Weekly Column: Passing Bills, Serving the Public

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Connection, The Prince William Times, The Fort Hunt Herald, and Potomac Local in the week of February 11, 2019.

Passing Bills, Serving the Public

Last week in the General Assembly was a week of accomplishments, revelations and stress. 

The Senate approved and sent to the House of Delegates 20 of my 25 bills  and added several of my budget amendments to the Senate budget. 

The Senate  agreed to $2 million to study extending Metro’s Blue Line to Lorton, Woodbridge and Potomac Mills, along with enhanced transit on U.S. 1 in Prince William County.  I have been fighting for this for three years and with Senator George Barker’s help, we got it included in the Senate budget.  Additionally, my proposal to fund additional treatment services and a study for incarcerated, sexually-violent predators was included so that they can  receive treatment before they are committed to a post-incarceration civil treatment facility, an approach that costs taxpayers significantly more per day than a standard jail.  There is no reason to delay therapy until they have completed their sentence.  This will save taxpayers millions of dollars if it works. 

The Senate, on a 37-2-1 vote, passed my bill to create a framework to clean up Virginia’s coal ash repositories.  The bill requires at least 6.8 million cubic yards of the 27 million cubic yards to be recycled into “encapsulated” products like bricks, cinderblocks or cement.  The bill also requires Dominion to work with localities to minimize transportation impacts; to give priority to local workers; and to continually seek proposals to recycle ash as technology evolves so that we can minimize coal ash landfill storage.  While the bill is not everything I want, it achieves my primary objectives to prohibit “cap in place” or using old leaky ash ponds to store ash forever and to promote recycling. 

On a vote of 29-11, the Senate passed my legislation to give Fairfax County an additional tool to pay for underground utilities on U.S. 1.  The bill allows the County to pay for underground utilities and then recover the cost by levying a utility fee that will cost about $0.80-0.90 per month.  I have heard loud and clear from my constituents that they want underground utilities on U.S. 1.  Prince William County’s government funded it for all 10 miles of U.S. 1.  If Prince William can afford it, so can Fairfax County, and I am hoping to provide County officials with a method to do it. 

On a vote of 34-6, the Senate passed my bill to create penalties for government officials who intentionally try to avoid our sunshine laws.  The bill creates penalties for destroying public records to avoid the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and penalties for officials who incorrectly vote to certify that they only discussed specifically exempted and previously-announced matters in closed public meetings.  

I also passed legislation clarifying that cars cannot use bike lanes to pass other vehicles and making it easier to convict drivers for seriously injuring cyclists and pedestrians.  U.S. 1 is the deadliest road in Virginia for pedestrians and pedestrian deaths are up by 50 percent in the last five years in Virginia.  Most injured cyclists and pedestrians cannot remember what happened or are killed when struck.  This will help balance the playing field on the criminal side of justice. 

Finally, this was another rough week as the Governor’s situation continued to percolate, the Attorney General admitted to using blackface at age 19 in college and two different women accused our Lieutenant Governor of sexual assault.  We were initially willing to wait for time and information after one accusation was made, but when a second woman 4,000 miles away made a very serious allegation, it was clear to some of us that this was becoming an issue that could distract from his duties. The Senate Democratic, House Democratic and Legislative Black Caucuses and called for his resignation.  I am continuing to assess my position on the situations and welcome your input. 

Please weigh in on my constituent survey at http://bit.ly/sd362019survey and email me at scott@scottsurovell.org with your feedback.  I will host a town hall meeting on Facebook on February 13, 2018 at 7:00 p.m.  I hope you will watch and participate online at www.facebook.com/surovell.  It is an honor to serve as your state senator.

Session Interviews with Cable Reports

Every year, I interview with Cable Reports to preview the General Assembly Session.  This year, I did two interviews - one focusing on Fairfax County and the other on Prince William and Stafford Counties. During these interview we were able to cover a wide array topics from the Governor's agenda to items that specifically affect the constituents within my district. I was glad to discuss the coal ash removal bill that was supported by the Governor. We went on to discuss my legislation on predatory lending, the urgency of passing tax conformity, underground utility lines, the tolling situation on I-81 and bi-partisan redistricting.

