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Earlier today, during the General Assembly’s veto session, the House and Senate concurred unanimously to accept Governor Tim Kaine’s substitute version of HB 2285, a state spending transparency bill, patroned by Delegate Ben Cline (R-25, Amherst). This substitute, at first look, and based on conversations with some legislators and staffers, appears to be even stronger than SB 936, patroned by Senator Ken Cuccinelli (R-37, Fairfax), and signed last month by Governor Kaine. The language of the bills was identical when they reached his desk. 

Although neither bill received one dissenting vote in several sub-committee, committee and floor votes in both chambers, and now today’s veto session — after each got unceremoniously dumped last year in committee (Senate) and sub-committee (House) — it wasn’t as easy as it sounds getting them passed and signed into law. Each had to deal with the dreaded fiscal impact statement, which many times attributes bogus costs to bills as an unassailable hurdle in the money committees, often to thwart reforms. In this case, each bill had duty in front on the money committees and HB 2285 even had to go to the Senate Rules Committee.

In essence, we started with two great bills last year and again this year, that changed form, but not function, though perhaps not as comprehensive as we might have liked after several amendments, and ultimately got something more than what we thought after the regular session ended. Not bad. What a difference an election year makes.

Now a huge window has opened up on state spending, with a massive spotlight to boot. Soon, citizens — be they media, grassroots activists, policy wonks or even (for Heaven’s sake) bloggers — will be able to closely examine exactly how Virginia government spends the hard-earned tax money we send it, and with which vendors it contracts for services, as well as other open government features. It simply is not enough to say a department spends this much money; we need to know down to the line how much, on what and with whom. That, in turn, will let us know if the purpose was worthy or wasteful, duplicative or duplicitous. You get the picture.

Despite what would seem broad interest in government spending transparency, many self-proclaimed “open government” groups were noticeably absent form the debate. The  Mainstream Media, for example, which touts its annual “Sunshine Week” each March, was nowhere to be found. No doubt, however, in years to come, it will, as we all should, tout this new found access to the otherwise indecipherable bureaucratic nuances of state government.

Tomorrow is the annual one-day General Assembly Veto Session, where our legislators get together and decide whether to override or sustain the governor’s vetoes and amendments to the bills they passed during the winter’s regular session. (We’ll be interested to see what happens to HB 2285, the spending transparency bill, Governor Kaine amended into an entirely new bill.) When 140 lawmakers get together anything can happen and we will be there in case it does. So check back with us regularly tomorrow just in case. Better yet, sign up to follow us on Twitter, to get any breaking news — or outrageous comments (another real possibility when 140 lawmakers get together) — as it happens. The link is near the top of our Blog Roll or just click here.

Something else we’ll be involved in tomorrow, honored in fact, is Lt. Governor Bill Bolling’s Third Annual Bloggers Conference. Two-dozen or more conservative bloggers from around the Commonwealth will come to Richmond to get briefings from the LG and other prominent Virginia conservatives. We’ll also get briefed on ProjectVirginia by two young conservative blogging and tech stars: Jon Henke and Bryan Pick of TheNextRight political blog. According to its Web site:

“ProjectVirginia is a political action committee organized to support civic engagement aimed at applying conservative principles to address local, state and national issues.

“To maximize the effectiveness of grassroots organizing & voter mobilization efforts, ProjectVirginia will promote the deployment and utilization of cutting-edge new media & social networking technologies by citizens and campaigns.”

Sounds exciting. We’ll let you know about it all. We look forward to it, but do have one regret. We won’t get a chance to see the “Lieutenant Governor’s mansion.” See you tomorrow.

As we mentioned last night, Governor Tim Kaine has offered an amendment to HB 2285, the spending transparency bill patroned by Delegate Ben Cline. But it’s not just any amendment. It’s an amendment in the nature of a substitute, meaning it’s a whole new bill (see here). At first read, and we stress only a first, glancing read, it seems to provide for more thorough transparency. On the other hand, VITA is involved. Here’s HB 2285 as passed by the House and Senate (click here). We’ll study both side by side. Please do the same.

As we said from the beginning, getting spending transparency into law was never going to be easy — even for a bill that got not one dissenting vote in several committee and floor votes in both chambers. It has had more ups and downs and twists and turns than the Rebel Yell roller coaster at Kings Dominion, and we’re still not there yet. But we’ll keep working until we do.

I just received an update from the Legislative Information System that Governor Tim Kaine has made recommendations to HB 2285, the House version of the spending transparency bill. It is patroned by Delegate Ben Cline. However, the system has not yet posted what those amendments are. It’s hard to believe they are too substantive given the unanimous approval it and the Senate version (SB 936, patroned by Senator Ken Cuccinelli) received. It also goes to reason that whatever these amendments are, the governor will apply them also to SB 936. We will update you when we find out.

As a follow-up to yesterday’s victory for reform, government spending transparency and accountability with our hard-earned tax dollars, late last night the House version of the spending transparency bill, HB 2285, patroned by Delegate Ben Cline (R-24, Rockbridge), was approved by both chambers unanimously. It is on its way to Governor Tim Kaine’s desk to sign, amend and send back, or veto. 

