Weekly Column: Examining and Correcting School Funding Formulas

The following is my column that will appear in this week's Mt. Vernon Gazette in the week of July 25, 2023.  

 Examining and Correcting School Funding Formulas

            The underfunding of Virginia’s public schools recently made headlines, when a new study concluded that Virginia’s K-12 education system receives 14 percent less funding that the average system in America even though Virginia has the 10^th highest median family income.  This independent analysis collides with Governor Youngkin’s persistent call for more tax cuts.

            This year, the state legislature should be adopting budget amendments to reflect adjusted revenues, but we have been unable to agree because of the Governor’s insistence on more tax cuts. Cutting taxes means less revenue for state responsibilities like education and mental health.   

             As someone whose 20 years of education were subsidized by Virginia taxpayers from kindergarten through law school, I fully appreciate the importance of robust investments in public education. 

Weekly Column: Budgeting Is a Careful Balancing Act

The following is my column that will appear in this week's Mt. Vernon Gazette in the first week of January in 2023.   

Budgeting Is a Careful Balancing Act

                 In December, Governor Youngkin proposed amendments to the state’s two-year budget.  While he did include some laudable proposals, he also continued to promote some unacceptable strategies.

               Virginia’s revenue picture continues to be very positive, but many of our advisors have indicated that our revenue gains could be ephemeral.  First, inflation continues to be up and when things cost more, people spend more and employers give raises to keep up with inflation.  Since Virginia’s General Fund is largely funded by sales and income taxes, our revenues are up compared to some past years.

Weekly Column: Historic Investment In K-12 Education

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 June 7, 2022.

                Last week, I wrote about some of the local effects of the bipartisan budget agreement that we sent to the Governor last week.  This week I will write about some of the broader issues addressed in the budget.

               First, I was not pleased with the tax cuts which I believe are short-sighted.  The budget contains several other priorities I do not support such as a new $100 million “college laboratory school” program and new funds for school resource officers, but bipartisanship requires compromise.   

Weekly Column: Senate and House Set Up Fight Over $3 Billion Tax Cut

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 28, 2022.

Senate and House Set Up Fight Over $3 Billion Tax Cut  

               In the sixth week of the General Assembly Session each chamber offered their proposed budgets.  Each chamber’s budget is very different.

               First, I was able to secure several changes to the budget that are important to our community.  The Senate Finance Committee included $10 million in the budget to fund the Phase II improvements at Widewater State Park.  Phase II will include a new visitor center, new trails, a loop road, parking areas, and picnic areas.  I have been fighting for this for five years and I am working with Delegate Candi King and Delegate Tara Durant to ensure the House of Delegates will agree to fund it.

Weekly Column: Major Bills of the 2021 Session

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 March 24, 2021.

                 Last week, I wrote about the legislation I carried in the 2021 Session.  In this column, I focus on other major bills that were considered.

                Marijuana legalization consumed a huge amount of work this session.  Governor Northam put together a work group that proposed a 13,000-line, 264-page bill that was very comprehensive and carried by Senator Adam Ebbin.  However, it became clear very early in the session that it was going to be very difficult to consider all of the details and much of the bill was carried over.

                We have many issues to work out.  Specifically, there were concerns about how much cross-ownership to allow between growers, manufacturers and retailers or whether to allow licensees in our medical markets to participate in retail markets or whether to allow hemp growers to also grow marijuana.  We need to consider whether or how to allow people to grow marijuana in their homes.  We also need to discuss creating a licensing structure which allows all communities to grow wealth and share in the profits and not just well capitalized companies.

Weekly Column: Good News & Bad News in Governor's Amendments

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 April 12, 2020.

Good News & Bad News in Governor's Amendments

                On Sunday, Governor Northam signed the remaining bills that were pending for action, proposed 140 amendments to the state budget, and also 101 amendments to bills.   As of today, the plan is for the House of Delegates to meet outdoors and the Senate of Virginia to meet in a tent behind the Virginia Science Museum in Richmond next Wednesday at noon for our “Veto Session.” 

                First, the good news for our area.  The language requiring the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transit to study extending the Blue Line to Lorton, Woodbridge and Potomac Mills is still in the budget.  In addition, the authority and appropriations to fund the Prince William County Public Defender’s Office is still in the budget and cannot be amended further at this point.

Weekly Column: State Legislature Must Make Tough Decisions

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 April 5, 2020.