Fairfax County

Prince William County

Week #3 - ERA & Predatory Lending Dies, HOA Reform Moves Forward

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Connection, The Prince William Times, The Fort Hunt Herald, and Potomac Local in the week of January 29, 2019.

The third week of the General Assembly brought action on many of my bills

First, the Equal Rights Amendment was killed in House Committee at the beginning of the week.  It was the first time the House of Delegates has ever held a hearing on the amendment.  The official statements from members who opposed indicated that they felt women had equal rights and the amendment was no longer necessary.  However, the conservative activist community has attempted to make the amendment all about abortion which is inaccurate - the right to contraception and reproductive freedom is already recognized in the U.S. Constitution.

Women do not have equal rights.  There are numerous pieces of legislation that are regularly passed across the country that have a disparate impact on women.  Unfortunately, these are very difficult to challenge in court because government actions that differentiate on sex are not given the same scrutiny as government actions that differentiate based on race.   I have carried this bill for seven years and we will continue to fight to enshrine equality in the U.S. Constitution. 

Weekly Column: Week #2 - ERA, Ban the Box, and LGBT Nondiscrimination Moves Forward

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Connection, The Prince William Times, The Fort Hunt Herald, and Potomac Local in the week of January 22, 2019.

The second week of the General Assembly are now in the books.

First, the Senate of Virginia passed a resolution ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) for the sixth time by a vote of 26-14 which is the largest margin ever.  Seven Republican Senator joined all nineteen Democratic Senators to pass the resolution.  The fight moves on to the House this week which historically has refused to even hold a hearing.

This year is different.  In 2018, the states of Nevada and Illinois ratified the ERA which leaves the amendment one state short from ratification.  While the Supreme Court has not expressly upheld Congress’ power to set a ratification deadline, lower courts have held that Congress can set the terms of ratification which also means that Congress can extend the deadline or accept ratifications after the deadline has run.  Legislation is pending in Congress to do that and this is an opportunity to put Virginia on the right side of history for the first time in probably 200 years.  Stay tuned.  

Weekly Column: My Agenda This Session - Coal Ash, I-95, and Equal Rights

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Connection, The Prince William Times, The Fort Hunt Herald, and Potomac Local in the week of January 2, 2019.

The General Assembly Session gavels in on January 9, 2019 and we have a full agenda awaiting us for our 45-day or “short” session.

First, the budget will probably take center state this year even though we adopted a two-year budget last year.  As I mentioned in my previous column, between federal tax reform, rising revenues, and the Supreme Court’s Wayfair decision that allows states to tax internet sales, the Commonwealth has over $1 billion of excess revenue to appropriate.  Governor Northam has proposed a targeted tax cut to working Virginians, investments in K-12, and investments in higher education.

Joint Commerce & Labor Coal Ash Meeting #3

On December 21, 2018, we met for the third Joint Meeting of the Senate and House Commerce and Labor Committees to focus on coal ash legislation for next session and discuss the report recently issued by Dominion that you can read here:

Dominion Coal Ash Recycling Study

First, Dominion Resources presented their findings resulting from the study required by my legislation - Senate Bill 807 - from last year's session.

• There are 11 ponds at four different sites, five have not been closed yet
• One station (Chesterfield) still burns coal and creates coal ash
• There are 27 million cubic yards to be disposed of - 1.8 million truckloads or about 300,000 rail cars on 461 acres of ash ponds
• Dominion believes we have 15 years to close the ponds starting in 2019

They are on track to close six of the 11 ponds as permitted by SB807.  The bill also required them to go out to the markets and obtain proposals on coal ash recycling from cradle to grave including dewatering, removing it, treating it, and selling an end product.  

They summarized the recycling proposals responses as follows:

• They involve 600-700 trucks per day and/or about 700 railcars per years)
• Closer in markets used trucks while shipments to far markets involved rail transport

The estimates ranged from a total of $2.345 to $5.642 billion.  Dominion has already spent about $400 million so far on coal ash remediation at the four sites.  About 45-46% of the cash can be recycled based on market demand assumptions.  

