RICHMOND – The House of Delegates today voted 100 to 0 to approve House Bill 2738, sponsored by Del. David Englin (D-Alexandria), to repeal the provision of Virginia law that allows employers to pay people aged 65 years and older less than the minimum wage.

“Current Virginia law allows employers to pay you less than minimum wage when you turn 65, which is just plain wrong,” said Englin. “The minimum wage of $5.15 per hour is far too low in the first place, but it should apply to all workers, including senior citizens who still need to work to make ends meet. While the Republican majority continues to block our efforts to raise the minimum wage, I’m glad we could come to a bipartisan consensus that the minimum wage should apply even to senior citizens who work.”

Now that the House has approved the bill, the Virginia Senate must also approve the measure before it goes to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to sign into law.

It’s hard to believe that we are already nearly halfway through this year’s General Assembly session. Crossover – the date by which a bill must have passed either the House or the Senate before it can “cross over” to the other body – is looming, so we’re scrambling to get bills passed through committee and onto the House floor. Many of us freshman legislators have commented how difficult it is to get a bill passed, as it can be a struggle to get even common-sense legislation devoid of controversy or ideology through the crucible of the subcommittee and committee process.

The good news this week is that several of my bills are moving forward. With a 98 to zero vote, the House on Friday approved my bill to make a variety of program improvements to the Virginia Central Registry for Brain Injury and Spinal Cord Injury. On the surface, this isn’t exactly a sexy piece of legislation. The Department of Rehabilitative Services asked me to carry the bill because they need this legislation to better help Virginians with disabilities caused by brain and spinal cord injuries become more independent and self-sufficient. I was honored that they asked me, and I’m glad my efforts have been successful so far.

Another of my bills that advanced this week would require the government to notify property owners when the Federal Emergency Management Agency changes floodplain maps in ways that affect their property, empowering those property owners to make informed decisions about flood insurance. In the aftermath of the June flood that devastated so many homes in the Huntington neighborhood, we found there were homeowners who did not have required flood insurance because, when they bought their homes years before, they were not in the FEMA-designated floodplain. When FEMA subsequently changed the floodplain boundaries to include these homes, nobody notified homeowners, and they were out of luck when it turned out they did not have the necessary coverage. This bill, which passed unanimously through both subcommittee and the full Counties, Cities, and Towns committee, will give homeowners and others a heads up to make sure they have the proper flood insurance to protect them in the future.

To my pleasant surprise, the House Commerce and Labor committee unanimously approved my bill to repeal the provision of Virginia law that allows employers to pay people aged 65 years and older less than the minimum wage. The minimum wage of $5.15 per hour is far too low in the first place, but it should apply to all workers, including senior citizens who still need to work to make ends meet. While the Republican majority on the committee blocked several other bills to raise the minimum wage, at least we came to a bipartisan consensus that the minimum wage should apply even to seniors who work.

While we made some progress this week, there were also some tough setbacks. Mary Harris of Alexandria’s Mirant Monitoring Group and Roger Waud, president of the North Old Town Independent Citizens Association, joined me in Richmond to testify before the Natural Resources subcommittee addressing two of my bills targeting the Mirant Plant. Despite their thoughtful and poignant testimony – as well as hours of hardball negotiations that brought us to a last-minute compromise on at least one of the bills – neither measure advanced out of subcommittee.

My bill to allow the Department of Environmental Quality to enforce clean air standards using data gathered by monitoring equipment is simply stuck in subcommittee, since they neither approved it nor tabled it, with both motions failing on a tied vote. The subcommittee tabled my bill that would have required the plant to notify residents when unusual operations will cause unusually high pollution. Earlier in the week, the House Rules Committee tabled my legislation to create a public health study to see if the Mirant Plant’s experimental use of the mineral trona is harming our health.

A number of constituents have asked what they can do to help get these kinds of bills through. Unfortunately, the Republican House leadership has stacked these committees with ideologues who disregard the harm the Mirant Plant is causing our community. Like so many issues we’re facing – from equal rights to economic fairness to climate change – the real policy decisions are made on Election Day.

