David’s Progressive Agenda for the Future
Make housing more affordable to ensure strong, vibrant, diverse communities where people enjoy good quality of life.
Strengthen public education so parents, teachers, and schools have what they need for our children to learn and grow.
Lower the cost of health care so people get the services they need without risking financial ruin or overburdening small businesses.
Protect our environment for health, safety, and quality of life today and for survival tomorrow.
Stand up for the rights of all Virginians, so every member of our community gets a fair shake and an equal shot at the American dream.
Fight for Northern Virginia, so we get back the power and resources we need to keep our economy strong and our communities safe well into the future.
Make government more open and responsive to engage citizens, strengthen democracy, and make government work for people.
David’s Legislative Accomplishments
Please visit David’s page on Richmond Sunlight, a project of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, where you will find the legislative history of every bill David has ever introduced, including those that did not pass. You can create a free account and use Richmond Sunlight’s Photosynthesis tool to track the progress of the bills you care about. Here is a summary of David’s successful legislation to date:
2008-2009
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
