From the Legislator’s Website
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May 3, 2023
In the last four years, Northern Virginia's teachers and students have become a political punching bag for Governor Youngkin and Attorney General Miyares. The Fairfax County School Board has been under siege with politically-motivated lawsuits and political investigations for the last four years. As a result, only four incumbents are running for re-election and our Mt. Vernon School Board Member Karen Corbett Sanders is not running for re-election.
Karen has done an amazing job fighting to ensure that students in our part of the county get the attention and share of resources that they deserve. I am exceptionally proud of her efforts to reform the admissions process at Thomas Jefferson H.S.S.T. which previously rarely admitted students from Carl Sandburg Middle School, Walt Whitman Middle School, Hayfield Secondary School, or Mark Twain Middle School. Before the reforms she led, two middle schools made up 20% of every class. She led the charge to obtain funds to renovate our schools. You can read more about her accomplishments in the Commending Resolution I passed this session:
Senate Joint Resolution 409 Commending Karen Corbett Sanders
I joined with Mt. Vernon District School Board Member Karen Corbett Sanders in endorsing Mateo Dunne to serve as the Democratic endorsed candidate for the Mt. Vernon District seat on the Fairfax County School Board. I join in my endorsement along with Delegate Mark Sickles, Former Delegate and Fairfax County School Board Chair and Mt. Vernon Member Kristen Amundson, Fairfax County Board Chair Jeff McKay, and Former Fairfax County Board Chair Sharon Bulova.
www.mateodunne.com/
Why do I support Mateo?
First, Mateo is prepared. Mateo is an attorney and litigator with the United States Government and has been involved in our community serving as Vice President of the Stratford Landing Citizens' Association, Vice Chair of the Mt. Vernon Council of Citizens, and Vice-President of the Fairfax County Council of Citizens. His four children all either attend or attended Fairfax County Public Schools in the West Potomac H.S. Pyramid.
Second, we need people that are prepared to step into the ring and fight back when Governor Youngkin and Attorney General Miyares try to run our local school system.
In 2016, Mateo co-led "Fully Fund Fairfax County Public Schools" - an unprecedented coalition of teachers unions, Parent Teacher Associations and advocacy groups to fight the Superintendent's proposal to eliminate high school sports, language immersion, and elementary school education from elimination due to budget pressures.
In 2017, Mateo played a very public and leading role in the referendum to adopt a Fairfax County Meals Tax to diversify revenue sources for FCPS so funding is not as reliant on real estate taxes.
In 2018, Mateo pleased a leading role in the negotiation of a new Memorandum of Understanding between FCPS and the Fairfax County Police Department to eliminate The School-to-Prison-Pipeline in Fairfax County to reduce the involvement of police in school discipline.
He led numerous grassroots campaigns to support efforts to fund the construction and renovation of Mt. Vernon's schools and eliminate trailers.
He served as the Chair of the Design & Construction Committee for West Potomac H.S.'s $35 million renovation and expansion that added 71,000 SF of space, eliminated 18 trailers and relieved overcrowding.
Going forward, Mateo has made clear that he intends to fight for progress in FCPS by increasing teachers salaries, implementing universal preschool education on U.S. 1, and fighting all efforts to divert public resources to private education. If you would like to make your own judgment, you can watch the recent public forum where the candidates discussed the issues:
Mt. Vernon School Board Gum Springs Forum
My conclusion is that Mateo Dunne has been there to fight for Mt. Vernon's teachers and students in the past and he is the strongest candidate with the track record that demonstrates he will be there for us in the future.
How to Participate in Online Democratic Endorsement Process?
For the first time, the Fairfax County Democratic Committee (FCDC) is allowing non-members to participate in the FCDC endorsement caucus. Voting is allowed in-person or electronically. However, in order to participate, you need to register by midnight on May 5, 2023. You can sign up at this link:
Register to Vote in FCDC School Board Endorsement Caucus
Next, you need to vote on online between May 13 and May 20, 2023 or in person between 10 am and 4 p.m. on May 20 at the South County Government Center, Room 221ABC.
I have also endorsed three other candidates for the Democratic endorsement for the At-Large positions on the Fairfax County School Board.
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February 27, 2023
The Medicaid Unwinding is one of the biggest challenges that many of our constituents will face in the coming year and community engagement is going to be crucial to make it go smoothly. This isn't just a problem for people who will lose coverage. When people are uninsured, they don't go to the doctor for preventative medicine which can result in long-term worse health outcomes, and higher costs when they eventually have an emergency. Health insurance premiums may rise for everyone to pay for that emergency care.
Below, I've summarized a few points on Medicaid unwinding from https://coverva.org/en/phe-planning.
Starting next month, Virginia will begin reviewing members’ health coverage to make sure they still qualify, however closures will not occur prior to April 30, 2023. People who qualified for Medicaid and other programs during or before the pandemic were required to stay covered through the duration of the public emergency. During that time, they may have accepted a new job and begun earning more than is allowable for the program. The Federal Consolidated Appropriations Act was signed into effect on December 23rd, 2022. This omnibus bill decoupled the continuous coverage requirement from the public health emergency effective March 31, 2023. This means on April 1, 2023, all states may return to normal enrollment processes, including redeterminations and processing reductions/closures of coverage. We have 12 months to make the transition to normal coverage.
