A few days after the end of this year’s General Assembly session, Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis (R-34) was taking a few days to unwind in Florida. This year’s session, she said, had been much less contentious than last year’s marathon budget battle. "Compared to last year, this was a very sedate year," she said.
Sweeping reform of assisted living facilities topped the list for Devolites Davis during the 2005 General Assembly. A group of bills including one she had introduced were folded into one piece of legislation that she said should help improve care and safety of the residents. "I’m pleased with that, because in my mind we clearly needed to give the Department of Social Services the tools they needed," Devolites Davis said.
Among the changes, the bill requires additional licensing of administrators of assisted living facilities and regulates the ways that such facilities handle residents who are seriously mentally ill.
Patients who are seriously mentally ill, said Devolites Davis, sometimes act violently toward other patients. This bill will force workers at assisted living facilities to have training to help them to identify and cope with residents who have mental illnesses. "Assisted living facilities have never been mandated to attempt to identify those who are seriously mentally ill," she said.
The bill creates additional regulations, which have yet to be written, so she estimated that it will be 1 1/2 to 2 years before it is fully implemented.
Devolites Davis was one of many in the Northern Virginia delegation who were frustrated at the failure of the General Assembly to authorize red light cameras. Ten years ago, the state had allowed localities to install cameras to catch motorists who run red lights. That authorization is set to expire on June 30. "I think it was irresponsible to not permit the localities who invested in the technology to not continue using it," she said.
The plan passed the Senate but was defeated in the Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee in the House of Delegates.
Most of Devolites Davis’ other legislation dealt with technology. Legislation she sponsored (SB 1002) made "phishing," a practice of trying to fraudulently obtain bank account or other financial information.
She also introduced legislation (SB 1192) that she says will help protect people’s privacy. Records with identifying information will no longer be available online, Devolites Davis said. Real estate title searches will still be able to be performed electronically, a practice which she said is necessary to allow home sales to be completed quickly. "We need to keep those online," she said. These records will only be accessible on a subscription basis. This will not affect the assessment information which some localities, like Fairfax County, post online.
THE BUDGET surplus had generated much discussion before and during the session. A substantial portion of that surplus was used to help with transportation issues. Other chunks of funding were put toward Medicaid payments and pay increases for state employees, Devolites Davis said.
Virginia also made a payment of $45 million to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay. The state owes the federal government $1 billion for its share of cleaning up the Bay, Devolites Davis pointed out.
Transportation also received a windfall of cash this year. Much of the money went to pay off old debt that should help other projects to be built, since money that would otherwise have gone to debt service will now be freed up.
Still, Northern Virginia didn’t really get enough to have a significant impact. "We need billions of dollars," Devolites Davis said.
The lack of funding for transportation in the region highlighted what Devolites Davis says is a major difference between Northern Virginia and the rest of the state. While the region has about 28 percent of the population, it provides about half of state revenue, Devolites Davis said. "There is an intellectual understanding that Northern Virginia is providing the lion’s share of the revenue," Devolites Davis said.
She does not begrudge the cash that the area is providing to other parts of the state, but is growing frustrated with the lack of support of local initiatives. "With all the money we are giving to the education of their children, you’d think they could at least let us have our photo red lights," she said.