Weekly Column: Partisan Games on Healthcare Hurt Mt. Vernon-Lee Community

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, the Mt. Vernon Voice and Patch in the week of July 12, 2012.

Partisan Games on Healthcare Hurt Mt. Vernon-Lee Community

Everyone deserves the security of good healthcare and reliable insurance. Americans have chosen a mixed system of public and private health insurance. We have Medicare for the elderly, military health care for our active duty and veterans, and Medicaid, a federal-state program that insures many disabled, low-income, and elderly people, especially people needing long-term care.

The political delay games currently being played in Richmond will hit our community harder than any other part of Northern Virginia. In the 44th Delegate District with 80,796 residents, the 44th District is tied for the highest percentage of Medicaid beneficiaries in the County at 15%. One in seven people in the 44th District presently receive their health insurance from Medicaid.

Little Hunting Creek Trash Flows On

This weekend I heard a report of new shopping carts in Little Hunting Creek only a month after we cleaned out most of them.  So I dropped by this morning to check things out.  Here's a picture I took. 

If you click to enlarge the pictures, you can make out the detail much better.

The battle goes on I guess.

Weekly Column: Five Lessons from the Derecho of 2012

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, the Mt. Vernon Voice and Patch in the week of July 2, 2012

Five Lessons From The Derecho of 2012


The storm of June 29, 2012 will go down as one of the more memorable moments of Mother Nature in the Lee-Mount Vernon Area. I pulled into my drive way around 9:30 p.m. while listening to WTOP. There was no mention of a pending storm. Within an hour, the trees in my yard were wildly swinging around. After we lost power and my natural gas generator didn’t automatically come on, I ventured outside to turn it on manually and the battery exploded. Lesson #1 – Stay inside the house during a Derecho.

While everyone in the 44th District will probably not be fully restored by the time this newspaper is delivered, substantial progress has been made on restoration of service. If you continue to have difficulty getting service restored, please contact my office at 571.249.44TH(4484) and we will do our best to get you assistance.

UPDATED 7/3/12 1:30 PM: NOVA Power Outage Information - 6/29/12-7/3/12

As of midnight, there are currently over 450,000 households without power in the Northern Virginia Area and widespread power outtages in the 44th District (including your state delegate's house).  This is over one-half of all households in Northern Virginia.

If you have a power outtage, please report it to Dominion and sit tight. 
You can reach them and view up to the minute outage information on the links below.

New Laws Effective Today - 7/1/12

Here is a sample of some new laws that are going into affect today:

• Mandatory ultrasound within 48 hours of an abortion (transvaginal requires consent).
• Families of fifth grade girls will no longer be offered vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV) which prevents cervical cancer
• Identification required to vote (pending DOJ approval)
• Virginians can now sue if someone negligently injures their fetus (e.g. in a car accident)
• Adoption agencies are allowed to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, race or religion
• Taxpayers may donate to foundations that support private schools and take a 100%/dollar-for-dollar credit against their taxes.  Donations to other needy charities still get only a regular deduction.
• Virginians can now buy more than one handgun per month or more than twelve handguns per year
• Virginians employed by local governments can now keep their guns in their cars on local government property
• Electricity generated by pig waste now gets the same credit as wind and solar under Virginia's renewable energy standards
• Ignition Interlock Devices required for restricted license after convictions of driving while intoxicated
• Must pay sales taxes on all purchases from Amazon.com (actually effective 9/1/13, but is a law without further action starting 7/1/12)

Not many of my constitutents would consider any of the foregoing priorities (the last two are debatable). 

Needless to say, we have made zero progress on transportation funding.  Schools are still funded below 2007 levels.  We are not in compliance with federal health insurance reform because we have not raised our Medicaid eligibility or set up a state healthcare exchange.

Hopefully, we will do better in the 2013 Session.

The Chief Justice Threads the Needle

This morning, I fully expected the Supreme Court to throw out the individual mandate and uphold the remainder of the Federal health insurance reform act. Turned out I was totally wrong and I also have a whole new level of respect for Chief Justice John Roberts.

The introduction to the 193-page opinion in NFIB v. Sebelius is an interesting mix of constitutional and political theory. I cannot remember the last time I remember an opinion that leads off with six pages of discussions about Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers, Chief Justice John Marshall, and early Supreme Court cases such as McCullough v. Maryland.

What is clear to me is that Chief Justice John Roberts took this moment to write this opinion not only due to the policy implications of healthcare reform, but (1) because of his concern that this case had the potential to dangerously blur the lines between the political and judicial branches of our government (like Bush v. Gore) (2) this case presented questions that go to some very fundamental powers of the federal government, and (3) this case also presented fundamental questions about the interplay between federal and state government.  It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity make a mark as a jurist in an historical way.

