We had a very successful 2021 General Assembly session and we passed many new laws that will be implemented in the coming months and affect those living in the 36th Senate District for decades.
I sent a newsletter that went to many constituents and supporters. I could not send it every household because of the cost. If you would like to read the newsletter, I have included it here:
The 2020 General Assembly: 39 Surovell Bills Passed
The 2020 General Assembly finished work on all legislation this past Sunday, except we did not pass a final state budget or elect new judges to fill vacancies. We will return to Richmond on Thursday, March 13, to complete that work and adjourn for this year.This was my most successful session in passing bills in my eleven years in the General Assembly. The legislature sent 39 of my bills to Governor Ralph Northam. We carried over nine bills and referred them to study commissions. The legislature also carried over my legislation to abolish the death penalty to be potentially considered over the summer.I will highlight some of the other major bills we passed and discuss more bills and the budget in future columns.
The Sixth week of the General Assembly brought us to “Crossover” – the day each chamber is required to cease work on their own bills and work on bills from the other Chamber.
The last two days brought furious action on many major bills. Forty-three of my own bills crossed over to the House of Delegates. Last week, the Senate passed my legislation creating driver privilege cards for undocumented immigrants for the first time and on a bipartisan basis. We still have work to do in order to reconcile the House and Senate bills, but it will change the lives of over 100,000 Virginia residents.
We also passed my legislation authorizing state-level class action lawsuits. Forty-eight other states and the District of Columbia already allow similar lawsuits. The lack of such remedies in Virginia mean that corporations can steal money from Virginians in smaller amounts and never face justice.
More Access to Clean Solar Power for VirginiansLast week, the State Corporation Commission (SCC) approved an innovative solar program proposed by Dominion Resources, a project that will enhance consumer choices and facilitate clean, renewable energy production for many Virginians.As Virginia implements the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, the state's utilities need to transition to systems that reduce carbon emissions and deliver reliable, affordable power to homes and businesses.
The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette and The Mt. Vernon Voice in the week of January 7, 2015.Education, Gun Violence Prevention, Budget Shortfall and Redistricting on Legislature’s AgendaThe Virginia General Assembly will convene on January 15 in Richmond for a 45-day “short” session. This article is an overview of the session and my article next week will cover my legislative agenda.First, be sure to complete my 2015 constituent survey at www.scottsurovell.org/survey. You can also share your suggestions to the entire 25-member Fairfax County delegation on Saturday, January 10, 9 a.m., at the Fairfax County Government Center, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax 22035)..Since we adopt a budget on a two-year cycle, the legislature will only make adjustments to the existing budget this session. Because of a flat economy, the revenue projections used last year were off by $2.4 billion. Last September, the General Assembly reached an agreement with Governor Terry McAuliffe to address a significant portion of those reductions, but we still need to cut $300 million to balance the budget.
The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, The Mt. Vernon Voice and Patch in the week of February 10, 2014.Session Midpoint: Twelve Bills Marching On
As we approach the midpoint of this session, I have more good news. Twelve of my bills have passed the House, are poised to pass, or are causing changes:
- Repeal of the tax on hybrid vehicles passed two weeks ago.
- Legislation to allow parents to “freeze” their children’s credit through age 16 passed the House unanimously. I introduced this after my 13 and 11-year-old daughters received credit card solicitations. Children are easy targets for identity theft because it is not discovered until they are much older. Virginia is now poised to be the sixth state to adopt such legislation.
- My bill clarifying who controls a real estate brokerage on death of a broker passed unanimously. This will help protect consumers and the deceased owner’s family.
- Legislation to add Marines and members of the Coast Guard to serve on juries passed unanimously. I noticed that current law only includes active duty, non-Virginia domiciled members of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
- My legislation to allow Fairfax County to charge $5 per traffic ticket to purchase electronic traffic ticketing systems passed last week and will save taxpayers millions of dollars.
Passage of several others bills by Tuesday looks promising:
Transportation dominated the debate this session.
The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, the Mt. Vernon Voice and Patch in the week of February 5, 2013.Five Bills Poised to Pass; Two Budget 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.
As I write this, one of my bills has passed the House and four more are probably headed to the Senate for consideration. Earlier this year, I represented a client who had work done on his condominium by a contractor. My client did not know the contractor was unlicensed. An unlicensed contractor cannot sue because their contract is illegal (like trying to sue on a contract for cocaine), but he placed a lien on my client’s condominium. I was shocked that there was nothing in the mechanic’s lien statute that required a license. My bill requires all contractors to put their license number and information of any mechanic’s lien. This will help protect consumers from predatory lenders. The House approved it unanimously.