State Legislature Must Make Tough Decisions

Instead of reporting on the accomplishments of the General Assembly’s 2020 session, in recent weeks I have chosen to provide information about the COVID-19 crisis and its impacts.  The worldwide coronavirus pandemic is likely to change much of what state legislators passed earlier this year.  Many measures are in limbo, especially the state’s budget.  The legislature will reconvene on April 22 to consider budget changes and vetoes that Governor Ralph Northam may propose. 

This week, Governor Northam announced that he is putting all new spending in the state’s new two-year budget on hold.  Therefore, it appears that when we reconvene, we will consider proposed amendments to implement his proposals, pending economic analyses, projections and decisions on how the state can use the $3 billion in federal stimulus dollars.

Weekly Column: COVID-19 and Our New State Budget

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 March 15, 2020.

COVID-19 and our New State Budget

               On Thursday, we passed the Senate Budget and nearly as soon as it was passed, the Corona-19 Virus situation exploded.  While this virus crisis is unprecedented, our budget was well-structured and balanced as required by our constitution, and we are prepared for a recession.

               Virginia has its largest cash reserves in the history of the Commonwealth – over $2 billion.  We have been building this reserve both because of constitutionally required deposits to our Revenue Reserve or “Rainy Day” Fund, but also because analysts have been warning us about a likely recession for years even though until last week, we were in the longest economic expansion in American history.

               Our outside bond rating agencies have been warning us that much of American economic growth has been generated by government stimulus versus underlying solid economic fundamentals.  For example, the Trump Tax cuts from 2017 and additional federal government spending accounted for about 1.1% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product over the last three years.  Some of Virginia’s productivity was generated by the $1 billion annually invested through Medicaid Expansion.

Weekly Column: Northern Virginia’s Public Schools Are Not “Fully Funded”

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 April 29, 2019.

Northern Virginia’s Public Schools Are Not “Fully Funded”

As election year heats up, some candidates use terms like “fully funded” schools.  Here’s my perspective on the subject.   

First, Virginia’s median family income is ninth in the United States.  It is largely driven by Northern Virginia counties: Fairfax County (3^rd - $106,690), Stafford County (5^th - $95,927), and Prince William County (6^th – $93,011).  Fairfax, Stafford and Prince William Counties rank in the top 1% of all American jurisdictions - 3^rd, 19^th and 20^th in the entire USA.  

However, per pupil investment in elementary-secondary education ranks orders of magnitude lower.  Virginia is 22^nd in the country in per pupil spending, averaging around $11,432.  Arlington County leads Virginia at $19,348 per student even with a lower median income than Fairfax County.  Fairfax County “fully funds” FCPS by spending 21% less than Arlington or $15,293 per student, Prince William spends $12,427 and Stafford spends $11,319.  

Weekly Column: 2019 State Budget Misses Opportunities

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 March 19, 2019.

The 2019 General Assembly session adjourned on February 24 after a few hiccups.  Two weeks ago, I discussed the legislation that I passed.  In this column, I will explain various budget actions we took. 

First, unlike the Federal Government, our budget is balanced as required by the Constitution of Virginia. Next, the General Assembly needed to address modifications to our tax code to bring it up to speed with changes made by Congress with the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2018.  This is usually labelled “conformity.”  “Straight conformity” would cause an additional $600 million of state revenue largely due to the interplay between the new increased federal standard deduction and the $10,000 cap on state and local taxes and mortgage interest (“SALT”).  

Weekly Column: Setting Budget Priorities

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Connection, and Potomac Local in the week of July 15, 2018.

Setting Budget Priorities

Last week, Governor Ralph Northam announced that Virginia finished the fiscal year with  $551.9 million more in revenue that we projected when writing this year’s budget. 

First, the good news is that most of this surplus is due to increased tax revenue from payroll withholding taxes, not one-time revenue sources like capital gains or tax avoidance strategies related to the recent changes in federal tax laws.  The Virginia economy has truly started to perform again. 

However, it is important to keep these numbers in context.  The state’s General Fund has been under significant stress over the decade since the Great Recession and automatic federal spending cuts caused by a process called a “sequester.”  In the nine years I have served in the General Assembly, this is the second fiscal year that the Commonwealth has experienced revenue growth equal to or greater than the historical average.

