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By M. K. Luther
Capital News Service
and Matt Pelkey Rappahannock News Staff Writer
RICHMOND - The Senate school funding bill that could allow Rappahannock County to secure more state money for education narrowly cleared the Senate Finance Committee this past Tuesday.
S.B. 559 squeaked by the committee, which voted 7-5 to send it on to the full Senate. There it will probably receive a vote in the next week. If it passes the Senate it will be sent to the House, which it must also pass before being sent to the Governor to be signed into law.
Sen. Mark Obenshain, who sponsored the bill, said the Senate Finance Committee could have been a major stumbling block.
“It’s out of the Finance Committee, which is frankly often the biggest hurdle anything has to get over to pass the Senate,” he said in a phone interview. “So that was a big step, and hopefully it’s headed us in the direction of getting this through the Senate. It’s only one step on the road of getting the county what it needs.”
Obenshain said he is confident the bill will receive a thumbs-up vote from the full Senate. And once it makes it to the House of Delegates, it will follow a path blazed by companion bill H.B. 936," which was introduced by Del. Todd Gilbert.
“Introducing it in both houses is an important tactical option that we availed ourselves of,” Obenshain said.
The Senate Finance Committee is often reluctant to give up state funds, and Obenshain tinkered with the bill to reduce its fiscal impact on the state. As originally
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