By Taylor Boyd
Despite being in a small minority during the current General Assembly session, Del. Eric Phillips, R-Martinsville, is determined to pass legislation to increase affordability and housing for residents.
“This will be my third session. I’m still hopeful to get some things done. I think common sense, good legislation that is good for the Commonwealth and good for my district ought to get a fair hearing, and it ought to be passed if it’s good legislation. It shouldn’t matter if you’re an -R or a -D,” he said.
Last year, when Republicans were also in the minority, Phillips said his proposals were stolen, refiled, and passed.
“I wasn’t thrilled about that, but at the end of the day, that told me it was good legislation, and they recognized it was good legislation and, in the end, it still got passed. I had two bills like that last year,” he said.
Phillips said he plans to go in and advocate for the 48th District as hard as he can, as usual.
“I plan to present my bills like they’re the best bills they’ve ever heard, and I’m going to hope for the best,” he said.
While he didn’t agree with the second half of Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s speech to the General Assembly, Phillips said the first half talked about affordability and housing – the same issues he wants to address.
“On that first part of the speech, I think if Democrats are serious about that, I think Republicans are serious about it, and so I think that’s where we have to work together, and that’s about making life more affordable for every day Virginians,” he said.
Despite his optimism, Phillips still anticipates voting against a lot of bills this session.
“I’m going to be hitting ‘no’ a lot more than I’m going to be hitting ‘yeas’ this session. I’m going to oppose anything that raises taxes,” or makes it harder to own and purchase guns, he said.
He will also be voting against any proposed Virginia Constitutional amendments.
“I will be voting against all four of those for various reasons,” he said.
The Virginia House of Delegates currently has 64 Democrats and 36 Republicans.
The Senate has 21 Democrats and 19 Republicans.
Proposed Bills
Regarding his legislation, Phillips is proposing an update to Virginia’s Fraud and Abuse Whistleblower Act.
“It talks about local government employees if you read the statute now, but it doesn’t give them anywhere to go. So, what this does is it gives them certain agencies that they can actually report to. That way, they can whistle-blow to the state agency,” he said.
Phillips said there’s been a lot of talk, including from Martinsville Mayor LC Jones, about wanting the state to come in and investigate.
“That’s not how that works. Currently, it has to be referred, and the only people that can refer are the Commonwealth’s Attorney or the highest ranking law enforcement official in the area, which in this case would be the Chief of Police, who is an employee of the former City Manager at the time, so of course he wasn’t going to do it,” he said.
Phillips said his proposed bill also authorizes the Auditor of Public Accounts to receive complaints about fraud, waste, and abuse, and gives them the authority to perform audits.
Phillips has also proposed a Virginia rural housing infrastructure fund.
“Obviously, the 48th district has got some of the Commonwealth’s most prestigious building sites in Berry Hill Mega Park and Commonwealth Crossing, and we have a lot of big job announcements coming, but what we don’t have is enough houses to put these people in,” he said.
In his district, Phillips said the constraint for housing isn’t just the construction, but the infrastructure needed to get ready to build the homes, like water, sewer, curb, and gutters.
If passed, Phillips’ bill would create a new grant program, funded with $20 million, with $5 million having to be used in Southside and Southwest Virginia.
“It can all be used there, but at least $5 million has to be used in our area between Pittsylvania County, Henry County, Martinsville, and Danville,” he said.
Another bill he’s proposing would allow GO Virginia grant funds to be matched with Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission funds on the same project.
“We use a lot of GO Virginia in our area, and we use a lot of Tobacco Commission money in our area to fund projects and for new projects. Currently, that money can’t be used on the same project, this allows it to be used on the same project, so you can get a better bang for your buck in getting something done,” he said.
