Weekly Column: Battling the Coronavirus - Efforts Must Be Expanded

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 May 11, 2020.

Battling the Coronavirus - Efforts Must Be Expanded

It has been four months since the Centers for Disease Control confirmed the first case of coronavirus disease, called COVID-19, in the United States.  As of May 11, over 800 Virginians have died, 3,200 hospitalized and over 25,000 Virginians have tested positive for this virus.  Only about 1.7% of Virginians or 147,000 have been tested.  Our hospitalization rate has continued to climb with over 1,500 people currently in the hospital.  The rate of infection has slowed, but this virus has hit our community very unevenly.

                While nearly every Virginia locality has seen infections, infections have mostly been concentrated.  While Northern Virginia has the highest raw number of infections, outbreaks on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, Shenandoah Valley and Northern Neck are proportionally more severe than they are here.  Several of our prisons, local jails and juvenile detention facilities have experienced outbreaks and four inmates being held for non-violent offenses have died. 

Disproportionate Impacts

                The Hispanic community has been disproportionately, adversely affected. Neighborhood Health operates a clinic on U.S. 1 on Beacon Hill.  Although only 50% of their patients are Latino, 90% of their positive tests have been Latinos and 74% of those tested lack health insurance.  The Northern Virginia zip codes with the highest concentrations of positive tests also have largest numbers of Latino residents including the U.S. 1 Corridor, Manassas, Herndon, and Bailey’s Crossroads.  

Weekly Column: Serving During the Pandemic

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 27, 2020.

Serving during the Pandemic

 Last week, the General Assembly returned to Richmond for what was probably one of the most unusual sessions we will ever have.   We convened for one day to consider the Governor’s vetoes of and amendments to the bills and budget we passed earlier in the year.

                The Senate met in the Virginia Science Museum.  The House of Delegates met in a tent on the Virginia State Capitol lawn.  Men did not wear ties because we were told they are germ magnets.  The Senate clerk gave all Senators masks and gloves.  I wore a bandana mask and a bolo made with a Virginia quarter that I bought for the occasion. 

Each Senator sat at tables 10 feet apart in order of seniority which put me in about the middle of the room.  Senator George Barker sat in a plexiglass box due to recent heart surgery.  The clerk provided box lunches and we were prohibited from touching the drink cooler.  We caucused in outdoor tents with chairs scattered six feet apart. The whole day was surreal.

Informacion de COVID-19 En Espanol

Informacion de Law Preguntas para Los Empleados

Las Preguntas Mas Frecuente... by Scott A. Surovell on Scribd

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: Stay At Home!

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 29, 2020.

Stay At Home!

                The last two weeks brought us two executive orders and one consistent message from our Governor – Stay.  At.  Home.

Last week, Governor Northam issued an order extending school closures, closing all entertainment and personal care venues and businesses, and restricting access at certain non-essential businesses.  This Monday, the Governor further restricted public gatherings after Virginians continued to appear in large groups at the beaches and a few restaurants.  

It is important to understand that this disease can be transmitted before carriers develop symptoms.  It also appears to transmit without physical contact.  The majority of individuals diagnosed with this virus are under age 50.  While people under 50 tend to be less at risk for death, if one person under 50 infects 20 other people, the chain of transmission ultimately results in more deaths.  Continuing to socialize with others is incredibly selfish.

2020 36th District Paving Maps

VDOT will repave over 100 lane miles in the 36th District portions of eastern Fairfax, Prince William, and Stafford Counties this summer. The entire map of roadwork for the 2020 summer paving season can be viewed at http://bit.ly/VDOTPaving2020.

This work is only made possible by tax increases passed in the 2013 transportation bill - HB2313. I voted for the 2013 transportation bill as a State Delegate after a significant reduction of the Hybrid Tax. Though it was not perfect, the 2013 bill provided the revenues necessary to restart road maintenance that had been put on hold for two years.  We had not raised transportation taxes in 28 years and we are continuing to dig out of the maintenance backlog. Re-paving these streets is long overdue.

In Virginia, all public roads are owned and maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).  Our local governments play no role in road maintenance.

Several of the affected neighborhoods in the 36th District are Villamay, Wellington, Marumsco, Woodbridge, Colby Drive, Spriggs Road and Widewater. Maps by neighborhood can be seen below.

Rippon-area paving scheduled for 2020

Mt. Vernon paving scheduled for 2020

Widewater paving scheduled for 2020

Montclair paving scheduled for 2020

Occoquan/Lakeridge Paving Scheduled for 2020

Weekly Column: Virginia's Actions To Address the COVID-19 Crisis

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 22, 2020.

               This week, I  had planned to write about some of the major bills that we  passed in the 2020 session of the General Assembly, but in light of the coronavirus risk and its impacts, I decided that updating the community on the Commonwealth’s responses is a priority.  Here is where things stand as of Sunday, March 22. Please keep in mind this will be published later and things change daily.

            Multiple websites offer guidance and updates on the coronavirus and how to address it.  The state’s website is vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus and I post daily updates on my blog, scottsurovell.blogspot.com.

                I have spent most of the entire week home with my family like many other people.  My law firm decided to remain open with a skeleton crew, four people versus 30 in the office every day, until further notice.  I had my shift on Friday.  Otherwise, I worked on my constituents’ problems and my legal responsibilities from home and had some quality family time.   

COVID-19 Public Schools Meals Distribution in 36th District

All of our local school systems are distributing meals to children during the school shutdown.  There are over a dozen sites in the 36th District.  

Here are how you find the locations in Fairfax, Prince William and Stafford County:

Fairfax County Public Schools Meal Sites 

Fairfax County Bus Route Meal Service

Prince William County Public Schools Meal Sites

Stafford County Public Schools Meal Sites

Please let us know if you have any problems or require any further information.   

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: The 2020 General Assembly: 39 Surovell Bills Passed

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 8, 2020.

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.

Weekly Column: One Week To Go!

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 1, 2020.

The second-to-last week of the General Assembly was very busy with many long sessions including one night where we were on the floor until after 1:00 a.m.

Two major firearms bills were sent to the Governor last week.  First, my legislation to authorize local governments to regulate firearms passed both chambers and is off to the Governor.  The bill will allow localities to regulate firearms in public buildings like government centers, police stations, libraries, community and recreation centers.  It will also allow regulation of parks and publicly permitted events such as farmer’s markets.

Localities have been requesting this authority for well over a decade and was further underscored after the shooting that occurred during the Charlottesville Unite the Right March and firearms rights activists open carrying AR-15’s at the City of Alexandria Farmer’s Market.  All entrances where firearms are restricted will be required to be marked with signage so that people will not be caught off guard.