Virginia will not discontinue coverage without asking enrollees for updated information. If someone is still qualified, they have time to provide information to the state and make sure they maintain coverage. If the state determines that someone no longer qualifies for health coverage from Virginia Medicaid, they will get:
Notice of when the Medicaid coverage will end,
Information on how to file an appeal if the member thinks our decision was incorrect, and
A referral to the Federal Marketplace and information about buying other health care coverage.
If someone is worried about losing coverage, they should:
Update their contact information by calling Cover Virginia at 1-855-242-8282 or online at commonhelp.virginia.gov. We must have current contact information on file, such as a mailing address and phone number(s), so members receive important notices and so we can reach out if we need more information.
Watch for and respond quickly to notices about their coverage.
Sign up for email and text updates, follow us on social media and visit us at coverva.org and facebook.com/coverva/
Virginians who do not qualify for Virginia Medicaid can buy health insurance through http://www.enrollva.org/. Enroll Virginia has offices in communities across the state to help Virginians get high quality, affordable health coverage. You can sign up for insurance on the Federal Marketplace on HealthCare.gov:
Within 60 days after losing health coverage or
Anytime during the annual open enrollment period from November 1 through January 15
Virginians who do not qualify for health coverage from Medicaid may be able to get financial help to lower the cost of private health insurance through HealthCare.gov. The amount of financial help is based on the cost of insurance where the applicants live, how many people are in their household, and their estimated yearly income.
Here are some other useful links from a VPLC webinar last month:
Webinar recording
Webinar slides
Enrollment assistance locator tool
SignUpNow Medicaid workshops
CMS unwinding guidance and resources
Cover Virginia "Return to Normal Enrollment" page
DMAS "COVID-19 and the Return to Normal Enrollment" page
Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, Center for Children and Families "Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023: Medicaid and CHIP Provisions Explained" report
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February 26, 2023
The following is my column that will appear in this week's Mt. Vernon Gazette in the week of February 27, 2023.
$100
Million for Undergrounding U.S. 1 Utilities; General Assembly Session Ends
We
have completed the 2023 Session of the General Assembly, but our work is not
done. Legislating has ended for now, but we did not finalize the state
budget and will likely return for a special session to compete that work.
Of
my 31 bills, 19 are with the Governor and one additional bill could be
considered in a special session. All of my bills passed with bipartisan
support and I am hopeful that the Governor will sign them.
Most
importantly, we made significant progress in obtaining funding for
undergrounding utilities on U.S. 1. Delegate Paul Krizek, Senator
Adam Ebbin and I amended a bill addressing a new Fauquier County transmission
line to add a first-ever pilot program for an underground electric distribution
line on the U.S. 1 Corridor if Fairfax County requests the funding as part of
the U.S 1 widening and bus rapid transit project. The bill is now on the Governor's desk.
Dominion
Power would fund and build the infrastructure and the cost would be recovered
over time from all Dominion ratepayers through rates subject to Dominion’s
standard ratemaking process. This would cost ratepayers about $0.20 per month
for every $100 million expended. Delegate Krizek and I previously secured
a commitment from Verizon to fund the installation of buried Verizon fiber
optic cables provided that the duct bank was expanded to include conduit for Verizon’s
lines. Coupled with the standard contribution from the Virginia
Department of Transportation (VDOT), this should fund the lion’s share of cost
for burying all lines.
We
will now work with Fairfax County and VDOT to make this happen assuming the Governor signs the bill. The
Federal Transit Administration (FTA) confirmed to Delegate Krizek and me that a
project delay relating to adding underground utilities would not jeopardize its
$460 million FTA grant to construct bus rapid transit. Adding underground
utilities to this project would require updated environmental assessments, engineering
and a longer construction period which could drive project costs up and require
additional funding. Since the Dulles Corridor has seen $6.8 billion of
investment in the Metro Silver Line project, $1.4 billion for the I-495 HOT Lanes
$3.7 billion for the I-66 HOT Lanes, we hope that some increases to this $900
million project can be accommodated.
Both
chambers passed my legislation to revitalize our Commission on Utility
Regulation (CUR) to help oversee our transition to clean energy. My bill
requires the CUR to have regular meetings, receive updates regarding
implementation of legislation and hire at least four full-time, nonpartisan
policy staffers to advise us on utility policy. This will make future
legislation less reliant on industry lobbyists and interest groups, which can
only mean better results for Virginians.
Fairness
for Local Dealers
My
bill to rebalance the relationship between Virginia’s locally-owned vehicle
dealerships and vehicle manufacturers passed unanimously. Manufacturers
have sought to exert increased control over vehicle sale processes like
mandating significant investments to gain access to electric vehicle
inventories. Ensuring dealers’ independence means more variety in
selection, lower prices through competition and the survival of thriving community
businesses. I was proud to work with them to craft nation-leading
legislation.
