After a final day of high drama over the inadequate Republican transportation plan, the General Assembly adjourned Saturday, marking the end of this year’s regular legislative session. While the fight to deliver a real solution to transportation funding will continue, we did made progress in several other areas, and my own legislative efforts this year turned out to be quite successful.
The transportation funding plan approved Saturday over my objection is a smoke-and-mirrors scheme that will take more than $400 million each year from state funding for education, public safety, health care, job creation, and environmental protection, and use that money to support a massive $2.5 billion in new debt. That’s like taking money from your child’s college savings account to pay your mortgage. What’s worse, for all of the talk about solving Northern Virginia’s transportation funding crisis, the statewide component of the plan will only result in about $80 million per year for Northern Virginia — a pittance compared to the $1 billion a year in dedicated, sustained transportation money independent analysts agree that we need to actually decrease traffic congestion and improve quality of life. Even the regional component of the plan that would allow Northern Virginia local governments to raise taxes and fees to come up with an additional $400 million per year is now unworkable, since some of the localities that would have to approve those measures have already said they will refuse to do so. Fortunately, Governor Kaine has broad powers to amend legislation, and I look forward to the opportunity to support a far better version of this plan after the governor has performed some very necessary legislative surgery.
While the headlines have focused on the transportation fight, this year we ultimately made some very positive mid-course adjustments to the state’s biennial budget. After last year’s $140 million estate tax handout to the 1,000 wealthiest families in Virginia, I was proud to co-sponsor successful legislation that eliminated income taxes for more than 140,000 working poor Virginians. I joined other Democratic legislators who stood against Republican efforts to cut Governor Kaine’s pre-kindergarten initiatives from the budget, and we eventually passed measures to enroll more at-risk children in high-quality pre-kindergarten and to take the first steps toward increasing access for more four-year-olds. We expanded access to critical home and community-based services for the mentally retarded and developmentally disabled, and we included a 15 percent Northern Virginia differential to account for the higher cost of these services in our area. We expanded access to prenatal care for poor pregnant women, which is a significant step forward in reducing Virginia’s unacceptable infant mortality rate. We also passed a $250 million clean water funding package that will improve public health and safety and help clean up the Chesapeake Bay.
My own legislation fared very well. The Senate passed all seven of my bills that made it through the House of the Delegates. These included bills to protect equal rights in hospital visitation, to expand minimum wage protections to seniors, to help preserve affordable housing for elderly and disabled renters, and to empower homeowners with flood insurance information. While my House version of the bill to allow the Department of Environmental Quality to use monitoring devices to enforce clean air standards around the Mirant Plant got stuck in subcommittee (thanks to an parliamentary oddity, it neither passed nor was tabled), I worked with the City of Alexandria’s lobbyists to change enough votes that Senator Patsy Ticer’s version of the same bill eventually passed the House after it had crossed over from the Senate. My biggest surprise of the session was how far my rental assistance pilot project legislation advanced. While the program was not funded, the House of Delegate’s committee system endorsed the underlying policy, giving me great hope for next year on this critical issue.
I will be out and about throughout the 45th District between now and when the General Assembly re-convenes on April 4 to address the governor’s amendments and vetoes, so I hope you will take the opportunity to say hello and to share your thoughts on this year’s legislation, the transportation funding crisis, or any other issue on your mind. The hardest part about being your delegate is being away from my family for several weeks each year, but it is really much harder on my family than on me. When you see my wife, Shayna, around town, if you are happy with the work I am doing, instead of telling her that, thank her for the sacrifices she and our son, Caleb, have to make so that I can continue to serve you. (If you are not happy with the work I am doing, you can let me know directly!) As always, feel free to contact me at 703-549-3203 or DelDEnglin@house.state.va.us if I can ever be of service.
