The Virginia Informer

Virginia21 puts state delegates to the test

   A look at who’s lobbying for college students

By Alex Randy Kyrios, Staff Writer

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            Virginia21 is a lobbying organization and political action committee (PAC), founded on campus that focuses on young voters between the ages of 18 and 24. They claim a nonpartisan approach and “care about issues like education, economic development, and good government,” according to their web site, Virginia21.org. The site reveals the organization as “paid for and authorized by the 21st Century Virginia Coalition,” a PAC based in Richmond.

            The upcoming November elections will bring state delegate seats up for election as well as the more visible positions of governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general. Virginia21 published a “report card” for all incumbent delegates in the 2004 and 2005 legislative sessions, assigning a “GPA” to each based on how their votes stacked up against Virginia21’s positions. The GPA ranking is based on a traditional GPA scale, but it is possible for delegates to have greater than a 4.0. Those who achieve such a score make the “Dean’s List,” which had 14 members from this report card.

            The Virginia Public Access Project (vpap.org) tracks incoming and outgoing donations for candidates and PACs in Virginia. The last and only recorded donation by Virginia21’s parent organization, 21st Century Virginia Coalition, was $250 to the Virginia Senate Republican Leadership Trust. Virginia21 did not assign GPA rankings to state senators. Four donations to the PAC were listed. With the exception of Virgnia21 Chairman James E. Ukrop, all of the donors came from individuals or groups that donate mostly, if not exclusively, to Republicans. In 2005, Ukrop donated more than $40,000, 75% percent of his donations, to Democrats, with the remaining 25% going to Republicans.

            Given this money trend, one might expect conservative bias despite Virginia21’s claims of nonpartisanship. Little light was shed on the PAC, however, after an in-depth analysis of their GPA rankings. The Dean’s List consisted of eight Republicans and six Democrats. One of these delegates, Vivian Watts (D-Annandale), had only a 4.0, despite the requirement for the Dean’s List of “a GPA better than 4.0.”

            Other rankings defy these trends. The 38 Democratic delegates had an average GPA of 3.75, compared to an average of 2.43 for the 61 Republican delegates. There were two independents. One of the Republican delegates, Thelma Drake, is now a 2nd District Congresswoman, and was replaced, hence the total of 101 ranked delegates.

            So how were these GPAs assigned? Delegates’ votes on twelve specific bills, nearly all of which were education bills, determined Virginia21 ratings. The most important issues dealt with appropriating funds for higher education funding, but also covered areas such as textbook prices and absentee ballot processes. In a scoring system reminiscent of the SATs, a vote in agreement with Virginia21 earned delegates one point, a vote against lost a quarter of a point, and no vote yielded no points.

            Check back next month for a closer examination of Chairman Ukrop's involvement and more.

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