Weekly Column: Historic Budget Supports Health Care, Teachers, Police and More

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Connection, and Potomac Local in the week of June 3, 2018.

Historic Budget Supports Health Care, Teachers, Police and More

                Last week, the Virginia legislature, with my support, took several major steps forward. First, we agreed to expand Medicaid, health insurance for disabled and low-income Americans, so that now, over 36,000 people in the 36^th Senate District receive their health care from Medicaid.  This includes over 24,000 children, children whose parents now have no health care.  Starting January 1, 2019, that will change.                  

                Medicaid expansion will provide health care to between 300,000 and 400,000 Virginians and create 30,000 new jobs, many of which will be right here in eastern Fairfax, Prince William and Stafford Counties.  It will also save taxpayers $180,000,000 every two years by shifting charity care at state teaching hospitals and prison health care to Medicaid.  All of us pay for uninsured people who must resort to costly hospital emergency rooms for their care.  Providing Medicaid coverage can help people avoid hospital emergency rooms for non-emergency care and will help limit insurance premium increases.

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: Progress on Predatory Lending, Fracking, 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 February 6, 2018.

Progress on Predatory Lending, Fracking, and Education Equity 

The third week of the General Assembly brought action on about two dozen of my bills.

First, my two remaining bills to address education equity were unanimously recommended by the Education Subcommittee.  The first bill prohibits localities from requiring children to use “electronic textbooks” without providing students with devices to use such “books” at home.  Many children in the U.S. 1 Corridor do not have computers or broadband at home and our schools should not mandate electronic learning without providing devices.

Weekly Column: Progress on Transportation Safety and Criminal Justice Reform

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 22, 2018.

Progress on Transportation Safety and Criminal Justice Reform

The General Assembly acted on several of my bills last week, the first full week of the session.

Two of my bills passed this week.  First, my bill to expand the types of abuse proceedings in which children can testify by video connection passed unanimously.  Also, the Senate passed my legislation raising Virginia’s threshold between misdemeanors and felonies to $500 after it was combined with other members’ bills.  Virginia’s felony threshold is the lowest in the United States, has not changed since 1980, wastes taxpayer dollars and unnecessarily turns many into felons.  Only two senators voted against the bill and it now heads to the House of Delegates.  

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.

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.

Eastern Fairfax County Largely Missing from TJ

Since it opened when I was a freshman at West Potomac H.S., Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology has achieved much academic acclaim by skimming off students from around Northern Virginia.  The success has also attracted corporate grants and additional funding that other schools - especially schools in Eastern Fairfax County - can only dream about obtaining. 

The new admission statistics for Thomas Jefferson High School's Class of 2020 are out and it appears to be more of the same.  The full stats are below, but here are the highlights:

Weekly Column: Senator Surovell Previews 2017 Legislative Agenda

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 10, 2017.

On Wednesday, January 11, the 2017 Session of the General Assembly Session will gavel in for a 45-day “short” session.  I am looking forward to a very busy six weeks and would like to update you on my plans for session.  I am introducing nearly 40 bills, but here are a few highlights.

First, lagging state revenues continue to limit legislative initiatives and create funding priorities.  The Virginia State Police is hemorrhaging Troopers due to lagging pay and a planned two percent raise for teachers and state employees was delayed after anticipated revenues fell short.  They will be a priority this year.

My number one legislative priority will be prohibiting drivers from having mobile phones in their hands while driving.  Between January 1 and July 1 of 2016, traffic fatalities in the United States were up by 10% - for the first time in 50 years.  Most experts attribute this to distracted driving.  Anyone driving our roads only has to look at the vehicle next to them to realize this is a problem that requires attention.

Weekly Column: Vote “Yes” for FCPS Teachers' Salaries

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Gazette, and The Mt. Vernon Voice in the week of October 20, 2016.

Vote “Yes” for FCPS Teachers' Salaries

When you vote on Tuesday, November 8, Fairfax County voters can vote for our schools by voting to allow a four percent tax on prepared restaurant meals.  Of the revenue generated by the tax, 70 percent is required to be dedicated to public schools and 30 percent to other county services, capital improvements and property tax relief.

I support a meals tax because we need to strengthen our schools.  Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) are suffering from underfunding.  While state funds have increased by over 50 percent since the 2009 Great Recession, local funds, which represent 80 percent of our school system's budget, have risen only 20 percent and lagged investments made in Arlington and Alexandria.