GOVERNOR'S RECOMMENDATION

1. Page 7, enrolled, line 22

strike

all of subsection H

GOVERNOR'S VETO EXPLANATION

My Administration supported this legislation and its companion legislation in the House of Delegates (HB 947) throughout the legislative process, because we are serious about addressing the "disparity" issue in a fair and responsible manner. However, my State Superintendent of Public Instruction repeatedly made it clear throughout the progress of this bill during the legislative process that Subsection H found on Page 7 of the enrolled bill represented a large unfunded mandate on the localities and must be removed.

In fact, Subsection H was removed by the Senate Education and Health Committee, and I looked forward to signing this bill into law as a responsible step forward in addressing disparity. However, Subsection H was reinserted into the bill and its House counterpart during the House-Senate conference in the final hours of the session. I returned both bills to the legislature with the request that the unfunded local mandate be removed once again. While the Senate patron was agreeable to that amendment, and even communicated his support for my amendment to the House, the House patron was not. The House patron chose to see the bill vetoed rather than work with my Administration to produce disparity legislation that could begin immediately to address the issue without burdening Virginia's localities.

Fortunately, the legislation is not needed to ensure that the disparity funding goes into effect in the next biennium, because a budget provision provides such funding on the local-option, local-incentive basis that I requested.

Despite this development, my Administration is committed to addressing the disparity issue on a long-term basis. We will do so in a way that does not burden localities with yet more unfunded mandates and that is sensitive to local control of public schools, a keystone of Virginia's public education system.

Accordingly, I am returning this bill without my signature.