Throwing a Lifeline to Get Kids Back in School

Kids don’t tend to transmit the virus to each other or teachers. The systems we’ve had open in Virginia have done very well. If cases come into the school from outside, they’re identified, contact traced, and quarantined.

The damage being done here is just unimaginable. Our testing results for academic progress are coming in, and our kids are falling behind in reading. There’s an epidemic of “F”s out there as kids who don’t have the complete support system they need are failing. 

Teachers are telling us what parents already know-

--kids in virtual schools are suffering. 

If schools aren’t going to teach our children, they should lose state funding. The science is clear -- schools, with proper procedures in place, are safe for kids and teachers. Many school boards continue to ignore and frustrate parents and students, making choices that harm our children- You've probably seen the viral video of one such parent from Loudoun County. In response, many parents are choosing to move their children to private or home schools to access educational opportunity. The costs of going to a private school or homeschooling can have serious impact on any budget, especially on poor and working families' budgets.

This morning, I presented my HB 2243 Home instruction and private school tax credit legislation to create an individual, nonrefundable income tax credit for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2021, but before January 1, 2026, for amounts paid by the parent or legal guardian of a child for the child's home instruction expenses or tuition for attending an accredited private school in Virginia. The credit shall equal the lesser of the amount actually paid in the taxable year for such costs, or half of the average state standards of quality funding per student per year. The credit may be taken for instruction-related materials, courses, or programs used in home instruction or for private school tuition. The credit is available only to the parents and legal guardians of children who did not attend private school or were not home schooled in the previous year in Virginia. The credit is available for two years per child and can be carried forward for five taxable years. Best of all, this would bring a huge tax savings to taxpayers as it will be funded instead of funding empty schools.

Unfortunately, this legislation was voted down on a party-line vote, with Democrats refusing to help families in need fund the education of their kids. You can watch the 10-minute discussion and vote here.

 

Last week

Four more of my bills have received hearings so far, but all have been killed in Democrat-controlled Committees.



What's Coming This Week:

This Friday is the deadline for the House to complete action on House legislation, except the budget, so we will be busy. Here is my legislation that hasn't been acted on yet....

• HB 2241 Unborn child protection from dismemberment abortion; penalties. Prohibits the practice of dismemberment abortion, which is defined in the bill as meaning to, with the purpose of causing the death of an unborn child, purposely dismember a living unborn child and extract him one piece at a time from the uterus through the use of clamps, grasping forceps, tongs, scissors, or any other instrument that, through the convergence of two rigid levers, slice, crush, or grasp a portion of the unborn child's body to cut or rip such portion of the unborn child's body
• HB 2246 State agencies; automatic workforce management verification software. Requires all state agencies with more than 20 full-time teleworking employees to use automatic workforce management verification software to verify the hours employees worked while teleworking by counting and reporting data to the agency.
• HJ 573 COVID-19 vaccination; voluntary. Expresses the sense of the General Assembly that any vaccination for the COVID-19 virus shall be voluntary within the Commonwealth of Virginia and that it fully supports the practice of medical informed consent.

Budget Amendments (Provide comment on these here):

• 68#4h Fully-fund State Funding for Sheriffs Positions
• 86#3h Counting of Absentee Votes by Precinct
• 86#8h Elections Policy (Language Only)
• 374#3h Operations funding for State Park in Loudoun County
• C-72.70#1h VSP Technical Title Change (Language Only)
• 4-0.01#3h Law Enforcement Collective Bargaining Agreement Transparency (Language Only)
• 4-0.01#4h Prohibition Against Requiring Vaccination Unless Specific Criteria Are Met (Language Only)
• 4-0.01#5h Executive Orders that Last Over 30 Days (Language Only)
• 4-0.01#7h Online Training for Concealed Carry Permits while in COVID emergency (Language Only)

As always, thank you for the honor and privilege of serving you in the Virginia House of Delegates. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions!

Sincerely,

If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call or email my office at 540-751-8364 or DelDLaRock@house.virginia.gov. You can also follow me on Twitter @LaRock4Delegate and like my campaign Facebook page to keep up to date. I'm also now on MeWe.

COMMITTEES

• Communications, Technology and Innovation
• Counties, Cities and Towns

COMMISSIONS

• School Construction & Modernization

Get in touch and stay connected:

DelDLaRock@house.virginia.gov

District Office: P.O. Box 6, Hamilton, Virginia 20159 (540) 751-8364

Paid for and authorized by Dave LaRock for Delegate