Along with SB 936, patroned by Senator Ken Cuccinelli (R-37, Fairfax), these two Family Foundation priority bills, if they become law, will allow Virginians, over time, to track government spending on contracts, the vendors the state pays and for which work they do, as well as other important information; and allow us to be able to more easily track such items online. 

Just as with SB 936, HB 2285 did not receive a single negative vote throughout its legislative journey which included: Two House committees, a House sub-committee, a House floor vote, a Senate sub-committee, a Senate committee, a Senate floor vote on accepting a substitute, a Senate floor vote, a House vote to accept the Senate substitute and reject an extra Senate amendment, and a final floor vote in the Senate (last night) to accept the House’s rejection of that amendment. 

I know it sounds confusing, but it makes an important point: just because a bill gets a unanimous vote, it doesn’t mean it was easy to accomplish. Even popular and just ideas are difficult to get passed and can come unraveled in a moment. For example, both patrons deserve a great deal of credit for their patience and parliamentary skill. They adapted the bills at strategic points to fight off bogus fiscal impact statements which would have doomed them as “too costly” to adopt. Grassroots activists also deserve much credit for staying informed on the issue and contacting their senators and delegates along the way. Click here to get a taste of this Byzantine, egg-shell-walking process. 

One simple example of the improvement these bills will bring is that a link to the Commonwealth DataPoint Web site will have to be put on the state government’s homepage. Right now, if you are not a policy wonk, and don’t know the name Commonwealth DataPoint, or don’t know that it’s on the Auditor of Public Accounts’ Web site, you can’t even begin to find what limited information is state government offers. So, imagine — it takes an entire act of the General Assembly just for a simple Web link! So, you know what we go through on controversial legislation. (Click here and scroll down to see a Sunshine Review’s report on the current status of Virginia’s online transparency. Hint: not good.)

For years, it has been very difficult to determine for what and to whom the state contracts and pays for services, not to mention what spending is duplicated and otherwise wasted — and whether it is spent on nefarious groups such as Planned Parenthood. It took almost the entire session, but these are major victories. That said, at least we had one humorous moment in this process, appropriately, near the end. If you haven’t checked out yesterday’s QOD, click here to read about the House “debate” on HB 2285.

It all happened late this afternoon, in rapid fire succession, all starting with a blatant mis-speak by Delegate Ben Cline (R-24, Rockbridge) when bringing his spending transparency bill (HB 2285) to the floor.

Explaining the Senate’s floor amendment to the bill and why it should be “severed” (which elicited some sarcastic “oooohs”):

“I talked to the patron and he’s okay with it.”

Speaker Bill Howell (R-28, Stafford), to what may have been the loudest laughter in session this year:

“You are the patron!”

After Majority Leader Morgan Griffith (R-8 Salem) parodied Cline to more laugher, Delegate Todd Gilbert (R-15, Woodstock) stepped up for a bill of his own:

“Mr. Speaker, I have a question of the patron. Would the patron yield?”

The House laughed louder than the original faux paux. Then Delegate Gilbert added, “I can go on. This is easy.”

It’s been a long “short session” and they’ve been on the floor for hours at a time. It’s definitely time to bring down this curtain and let them go home!

The Senate earlier this afternoon passed by a vote of 38-0 SB 936, by agreeing to the House’s amendments, thus avoiding a conference committee and sending the spending transparency bill to Governor Tim Kaine (contact here). The bill, patroned by Senator Ken Cuccinelli (R-37, Fairfax), did not receive a single negative vote in two Senate committees, one House sub-committee, two House Committees, one House floor vote and two Senate floor votes, three bill versions and three fiscal impact statements.

Within the last few minutes, on the House floor, the House agreed to the Senate substitute of HB 2285, patroned by Delegate Ben Cline (R-24, Rockbridge). Then, by a vote of 93-3, it rejected the Senate floor amendment which would have added legislative transparency to the budget writing process, but had nothing to do with the posting of actual state spending online. It was rejected because the same basic idea of the amendment was rejected by the House Appropriations Committee earlier this session as a free-standing bill. Lawmakers are hesitant to approve policy on the floor as bill amendments when previously rejected in committee where the pros and cons were aired out.

This action makes the bill conform to SB 936. It goes back to the Senate to accept or reject the House’s action, probably tomorrow. If it accepts it, it will go to the governor as an identical bill as SB 936. If not, there will be a committee of conference at which point the amendment will be accepted, rejected or negotiations will fall apart and the bill will die. Either way, SB 936 is a baseline, and there is the slimmest of chances — if the amendment is included — HB 2285 can be made a bit stronger. At the very least, SB 936 will go to the governor!

Hopefully, sometime today, or, if not, then tomorrow, we will have a  spending transparency bill sent to Governor Tim Kaine (contact here) for his signature.

