Delegate Matt Fariss

I am happy to announce that the Governor signed the budget bill this past Thursday. I would like to congratulate the Governor, the House and Senate Appropriations leadership, and the General Assembly on passing a budget agreeable to all parties. Over the past couple months I have expressed that this budget makes serious cuts to our overall expenses while at the same time funds core sections of our government. I look forward to the impact this budget will have upon the Commonwealth, and I am pleased that we will not have to spend Veto session debating any proposed changes or amendments made to this bill.  

As we March into Spring the 2015 legislative process continues forward. The General Assembly has convened and has communicated legislation to the Governor’s desk for his signature of approval. This opens a window of time in which the Governor has time to decide whether or not to approve a given piece of legislation. The Governor’s deadline to act on a legislative item is March 29^th. I was excited to see that this past week the Governor signed a number of bills into law. I am happy to see that a number of my legislative items were among the bills approved.

I have listed below legislation of mine that has been approved by the Governor. 

Congratulations to the Altavista Colonels on yet another state championship! I am proud to hear that the Varsity Men’s basketball team won their third consecutive state championship. It was exciting to read about their travels to Richmond for the state tournament. I am relieved that Meche Maulbeck hit the winning shot to down Galax with 35- 33. The Colonels then proceeded to overcome Honaker with a score of 57-44. It is my understanding that Altavista is one of ten schools in the state to have won three consecutive tournaments. I would also like to congratulate Coach Mike Cartolaro on his fourth title and 500^th win during his career.   

The Virginia General Assembly has completed its final week of work, even reaching adjournment one day early. I am proud to say that the Virginia House of Delegates addressed a number of legislative goals it went to Richmond to complete. 

The Virginia General Assembly has completed its sixth week of session. Despite the heavy amount of snow that visited the Commonwealth the General Assembly still conducted daily business. The completion of this week leaves us with one last week to complete work that still remains on the calendar. 

This week we arrived at crossover in the General Assembly, the deadline for consideration of legislation that started in the House. This deadline made for a full schedule on Monday that extended well into the evening. However, the week's activities did not end with crossover. This week the House debated and passed a HB 1400, the House version of the budget. 

Time is flying here in Richmond. We have completed our fourth week of Session. This is the last full week before cross over on February 10^th. Cross over is a term we use in the General Assembly where all action on bills must be completed by the Legislative body they originated so that they can be reported to the second part of the legislature. This allows the other body to hear and weigh our decisions. Bills that pass both the House and Senate will report to the Governor. This time crunch makes for one hectic week here in Richmond, and business has often ran late into the evening.  

The House of Delegates has wrapped up the third week of the 2015 session, and there is a lot of news to report. This week Delegate Chris Jones, Chairman of Appropriations, gave an update on the fiscal health of the commonwealth and an update of the house’s proposed budget. His speech can be found on the Virginia House GOP website and on their youtube channel. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJdD6Iscy_Y)

The first full week of session has come to a close, and I am optimistic about the progress of the 2015 Legislative Agenda. There are a number of key bills and initiatives that will have a great impact on the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

It was a busy start to the first week of the 2015 legislative Session. This year is a shorter, 45-day legislative session, but my colleagues and I in the House of Delegates are offering a robust agenda that will prepare Virginia for long-term growth.   The 2015 Session gaveled into order on a cold and icy Wednesday morning. It was quite the challenge for many people to get to the General Assembly due to terrible driving conditions, but despite the weather we promptly came to order.