The Governor is in Richmond today to present his 2016-2018
two year budget plan to the joint money committees of the House and
Senate. Some details have been released
in advance, and thanks to an improving economy we can look forward to
substantial increases in K-12 education funding, funding for Veterans programs,
and a tax cut. Unfortunately my column
deadline was early in the week (blame the Editor), so the details will have to
wait for a future column. In lieu of a
budget update, my December column will be a look back at the year that was.
2015: A Musical Review
Regular readers of this column and my e-newsletters already
know that I use music lyrics to set the theme for my periodic missives. A hook, I hope, to get you to read the
substance. This year I got off to a running start (to the tune of Steppenwolf’s
Get Your Motor Runnin’) as the House of Delegates convened for it
shorter 45-day session in January. I had
an ambitious legislative agenda that included carrying the Governor's bill to
restore Virginia's one-handgun per month purchase limit, the repeal of
Virginia's same sex marriage ban, and a $15.15 minimum wage proposal.
Of course, as session went on, and many of those proposal
died quiet deaths in subcommittees, I vowed to take Taylor Swift’s advice and Shake
It Off. My email soliciting your
opinion on the big issues of the session were prefaced with lyrics from
Information Society’s I Wanna Know What You’re Thinking and as we neared
the deadline for final action on bills, I used The Eagles’ Life in the Fast
Lane to describe the pace of work in Richmond.
At the end of the session, a number of my less controversial
bills became law, the General Assembly reached a budget deal a day early and
The Lego Movie’s Everything is Awesome was the song of the moment. Of course, it wouldn’t have been right not to
include Frozen’s Do You Want to Build a Snowman in a winter weather
advisory e-newsletter.
Once Session ended, I generally send e-newsletters less
frequently, but that doesn’t mean that the lyrical review ends. To invite constituents to a petition signing
event to get me on the 2015 ballot, The Muppets’ Together Again seemed
appropriate.
In March, I received the lowest grade on the Tea Party’s
Legislative Scorecard; considering that a win, Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy made
its debut. Keeping the theme alive, my 2015 Campaign Kickoff also had a rock
and roll theme with Billy Joel’s It’s Still Rock ‘n’ Roll to Me.
The Beatle's classic Taxman led the e-mail previewing
the reconvene session, when the General Assembly returns to Richmond to
consider the Governor's amendments and vetoes, since it fell on tax day, April
15th. We spent a good deal of
time debating the omnibus ethics reform bill.
For information on I-66, Steve Miller Band’s The Mercury
Blues fit quite nicely as did Minnie Riperton’s Loving You when
commemorating National Loving Day.
On July 1st, the day new laws go into effect in
Virginia, you might have wondered why I was quoting Queen’s Bicycle Race, until
you read further and learned a number of new law protecting cyclists had been
added to the books.
As the year went on, and state revenue forecasts came in
above expectations, we went with the obvious We’re In The Money. Elton John’s I’ve Seen That Movie Too was
the perfect lead in to my report on our August Special Session on
redistricting, full of plot twists and a surprise ending when the Senate adjourned
abruptly, saving a Supreme Court justice, but scuttling any hope of drawing a
new congressional map.
Moving into the fall and election season, Radiohead’s Electioneering and Alice Cooper’s Elected were a perfect match. The Beatles’ Hard Day’s Night and Revolution provided the backdrop for an
election thank you and for a request for legislation ideas for 2016. Most
recently, Ziggy Marley’s Changes highlighted
the first three bills I introduced as well as the many ideas I received from my
readers.
I have received a lot of positive feedback about my
e-newsletter format and am excited to continue the lyrical tradition into 2016. If you’d like to sign up for my e-newsletter
and never miss a single lyrical update, please go to my webpage, www.MarcusSimon.com, and click Sign Up on
the right hand side.
If you have a favorite song that you’d like to see in one of
my e-newsletters, I also take suggestions!