Archive for January, 2006
With just two weeks before “crossover” – the deadline for passing bills in at least one house of the General Assembly – things are moving quickly here in Richmond. As predicted, on the Privileges and Election committee, I have had several opportunities to vote on the side of open government and election reform. Unfortunately, those bills keep getting stuck in committee because the Republican majority opposes most measures that would increase voter turnout.
I met with the senior leadership of Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality this week to impress upon them our community’s dismay with the Mirant Plant and to drive home the state’s duty to protect us from this dirty dinosaur. They confirmed that the plant has been violating ambient air quality standards since it resumed operating at full capacity under the emergency order issued by the federal Department of Energy. They also assured me that transmission line repairs that have made it necessary for the plant to temporarily resume full capacity will be complete in the next few days. When that happens, the plant will again reduce output, and the Department of Environmental Quality believes it will fall into compliance with the ambient air quality standards. I pressed them hard on how – and from whom – they acquire the data that leads them to that belief, and I conveyed our desire to see the plant close permanently. Too many Alexandrians are suffering from the ill effects of air poisoned by Mirant. I will keep pressure on the Department of Environmental Quality to protect us to the full extent of its power, especially considering that federal agencies seem more interested in keeping the plant open regardless of the effects on our health.
Both the House and the Senate unanimously approved the bills that Del. Adam Ebbin, Sen. Dick Saslaw and I put in to permit T.C. Williams High School to begin next school year before Labor Day. This is great news for our community, as it will give Alexandria City Public Schools enough time the following summer to complete construction of the new high school building and move into it before the 2007-2008 school year begins. Since my son, Caleb, will attend T.C. Williams some day, I was especially happy that these bills passed.
It was a pleasure this week to welcome a number of constituents visiting the General Assembly, including members of Equality Virginia, Leadership Alexandria, the Alexandria and Arlington chambers of commerce, and the Garden Club of Virginia. I always enjoy taking time to meet with constituents and discuss legislation or any other issues of concern, so if you are in the Richmond area this session, please drop by.
With the first full week of the 2006 session behind us, the General Assembly is starting to settle into the business of the people. Among other things, I’ve been working hard on a bill that is part of Alexandria City Council’s legislative package that would give local authorities and nonprofit housing corporations more power to preserve affordable housing for elderly or disabled renters during condo conversions.
Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple (D-Arlington) and I are both working on slightly different versions of this new policy idea, and there’s a good chance the bills will go to the state’s Housing Commission for further study. If that happens, our bills will be pushed to next year’s session. Given the high rate of condo conversions in Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax, I’m hoping to broker an amendment to give our community these new tools on a temporary basis while the Housing Commission studies the statewide version of the policy.
On a very different note, I’ve been receiving dozens of emails urging me to oppose HB 1368, the so-called Home Serenity and Tranquility Act, which would restrict the use of athletic fields on evenings and weekends. Rest assured that you can count on me to strongly oppose this legislation. My six-year-old son, Caleb, plays Alexandria Youth Soccer (Go Del Ray Dolphins!) and he and I often play soccer, baseball, football, frisbee, and even fly kites at our community’s athletic fields. Rather than limit access to athletic fields, we should be promoting these kinds of healthy activities. The good news is that there is such a groundswell of opposition to this unfortunate bill that I expect it to die quickly in committee. Remember that you can go online to legis.state.va.us to monitor this and the other 4,000 or so bills we’re working on this session.
Passing the state’s biennial budget is one of the General Assembly’s main tasks this year, and last week was the deadline for requesting amendments to that budget. I requested amendments to increase payments to foster parents and for capital improvements to three local historic sites. The federal government estimates that it costs more than $900 per month to care for a child. At $312 to $465 per month, Virginia’s payments to foster parents are the lowest in the region and well below the national average. Children requiring foster care are some of the most vulnerable members of our community, and we have a moral duty to make sure they have safe, nurturing homes. Increasing these payments to $423 to $497 per month – bringing us more in line with other states – will help us recruit and retain enough loving foster parents to make a difference for these children.
