What do public television, underage drinking and stem cell research have in common? They are all subjects of budget amendments proposed by General Assembly members.
Though these amendments do not involve adding funding, the language they seek to add to the state budget bill would carry the power of law and can be as important and far-reaching as any program. The House Appropriations and Senate Finance committees will release their respective budget proposals Sunday afternoon.
Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax, has requested that language providing $3.6 million for public television in Virginia be deleted.
“I submitted amendments to fund some projects in my district so I proposed cutting the public television funding because if you’re going to increase spending in one area, I think you should always decrease it somewhere else,” Cuccinelli said. “And we all know that the popular stations on public televisions can operate on their own without tax dollars.”
While Democrats have introduced several bills to expand embryonic stem cell research, Del. Kirkland Cox, R-Colonial Heights, has proposed language that would forbid the state from providing funding for the research. The language also prohibits the state from funding research on aborted fetuses.
Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta, wants to crack down on underage drinking and has proposed amendments to implement a “zero tolerance” policy for public school students who consume alcohol. Violators would besuspended from school for five days on the first offense and the parents would pay a $500 fine. Future offenses would carry a 30-day suspension for the student and a $1,000 fine for the parents.
Underage college students caught drinking would be suspended for five days and fined $500 the first time. Students caught a second time would be suspended for the rest of the semester and the student would no longer be eligible for in-state tuition rates.
Other language proposed by Hanger would require school districts to determine the citizenship status of students and their parents when the child enrolls in school.
The state is constitutionally barred from stopping juvenile illegal immigrants from attending school. The amendment directs school officials to use the information to help the children and parents become citizens.