Report on Coal Ash Hearing #2

Nate Benforado with SELC Addressing Committee

Spent the day today in Richmond for the second meeting of the Joint House/Senate Commerce and Labor Committee meeting on resolving Virginia's coal ash situation.

Dominion Briefing
Dominion was first to the podium.  They briefed the committee on a recent Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals opinion that reversed a Richmond federal judge who held that their Chesapeake Coal Ash landfill was violating the Clean Water Act.  The appellate court held that the trial judge was wrong and that although the landfill was leaking toxic metals, it was not leaking it in a way that violated the Act.

Next, Dominion talked about the status of their request for proposals on coal ash recycling.

• 86 people from 51 firms attended Dominion's initial information session
• 26 suppliers indicated interest in bidding
• They held tours at four sites where 57 people from 23 firms attended
• They received 115 questions and issued 12 clarifications for the bid process
• They ultimately received 12 bids with 2,100 pages of information
• They are currently asking questions of the bidders and then expect to have a report to the legislature by November 15, 2018

Dominion also noted that they are exploring have multiple solutions are multiple sites and not unitary solutions at each site.

VIDEO: Demanding that EPA keep coal ash regulations in place

Yesterday, the EPA held a hearing on the Trump Administration's proposal to roll back Obama-era regulations on coal ash. My testimony is below.

One of the four large Chesapeake Bay watershed coal ash deposits is in Dumfries, Virginia in the 36th District. All four sites are leaking toxic heavy metals into groundwater and drinking water in the surrounding communities. I have introduced 10 bills to deal with the coal ash problem in Virginia and met with moderate success. Last year, my bill to require Dominion to study alternatives for dealing with the coal ash resulted in this report:

Coal Combustion Residuals Ash Pond Closure Assessment (November, 2017)

Weekly Column: Underground Utilities, Transportation Solutions Get Attention

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Connection, The Mt. Vernon Voice, and the Potomac and Stafford Locals in the week of March 4, 2018.

Underground Utilities, Transportation Solutions Get Attention

The second to last week of the General Assembly session brought a conclusion to most committee work in the legislature, passage of several important bills and a fierce wind storm. 

On Friday, a powerful wind storm struck Virginia and inflicted millions of dollars in damage to people and property, far more harm than most people anticipated.    Many people lost electricity, some for several days.  According to Dominion Energy, it was the fifth worst power outage in company history after Hurricanes Isabel, Floyd, Irene and the 2012 Derecho. 

The mass destruction reaffirms my view that we need to invest in utility undergrounding immediately.  The newer developed parts of Northern Virginia where power lines are underground did not suffer outages and while undergrounding is expensive, the disruption of people’s lives has great value also.

Weekly Column: Budget Overtime Likely, BYOB Legalized, and U.S. 1 Utilities

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Connection, The Mt. Vernon Voice, and the Potomac and Stafford Locals in the week of February 6, 2018.

Budget Overtime Likely, BYOB Legalized, and U.S. 1 Utilities

Week Seven of the General Assembly brought some focus to the state’s budget situation and movement on a few important bills of the session.

On Tuesday we debated our respective budget amendments.  The budgets are separated by a massive revenue gulf due to Medicaid.  The House of Delegates’ budget included Medicaid Expansion with a work requirement.  The Senate Budget did not.

Weekly Column: 21 Bills Cross, Predatory Lending Restricted, and Coal Ash Progress

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Connection, The Mt. Vernon Voice, and the Potomac and Stafford Locals in the week of February 6, 2018.

               Week Six of the General Assembly brought us to the midpoint of session, completion of work on all bills in our own chambers, and announcement of the proposed House and Senate budgets.

              Twenty-one of my bills “crossed over” to the House of Delegates including several this week.  First, my legislation continuing the moratorium on permitting the closure of coal ash ponds was continued for fourteen months so the legislature could have more time to gather information. 