I requested $50,000 to pay for renovations at the Fort Ward Historic Site, $100,000 for a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system that will preserve historic Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, and $50,000 to replace the leaking roof at Freedom House, the former slave market building that now houses the Northern Virginia Urban League. Our area’s historic resources are not just part of the vibrant cultural fabric of our community, they are critical to our economy, which relies heavily on tourism generated by our colonial and Civil War past. It’s important that we continue to invest to maintain and preserve these resources. There are no guarantees that the General Assembly ultimately will approve these amendments, but the first step is doing the work to get them on the agenda.
On Friday, Gov. Tim Kaine announced his transportation plan, which, among other things, would double the amount of money spent on mass transit. Using a combination of user fees, the Governor’s plan would provide nearly $1 billion per year in critical transportation money without siphoning off money from education and social services. As Gov. Kaine puts it, his plan is “at the aggressive end of possible,” and I believe it strikes the right balance of urgency and accountability. I will be paying particular attention to the element of the plan that provides matching funds for local projects, which I hope we can use to finally repair the Sarajevo-like streets in sections of the Jefferson Manor neighborhood in the Fairfax part of the 45th District.
Richmond — Delegate David Englin (D-45), who represents the east end of Alexandria in the Virginia House of Delegates, yesterday requested amendments to the state budget to increase payments to foster parents and for critical capital improvements to three Alexandria historic sites.
Englin has requested that the House Appropriations Committee increase the monthly payments to foster parents from $312 to $423 per child for children under four years of age and from $463 to $497 per child for children over four years of age.
“Children requiring foster care are some of the most vulnerable members of our community, and we have a moral duty to make sure they have safe, nurturing homes. Increasing these payments are critical to ensuring we can recruit and retain enough loving foster parents to make a difference for these children,” said Englin. “Virginia’s foster care payments are much lower that those in neighboring states, and they are far less than the national average.”
Additionally, Englin has requested: $50,000 to pay for renovations at the Fort Ward Historic Site on Braddock Road; $100,000 for a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system that will preserve Gadsby’s Tavern Museum in Old Town; and $50,000 to replace the leaking roof at Freedom House, the former slave market building that now houses the Northern Virginia Urban League.
Fort Ward is the best preserved of the system of Union forts and batteries built to protect Washington, DC during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Fort Ward Museum interprets the site’s history and offers exhibits on Civil War topics, education and interpretive programs, tours, lecture and video series, bus tours, and living history activities throughout the year. The Museum and Historic Site also interpret Alexandria, Virginia as an occupied city, the city’s role as a vital Union Army crossroads, life within the Defenses of Washington, and the everyday life of Civil War soldiers and civilians.
Gadsby’s Tavern Museum consists of two buildings, a ca. 1785 tavern and the 1792 City Hotel. The buildings are named for Englishman John Gadsby who operated them from 1796 to 1808. Mr. Gadsby’s establishment was a center of political, business, and social life in early Alexandria. The tavern was the setting for dancing assemblies, theatrical and musical performances, and meetings of local organizations. George Washington enjoyed the hospitality provided by tavernkeepers and twice attended the annual Birthnight Ball held in his honor. Other prominent patrons included John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the Marquis de Lafayette.
Freedom House, the headquarters and home of the Northern Virginia Urban League, sits at 1315 Duke Street, where until the end of the 18th century, virtually all African Americans living within the boundaries of Alexandria were slaves. From 1828 to 1861 the building served as one of the largest slave trading companies in the country. More than 10,000 slaves were sold from this location to the cotton and sugar plantations of the deep South. When slave trading was outlawed, the building served as a military prison and near the end of the Civil War it was used as a hospital for black soldiers and also as barracks for “contraband” slaves who fled the confederate states and sought refuge with Union troops.
