The General Assembly 2013 Senate Session convened last Wednesday at the Capital. It has already proved to be an intense session with complex transportation, education, tax, healthcare, environmental and public safety issues to consider. In the months since session concluded last spring, our committees have continued to meet around the state helping to create an ambitious agenda. The full Senate met for a two-day Finance meeting in November. Also, in our Winchester and Warrenton offices, we have met with hundreds of constituents to solve problems and respond to requests.

This is my second session representing an expanded Senate district, including Winchester, Frederick, Clarke, Loudoun, Fauquier, Culpeper and Stafford. I also have greater legislative responsibility, serving in leadership in my Senate Caucus as Whip and serving on the Finance Committee; Courts; General Laws; Privileges and Elections; Rules and General Laws and Technology Committees.

I also chair the Rules Subcommittee on Disclosure Review and chair a Privileges and Elections subcommittee.

On Wednesday, I was appointed to the Special Subcommittee to Consult on the Plan to Close State Training Centers, a committee whose work is to facilitate a Department of Justice civil rights settlement that requires Virginia to transition our disabled population from state institutions into a community-based setting. It is an emotionally charged subject and will require care to execute.

In the days leading up to session, I joined a 20 member bipartisan group of Aspen Institute Fellows who met to engage in our annual academic discussion led by Harvard and MIT professors of philosophy, ethics and government. It was a great honor to be chosen from around the nation to represent a new generation of policy makers whose debates of Hobbes, Aristotle, Havel and the like are meant to challenge us. For me, it offered a good grounding prior to jumping headlong into the Senate session.

My work in Richmond started Tuesday in meetings with the Governor and many of my colleagues to discuss the Governor's legislative priorities. He later outlined them in detail in his State of the Commonwealth Address before a joint session of the House and Senate. This is his last full year as Governor and he started with a review of economic progress, noting Virginia has far outperformed other states with the second lowest unemployment rate of any state east of the Mississippi and the lowest in the Southeast. Virginia has over 150,000 net new private sector jobs and an unemployment rate of 5.6%, more than two points below the national average. He also asked for our support for his proposals, beginning with an outline of his five-part program to fund transportation.

The core features of the plan are 1) replacement of the current 17.5 cent per gallon gas tax with a 0.8% sales and use tax increase, with two qualifications—the 17.5 cent tax on diesel remains the same and the sales tax increase excludes food; 2) a $15 increase in automobile registration fees; 3) a $100 alternative fuel vehicle fee; 4) collection of revenue generated from a change in federal law which will permit states to collect out of state internet sales and use tax; and 5) divert .25 % of current sales tax revenue from the General Fund to the Transportation Trust Fund. In the end, the proposal results in $3.1 billion in additional transportation funding.

The current challenge in funding transportation is that the fixed gas tax yields fewer transportation dollars every year due to no inflation factor, more hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles and increasing CAFE standards. At the same time, maintenance and construction costs have increased dramatically since the current gas tax was implemented in 1986. That 17.5 cents is now worth 8 cents and since 2002, the binder price for asphalt alone has increased 350 percent. Also, beginning October 1, 2013, Virginia must assume all capital, maintenance and operation expense for Amtrak intercity and regional passenger rail. The harsh reality is that within five years, all of our transportation funds will be needed to address highway maintenance and there will be no money for construction.

Not surprisingly, the transportation plan received mixed reviews and most expect that the final measure will look very different from the current proposal.

There is no shortage of other controversy this year. One of the most divisive is whether to lift the 31-year moratorium on uranium mining. The moratorium was put in place in 1982, following a 1979 discovery of a large uranium deposit in Pittsylvania County. Geologic surveys have shown that uranium deposits exist throughout the Piedmont of Virginia. A group of Southside businessmen is spearheading an effort to lift the moratorium. The introduced bill is limited to the Pittsylvania County deposit, but as uranium exists elsewhere in the Commonwealth, it will have precedential value for all of Virginia.

I remain very concerned about lifting the moratorium, as do the majority of legislators who represent that region. In addition to uranium, other major controversies include healthcare, teacher pay raises, education reform bills, public safety, the budget and gun control. I will try to cover each in future updates.

In the wake of the Connecticut shooting, I have been asked repeatedly about what legislatures should do to address gun violence. My comments drew attention when I said I would keep an open mind as we consider what measures we can undertake to keep our children safe and to keep guns out of the hands of deranged people. Nevertheless, my views on our Second Amendment rights have not changed and I do not intend to undermine anyone's Second Amendment freedoms or reverse a lifetime of hard work on the subject. I am a gun owner and would exercise my freedoms to defend my family and my property. I have worked in the past with the VCDL, GOA, and have an A plus rating with the NRA. I have also been the sponsor of numerous bills in defense of gun rights. Sadly, I have always believed that our forefathers are spinning over what my generation has proposed to curb individual liberties and personal freedoms. That said, I still believe that we have work to do.

I intend to finalize my remaining bills next week and will provide an update on my legislation in future columns.

It is a great honor to serve you and I take your thoughts and opinions seriously. Please contact our office any time that you have questions or concerns. I can be reached during the General Assembly session at 804-698-7527, P.O. Box 397, Richmond, VA 23218 or you can email me at jillvogel@senate27.com. Also, please visit our website at www.senatorjillvogel.com.