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Politics & Government

General Assembly Roundup: Kaye Kory

Wins, losses from the 2011 legislative session

RICHMOND – Legislators can finally get some rest, now that the 2011 General Assembly session is done. Still, they can’t get too comfortable, since the redistricting and vetoing sessions take place in April.

Looking back at their track records during the General Assembly session can help determine how well they might do in the April sessions. For some Fairfax legislators, getting bills passed in both houses was a slight struggle.

Del. Kaye Kory

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Delegate Kory (D-38th District) had a hard time getting her legislation through. Out of 14 proposed bills, none passed both houses. Her house joint resolutions fared better, with all seven passing.

Some of her rejected bills made headlines. One, for instance, required school principals or assistants immediately notify parents of their children’s violations of school policies, when those violations could result in the student being removed from school or the filing of a court petition.

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The bill’s proposal came after a W.T. Woodson High School student committed suicide after being removed from school for admitting to buying one capsule of synthetic marijuana.

The parent notification bill wasn’t Kory’s only school-related bill. She also introduced:

  • School calendar: allows the Board of Education could waive the requirement for schools to open after Labor Day,
  • Smoking: bans smoking on the grounds of public elementary, intermediate and secondary schools.
  • School breakfast and lunch program: asks the Board of Education to ensure that nutritional content of food given in school breakfast and lunch programs be posted.
  • School boards: bans school boards from charging fees for tests like Advanced Placement, and
  • Virginia-grown food products: asks the Department of General Services to establish procurement procedures to handle how state agencies and institutions and local public school divisions buy Virginia-grown food products.

Other bills she sponsored included:

  • Income tax: deals with renewable energy property and energy audit tax credits.
  • Commonwealth mass transit: increases the percentage of Transportation Trust Fund revenues, etc.
  • Handheld personal communication device: making texting while driving a primary offense, resulting in a fine of $20 for the first offense and $50 for subsequent offenses.
  • Income tax, nonprofit: grants an income tax credit for taxable years after Jan. 1, 2012 to taxpayers who make cash donations to charitable nonprofit organizations using the donations for Energy Star  qualified products for their headquarters after Jan. 1, 2012.
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