In 1996, the Northern Virginia Urban League moved into Freedom House. Currently the League is conducting a building campaign to “burn the mortgage” and create a museum in the basement “slave pen” to preserve the historical and cultural significance of slavery’s past and the continued struggle to eliminate bars to freedom.
“Alexandria’s historic resources are not just part of the vibrant cultural fabric of our city, they are critical to our economy, which relies heavily on tourism generated by our colonial and Civil War past,” said Englin. “It’s important that we continue to invest to maintain and preserve these resources, and I’m happy to work on those investments in the House of Delegates. There are no guarantees that the General Assembly ultimately will approve these amendments, but the first step is doing the work to get them on the agenda.”
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With the Republican majority in the House of Delegates rushing through the anti-gay constitutional amendment banning civil unions, domestic partnerships, and same-sex marriage, David took a stand for equal rights in his first speech on the House floor today. On Wednesday, just hours after being sworn in, and just minutes after being assigned to the House’s Privileges and Elections committee, David led the fight in that committee to kill the amendment.
“I knew we would be forced to deal with this issue, but I didn’t expect it to be the very first issue on the agenda,” said David. “Some of my Republican colleagues are giving me grief for arguing on the House floor as a mere freshman, but the good people of the 45th District didn’t elect me to sit on my hands while the majority tramples on the rights of our gay and lesbian friends and neighbors.”
Here is David’s floor speech against the constitutional amendment:
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this resolution. Now, I’m not going to talk about same-sex marriage. I’m no fool — although others might make a different judgement about a freshman delegate rising in this chamber on the third day of session. But I understand that on the issue of marriage, I’m in the minority, perhaps even in my own caucus. I also sleep very well at night knowing that at some point in the future of this great Commonwealth, those of us of my opinion will be judged to have been on the right side of history. But let’s for a moment forget about the question of same-sex marriage, because this amendment addresses much more than that. We need to be clear and honest: This amendment also outlaws civil unions and domestic partnerships and other similar private legal arrangements.
We have heard from the other side that this constitutional amendment is necessary to protect conventional marriage. I am blessed with a beautiful and brilliant wife who is the love of my life. In June, Shayna and I will celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary, and I would fight with every ounce of my strength anything that would threaten my marriage. So I would like to know, how exactly civil unions and domestic partnerships and other similar arrangements threaten my marriage?
We have heard from the other side that this amendment will protect families. Shayna and I are blessed with a strong and bright six-year-old son, Caleb, and we have a strong family. My friend the gentleman from Rockingham County, Delegate Lohr, and I have discussed how we come from different backgrounds and different parts of this great Commonwealth, yet we share a deep and abiding commitment to our families. I want nothing more than to protect my family. I spent 12 years wearing the uniform of the United States Air Force to protect my family. I’ve been in harm’s way to protect my family. So I would like to know, how exactly do civil unions and domestic partnerships and other similar arrangements threaten my family? Because if they do, I will be the first one to stand up and fight, because nobody better threaten my family.
Moreover, we have heard from the other side that this amendment must pass sooner rather than later, as if there is some kind of crisis that is more important than issues like transportation or education or health care. Why else would this be our first order of business? Yet Virginia law already makes same-sex marriage and civil unions and domestic partnerships illegal.
So if this amendment doesn’t help protect my marriage, and doesn’t help protect my family, and if it doesn’t even change the status of same-sex marriage and civil unions and domestic partnership contracts, then what exactly does this amendment do? I submit to my fair-minded colleagues that this amendment sends a message. And that message is, if you are gay, or lesbian, or even a man and a woman living together and committed to each other who are not married, you are not welcome in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
And who are these people whom we are shutting out in the cold? They are my dear friends Karen and Sue, who have been together for years and are as loving and committed to each other as any husband and wife. They are my friend Lou, who served with me at the Pentagon, and continues to serve our country today. They are Father Mychal Judge, the gay priest who died in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 while ministering to fallen firefighters. They are Mark Bingham, a gay passenger on United Airlines Flight 93, who fought back against Al Qaeda hijackers and sacrificed his life to save others. They are Ronald Gamboa and his partner Dan Brandhorst, who, along with their 3 year old son David, were killed when Al Qaeda flew United Airlines Flight 175 into the World Trade Center. They are David Charlebois, the co-pilot of American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon when Al Qaeda tried to kill me and my comrades who were on duty inside the Pentagon at the time. They are friends and neighbors and teachers and doctors and soldiers and loving parents who want nothing more than to live life without fear that the government will tear their families apart.
