Delegate Matt Fariss

Since the last presidential election, Virginia has rolled out a system that allows citizens to register to vote and update their registrations online. Four years ago, the state had an entirely paper-based system.

Governor McAuliffe outlined plans Thursday to close an expected fiscal 2017 budget shortfall, which was caused by slower-than-expected growth in income tax collections.

A James Madison University student allegedly committed voter fraud recently using the identities of deceased people while working to register voters through HarrisonburgVOTES. 

During the past several months, we have seen in the media and heard at multiple forums the horrifying statistics and stories surrounding the nation’s opioid epidemic. For many families across Virginia, these tragic stories hit too close to home.

With just over a month until the next general election, I wanted to give my constituents the resources available to register to vote or make changes to their voter record.  If you are not currently registered to vote, and in order to vote in the November 8^th General Election, you must register to vote no later than Monday October 17, 2016 by 5p.m.

On September 9, 2016, Colonial Pipeline shut down its main lines in Shelby County, Alabama to investigate a potential system integrity issue. The investigation uncovered a pipeline breach resulting in a spill of 252,000 gallons of gasoline in a remote area of the county. This pipeline will remain shut down until repairs can be made, the system tested, and cleanup complete. The shutdown of this pipeline may result in gasoline supply disruptions to various retailers throughout the Commonwealth, since the pipeline is the only source of gasoline into Virginia for many of these retailers.

The Virginia "Right to Work" Amendment is on the November 8, 2016, ballot in Virginia as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment. The amendment was proposed by Delegate Dickie Bell, R-Staunton, who has been working on passing the amendment since he took office in 2010.

A public hearing was recently held on the extensive regulatory process to strengthen a gun ban in state buildings.  The Department of General Services, the state agency that oversees government facilities, held a public hearing on the gun ban in Richmond last week as part of the regulatory process necessary to enact the governor’s order.

Governor Terry McAuliffe addressed the Senate Finance and House Appropriations Committees regarding the budget revenue shortfall on Friday. Virginia’s budget shortfall is about $1.5 billion. The shortfall is the result of a lagging economy that generated less tax revenue than expected. Our economy is replacing high paying full time jobs with lower paying part time jobs.

Last Monday the Governor McAuliffe held a meeting with the Governor’s Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates about the state’s economic and revenue outlook. The governor’s advisory council, including business leaders from across the state, gave its collective view of the economic outlook for the new forecast produced by the state with the Joint Advisory Board of Economists.