The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, the Mt. Vernon Voice and Patch in the week of January 8, 2013. Legislative Preview Part II: Budget Cuts, Road Shortfalls, and Uranium
Last week, I wrote about a few of the bills and budget amendments I’m going to be carrying this session. This week, I am going to write about some of the broader issues in play this session.
First, the State Budget has dominated legislative sessions since I was elected in 2009 and that is not likely to change. Although revenues are up over the last year by $340 million, due to the constitution and laws on the books, most of that money is already committed to the “Rainy Day Fund,” transportation, water quality improvement, and repaying the state retirement that was not funded in the 2010-2011 budget biennium. The remaining amount is $40 million or about $400,000 per delegate seat – that’s it.
Every year I send out a letter summarizing the General Assembly Session. Most of us call it our Sine Die Letter named after the motion that is made to adjourn sine die at the end of a session. This column appeared in the Mount Vernon Gazette, Mt. Vernon Voice and Patch on January 5, 2012: My 2012 Agenda: Transportation, Economic Development, Sunshine & Consumer Protection
On January 11, 2012 at noon, the Virginia General Assembly kicked off the 2012 Session. Last week, I wrote about an overall preview of the session. This week, I am writing about my legislation which you can view online at http://lis.virginia.gov or my website www.scottsurovell.org.
Congestion on U.S. 1, the extension of the Yellow & Blue Lines, and economic development is the top priority for our area. Congestion on Route 1 affects not just our commutes, but economic development, job creation, the neighborhood revitalization, local school performance, the quality of our local environment, and the value of our homes. Route 1 will not be improved until we get a fair share of construction funding.
I have written before about how home energy efficiency can provide major savings. Whether it is regulation of home energy auditors, rebates for energy efficient appliances, or creating incentives for hybrid vehicles, I believe that Virginia must be a leader in adopting and developing green technologies.
Starting June 20, 2011, Virginia is releasing $5 million of rebates to make your home more energy efficient.
Today, I went strawberry picking with my kids out in Loudoun County and when I got home, ran over to the "Greenway on the Highway" event put together by the Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation at the Woodlawn Mansion. It was an interesting event.
The following column appeared in the Mount Vernon Gazette, Mount Vernon Voice, and Patch.com on March 3, 2011:The Virginia General Assembly wrapped up the 2011 Session this past Sunday around 8 p.m. It was quite a journey.
Five bills I authored are now sitting on the Governor’s desk waiting for his signature. I discussed those last week. I am especially pleased that legislation I drafted requiring home energy auditors to be licensed was passed by the House of Delegates on a very close vote with 29 Democrats and 28 Republicans in support. I worked hard both last year and this year with the Energy Efficiency industry, Dominion Resources, and the McDonnell Administration to put together a coalition of consumer groups, industry groups, and legislators from both sides of the aisle to get the bill through.
Senator Puller’s resolution authorizing the U.S. 1 Transit Study was unanimously adopted by the House of Delegates last week. Both Secretary Connaughton and the Director of Rail and Public Transit, Thelma Drake, have assured both myself and Senator Puller that they will move forward on the study with available funding. This is the first step in the process of laying the groundwork for an enhanced U.S. 1 transportation infrastructure.
We also passed a budget on a unanimous vote for the first time in anyone’s memory. Both sides made significant sacrifices to reach a budget that was mutually agreeable. During the budget floor debates, House Democrats were unified in saying that “transportation is important, but it’s wrong to take money from children, seniors, education, health care or public safety to pay for roads.” House Republicans heard our message and more than $117 million previously budgeted for roads are now dedicated to funding our schools, police, and mental health services including an additional $4.1 million in education funding for Fairfax County above the Governor’s proposal.
Around the Commonwealth, brave men and women put their lives on the line every day to protect our safety. Sheriffs will receive an additional $22.6 million over the biennium in the adopted budget. An additional $12.4 million is allocated for police through HB 599 funding. We must fulfill our responsibility to children from low-income families by funding the medical services they need. The adopted budget restores $12.5 million in children’s mental health services and provides $3.1 million for a pilot program aimed at managing the care of children in need of community mental health services.
We cannot turn our backs on our seniors when they need us the most. The original proposal to cap personal care services at 40 hours per week was draconian. The adopted budget caps personal care services at 56 hours per week and requires the development of criteria for exceptions to this cap including the level of care, activities of daily living and risk of institutionalization.
To move our intellectually disabled and developmentally disabled citizens from trainings centers to community based care, we established a trust fund of $30 million. This funding begins to address the serious flaws in the treatment of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the Commonwealth as identified by the Department of Justice.
