Monday, April 16, 2012
Gov. McDonnell says $300 million more for Silver Line might mean scrapping 40 other projects.
Gov. Bob McDonnell’s administration said last week 40 transportation projects across the state would be gutted if the state legislature includes another $300 million in bonding for Metro's Silver Line Phase 2. The projects include three in Northern Virginia: Route 1 widening in Prince William County and the interchange at Route 659 and the Battlefield Parkway extension in Loudoun County, the Washington Post reports. Most House and Senate budget negotiators agreed last week to a two-year, $85 billion spending plan. But negotiators stripped $300 million for the Silver Line from that plan after Gov. Bob McDonnell announced he would not support the extra Metro funding. That position was a departure from his previous offers to direct more of …
Monday, April 2, 2012
Sen. Janet Howell writes about the pushback pro-gun legislation received from lawmakers
Virginians want politicians who support strong gun laws, state Sen. Janet Howell (D-32nd District) wrote in an opinion for The Washington Post. "Citizens across the commonwealth want responsible gun laws and will support, not punish, politicians who work to reduce trafficking," she wrote. Howell writes about how the General Assembly may have repealed the one-gun-a-month law during this year's legislative session, but it does not mean advocates of stricter gun laws should lose all optimism. "First, while plenty of pundits thought that the gun lobby would have carte blanche in Virginia this session, there was a remarkable level of pushback from both sides of the aisle," she wrote, noting bills that would have allowed guns on college campuses…
Monday, March 5, 2012
Tell us: Were riot police, SWAT teams necessary for safety around Richmond or was it an overreaction?
At Monday's Virginia Senate session, Sens. Janet Howell (D-32nd) and Chap Petersen (D-34th) denounced the use of riot police, SWAT teams carrying automatic weapons, police dogs and helicopters in response to what they called peaceful protests in Capitol Square. Protest groups have gathered several times at the square this session in the wake of legislation aimed at limiting abortion rights. On Saturday, 31 protesters were arrested — mostly for trespassing or unlawful assembly — on the state capitol steps following a women's rights rally. Prior to some of the arrests, protesters were monitored by a fully armored police SWAT team carrying automatic weapons, riot police, and police dogs, the senators said. "They were chanting, 'Tell me what …
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Opponents of repealing the requirement say it is necessary preventive care for girls, but tell us: Is the General Assembly infringing on parental rights?
State senators postponed a bill Monday that would have repealed the law requiring sixth-grade girls to be immunized from the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). The Senate voted 22-17, with two Republicans joining 20 Democrats, to send the bill back to the Education and Health Committee for consideration in 2013. House Bill 1112, sponsored by Del. Kathy Byron (R-22nd District), passed the Republican-heavy House of Delegates 62-34 on Jan. 27. Byron also submitted a similar bill in the 2011 session, which the Democrat-controlled Senate rejected. "I am extraordinarily glad that the Commonwealth will continue to immunize young people against this deadly disease," Del. Barbara Favola said in a statement. "The best way to eradicate cervical cancer is …
Friday, February 24, 2012
Lawmakers say it's a way to gain more balanced membership on committees, but tell us: Was it a smart strategy or a harmful tactic?
Democrats blocked the state Senate's version of Virginia's two-year, $85 billion budget proposal Thursday in an effort to pressure Republicans into giving them more power in the chamber's committees. After a motion from Senate Democrats to reconfigure the makeup of committees was rejected, the party's legislators threatened to hold up the budget if Republicans continue to refuse. The spending plan failed 20-17 on Thursday. The Democrats first asked Republicans to consider sharing chairmanships after the November election left the chamber split evenly, with Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) as the tie-breaking vote. The Republicans rejected the idea and instead stacked the Senate committees with legislators of their own party, giving them not just …
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Gov. Bob McDonnell retreats from past statements, says mandating invasive procedure "is not a proper role for the state." Tell us: Is the amended bill better?
Republican lawmakers and the governor backed down from supporting a bill Wednesday that may have required women seeking an abortion to undergo an invasive ultrasound. After previously indicating his support for legislation that called for ultrasounds to determine the gestational age, Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) said he would not sign a bill that would require women to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound if it could not be obtained through an external one. "Mandating an invasive procedure in order to give informed consent is not a proper role for the state," McDonnell said in a statement. "No person should be directed to undergo an invasive procedure by the state, without their consent, as a precondition to another medical procedure." With the …
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Fairfax teachers union wears black Friday to protest General Assembly's actions this session
Across Fairfax County on Friday, teachers who belong to the Fairfax Education Association (FEA) dressed in all black as a symbol of unity against what they call the Virginia General Assembly's "attack on education." "We are in mourning," read a flyer about the local teachers union protest, part of a larger, statewide Virginia Education Association initiative "to lament the lack of commitment to public education and the loss of respect accorded teachers by our elected officials." "There's no question that we are under attack," FEA President Michael Hairston said in a phone interview Friday. Gov. Bob McDonnell has touted education reform as one of the cornerstones of his budget plan, but the teachers say more than a dozen bills have been …
Friday, January 6, 2012
In his second term, 35th District Delegate, whose district now includes Tysons Corner, will focus on transportation
When Del. Mark Keam (D-35th) began his first term in 2009, most people wished him luck and warned he wouldn’t get anything done: the Democrat drew No. 100 among the state’s house representatives, making him the most junior member of a body controlled by Republicans. While he did struggle in certain areas — particularly in the house budget committee, on which he was the only Democrat and "couldn’t get a motion seconded" — Keam, the first Korean-American and first Asian-born immigrant to be sworn into the Virginia General Assembly, succeeded in others. One of his largest victories was the House Joint Resolution 64, co-sponsored with Del. Jim LeMunyon (R-67th District), which made make delegates’ voting records more accessible on the General …
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Howell hopes to see fair Senate rules emerge from the confusion over a split chamber
When Sen. Janet Howell (D-32nd District) is sworn in for her sixth General Assembly session on Jan. 11, she said she is prepared to play defense if the Senate chamber rules end up working heavily against the Democrats. With a 20-20 split between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate Chamber, the limits to Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling's powers are unclear. If Bolling (R) overreaches, at least in the Democrats' view, the issue could wind up in the courts. But Howell would prefer otherwise. "I would like it to be decided rather quickly because we have a lot of work to do," she said. "It's likely to be a real brouhaha the first day over the rules." She added she would be pleased if the Senate decided its rules in the same way it did when it faced a…
David A. LaRock
8:42 am on Monday, April 16, 2012
It is a credit to Governor McDonnell that he is willing to look at this and judge it on its lack of merit. Loudoun faces the same decision. Will they buy into what Attorney General Cuccinelli said is not a transportation project, but a real estate deal. If we do it will compromise many other worthwhile priorities and it WILL cause taxes to rise, more taxes for the most heavily taxed county in the… more ›