Week Four: Bills Moving in Richmond & Retail Marijuana Under Discussion

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 1, 2022.

Week Four:  Bills Moving in Richmond & Retail Marijuana Under Discussion

In the fourth week of the General Assembly’s session, several of my 27 bills advanced.

The Senate passed my resolution to create a two-year study between the House and Senate to evaluate the state’s COVID-19 pandemic response.   If adopted by the House of Delegates, this will be a major, two-year evaluation with recommendations about lessons learned.

One of my bills would place our projected $1 billion surplus from the Virginia 529 Plan into an endowment fund to create 2,000 full-ride scholarships for female and minority students who would have been denied admission to Virginia universities before 1900 because of gender and race-based discrimination practices.  I asked that the bill be tabled and referred to an ongoing study about the surplus.  Various Senate committees have favorably acted on all of my other bills so far.  

Weekly Column: Named Chairman of Two Subcommittees & Bills Are Moving

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 1, 2022.

Named Chairman of Two Subcommittees & Bills Are Moving

    In the state legislature’s third week in session, the Senate passed and sent to the House of Delegates five of my bill and many of my other bills advanced.

    First, I was named the Chairman of two different subcommittees.  The Senate Commerce & Labor Committee Chairman created a Labor & Employment Subcommittee which I will chair and consider 11 bills focused on workforce issues.  I was also named the Chairman of the Criminal Law Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee which will consider 19 bills addressing criminal justice issues. 

Opposing Names Changes to Mt. Vernon District and Hollin Hall Precinct

Senator Scott Surovell sent the letter below to the Fairfax County Redistricting Committee which is considering changes to the names of the Mount Vernon Magisterial District and Hollin Hall Precinct.

The Fairfax County Redistricting Committee is meeting on Tuesday, February 1, 2022 from 6-8 pm to consider their recommendations.

Senator Surovell Opposes Mount Vernon Name Change Letter by Scott A. Surovell on Scribd

Weekly Column: Week #2: A New Governor, Bills Moving & Budget Amendments For SD36

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 24, 2022.

Week #2: A New Governor, Bills Moving & Budget Amendments For SD36 

In the second week of this year’s General Assembly, Governor Youngkin gave his State of the Commonwealth speech to a joint session of the House of Delegates and Senate and we began serious work on over 2,000 bills. 

               While I was pleased that Governor Youngkin said he wants all Virginians to get vaccinated for COVID-19, supports a Chesapeake Bay cleanup and ending raw sewage discharges into the James River, he also advocated for many policies that many people of the 36^th Senate District do not support, policies like charter schools and funding cuts to schools and our transportation. 

Senate committees advanced several of my bills recently. 

Weekly Column: A New Day in Richmond and Many Challenges

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 15, 2021.

A New Day in Richmond and Many Challenges

               As the Virginia General Assembly begins its 2022 session, my 13^th, I look forward to working with Governor Glenn Youngkin, the new House of Delegates leadership and other legislators to reach a consensus on the best direction for our state.

              While I did not support them, I attended Governor Youngkin’s inauguration and  swearing in, along with the swearing in of Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears and Attorney General Jason Miyares.

Budgets Reflect Priorities

               No matter what happens with other bills, one thing we are required to accomplish this session is to pass a budget.  Thanks to federal pandemic funds, Virginia has significant excess revenues in our two-year budget cycle that ends on June 30, 2022.  A little over half of those revenues will be appropriated to the “Rainy Day Fund” and to mandatory water quality improvement. 

Winter Storm Watch: What you need to know

UPDATE: 8:00 AM, 1/17/2022

VDOT Update

There is no longer a Winter Weather advisory in effect, however continue to proceed with caution.

• Crews continue to treat roads for icy spots. Treat anything that looks wet as if it could be ice, especially bridges and overpasses. If there is snow or ice on roadways, travel is hazardous.

• Continue to avoid or delay trips if possible to give trucks room to work and treat icy areas. Temperatures will remain around freezing most of the day, causing potential icy conditions especially on ramps, bridges, overpasses and other elevated surfaces.