Where I Stand Today On Widening of U.S. 1

I've now posted up a couple articles about the background of the widening of U.S. 1, Woodlawn and Woodlawn Stables.  You can read them here:

The Dixie Pig: Public Discourse of Widending U.S. 1

The Dixie Pig: Some Historical Context on Woodlawn

From my point of view, this is a balancing act.  Here are some of the variables I've been thinking about balancing in arriving at my position:

• The need to expand U.S. 1 to handle present and future transportation needs including enhanced mass transit.
• The community's interest in promoting economic development in the U.S. 1 corridor including the promotion of our community's historic assets such as U.S. 1 itself, the Mount Vernon Estate, The Grist Mill/Distillery Complex, Woodlawn Mansion, Gunston Hall, and coming soon, the U.S. Army Museum.
• Minimizing the impact of improvements on existing community institutions such as Woodlawn Baptist Church, Woodlawn Stables and the Woodlawn Estate.
• Ensuring this is achieved in a timely manner without undue delay that could jeopardize funding.

It's also important to keep a long-term perspective about these matters. The configuration for U.S. 1 will be in place for generations and potentially in perpetuity. According to most maps, the road has been in its current location since it was originally constructed and then widened for four lanes in the 1930's.

Comment on the Widening of U.S. 1

The widening of U.S. 1 is going to be one of the most significant public infrastructure projects in the Mount Vernon-Lee Area over the next ten years.  It is critically important that we get this right.

I would strongly encourage all of my constituents and persons with an interest in the improvement of U.S. 1 to consider providing public comment.  Here are some resources you may want to consider:

FHWA Public Comment Information Sheet
FHWA Environmental Assessment Status Summary and InfomationFHWA Public Meeting Boards from June 5, 2012 Public Hearing

I have also written some articles regarding my perspective on the issue that also contain letters that have been exchanged by various parties and other information provided through this process:

The Dixie Pig: Some Historical Context on Woodlawn (June 18, 2012)

The Dixie Pig: Public Discourse on Widening U.S. 1 (June 23, 2012)
The Diixie Pig: Where I Stand Today on Widening U.S. 1 (June 25, 2012)

Go below the fold to provide comments.  I'll release the results to the multiple choice questions once they are all in. 

Public Discourse on U.S. 1 Widening

Earlier this week, I wrote about some of the historical and legal background to the U.S. 1 widening problem.  I said I would write more on Tuesday, but I got a nasty cold from my kids - sorry for the delay!  In this article, I focus on the back and forth on the political parts of this.

As a quick aside, the image at the right is a close up of a detailed 1928 Fire Prevention Map for Fort Humphreys (Belvoir) that I've got framed in my house.  Note that the entire area has no trees.

After a multi-year oddyssey, Congressman Jim Moran was finally able to secure funding for U.S. 1 by transforming an earmark into a grant program.  Fairfax County applied for a grant and last November, was awarded $180 million to widen U.S. 1 between Telegraph Road and Mount Vernon Memorial Highway (VA-235) to mitigate the effects of BRAC.

*UPDATED* Some Historical Context on Woodlawn

Most of my constituents know that the widening of U.S. 1 through Woodlawn has been a hot local issue lately.  I wrote about this previously here when things originally got contentious:

The Dixie Pig: U.S. 1 Widening and Woodlawn Stables (Apr. 28, 2012)

Today, most people do not realize that Fort Belvoir employs more people than the Pentagon.  This is clearly part of the reason congestion on U.S. 1 and through Fort Belvoir has become a daily problem.  Since the new $800 million Army Hospital has opened congestion has appeared at the Mt. Vernon Estate, and the Walker Gate on Mount Vernon Memorial Highway. 

Since I was elected, the widening and improvement of Route 1 is one of my highest priorities.  Also, being a local, I'm also a local history geek, and this widening project has been a very interesting but extremely challenging problem. 

First, there is a lot of history about Woodlawn and also history about the widening of U.S. 1 that has brought us to this point.  More about that below. 

Three Amundson Fellows Featured on Patch & Graduation!

Every year, I invite five or six area high school students to come with me to Richmond to learn about state government called Amundson Fellows.  It's a program that was started by my predecessor Delegate Kris Admunson. 

This year two of my Amundson Fellows were featured by Patch after graduation due to their achievments.  You can read their inteviews below.

Patch Inteview Of E.J. Coleman, Mount Vernon High School
Patch Inteview of Django Szilagi, West Potomac High School

I was very proud to see all of the success they've had! 

New Fort Hunt Park Plans Up for Discussion!

Last year, the National Park Service (NPS) came out with plans to significantly modify Fort Hunt Park including demolition of most of the existing picnic pavillions.  I wrote about it here:

The Dixie Pig: Recognize Fort Hunt's History and Keep Picnic Areas (Sept. 28, 2011)

The Dixie Pig: Comment on Proposed Changes to Fort Hunt Park (Sept. 30, 2011)

Seventy-seven people provided feedback on this blog, nearly all opposed, which I forwarded to the NPS.  Congressman Jim Moran and Supervisor Gerry Hyland were also instrumental in working with the NPS.

The NPS eventually deferred their proposed plans and started over.

Today, they announced their new proposals.  They are much improved.  You can view or download them below the fold and there will be a public hearing:

NPS Fort Hunt Park Site Development Plan Public Hearing
Wednesday, June 27, 2012

6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Fort Hunt Elementary School
8832 Linton Lane
Alexandria, VA 22308