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General Assembly passes school funding bills
The two school funding bills that might bring Rappahannock County more money for education cleared the General Assembly this week. They will be sent to Governor Tim Kaine for his approval -- the last hurdle they face before becoming law.
The two bills, H.B. 936 and S.B. 559, were voted out of their respective chambers in the General Assembly earlier this week.
"It was a good bit of work," said Sen. Mark Obenshain, who sponsored S.B. 559.
Obenshain applauded the efforts of Rappahannock County Administrator John McCarthy, superintendent Dr. Robert Chappell and members of the school board and board of supervisors.
"It would not have happened without Bob Chappell and John McCarthy being regular fixtures down here during the course of the session," he said.
McCarthy spoke at a number of the hearings for the bills.
"John was a great spokesman for the bill and was very persuasive," he said.
The bills, which would allow Rappahannock to pursue cost-sharing agreements that would increase state funding to the county, faced strong opposition from Assembly members representing jurisdictions also hoping to secure greater education funding. Anticipating scrutiny, Obenshain and Del. Todd Gilbert, who sponsored H.B. 936, revised the bills to reduce the amount of money they could bring Rappahannock.
Obenshain said seeking additional education funding from the state typically elicits a "what about us?" response from other jurisdictions.
"This is a very thorny issue," Obenshain said. He added, "it just opens Pandora's box."
Obenshain said if the bills are signed into law and Rappahannock seeks additional state funds in a cost-sharing agreement, he would work to increase the amount Rappahannock could receive. In their current form, the bills could provide about $250,000 a year beginning in July 2010. Rappahannock officials originally hoped to receive about $1.5 million annually from the bills.
"I am pleased that it got through and am optimistic that we'll be able to complete the second chapter come next year," Obenshain said.
E-mail the reporter at mpelkey@timespapers.com.
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