Most other states have moved towards recycling coal ash into products such as bricks and concrete instead of burying it the ground for eternity.  Dominion has estimated that recycling will cost $4-8 billion but the recycling community contends that is greatly overstated.  My bill requires Dominion to seek specific recycling proposals from coal ash recyclers and to pass proposals along to the legislature so we can consider the actual cost of recycling next year.  It is important that we have correct information before we decide to make a decision that will pass along over a billion dollars of cost to electricity rate payers.

Weekly Column - Week Five: A Deal on Misdemeanor-Felony Threshold, Coal Ash Continues

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Connection, The Mt. Vernon Voice, and the Potomac and Stafford Locals in the week of February 6, 2018.

Week Five: A Deal on Misdemeanor-Felony Threshold, Coal Ash Continues

The fifth week of session brought a furious pace to legislating including some of the most contentious bills of the session as we approached “crossover” – the day the Senate and House are required to complete action on legislation originating in each chamber.  It was mostly a successful week for me.  Twenty-one of my bills are now set to pass the Senate to be considered by the House of Delegates.

First, Governor Northam announced an agreement to raise Virginia’s threshold between misdemeanors and felonies from $200 to $500.  Once enacted, Virginia’s threshold will still be the second lowest in the United States.  I have introduced this legislation every year for nine sessions I was pleased it is finally going to be enacted into law.  

Weekly Column: Coal Ash, Predatory Lending and Education Equity

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Connection, The Mt. Vernon Voice, and the Potomac and Stafford Locals in the week of January 15, 2018.

The General Assembly has reorganized, added nearly twenty new members, and we inaugurated a new Governor on Saturday.  The 36^th District now overlaps with five new state delegates including four new women.  I am looking forward to the new ideas and energy they bring. 

This year brings a long session and a new two-year budget.  The biggest news in Governor McAuliffe’s proposed budget was about $500 million of new education monies, a proposed funding solution for Metro, and $170,000 to finally clean up a derelict barge in Belmont Bay. 

While we need to fix Metro, Governor McAuliffe’s proposed fix takes over half a billion dollars away from other Northern Virginia transportation projects and will serious jeopardize the current timeline on U.S. 1 projects in Fairfax County and potentially Prince William County.  I cannot support it as written and will work to find other revenue sources to solve this problem.

It's Coal Ash Day in Virginia

Today, Dominion Energy released its long-awaited coal ash assessments mandated by my legislation last session - Senate Bill 1398.  You can read the entire 800+ page report below, or just the executive summary.

Coal Combustion Residuals Ash Pond Closure Assessment (November, 2017)

Dominion's Possum Point Power Station has about 4 million cubic yards of coal ash stored in 120 acres of coal ash ponds in Dumfries in the 36th District.  Several constituents have polluted groundwater wells. Some are reporting health problems that they attribute to groundwater pollution from these coal ash ponds.

Weekly Column: Four Big Issues No One is Discussing This Election Cycle

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Connection, The Mt. Vernon Voice, and the Potomac and Stafford Locals in the week of October 16, 2017.

Four Big Issues No One is Discussing This Election Cycle

Virginians go to the polls in three weeks and if you followed the new cycle, you would think that the next General Assembly Session is going to be all about Confederate Statutes, street gangs and natural gas pipelines – none of which is accurate.  Here are four big issues facing Virginia that have been missing in action this cycle. 

Redistricting
Hyper-partisan legislative districts are at the root the partisan gridlock we see today.  While the Senate Democratic Caucus drew Virginia’s Senate districts in 2010, Virginia’s congressional and legislative districts were otherwise drawn by Republicans majorities with the cooperation of Republican governor’s in 2000 and 2010.  Democratic voters have been crammed into a small number of seats and Virginia’s Congressional and House of Delegates districts are way out of proportion to Virginia’s actual voting.

 

Virginia’s next Governor will participate in Virginia’s next redistricting process.  Ralph Northam and I have repeatedly endorsed and voted for non-partisan redistricting which would go a long way towards voters picking their leaders instead of leaders picking their voters.

