Members of the Board of Visitors and Trustees of educational institutions are appointed by the Governor with the approval of the Senate for four-year terms. They regulate the policy of state-operated institutions of higher learning.
Miscellaneous Provisions
Article X concerns the Department of Agriculture and Immigration which is headed by a State Board of Agriculture consisting of one practical farmer from each Congressional district. The president of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute is also automatically an ex-officio member of this board. The chairman of this board is the Commissioner of Agriculture appointed by the Governor. The Department of Agriculture and Immigration has three chief functions: to encourage the production and sale of Virginia farm products, to protect the Virginia farmers and consumers by carrying out various state laws concerning food products, and the improvement of such products. The major divisions of this department include the Division of Chemistry, of Statistics, Dairy and Food, Markets, Animal Industry and of Plant Industry. The immigration function is now non-existent. This function was added when a severe labor shortage existed in the latter part of the 1800's: at that time the Commissioner traveled to Ireland, Holland, Belgium and Denmark in an attempt to get agricultural workers. The department still retains the name of Agriculture and Immigration but no longer has authority over immigrants.
Article XI relates to Public Welfare and Penal Institutions. The General Assembly has the authority to establish and operate public welfare, charitable, sanitary, benevolent, reformatory or penal institutions. As mentioned in the Executive section of the Constitution, there is a Department of Welfare and Institutions which includes a six-member Board of Welfare and Institutions appointed for a four-year term by the Governor with the approval of the General Assembly. The Director of this department is the Commissioner of Public Welfare. The Department of Welfare and Institutions consists of four divisions: the Division of Corrections which controls the State Penitentiary, the State Farm, the State Industrial Farm for Women, the Southampton Farm, the State Convict Road Force and the Bland Correctional Farm; the Division of General Welfare which helps needy children, elderly individuals, persons who are permanently disabled physically or mentally, and other miscellaneous cases; the Virginia Parole Board which has charge of granting parole, revoking parole, releasing qualified persons on parole and actually discharging individuals considered no longer necessary on parole; and the Division of Youth Services which supervises children placed in boarding homes and which operates and controls training schools for minors who have committed crimes and have been sent to these schools by court order: the Beaumont School for Boys (white), the Hanover School for Boys (Negro), the Bon Air School for Girls (white) and the Janie Porter Barrett School for Girls (Negro).
Article XII provides that the creation of corporations, as well as amendment to their charters, be provided by general laws which may be amended or repealed by the General Assembly. The General Assembly is not permitted to regulate the affairs of any corporation or to give it any rights, powers or privileges by special act. The State Corporation Commission is the unit of the state government through which all charters and amendments are issued. Therefore, the State Corporation Commission carries out all the provisions of the Constitution and of the laws for the creation, visitation, supervision, regulation and control of corporations chartered by, or doing business in, the state. The State Corporation Commission consists of three members elected by members of the General Assembly for a six-year term. Among other duties, the commission prescribes rates of railroads and telephone companies. Because of the numerous incorporated businesses operating in Virginia, this commission exercises broad, economic authority on behalf of the welfare of the state.
Article XIII concerns Taxation and Finance. The General Assembly has the authority for levying taxes, for appropriating revenue, and, in most instances, is empowered to specify and determine which goods and services shall be taxed by state and/or local government. All state, local or municipal taxes must be uniform and must be levied and collected according to general laws. State income taxes are levied on incomes over six hundred dollars per year. License taxes and state franchise taxes are levied upon businesses. A state capitation or poll tax of one dollar and a half is levied on every resident of the state at least twenty-one years of age; one dollar of which is to be used exclusively for public free schools and the remainder returned to the county or city treasurer to be used for local purposes. Local taxes are also levied on real estate and personal property. Property exempt from taxation by Article XIII includes property owned directly or indirectly by the Commonwealth or any local unit of government, buildings, land and furnishings owned and used exclusively for religious organizations or for benevolent or charitable organizations and private or public burying grounds or cemetries. Before any money can be paid from the State Treasury, appropriations must be made by law. No such appropriation can be made which is payable more than two and a half years after the end of the session of the General Assembly at which the law is enacted.
Article XIV primarily pertains to Homestead Exemptions. Certain homestead exemptions are authorized. Furthermore, this Article prohibits the General Assembly from passing a law staying the collection of debts. The General Assembly is authorized to provide the conditions on which a householder may set apart for himself and family a homestead on certain property.
The Amendment Process
Article XV describes the Amendment Process. An amendment may be proposed in either house of the General Assembly: the Senate or the House of Delegates. It is then voted upon for approval or disapproval. If a majority of the members of each house vote in favor of the proposed amendment, the amendment is then referred to the General Assembly at its first regular session held after the next general election of members of the House of Delegates. The amendment must then be published for three months previous to election time. Whenever a majority of all the members in each house vote in favor of the amendment either in a regular session or in an extra session, the amendment must then be submitted for approval by the people. If a majority of the qualified voters approve the amendment at this time, the amendment becomes effective.