Despite setbacks on the Mirant legislation, I continue to fight hard for a variety of bills that will strengthen our community, defend our progressive values, and invest on our future. As bills move forward over the coming days, I hope you will check back here often, as I will announce their progress.

RICHMOND – The House of Delegates yesterday voted 98 to 0 to approve House Bill 2732, sponsored by Del. David Englin (D-Alexandria), to strengthen a key program for Virginians with disabilities caused by brain and spinal cord injuries. The bill enhances the Virginia Central Registry for Brain Injury and Spinal Cord Injury by including all brain and spinal cord injuries, regardless of severity, and it makes a variety of technical improvements to the program.

“The Department of Rehabilitative Services provides services to help Virginians with disabilities become more independent and self-sufficient. When DRS Commissioner Jim Rothrock asked me to carry this legislation for them, I was honored to assist,” said Englin. “During my military service, I was hospitalized for several weeks with nerve damage and loss of mobility in one of my legs caused by a back injury, so I can appreciate the importance of this registry and the need to deliver effective rehabilitative services. This bill will strengthen those efforts.”

For more information about the Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services, visit www.vadrs.org.

Now that the House has approved the bill, the Virginia Senate must also approve the measure before it goes to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to sign into law.

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This morning, a key House of Delegates subcommittee unanimously approved House Bill 2738, David’s effort to repeal the existing minimum wage exclusion for seniors.

“Current Virginia law allows employers to pay you less than minimum wage when you turn 65, which is just plain wrong,” said David. “The minimum wage of $5.15 per hour is far too low in the first place, but it should clearly apply to all workers, including senior citizens who still need to work to make ends meet.”

Yesterday, David welcomed constituents from the aging advocacy community, including members of AARP and Alexandria’s Commission on Aging. They briefed David on their legislative priorities, including a key effort to promote long-term care.

While the media tends to focus its attention on the House floor — such as last week when I repudiated remarks by Del. Frank Hargrove validating a hurtful slander against Jews — much of the real action in the General Assembly happens in committees and subcommittees. Therefore, I thought I would illuminate some of last week’s more interesting committee exchanges and share with you attempts to improve the democratic process by making committees and subcommittees more open.

Unfortunately, new rules passed by House Republicans last year allow as few as two members of a subcommittee to kill legislation with no recorded voted. In response, House Democrats, led by Del. Ken Plum (D-Reston), are fighting for a change to the rules that would require recorded votes even in subcommittees. Based on recent comments from the House Republican leadership, it does not look like this open-government reform proposal will pass. Therefore, in an effort to open up the process — and at the suggestion of a number of concerned citizens — we have started a new website, assemblyaccess.wordpress.com, where we are posting video clips of key subcommittee proceedings filmed by one of our staffers.

Recent video added to the Assembly Access website shows Friday’s meeting of the Elections Subcommittee, on which I serve, where Democrats presented a series of absentee ballot bills trying to make it easier for people to vote. The Republican majority on the subcommittee killed bills to allow no-fault absentee voting, as well as bills that would have expanded absentee voting to pregnant women and people like volunteer firefighters who are unable to make it to the polls because of unpaid work. You can also watch video of the full Privileges and Elections Committee, taken later that morning, where the Republican majority on the committee shuts down various attempts at non-partisan redistricting reform designed to take the partisan politics out of how we draw legislative districts.

On Thursday, Del. Bob Marshall’s (R-Manassas) perennial bill to use unnecessary regulations to target abortion providers unexpectedly came to a vote in the Health, Welfare, and Institutions Committee. Attempting a little procedural jujitsu, when another committee member moved to approve the bill, I offered a substitute motion to table the bill — a motion that usually would have failed easily and been chalked up to a valiant effort. Our jaws dropped when the vote on my motion was an eight to eight tie, still failing, but coming closer than ever to preventing this harmful legislation from moving forward.

A tie vote in the House Education Committee on Wednesday tabled a bill designed to target and eliminate Gay-Straight Alliances, which promote tolerance and understanding in many of our public schools. Usually, the perennial legislation against these student clubs sails easily through the House of Delegates and dies in the Senate, which is controlled by Republicans who are far more moderate and reasonable. This is the first year that the House tabled such a bill in committee, which is a positive sign.