Governor Acts on Coal Ash

Possum Point Coal Ash Ponds - 120 acres

Today, Governor Terry McAuliffe offered his amendments to SB1398 which I introduced to provide better information to the public before we make final decisions on closing four ponds or impoundments holding millions of cubic yards of coal ash located in:

• Possum Point, Dumfries, VA
• Bremo Station, Bremo, VA
• Chesterfield Station, Chesterfield, VA
• Chesapeake Energy Center, Chesapeake, VA

While Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has been following existing state and federal law, I have remained concern that DEQ needs more tools and more options need to be on the table. 

Weekly Column: Coal Ash Bill Passes, Computers and Predatory Lending to be Studied

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Gazette, The Mt. Vernon Voice, and the Potomac and Stafford Locals in the week of February 20, 2017.

Coal Ash Bill Passes, Computers and Predatory Lending to be Studied

We have one week to go in session and negotiations are rapidly reaching conclusion as we push to finish out work so we can get back to our families and our jobs. 

This past week, my legislation to raise Virginia’s threshold between misdemeanors and felonies from $200 to $500 failed.  Virginia’s threshold has not changed since 1981.  Our existing system unnecessarily focuses police and prosecutors on minor crimes instead of violent crime while tainting thousands of Virginia’s suffering from depression or drug addiction with felony charges for life. 

The House of Delegates passed my legislation requiring Dominion to provide better information on coal ash pollution, disaster preparedness, and recycling.  I am not happy that a permitting moratorium was removed, it is better than no bill at all and the Governor will also have a chance to amend the legislation.

Weekly Column: Progress On Water Quality & 2% Teacher Pay Raise Proposed

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Gazette, The Mt. Vernon Voice, and the Potomac and Stafford Locals in the week of February 6, 2017.

The last week of January was especially busy as the General Assembly approached February 7^th – Crossover – the day we are required to complete all work on bills originating in our chamber.  The bills saved for last usually involve the hardest issues to resolve.

Out of the 40 bills I introduced twenty-two have passed the Senate or are poised for passage before Crossover. 

Last week saw another victory for water quality.  This session, I introduced three bills to help control water pollution caused by coal ash.  One of my bills was reported by the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee over the objection of Dominion Power.  The bill prohibits the issuance of any final permits until Dominion to identifies and describes all water pollution occurring at coal ash ponds and demonstrate corrective measures, evaluate coal ash removal or “clean closure,” and demonstrate that leaving coal ash in place or “cap in place” will not put the community at risk during hurricanes, floods or other major weather events.

Weekly Column: Week #3 - Town Halls, Cycling Safety and Tuition Transparency

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Gazette, The Mt. Vernon Voice, and the Potomac and Stafford Locals in the week of January 24, 2017.

Week #3: Town Halls, Cycling Safety and Tuition Transparency

               Week three saw our General Assembly in full swing and movement on many bills.

               First, over 100 residents came out for my two Town Halls in Prince William County.  There were many questions about my “hand’s free” legislation, coal ash legislation, increasing teacher salaries, tuition affordability, predatory lending, and other issues.

               Thirteen of my bills have either passed or are poised for passage out of the Senate this week, ten bills were rejected, and sixteen are still awaiting action in committee.  One day, I had to defend eleven different bills in committee in addition to attending a floor session and two committees.   

Two cycling safety bills passed this week.  First, one bill clarifies that no motor vehicle can use a bicycle lane to pass another vehicle on the right.  More bike lanes are being constructed across Virginia and our traffic code does not clearly prohibit the interplay between these lanes and passing on the right using pavement.  Cutting into a bike lane to pass on the right can be deadly and needs to be illegal.

Prince William County Interview on Cable Reports

Last week, I was honored to sit for an interview once again with Woody Evans on Cable Reports to discuss the 2017 Legislative Session and what it has in store for Prince William County.

During the interview, we discussed my legislative agenda including my bills to address sewage runoff from the City of Alexandria, ground water pollution from coal ash, hands-free driving, driver Privilege Cards and much more.

Thank you to Comcast Cable and Cable Reports for having me on the show again!  I hope to be on again soon.