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1998 SESSION

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(HB647)

GOVERNOR'S VETO

    Pursuant to Article V, Section 6 of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto House Bill No. 647, which is attached hereto.

    I am concerned that the Members of the General Assembly who voted for this bill may not have considered all of the unintended consequences this bill likely would cause for people it was intended to help. Additionally, the bill would impose onerous burdens on local school boards and subject them to expensive lawsuits. I would rather see those valuable public resources spent on the children we educate.

    First and foremost, I am concerned that HB 647 would reduce employment opportunities for thousands of school employees in Virginia. Many local school boards may find it necessary to avoid the administrative costs and burdens attendant to entering hundreds of binding employment contracts each April. Consequently, they may avoid the contractual requirements of HB 647 altogether. Two particular scenarios appear very likely under the bill: (l) Since 10 months of employment triggers contractual rights under the bill, local school boards may limit employees to only nine months and three weeks (or less) to avoid contracts; or (2) Wary of overcommitting itself to employment contracts for the following year, local school boards may find they have to decline to rehire many employees by the April deadline established in the bill. However, the bill mandates notice of re-employment in April. Therefore, the school board would be precluded from rehiring those employees in August even if positions subsequently opened up.

    Second, HB 647 would impose onerous burdens on local school boards in the administration of our public schools. The bill would require each local school board to provide each employee written notice of his or her re-employment each Spring after its budget has been approved. But school boards do not finalize their staffing plans until September when actual student enrollment can be determined. Thus, the Spring deadline is problematic. Additionally, HB 647 guarantees employment contracts for part-time employees as well as full-time employees. Local boards need more flexibility to manage their workforces, especially to hire part-time employees on an at-will basis.

    Third, HB647 contains legal terms that are ambiguous and internally inconsistent. Its language would confuse local school boards and employees alike, and would subject school boards to expensive lawsuits in circuit courts across Virginia. The last sentence of the bill purports to preserve at-will employment ("Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting a school board from employing persons...on an at-will basis.") But the first sentence of the bill presupposes written contracts "for a term of at least ten months." Those two sentences conflict and would require reconciliation by the courts. More often than not, local school boards would settle claims rather than incur litigation expenses. Whether they litigate or settle, however, valuable resources would be diverted from our children.

    For all of these reasons, I disapprove of this bill and return it without by signature.