Del. Eric Phillips, R-Martinsville, finished his first session with the Virginia General Assembly on Saturday, March 9, after winning a special election for the 48th District House seat in January when Del. Les Adams, of Chatham, stepped down.
Phillips said his first session “overall, was pretty much what I expected. I mean, being in the minority wasn’t a lot of fun of course, but” the session met his expectations.
“I expected there to be some heated floor debates, I expected there to be some big issues that were discussed that may or may not pass and some of them that would pass that the governor would ultimately veto,” he said.
Phillips said that while he didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for this session, his Republican colleagues were helpful.
Phillips was elected on a Tuesday night and had to be in Richmond Wednesday morning for the start of the session.
“So, we had a deadline to enter our bills and budget amendments. It was certainly a blur the first few days because we were trying to get our legislation” filed, he said.
Many other delegates had been crafting their proposals since November, while Phillips only had two days.
Still, during his first session, three of his four bills passed through the House and the Senate, and two of his three budget amendments were included in the budget.
“All of my senior colleagues tell me that’s really good for anybody, but particularly for a freshman. You know, excited to do a few good things,” he said.
His first bill to pass was HB1451, which focuses on the Standards of Learning (SOL) eligibility for expedited retakes.
“The bill basically, all the public-school kids have to take the Standards of Learning test. What this does is it requires the Board of Education to allow any student grades 3-12 who scores 375-399 range on the Standards of Learning shall be eligible to retake an expedited retake and then still be offered what they call intervention services,” he said.
Phillips was asked to bring this bill to the General Assembly by the Virginia School Board Association (VSBA) and various other school agencies.
The second among his approved bills was HB1511, which focuses on the City of Martinsville’s Charter change about reversion.
“Basically, it got rid of the sunset provision from the prior bill,” he said. Del. “Danny Marshall in the House and (Sen.) Bill Stanley in the Senate in 2022 brought a bill forward and that bill basically said before the city could revert, that they would have to have a citizen referendum, and the people of Martinsville would vote on one simple question, and the question was shall the City of Martinsville become a town.”
Phillips said that bill included a so-called sunset provision, or expiration date, and it was scheduled to expire in 2026.
“What my bill did was get rid of the sunset provision, so from now on it’s actually in the city charter that if they ever want to revert from a city to a town, they have to have a referendum,” he said.
Phillips said his bill does not keep Martinsville from reverting to a town, it just says the citizens have to agree to it before it occurs.
The other bill was HB1512, which updates some of the language in Martinsville’s city charter.
Phillips said any charter change for a city must go through the General Assembly.
“This one simply changed their charter to allow them a different way to give notice of special meetings. In other words, it doesn’t have to be a paper copy. It could be through an email or electronic means, which obviously is the way most people communicate now,” he said.
Secondly, the bill provides for compensation to council members to be in accordance with general law.
“The way they are paid now apparently is per meeting. That’s actually not in accordance with general law in the Commonwealth anymore, so this changes the way they’re paid. It doesn’t mean that they are gonna get a pay raise, all it does it make us legal,” he said.
Phillips said the bill also provides for action by resolution to make the appropriations for indebtedness.
“So basically, it changes the language around the city being able to issue bonds or take on debt,” he said.
The bill also requires the city manager to become a resident of the city or live within a certain distance of the city.
Phillips said the two city charter bills were requested by the Martinsville City Council.
“They asked for these things. The Martinsville City Charter hasn’t really been changed or amended since 1952, which is a long time. Obviously, a lot’s changed in the past 70 years,” he said with a chuckle.
Phillips’ budget amendments that were passed include funds for a library remodel in Gretna.
“We got, Bill Stanley and I along with Del. Carr, got the second-year funding in the budget for the New College Institute (NCI), which was a big win for our area,” he said.
A budget amendment for funding Mayo River State Park in Henry County was not passed.
Phillips said one of the biggest things he learned during session was, “I think that everyone there really wants to move the Commonwealth forward, we just have very different ideas about how you do that and what that looks like.”
However, his number one take away is the perceived and strong Republican-Democrat divide.
“The number one thing in Richmond, to the detriment to our area quite honestly, is the divide between rural and urban communities. We’re of course in the rural areas and folks in the urban areas frankly don’t understand our culture, they don’t understand our economy, they don’t really understand all of our needs because they’re so different in Martinsville or Chatham than what they are in Fairfax or Alexandria,” he said.
When one looks at urban Virginia’s infrastructure and cost of living versus rural Virginia, Phillips said there are really two Virginias, and “a lot of the divide, frankly, is that. So, that’s an uphill battle for us here in rural Virginia to fight for our fair share.”
Phillips said this is one of the reasons he sought the 48th District House seat in the first place.
“I’m a huge advocate. Of course, I live here, and I represent these people, but I’m huge advocate for rural Virginia. You know, we shouldn’t have to be subject to the whims of Northern Virginia and Tidewater and Richmond,” he said.
Phillips said he’s excited about next year’s session, especially as delegates can begin working on their legislation now for next year.
“Now, I’ll actually have the time to really introduce a lot of legislation that, one I’m passionate about, and two, that just helps our people in their everyday life. A lot of legislation that’s super beneficial,” he said.