I’m a student of history, and I find our Founding Fathers to be a great source of wisdom on many matters, so I want to close my remarks by reading from a letter that great Virginian named George Washington wrote more than two centuries ago:
“The Citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for giving to Mankind . . . a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection, should demean themselves as good citizens.
May the Children of the Stock of Abraham who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.”
Ladies and gentlemen, I implore you, be strong and of good courage and vote down this resolution.
Click here to see reaction to David’s remarks from across Virginia and the nation.
“Sadly, the opponents of equal rights had the votes to win, but our side is slowly growing stronger, and we will keep fighting,” said David.
Today David announced the list of bills he has pre-filed for the 2006 General Assembly session, which begins tomorrow. The list includes a number of concepts David outlined during the campaign as part of his Progressive Agenda for the Future.
“I’m told this is an ambitious slate of legislation for a freshman member of the minority party, but we’ll never get what we don’t fight for,” said David. “Clearly, some of these bills are more likely to pass than others. I’m especially encouraged that the Republican leadership has co-opted my bill that would make prescription drugs more affordable, since it means it’s more likely to pass. As George Marshall said, ‘There’s no limit to the good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.’”
In addition to the legislation David has pre-filed as chief patron, he is a co-patron on a number of important bills, including the Clean Smokestacks Act that would reign in emissions from coal-fired power plants and the Fair Wage Act that would increase the minimum wage.
Click here for the section of the House of Delegates website where you can monitor the progress of David’s bills.
Affordable Prescription Drugs: Establish a memorandum of understand between Virginia and Illinois to allow Virginians to purchase safe, American-made prescriptions drugs at steep discounts through the I-Save-Rx program.
Equal Rights: Repeal the so-called Affirmation of Marriage Act, which makes it illegal for individuals of the same sex to enter into a “civil union, partnership contract or other arrangement” and threatens to overturn private contractual relationships between gay and lesbian couples.
Hunger: Create a joint subcommittee of the General Assembly to study food insecurity (i.e. hunger) in the Commonwealth to develop legislation and policies to monitor, alleviate, and eventually eliminate hunger in Virginia.
Affordable Housing: Provide an income tax credit to low income renters of up to 25 percent of the cost of their rent.
Affordable Housing: During condo conversions, allow certain elderly and disabled renters to assign their existing right to purchase their units to a public or non-profit housing agency that will lease back the units at affordable rates.
T.C. Williams High School: Allow T.C. Williams High School to begin the school year before Labor Day 2006 to accommodate final construction of the new school building during the summer of 2007. (Note: Delegate Adam Ebbin, who sits on the House Education Committee, has a version of this same bill, and the two bill will likely be folded together.)
Energy Conservation: Eliminate the sales tax on products certified as energy efficient under the federal Energy Star program, encouraging individuals and businesses to conserve energy.
Energy Conservation: Eliminate the sales tax on fuel-efficient cars that get more than 50 miles per gallon and sport-utility vehicles that get more than 30 miles per gallon, without regard to the technology used to achieve the fuel efficiency.
No Child Left Behind: Require that the Virginia Department of Education, and not localities, pay all costs of testing required by the federal No Child Left Behind act, reducing the burden of No Child Left Behind on local taxpayers.
Public Health: Increase the state sales tax on cigarettes by 50 cents per pack, which will reduce smoking among children, save about $1 billion per year in long-term health costs, bring in revenue of about $200 million per year.