In other late-breaking news last week, House Republicans and Senate Republicans appear to have resolved their differences over a transportation plan. For the past year, their internecine feud has been preventing us from addressing the ongoing transportation crisis, so this is helpful progress. However, before I take a position on the plan, I need be sure that it truly addresses our areas critical needs in a long-term, sustainable way and that it will not gut the state’s General Fund, which pays for core government services like education, health care, public safety, and environmental protection. Already, the amount of General Fund money used in the plan — $250 million a year — is a real concern. For perspective, $250 million is more than the combined budgets of the State Police, the Department of Emergency Management, and the Department of Veterans Services, or more than the combined budgets of the Departments of Health, Aging, and Rehabilitative Services. Of course, the devil is always in the details, so I am examining their plan carefully and will have more to say soon.

Between committee and subcommittee meetings and meetings to negotiate the details of my bills, I also enjoyed visits from constituents lobbying on behalf of a variety of groups. Constituents representing the Boys and Girls Clubs, Equality Virginia, Social Action Linking Together, Virginia CURE, and others came by my office to say hello, to share their concerns about issues, and to express their support for my efforts. If you happen to be visiting the General Assembly Building in Richmond, I am in room 707, so please be sure to drop. As always, if there is anything I can do to serve you better, please do not hesitate to get in touch at su.av.etats.esuohnull@nilgnEDleD, 703-549-3203, or 804-698-1045.

Representatives of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce visited David in Richmond today to discuss issues important to Alexandria’s business community. The group briefed David on their legislative priorities, and David updated them on the nascent transportation plan that House Republicans released last week.

“The plan announced last week is a good starting point for discussion,” said David. “I have some real concerns about the amount of General Fund money used in the plan, but the plan also includes some new revenue streams, which is a positive step. If nothing else, the Republican majority has finally acknowledge the magnitude of the transportation funding shortfall, which is a major concession.”

Escape Clause: Bill would help elderly, disabled residents caught in the midst of a condo conversion.

by Michael Lee Pope
Alexandria Gazette Packet, January 18. 2007

Arthur Wentowski and his wife moved into Hunting Towers in 1971 — shortly before he was deployed t o Vietnam as a chief warrant officer. At that time, the towers seemed like a glamorous place where fresh flowers filled the lobby with a faintly sweet scent and an eager concierge responded to every whim of tenants. Wentowski says that airline pilots and stewardesses used to add color to the buildings.

“This was a regular passion pit,” he said, seated at his kitchen table. “They used to have wild parties on the roof.”

Yet the mood these days in Hunting Towers — now known as Hunting Point — is decidedly more subdued. Wentowski, 86, doesn’t know what he would do if he were forced to move. His wife died several years ago, and he lives on a fixed income. He spends most of his life visiting with his neighbors in the building, who have grown closer over the years dealing with the uncertainly of living in a sort of limbo.

“I’m worried about being forced to move. I don’t want to move,” said Wentowski. “The next move I want to make is up to Arlington Cemetery.”

The Virginia Department of Transportation currently owns the building, the result of a complicated agreement between state, local and federal officials forged when the Woodrow Wilson Bridge was designed. Giuseppe Cecchi, the famed developer who build Watergate in the 1960s, tried to buy the building last year but transportation officials pulled the property off the market when negotiations over the price fizzled. For now, Wentowski continues to send his rental check to VDOT — a temporary situation that makes him wonder about his future. He lives on a fixed income, and the thought of being forced into a buy-or-move situation is frightening to him.

“I’ve been out of the housing market for so long, I don’t even know what that kind of conversion would cost,” he said. “I guess it all depends on what the price is.”

THAT’S WHY Del. David Englin (D-45) will be introducing a measure in the upcoming legislative session in Richmond.. Englin said that one of his major legislative goals for this General Assembly is to give certain tenants who find themselves in the midst of a condo conversion the ability to assign their right to purchase the unit to a third party — specifically, a government agency, housing authority or nonprofit housing corporation. After the third-party has successfully purchased the property, it would then rent the unit back to the renter whose affordable housing had been threatened. Under Englin’s bill, those who are eligible must be disabled or elderly (62 or older) and qualify for a three-year lease.

