Legislators are considering more than 2,000 pieces of legislation this Session; here is a summary of a few of them of interest to Virginia’s Community Colleges. A full list of bills we are following can be found on the Legislative Tracking page.

Transfer grant bills

All transfer grant bills (HB 437,  SB 85 and SB 400) have passed their Houses of origin and are headed to money committees. HB 437  (Tata) was heard on Monday, January 16 and passed on a 19-1 vote; the VCCS, SCHEV, Virginia 21 and the Council for Independent Colleges spoke in favor of the legislation. HB 437 will be heard in the Higher Ed subcommittee of House Appropriations on Monday, Jan. 23, at 3 p.m.

SB 85 (Favola) and SB 400 (Hanger) were rolled together in Senate Education and Health and passed unanimously. SCHEV, the VCCS and the Virginia Manufacturers Association spoke in support. The legislation has been re-referred to the Senate Finance Committee.

Community Colleges Offering Baccalaureate Degrees

Delegate Danny Marshall’s bill for community colleges to offer baccalaureate degrees in areas geographically isolated from public four-year colleges and universities (HJ 95), will be heard on Jan. 24 in House Rules. 

Military Students in College

HB 195  (Lewis) – The original bill called for every institution of higher education to develop policies that award academic credit to students for educational experience gained from military service. The bill was amended in the House Education Subcommittee to have these policies developed by the new Military Advisory Committee that SCHEV is forming.  The amended bill will be taken up Jan. 23.

HB 548 (Comstock) – The original bill called for every institution of higher education to give military personnel certain advantages over regular students (such as preferential treatment in course registrations). This bill was also amended in the House Education Subcommittee to have these policies developed by the new Military Advisory Committee of SCHEV. The amended bill will be taken up Jan. 23.

Dual Enrollment

HB 1184 (Rust) is the Governor’s dual enrollment bill that requires local school boards and community colleges to develop agreements allowing high schools students to complete an associate’s degree or a one-year Uniform Certificate of General Students from a community college concurrent with a high school diploma.  This bill has been referred to the House Education Committee and will likely be referred to the Higher Ed subcommittee (which Rust chairs).

Posted by Ellen Davenport