A record of leadership we can be proud of:
- Named “Legislative Hero” five times by the League of Conservation Voters, who called David “a true champion for Virginia’s environment.”
- Endorsed by Virginia’s teachers, who said, “Our community needs him fighting on behalf of our children and our schools in Richmond.”
- Honored with Equality Award by the Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance, who said, “From the moment he was first elected, often with little support outside of the LGBT community, he has fought in the General Assembly to advance equal rights and he has been our champion and our advocate.”
- Rated 100% pro-choice by NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia, who said, “He fearlessly stands up in committee and on the House floor to defend a woman’s right to choose. We need more legislators like him in Virginia.”
- Banned smoking in restaurants and bars throughout Virginia, taking on Virginia’s powerful Tobacco Lobby and working with the American Lung Association to strengthen the law’s provisions to protect restaurant workers.
- Passed the law protecting equal rights in hospital visitation, which has become a national model to protect the rights of same-sex couples and their families.
- Wrote the Green Jobs bill to strengthen Virginia’s economy and reduce climate change, which became law in 2010.
- Defeated the misguided I-95/395 HOT Lanes proposal that would have destroyed quality of life in our neighborhoods without addressing our regional transportation needs.
- Passed the Water Consumer Protection Act to protect people from private corporations using overly aggressive water service cutoff practices.
- Protected public schools, public safety, and services for the poor and the disabled, time and again winning budget battles against Republican plans to gut core services.
- Stopped Big Coal’s plan to gut the Air Pollution Control Board, protecting our community from the Mirant Plant on the Old Town waterfront and defending our right to breathe clean air.
Here is a summary of David’s successful legislation to date:
2010-2011
Water Consumer Protection Act: Protects consumers from aggressive water service disconnection practices by requiring private water utilities to give customers sufficient notice before terminating service. (PASSED: House 94-3, Senate 36-4)
Accelerated Sales Tax Repeal: Repeals the “Accelerated Sales Tax” gimmick that burdens small businesses by requiring them to remit sales taxes to the state before collecting them from customers to falsely inflate state revenue. (Included in amendments to House Bill 1500, then PASSED: House 97-0, Senate 40-0)
Streamlining Business Paperwork: Moves Virginia in the direction of “one-stop shopping” for business startups by allowing businesses to register with Commissioners of Revenue or local finance departments — rather than the state — to collect sales tax at the same time they file other necessary forms. (Combined with House Bill 2183, then PASSED: House 99-0, Senate 39-0)
Virginia Cider Act: Creates a major economic development opportunity for Virginia apple growers and cider producers by allowing naturally fermented cider without artificial caps on alcohol content. (PASSED: House 98-0, Senate 40-0)
Reconvened Session Amendment: Adds language to the Virginia Constitution to empower the General Assembly to postpone the constitutionally-required reconvened session for up to a week to avoid convening on a religious holiday, during a state funeral, or similar circumstances. (PASSED: House 99-0, Senate 40-0)
Emergency Vaccination of School Children: Ensures equal access to life-saving vaccines regardless of whether children attend private schools, charter schools, traditional public schools, or are home schooled. (PASSED: House 96-3, Senate 40-0)
Advanced Health Care Directives Registry: Implements 2008 Advanced Health Care Directives Registry law to ensure family members and health care providers know patients’ medical wishes during incapacitation. (PASSED: House 94-0, Senate 40-0)
Budget Transparency: Strengthens transparency and accountability in state budget process by improving annual corporate income tax relief report. (PASSED: House 98-0, Senate 40-0)
Public Safety Retirement Benefits: Empowers City of Alexandria to improve retirement benefits to recruit and retain high-quality public safety personnel. (PASSED: House 99-0, Senate 40-0)
Green Jobs: Green Jobs Tax Credit promotes creation of strategically important jobs in renewable energy and energy conservation. Delegate Englin developed this policy in 2009 and Republicans co-opted it in 2010. (Combined with House Bill 803, then PASSED: House 97-0, Senate 40-0)
Hotel Manager’s Receptions: Reversed anti-competitive prohibition on Virginia hotels offering managers receptions that include complementary wine or beer. (Bill withdrawn after Delegate Englin successfully petitioned Virginia ABC to reverse prohibition administratively.)