“It’s a win-win situation for everybody,” said Englin. “The developer gets make a quick sale at the market rate and city gets to preserve affordable housing.”

In Alexandria, one organization is poised to take the lead in making these kind of third-party purchases: the Alexandria Housing Development Corporation. Created in 2003 by Mayor Bill Euille and former Councilwoman Joyce Woodson. Alexandria Housing Director Mildrilyn Davis and then-City Manager Phil Sunderland put together a working model for the new non-profit housing corporation to address needs in the city. The plan anticipated that the corporation would avoid direct city oversight — creating a sense of independence for the quasi-public agency.

“This organization should by no means be considered the entire answer to all of the affordable housing questions,” said then-Mayor Kerry Donley when the City Council voted to create the corporation in December 2002. “It is one vehicle that can be used to facilitate certain projects.”

Since that time, the City Council approved a $12.8 million allocation to the housing corporation for the acquisition of Gunston Hall Apartments, one of the few remaining low-cost rental units in the city. The government-created corporation plans to keep about 80 percent of the property affordable to households at 60 percent of the area median income. But — just like the Hunting Point — the plan was put on hold after negotiations failed. In the meantime, Englin said that the corporation should have additional authority to meet housing demands.

“I think one of the problems with preserving affordable housing in Alexandria is that the Alexandria Housing Development Corporation doesn’t have enough authority to accomplish its mission,” said Englin. “That’s why this bill is so important.”

FOR ENGLIN, this is an issue that’s taken a prolonged effort. Last year — in one of the first bills he filed as a freshman — Englin supported a measure that was designed to help renters caught in a condo conversion. It had been originally proposed by the city’s Landlord-Tenet Relations Board, and Englin took it to Richmond as one of the major goals of his first session as a legislator.

“This bill gives older residents and the handicapped an opportunity to stay in our community,” he said before heading to Richmond last year.

But the bill faltered in the House of Delegates when the Housing Subcommittee asked questions about how the process would work. Then the committee sent HB 393 to the Virginia Housing Commission. Now, as a result of the commission’s findings, Englin has modified the bill with a narrower definition of what kind of third-party can receive the purchasing rights. In the new version of the bill, which has been cleared by the
Virginia Division of Legislative Services, housing nonprofit organizations must receive special certification before receiving purchasing rights from participating tenets.

“It’s a measure of protection that would prevent some fly-by-night agency from sweeping in the buying the property,” said Englin. “It’s certainly a better bill than it was last year.”

Although Alexandria Legislative Director Bernard Caton said that the bill faces virtually no opposition, some are questioning the limited nature of those who can qualify for the program. Michelle L’Heureux, a former Hunting Terrace resident who has become an advocate for affordable housing at Hunting Point, said that she’d like to see a broader bill that would protect renters who are not elderly or disabled.

“While it’s a good start, I would definitely prefer that it be extended to all renters,” said L’Heureux. “In my mind our biggest problem is the diminishing stock of affordable rentals. There are plenty of folks who believe that their units should remain affordable for not just them, but also those future generations of Alexandrians that follow.”

With just 45 days allotted in the Virginia Constitution for the General Assembly to accomplish its work this year, I arrived in Richmond a few days early so I could get off to a running start. Except for the opening day of the session where we bused to Jamestown for the State of the Commonwealth address, we have been running at a full sprint.

Of course, our failure last year – after the longest General Assembly session in Virginia’s 400-year history – to deliver a real solution on the transportation funding crisis will still dominate this year’s session. I am one of many co-patrons on the latest iteration of the Northern Virginia regional plan that would deliver more than $400 million in long-term, dedicated, sustained transportation funding that would also keep more of Northern Virginia’s tax dollars here in Northern Virginia. While Jim Webb’s U.S. Senate victory and the fact that the entire General Assembly is up for re-election this year seems to have changed the tone a bit, I am not yet convinced that the extremist House Republicans and more moderate Senate Republicans will work out their differences and let us vote on a reasonable compromise.

