GOVERNOR'S RECOMMENDATION

Line 8, enrolled, after pay

insert

, subject to the approval of the local governing body,

GOVERNOR'S VETO

Pursuant to Article V,§ 6, of the Constitution of Virginia, I am vetoing House Bill 637.

Under current law, the General Assembly approves salary increases requested by local school board members. The Code of Virginia provides a specific salary cap for each locality in the Commonwealth. A legislative check on school board salaries is prudent because legislatures are responsible for both the taxation of the people and the expenditure of their tax dollars.

House Bill 637 would, for all practical purposes, remove the General Assembly's check on pay raises for school board members. House Bill 637 aligns school board salary caps with those already adopted (in the Code of Virginia or in charters) for boards of supervisors and city councils. Because in almost every locality the caps for boards of supervisors and city councils are substantially higher than the caps previously codified for school boards, House Bill 637 has the effect of authorizing large salary increases for school boards without any further legislative oversight.

For example, the salary cap for the Fairfax County School Board under current law is $12,500. House Bill 637 would increase the salary cap to $59,000, the cap for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Thus, the effect of House Bill 637 is to authorize members of the Fairfax County School Board to increase their salaries 452 percent without any further direct legislative approval. The result is similar in other localities, as well. I am confident the General Assembly did not intend to authorize such a substantial pay raise for public servants.

While I recognize the General Assembly's desire to remove itself from the salary approval process, I believe express legislative authorization should remain in place. A legislative body elected by the people and entrusted with the power of taxation and the stewardship of the people's hard-earned tax dollars should ultimately be responsible for the wise expenditure of those resources. The amendment I offered would have restored a check and balance system at the local level by vesting this oversight in local governing boards. Unfortunately, the notion of local legislative oversight was not accepted.

Additionally, I have noted that despite an increase of $1.1 billion -- or 34 percent -- in state funding for public schools over the past four years, several education groups continue to claim that they need more funds to provide quality educational services to our children. In light of these asserted needs, I believe we should be diverting tax dollars from the classroom to school board salaries at this time.

For these reasons, I am returning House Bill 637 without my signature.