Today David met with members of American Red Cross clubs from Wakefield High School and Swanson Middle School in Arlington, who visited Richmond in support of legislation that would expand the blood donor program.

“I was also very impressed to learn that high school and middle school students are getting certified to help respond to disasters,” said David.  “These students are a credit to our community.  We should all be grateful for their willingness to devote their time and energy to the American Red Cross.”

The opening week of the General Assembly reminds me of the first week of a new school year, with Delegates and Senators from one end of Virginia to the other reacquainting themselves, meeting new colleagues, and learning their way around new offices. After the opening formalities on the first day of the session, the first order of business was a vote on the rules that will govern how the House of Delegates operates for the next two years. Two years ago, the House Republican majority pushed through a rule that allows as few as two Delegates to kill any piece of legislation in subcommittee with no recorded vote, depriving the people of the opportunity to know who voted how on important issues. To correct this, House Democrats offered amendments to require subcommittee votes to be recorded and also to allow a live television broadcast if the daily proceedings on the House floor. Unfortunately, House Republicans once against thwarted our efforts at open-government reform, so citizens will remain in the dark about key subcommittee votes.

However, as part of my own open-government agenda, this week I re-launched my website, www.DavidEnglin.org with some key open-government improvements, such as posting my daily schedule online so constituents have a better picture of who tries to influence public policy and how. [Read more...]

ALEXANDRIA – Delegate David Englin (D-45) today announced an ambitious legislative package for the 2008 General Assembly session, which begins today, with several bills focused on key areas like affordable housing, climate change and protecting the environment, and local control, in addition to bills designed to address particular community concerns.

“This is an ambitious slate of legislation with a combination of bold ideas and small steps forward,” said Englin, who was recently appointed a Whip by the House Minority Leader. “We have a real opportunity this session to make progress on new ideas that will strengthen our community, defend our progressive values, and invest in our future. In addition to my own bills, I look forward to working with my General Assembly colleagues to strengthen our mental health system, repeal the misguided driving abuser fees, and defend and advance initiatives in Governor Kaine’s proposed budget to expand access to high-quality pre-kindergarten, bring payments to foster parents closer to the national average, expand health care access to the uninsured, and make smart investments in higher education that will strengthen Virginia’s economy.”

[Read more...]

ALEXANDRIA – In response to Fairfax County Public Schools’ failure to move a school bus stop located directly in front of the home of a man who committed a sex crime against a child, Delegate David Englin (D-45) yesterday introduced House Bill 291 to prohibit school officials from locating bus stops within 50 feet of the home of a registered sex offender and to require school districts to have a written plan to account for safe location of bus stops.

“When parents in the community brought this issue to my attention, I assumed that changing the law wouldn’t be necessary and that Fairfax County Public Schools would simply move the bus stop down the block,” said Englin. “Unfortunately, when we repeatedly petitioned school officials to move this bus stop, they refused — they refused even to move the stop a half block away — and instead responded by condescendingly dismissing the concerns of these parents. Therefore, I regret that I am left with no choice but to create a law that will require two common-sense policies: First, each school district should have some kind of written policy or plan for locating bus stops; and second, no school bus stop can be located within 50 feet of the home of a registered sex offender.”
[Read more...]