Winter Storm Warning: What you need to know

UPDATE: 11:00 PM, 1/6/22

VDOT, VA Dept. Of Emergency Management, Natl. Weather Service Update

VDOT and other agencies provided an update earlier today on the storm moving through the Commonwealth tonight. Here are a few highlights:

• There's a 10-40% chance that Fairfax and PWC get 6+ inches
• This is going to be a very cold and gusty event which means there will be snow drifting and piling up but it won't be heavy so hopefully not as many trees down.
• Snow will be over by 8 am tomorrow morning.
• Interstate system is clear of snow now. Primary roads are between clear and minor blockages. Secondary streets are mostly clear or moderately snowy. Fredericksburg still has some severely blocked roads.
• We have over 1 million cubic yards of debris down on the roads hampering recovery effort. NoVA has over 200,000 cubic yards - mostly trees. The big ice storm last year only produced 500,000 statewide.
• VDOT is working to clear trees tangled in power lines and coordinating with power companies.
• This storm tomorrow is going to be different from Monday's. It's going to start as snow which means VDOT can pre-treat roads this time. All interstates are pre-treated. Most arterials are, too. 
• Pavement temps are above freezing so we shouldn't see as much ice at the outset.

School Closures

Fairfax County School buildings will be closed tomorrow with no virtual learning.

Click Here For Fairfax School Closures

Prince William County Schools are closed Code Green.

Click Here for PWCS School Closures

UPDATE: 10 PM, 1/5/22

VDOT Update

VDOT crews are ready for snowfall and wintry precipitation forecast across northern Virginia tomorrow evening.

As always, residents are asked to track the latest forecasts, plan ahead to avoid nonessential travel during winter weather, and to be aware of the potential for black ice and nightly refreeze as temperatures remain low.

Weekly Column: Redistricting Process Should Involve 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 November 16, 2021.

 Redistricting Process Should Involve the Public

                Last week, I reported on the status of the state legislative and congressional redistricting process which has now moved to the Supreme Court of Virginia because the Virginia Redistricting Commission failed to adopt maps. 

                On Friday, the Supreme Court effectively disqualified all three Republican nominees to serve as special master over the redistricting process because of their conflicts of interest and partisan ties.  Specifically, the Court noted that the Republican Caucuses had not advised the Court that one nominee had received a $20,000 payment from the Senate Republican Caucus two months ago and had an express conflict.  The other two nominees were unsuitable as well.  A second nominee received $5,000 per month from the Republican National Committee.  The third Republican nominee has participated in putting together some of the most notorious, court-rejected and illegal racial gerrymanders in American history and lacked credibility according to a federal judge.

                The Court ordered the Republican Caucuses to submit three new nominees by November 17.  One Democratic nominee indicated he did not want to serve in this process so the Court ordered the Democrats to submit an additional name. 

Thoughts on 2021 Election

    Last night's election results were not what I hoped to see, but the voters have spoken and we now have a new political reality to navigate over the next four years.  We saw the highest turnout for a Virginia Governor's election in a long time and that was a good thing.  Many voters took advantage of the new laws we passed in the last two years making it easier to vote and I hope every agrees that democracy works better when more people participate. 

    Voters in the 36th District voted for the Democratic Ticket by over 20% margin - probably closer to 25% if early votes were counted by precinct.  Only 4 of the 47 precincts I represent voted for the Republican gubernatorial nominee and if early votes were returned to their precincts, probably closers to two.  The Republican message did not resonate with a majority of 36th District voters or for that matter Northern Virginia.

Supporting transit options in Prince William County

The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) released a draft final report Executive Summary of its Springfield to Quantico Enhanced Public Transportation Feasibility Study.

DRPT is evaluating:

- Metro Expansion in Fairfax County and Prince William County

- Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) 

- Express Buses

- Enhanced VRE 

Weekly Column: State Legislature Decides on Funds, Addresses Needs

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 August 13, 2021.

State Legislature Decides on Funds, Addresses Needs

On August 10, the General Assembly completed work in a special session to appropriate federal pandemic funds and elect judges. 

In March, President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).  ARPA brought $4.3 billion in unexpected funds to Virginia but required it to be invested in specific areas such as water, sewer and broadband infrastructure to respond to the COVID-19 emergency, address pandemic impacts and provide government services suffering from revenue reductions because of the pandemic.  Unlike other counties, Fairfax County received $222 million in direct ARPA funding with similar requirements. 

Letter to Constituents - 2021 Session

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: