quietly died, others have gone down in heated debate, and some have moved forward with amendment. The following is a summary thus far of the main bills we are monitoring this session.

INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORTS - HB 1731, Del. Cosgrove and HB 2297, Del. Fralin
Would have required the Virginia High School League to allow nonpublic school students to participate in public schools interscholastic sports. HB 1731 was incorporated into HB 2297, which was then stricken from the docket at the request of the patron.

AP and PSATs - HB 1767, Del. Dillard
Requires notification of availability of AP and PSAT tests. This bill passed the House 94-0 and the Senate 40-0.

HOMESCHOOL TESTING - HB 1770, Del. Dillard
Required a list of acceptable achievement tests. This bill passed the House 98-0. The Senate amended the bill allowing homeschoolers to take “any nationally normed standardized achievement test.” It passed the Senate 40-0. The House rejected the Senate amendments; it will now go into a conference committee.

TESTING DEADLINE - HB 2541, Del. S.C. Jones
Would have changed the date for submitting test scores and evaluations to August 15. The bill was stricken from the docket at the request of the patron.

TAX CREDITS - HB 2914, Del. Saxman
Would have provided a tax credit for educational expenses up to $1,200 for joint filers. The bill was killed in committee.

PARENTAL LEAVE - SB 27, Sen. Potts, was changed to SB 713
Would have required employers to allow parental leave for school involvement. It was left in Senate Education and Health, effectively killing it.

ABSENTEE VOTING - SB 838, Sen. Cuccinelli
Expanded a category of eligible absentee voters to include stay-at-home moms. This bill passed the Senate 40-0. It is in House Privileges and Elections waiting to be heard.

TAX DEDUCTION - SB 1239, Sen. Russ Potts
Would provide a $250 state tax deduction for public, private, and homeschool teachers for educational expenses. The bill passed the Senate 40-0 with amendments. It passed the House Finance Committee 18-3 with amendments. It will now go to the full House.

COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE - SB 1290, Sen. Hanger
Would have moved the date of compulsory attendance back to July 31. The bill was left in Senate Education and Health, effectively killing it.

PARENTAL RIGHTS - HJ 712, Del. Byron
This constitutional amendment would have granted parents the fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of their children. The resolution was stricken from the docket at the request of the patron.

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HEAV—Serving the homeschoolers of Virginia through information, legislation, and resources since 1983! Be sure to sign up to receive the FREE Virginia Home Educator magazine at http://www.heav.org.

HEAV (Home Educators Association of Virginia)
2248-G Dabney Road
Richmond, VA 23230

Phone: 804-278-9200
Fax: 804-278-9202
Website: http://www.heav.org
E-mail: info@heav.org; for legislative matters, legislative@heav.org