2008-2009
Restaurant Smoking Ban: Indoor Clean Air Act prohibits smoking in all indoor restaurants, bars, and lounge areas in Virginia. (Combined with substitute to HB1703, then PASSED: House 60-37, Senate 26-13)
Advanced Medical Directives Registry: Requires the Department of Health to establish a statewide registry for living wills and advanced medical directives to help all Virginians — including same-sex couples — specify who may make medical decisions for them if they are incapacitated. (PASSED: House 95-4, Senate 40-0)
Cyberbullying in Public Schools: Strengthens Virginia Anti-Bullying Act to address cyberbullying in Virginia public schools. (PASSED: House 94-5, Senate 40-0)
Military Absentee Voting: Allows military and overseas voters to receive absentee balloting materials electronically, making it easier for them to exercise their right to vote while deployed to far-flung locations around the world. (PASSED: House 97-0, Senate 40-0)
Autism: Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study the autism education and training available to law-enforcement and judicial personnel for the purpose of better disseminating such training. (Combined with Del. Shannon Valentine’s broader legislation and passed: House 98-0, Senate 38-0)
Water Conservation: Adds WaterSense qualified products to the items that qualify for the exemption provided during the Energy Star sales tax holiday. (Combined with Del. Margi Vanderhye’s similar bill and passed: House 96-2-1, Senate 39-1)
Unfunded Mandate Moratorium: Frees local school districts from expensive unfunded mandate by creating one-year moratorium on ACCESS for ELLs test as the state-approved limited English proficiency assessment, saving up to $2 million annually. (PASSED: House 98-0, Senate 40-0)
Closed Corporate Tax Loophole: Clarifies that the minimum tax is imposed on telecommunications and electric suppliers that are organized as pass-through entities, saving $30 million this year and up to $7 million annually. (PASSED: House 96-2-1, Senate 40-0)
Free Speech and Election Reform: Reverses ban on political clothing at polls and makes changes to improve administration of elections. (PASSED: House 96-0, Senate 40-0; Clothing provisions combined with HB1878, then PASSED: House 92-2, Senate 40-0)
Infectious Disease Response: Requires rapid reporting to the Department of Health of infectious disease outbreaks at assisted living residences, adult day care centers, child care centers, and certain licensed group homes, saving lives by bringing in public health experts as soon as an outbreak occurs. (PASSED: House 98-0, Senate 40-0)
Pedestrian-Friendly Development: Prevents the Virginia Department of Transportation from denying construction permits after the fact for otherwise permissible pedestrian improvements that already have been negotiated between developers and local governments. (PASSED: House 98-1, Senate 38-1)
Special Elections: Prevents confusion and delay for voters by ensuring that election laws will not change midstream during a special election, solving a problem that occurred during a special City Council election in Alexandria. (PASSED: House 99-0, Senate 40-0)
2006 – 2007
Affordable Housing: When apartment buildings are being turned into condominiums, allow elderly or disabled tenants to assign their existing first right to purchase their unit to a certified non-profit housing organization, which will rent back the unit to the tenant at an affordable rate. (PASSED: House 99-0, Senate 39-0)
Hospital Visitation: Require hospitals to allow each adult patient to receive visits from any individual from whom the patient desires to receive visits, regardless of marital status, gender, or other characteristics. (PASSED: House 97-0-1, Senate 40-0)
Flood Insurance: Requires the government to notify homeowners when FEMA changes floodplain maps in ways that affect their homes, empowering those homeowners to make informed decisions about flood insurance. (PASSED: House 93-5, Senate 39-0)
Prescription Drugs: Authorize local governments to participate in the National Association of Counties prescription drug discount program that delivers significant savings on prescription drugs to all residents of participating localities. (PASSED: House 51-47, Senate 39-0)
Election Reform: Close the loophole that allows a Political Action Committee to form and make an indirect contribution to a candidate in the last 10 days before an election without disclosing who is behind the committee. (PASSED: House 99-0, Senate 39-0)
Minimum Wage: Close the loophole that allows employers to pay less than minimum wage to employees aged 65 and older. (This loophole exists in state law but not federal law, and federal law applies in nearly all minimum wage cases.) (PASSED: House 99-0, Senate 38-0)
Rehabilitative Services: Makes technical improvements to the statewide brain and spinal cord injury registry program, as requested by the Department of Rehabilitative Services. (PASSED: House 98-0, Senate 40-0)
Local Control: Grant Arlington County the same powers as other counties to change the salaries of members of the County Board. (PASSED: House 87-8, Senate 40-0)
Energy Conservation: Exempt all Energy Star rated products (i.e.: energy-efficient products, including light bulbs, appliances, etc.) from the current 5 percent sales tax. (Combined with Del. John Cosgrove’s Energy Star sales tax holiday bill and passed: House 98-0, Senate 39-0)
Election Access: Add state and local elections to the requirement that polling places use handicapped-accessible voting machines, which currently is only required for federal elections. (Combined with Del. Tim Hugo’s bill on voting equipment and procedures and passed: House 82-14, Senate 29-11)
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. (Combined with Del. Adam Ebbin’s identical bill, then passed: House 99-0, Senate 40-0)
Clean Air Enforcement: Allow data gathered by monitoring devices to be used to enforce air emissions opacity standards around power plants like the Mirant Plant. (Currently, Department of Environmental Quality staff must observe violations in person to issue citations.) (Senate version passed: House 100-0, Senate 39-0)