We also passed a significant piece of transportation legislation. Three weeks ago I set out the reasons I opposed the legislation. Several of my concerns were addressed with the compromise legislation, but I still have significant concerns. I ultimately voted “yes” for the final transportation bill, but I want to emphasize that it is a very minor step and does very little to solve our transportation problem beyond 2011.
We are back in Richmond on April 4 for our special session on redistricting and the Reconvened or “Veto” Session. My next columns will discuss the redistricting process and changes that we have seen in our community since the last census, the new transportation legislation, and the other bills we passed this session.
I have also posted a summary of some of the more important votes along with my votes and a more detailed summary of the budget on my blog at scottsurovell.blogspot.com. I will also post my entire voting record on my blog once I have received it. I have also posted over 16 floor speeches and 180 articles in the last fifteen months containing my analysis on the issues facing the General Assembly and our community. You can also email me at scottsurovell@gmail.com if you have any feedback.
It is an honor to serve as your state delegate.
The following column appeared in the Mount Vernon Gazette, Mount Vernon Voice, and Patch.com on February 25, 2011:This session of the General Assembly will end soon and we have a full plate this last week. We will vote on the deregulation of consumer telephone service, revisions to the Governor’s Transportation Plan, the expansion of car title
lending, the strengthening community-based care for developmentally disabled adults, changes to the state retirement plan, loosening advertising restrictions on liquor, the appointment of two Supreme Court Justices and we have a big budget battle looming.Here is an update. Senator Toddy Puller and I are very close to passing a resolution to authorize the U.S. 1 Transit Study. It cleared the Senate and two House committees unanimously and will be before the House of Delegates for a vote on February 22. There is also language in the Senate budget to lock in funding for the study. Senator Puller and I are also working with the Governor Bob McDonnell and his administration to ensure that the language is included the final budget, and they have been extremely helpful.
My legislation to close a DUI (driving under the influence) loophole clarifying that Commonwealth Attorneys are allowed to participate in first offense refusal prosecutions passed the House and Senate unanimously and is waiting signature by the Governor. If this bill becomes law, prosecutors will be able to prosecute both the DUI and the Refusal charge.
Both the House and Senate approved my bill to correct a typo in the school bus passing statute. I asked the Senate to add an emergency clause after the Fairfax County Police reported that school bus passing incidents are up and that four children have been struck this year en route to school. The Senate agreed and that bill is also awaiting the Governor’s signature.
The House has passed two bills that Delegate Mark Keam introduced for me due to individual member filing limits. One would exempt computer forensic services from private investigator licensing as recommended by the American Bar Association. Ambiguity in the law has created unnecessary litigation in Virginia divorces and criminal cases. The second bill would facilitate the prosecution of unlicensed contractors by clarifying that violations of Fairfax County ordinances are subject to the same statute of limitations as violations in state law.
I also introduced a bill to authorize the licensing of home energy auditors. Licensing will help ensure that auditors have a minimum level of training and help consumers understand the minimum services to be provided in an audit. Even though my bill was supported by Governor McDonnell, a House committee tabled it. However, I am working with a Republican Senator, Frank Wagner, from Virginia Beach and he conformed his bill in the Senate to mine. The Senate passed that legislation unanimously, and it has passed two House of Delegates’ committees. It will go to the Governor this week if it is passed by the House.
Five of my bills were tabled to either be studied over the summer or introduced next year after further consideration by the Administration. Here is a short summary of
those bills:
- Requires that seats on the Commonwealth Transportation Board be allocated by current population instead of 1930 population numbers.
- Requires that all committee and subcommittee meetings be digitally
recorded and put on the internet.
- Authorizes a system to reward individuals who disclose or “whistle blow” on tax cheats, paralleling an existing federal program.
- Streamlines paperwork and filings in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts.
- Directs the Department of Social Services to study ways to enhance child care subsidies.
- Prohibits gifts and political contributions to local government officials and
employees while employees are considering government contracts or procurements.
I appreciate all of the feedback you have given me during this session, including the 730 survey responses you returned. Please continue to send me your ideas and views. Some of my best ideas come from the people of the 44th District. You can learn more about my work on your behalf on my blog – The Dixie Pig (scottsurovell.blogspot.com).
It is an honor to serve as your state Delegate and I hope to see you soon around the community.
Last week, my 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid, Manual 5-speed cleared 100,000 miles and it got me to thinking about the economics of buying my car.All-in-all, I'm feeling pretty good about my purchase.
