City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: FEBRUARY 24, 2014
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: RASHAD M. YOUNG, CITY MANAGER /s/
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Update on the 2014 General Assembly Session (No. 4).
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ISSUE: Update on the 2014 General Assembly Session (No. 4)
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council receive this report.
DISCUSSION: The 2014 General Assembly is nearing its March 8 scheduled adjournment. What is unclear is whether it will have completed its business. The House and Senate have now proposed their amendments to the budget (discussed in some detail below). While they are not far apart on many budget issues, this is not the case with health care. The Senate is continuing to insist on some sort of health care expansion (their current proposal is to use private insurers instead of Medicaid to provide coverage to the uninsured), while the House insists that nothing be done until there has been "a full-scale audit" of the State Medicaid program, and until all necessary Medicaid reforms (in this case, the House would determine what is minimally necessary) have been identified and fully implemented. Since the Senate has proposed its health care expansion as part of the budget, the two sides may face a stalemate on the budget through March 8 and beyond.
The House continues its work on Senate bills, and the Senate is completing its consideration of House bills. All bills must be out of any committees by the end of the day March 3, or they die. After March 3, the General Assembly will consider floor votes (votes by the full House or Senate), conference committee reports, commending and memorial resolutions, and the filling of certain judicial vacancies.
As of Friday, February 21, 984 of the 1,945 bills that were introduced have been defeated or carried over to the next Session for action (although almost ...
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