Looking beyond transportation, I have introduced 25 pieces of legislation this year on a wide range of issues, from affordable housing, clean air enforcement, and progressive tax reform, to domestic violence, prescription drugs, and equal rights. One of the lessons I learned last year – my first as a legislator – was that many bills pass or fail even before they are introduced. When my bill to help localities preserve affordable housing for elderly and disabled renters was referred to the Virginia Housing Commission, I used the opportunity to build support for the idea among legislators serving on the commission. After tightening some of the language of the bill, the commission endorsed it, and this year I was able to re-introduce it with all three delegates who serve on commission – including its chairwoman, Del. Terrie Suit (R – Virginia Beach) – listed as co-patrons. That is still no guarantee that the bill will pass, but it is a major step in the right direction.

If you have called my office for help over the past year, I hope you know that my aide and I work hard to be as responsive as possible. Those efforts have inspired several of my bills. For example, I am working with the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation on a bill to require the government to notify homeowners when the Federal Emergency Management Agency changes floodplain maps in ways that affect their homes. In the aftermath of the floods that ravaged the Huntington neighborhood last June, some residents discovered that floodplain maps had changed during the years since they purchased their homes, leaving them without the required flood insurance. It only makes sense that we should notify homeowners when FEMA floodplain maps change so they have the information they need to protect themselves.

Three of my bills are in direct response to the Mirant Plant’s continued malfeasance and the Department of Environmental Quality’s continued failure to protect us from the plant’s poison. Currently, data gathered from opacity monitors – monitors that measure the amount of particulate pollution in the air – cannot be used to enforce clean air standards. Even when a DEQ inspector personally witnesses a violation, it rarely results in enforcement action in part because there is no data trail. Therefore, Sen. Patsy Ticer and I are working on legislation to allow DEQ to use data gathered by these monitors to crack down on the plant. Another bill would require DEQ and the plant to notify residents when a transmission line outage will result in the plant operating temporarily at higher capacity — and therefore spewing more concentrated toxins into the air. In an effort to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions, the Mirant Plant started injecting the mineral trona into its smokestacks, which residents complain has actually made the air around the plant dirtier, causing respiratory problems. No public health studies exist to tell us whether this experimental use of trona is harming our health, so I am working on legislation to push the Virginia Department of Health to conduct the first such study.

In response to the passage of the anti-gay constitutional amendment in November, I am working with other equal rights advocates to write additional specific protections into the law. One bill I am working on would give hospital patients the right to designate anyone they choose as an authorized visitor without regard to marital status, sex, or sexual orientation. Currently, hospitals have complete discretion to set any policy they want, often to the detriment of same-sex partners.

These are just a few of the bills I am working on this year. For a full list, you can go to the “Legislation” section of my website, www.DavidEnglin.org. While you are there, I hope you will take a moment to complete my 2007 Constituent Survey so your feedback can help me represent you better. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve you, and if there is anything I can do to serve you better, please do not hesistate to get in touch at su.av.etats.esuohnull@nilgnEDleD, 703-549-3203, or 804-608-1045.

Today’s observance of the holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., brought a number of citizen groups to the General Assembly to visit legislators and share their views. David met with members of the League of Conservation Voters, Virginia CURE, Virginia Young Democrats, and the AARP to discuss a number of issues that will be facing the General Assembly this year.

“I always enjoying hosting my constituents here in Richmond,” said David. “With more than 2,000 bills before us, it’s especially helpful to hear directly from the people I represent to find out where they stand and which issues matter most to them.”

As the regular session of the Virginia General Assembly opened today, David filed 24 bills comprising his 2007 legislative agenda.

“I’m working on a range of issues this session, from affordable housing and clean air enforcement to domestic violence and equal rights,” said David. “My goal — as always — is to make government work for people.”

Here is a summary of each of David’s bills, and you can click here for the section of the House of Delegates website where you can monitor the progress of each bill:

In addition to the legislation David has filed as chief patron, he is a co-patron on a number of important bills, including the Governor Kaine’s Homestead Exemption for real estate taxes and the Virginia Fair Wage Act that would increase the minimum wage.