Column: Legislature Enters Final Week
Working for and with my constituents in Richmond is always exciting, and this year is no different. As we enter the final week of the session, conference committees are meeting to iron out the differences in House and Senate versions of several key bills.
Column: Lots of Moving Parts Remain
Thanks to all of you who attended one of the town meetings in Mount Vernon or Old Town on Saturday. It’s always good to hear what’s on your mind, and your input helps me represent you better.
Editorial: On Transportation
Compromise, in the works, should include indexing the gas tax to inflation.
Virginia needs more options, not fewer, in developing revenue to pay for roads and transportation. Compromise on a plan to increase transportation revenue should not include making Virginia the only state in the nation without a gas tax. The current, ridiculously low gas tax should be indexed to inflation. The last thing the commonwealth needs is to do away with an existing, major source of money for roads.
Column: A Complicated Answer
And a further explanation and corollary to last week’s column: “A Simple Question,” which attempted to sort through my reactions to being asked an extremely innocent, appropriate, well-intended and always appreciated courtesy: “How are you?” and the problem that it sometimes causes me. That problem being: a question which had it not been asked would then not require an answer. An answer that I’ll always give, but not before I’ve given it some thought, which if I hadn’t thought about, wouldn’t have bothered me in the least
Making the Difference Between Struggle and Success
Carmen Jordan of Reston has been a mentor for Fairfax Families4 Kids for six years. She is considered one of the most experienced mentors in the program. In addition to working full-time as a marquee account manager at Deltek in Herndon, Jordan makes herself available to “trouble-shoot” for the children and families she mentors. In the following column, she details her experiences with the program, and at-risk foster youth.
Letter to the Editor: Take Politics Out of Redistricting
Let's face it — Virginia's Delegate and Senatorial district maps are a gerrymandered disgrace.
Letters to the Editor: Update on ‘Antenna Wars’
The Jan. 17 article "Antenna Wars" and a Jan. 24 Letter to the Editor both help residents of Mount Vernon District understand past work of the Mount Vernon Council's Telecommunication Service Committee. The committee was formed in response to a request by Supervisor Hyland.
Letter to the Editor: Justice Prevails
The fatal shooting death of unarmed Sunday School teacher Patricia Cook of Culpepper by Officer Daniel Harmon-Wright of the Culpepper Police Department on Feb. 9, 2012 has ended with the officer being charged and convicted of involuntary manslaughter and unlawful shooting into an occupied vehicle.
Column: Five Bills Poised to Pass; Two Amendments Adopted
The Virginia legislature is now approaching “crossover” — the day that each body must complete work on its own bills and begin work on bills from the other body.
Richmond Report: On Medicaid, Road Funds and Uranium
This week’s General Assembly session included “Crossover” on Tuesday — after which the House and Senate may only work on bills approved by the other body.
Letter: Taking Exception on Medicaid Expansion
Your recent editorial ["Expanding Medicaid Good For Virginia," The Connection, January 23-29, 2013] is noble in its desire to "extend health coverage to more than 400,000 residents who currently have no health insurance." If public policy making were just that easy. The editorial then goes on to indifferently say, "the Federal government picks up the tab.
Editorial: Extreme, But Brief, Volunteering
More than 150 volunteers needed to survey chronic homeless for three days in February.
The real solution to homelessness is housing. This week in Northern Virginia, a point-in-time survey will record all of the “literally homeless” individuals and families in the region. Last year, on Jan. 25, 2012, there were 1,534 people who were literally homeless in the Fairfax-Falls Church Community; 697 of them were single individuals and 837 were people in families. A third of the total number of homeless were children. Nearly 60 percent of the adult members of the homeless families were employed.
Letter to the Editor: Reform County’s Appointment Process
In August 2010, Supervisor Hyland constituted a visioning task force to study the Mount Vernon District and create a comprehensive report concerning the next 25 years.
Column: Week of Sunshine, Online Textbooks and Car Title Lenders
Last week in the General Assembly was a busy one. I have introduced 15 bills, three constitutional amendments, one study resolution, seven budget amendments, and I am Chief Co-Patron on four bills.
Column: Redistricting Shenanigans Distract General Assembly
From constitutional amendments and uranium mining to electoral reform and redistricting, the General Assembly is dealing with a wide range of issues this year in our fast-paced 46-day session.