Here’s the status of both HB 2285 and SB 936: The former, patroned by Delegate Ben Cline (R-24, Amherst), is back in the House after getting conformed to the Senate version then amended further. The House must accept the amendments or reject them. If the former, it will go to the governor. If not, it goes to a conference committee. As amended, it has a bit more transparency than the Senate version.

The Senate version is back in the Senate because the House made amendments, but it should have no problems — the House amendments were offered by the patron, Senator Ken Cuccinelli (R-37, Fairfax), when it was in the House. When amendments by the other body are supported by the patron, they are accepted. Then that will go to the governor.

Right now, it’s a matter of seeing what the House does. If it accepts the Senate amendments, we’re golden. If not, it will probably end up mirroring SB 936. Either way, it looks like we’re going to get at least an moderately expanded window in which to view the doling out of our tax dollars.

The good news? The Senate today accepted Ken Cuccinelli’s (R-37, Fairfax) floor amendment to conform HB 2285, patroned by Delegate Ben Cline (R-24, Amherst), to his SB 936 by a unanimous vote. The House, meanwhile, unanimously approved SB 936. Sounds all so cut-and-dried, let’s-send-it-to- the-third-floorish, right?

That’d be too easy.

Here’s what happened late this morning. As you will recall from yesterday, Senator Walter Stosch (R-12, Henrico) raised concerns that language in the floor substitute might allow for Social Security numbers to be put online. The bill was passed by for the day for the day in order to work that out. However, as the Senate discovered today, federal law safeguards such a happenstance and all were prepped to go forward.

Then stepped up Senator Tommy Norment (R-3, Williamsburg). Exactly what might he want? It seems he had a little bill that would bring some much needed reform to the workings of the two chambers (SB 1401). It would require that anything budget conferees stuck in their final budget report —which the two chambers must vote up or down — that was a nonstate appropriation, an item not included in either chamber’s budget, or an item that represents legislation that failed during session, would have to be announced as such in letters to all 140 members by the chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees.

The bill sliced right through the Senate only to be left to die in House Appropriations. So, here was an opportunity to revive it and he jumped at it. Unfortunately, his original bill had a dreaded “fiscal impact” statement attached — then said the cost was “indeterminable.” (Odd, though, that no budget amendment was necessary. Besides, what’s the cost of writing a letter and making 140 copies?). Still, just having it there scares some lawmakers. And us. (Would it have to go before a bill-killing re-referal to Appropriations?)

Great stuff, actually, this amendment. All about transparency. But legislative transparency. Not spending transparency. One is actual facts about state spending. One is about GA procedures. Not exactly germane. Senator Norment admitted as much on the floor, saying he thinks the House may reject his amendment on those grounds. But no one asked the chamber’s presiding officer, Lt. Governor Bill Bolling, for a ruling (he cannot make one unilatterally). So the amendment proceeded to a vote and accepted by the body.

Here’s where it all stands: Instead of the two bills conformed exactly to each other (which we figured wouldn’t happen anyway only because we thought at the outset the Senate would leave HB 2285 alone) and avoiding a conference committee, HB 2285 goes back to the House since the Senate changed it. It must either accept or reject the Senate amendments. Either way, it will be different than SB 936: If it rejects the amendments, it is slimmer than SB 936; if it accepts them, it is larger. Meanwhile, the Senate must accept or reject SB 936, since it was tweaked in the House to meet Appropriations Committee concerns. Since the changes were the patron’s, it  won’t be a problem. 

Many variables from this last minute twist of the tale: Now that Senator Norment is part author on HB 2285, will he be on the conference committee? If so, how might that affect the dynamics? If the House insists on its version of HB 2285, will it give the Senate an excuse to scuttle it in conference? Or will the meat of the bill survive if Senate conferees insist on the slimmer HB 2285 as a slap? Is this all paranoia? We hope so, but just covering all bases.

To repeat, never have bills that still have not received a single dissenting vote gone through so much tortuous twisting. That said, an important reform still is within reach. Updates tomorrow.

Just a few minutes ago, on the Senate floor, Senator Ken Cuccinelli (R-37, Fairfax) took HB 2285, patroned by Delegate Ben Cline (R-24, Amherst), out of the uncontested third block reading in order to offer a substitute which would conform the bill to his own, SB 936, which itself will be on its first House read tomorrow. If adopted and conformed exactly to each other, and no further alterations to either bill are made to either bill, then the need for a committee of conference would not be necessary. So Senator Cuccinelli decided to go forward with the amendment instead of an uncontested block vote.

Instead, Senator Walter Stosch (R-12, Henrico) raised concerns that the language in the substitute could be interpreted as putting Social Security and tax identification numbers online. Although, after several questions to Senator Cuccinelli, he said his concerns were satisfied, but requested it go by temporarily so as to work out a clarifying amendment. It seemed the amendment was destined to be adopted with but a slight delay later today. However, Senator Edd Houck (D-17, Spottsylvania) asked that it go by for the entire day so as to have enough time for a carefully crafted amendment that will satisfy everyone’s concerns.

As we posted earlier . . . despite the overwhelmingly positive votes these bills have received, it hasn’t been easy. More waiting, more patience. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.