I
also passed legislation that will authorize Virginians to recover damages against
local governments that bring enforcement actions that violate state laws or
local ordinances and recover their attorney’s fees. It is often currently
impractical for Virginians to challenge enforcement actions that localities
bring in violation of state laws or local ordinances. My bill passed the
House of Delegates unanimously and the Senate 39-1.
Unlike
other states, Virginia does not have recall elections, but instead authorizes
legal actions to remove local elected officials under a voter petition
process. State elected officials can only be removed by impeachment or
the legislative body in which they serve.
Recently, many local elected officials have been subjected to frivolous
removal actions under this old Virginia law. Nearly all actions have been
dismissed without an evidentiary hearing. I carried legislation drafted
by the Boyd-Graves Commission, a group recommended changes to reflect five
state Supreme Court opinions back through the 1920s that clarify the law’s
meaning . My bill will reduce confusion. It passed unanimously.
Next
week, I will write about more bills I authored, other bills we passed and the
status of the state budget. Please share your views with me at scott@scottsurovell.org.
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February 18, 2023
The following is my column that will appear in this week's Mt. Vernon Gazette in the week of February 20, 2023.
General Assembly Is Finalizing Bills
Now that the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates have completed work on all bills from each chamber, each chamber has begun work on bills from the other chamber. Some of the more difficult bills met their fate last week.
It appears that both houses will approve around 20 of my bills which I will discuss in a future column. This column focuses on several of my bills that the House of Delegates rejected.
Protecting Choice
In the aftermath of last year’s Dobbs decision, we must do everything we can to protect Virginia women and healthcare providers from prosecution for exercising their reproductive healthcare rights. Virginia is likely to become a sanctuary for women seeking reproductive healthcare due to our geographic position and existing laws. My legislation would prohibit the extradition of Virginia medical professionals who provide reproductive healthcare to other states. It failed on a party-line vote.
I also sought to allow Virginia women to sue any company that sells or provides access to their personal reproductive healthcare information such as their menstrual data or location history derived from phone use that can be used to determine if they have visited a reproductive healthcare clinic. None is covered by state or federal healthcare privacy laws. My bill would have effectively ended the dissemination of this information for monetization or use in prosecution. The Senate approved my bill on a bipartisan vote, but a House committee killed it on a party-line vote.
The same House committee also rejected my legislation to clarify Virginia’s emergency protection order or “red flag law.” Red flag laws permit a court to order the temporary removal of firearms from people that may be a danger to others or themselves. These laws have reduced suicide by 9-14% in adopting states, but these laws do nothing if they are not used. About 60 of Virginia’s 140 jurisdictions saw little to no use of the law. After the Senate approved it on a bipartisan vote, a House committee defeated it.
In 2020, former Governor Ralph Northam’s comptroller advised state agencies to redact the names of all state employees using their official employment credit cards for paying for things like hotels and restaurants. I crafted a bill with the Virginia Coalition for Open Government to end redaction of this information so Virginians can see the names of state employees who spend taxpayer dollars. The Senate passed my bill passed unanimously, but a House subcommittee killed it on a party-line vote.
Making Solar More Available
I also carried two bills to make shared solar energy more available. Shared solar allows consumers and small businesses to purchase access to a solar farm and net the energy produced by the farm against their home electricity bill. This allows people to have access to solar if they cannot construct panels on their own roofs due to tree cover, homeowners’ association rules or financial constraints or because they do not own their roof.
In 2020, I passed legislation authorizing a shared solar program in Dominion Power territory, but Virginia’s State Corporation Commission set a minimum bill amount to cover a share of costs of using the legacy or traditional system, but failed to fully consider the benefits of solar, such as climate change mitigation, better air quality, fewer service outages and grid upgrades. My second bill would have created a new program in Southwest and Southside Virginia. The House rejected both bills on party-line votes after the Senate passed them with large bipartisan majorities.
Finally, the COVID pandemic taught us how critical and exposed our healthcare and grocery store workers are in their job serving us every day. Recent polls show that 81% of Virginians support sick leave for all workers. Our front-line workers deserve it more than anyone. When frontline workers are regularly exposed to viruses and get sick, they are forced to choose between getting paid and getting better and many have no choice but to work sick. A modest sick leave benefit would help everyone. A House committee killed my bill on a party line vote.
This week, both chambers will act on some of the toughest bills filed in this session and legislators will conduct negotiations on final budget amendments before we adjourn this Saturday.
Please send me your feedback at scott@scottsurovell.org.
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February 13, 2023
The following is my column that will appear in this week's Mt. Vernon Gazette in the week of February 13, 2023.
Making
Progress in Richmond
As the General Assembly completed
its fourth week of work last week, I am pleased to report that the state Senate
approved 29 of my 32 bills and sent them to the House of Delegates. The Senate voted for 19 unanimously and only
one bill passed without any Republican votes.
I
am carrying legislation on behalf of the Virginia Crime Commission that
requires the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue an annual
report showing the incidence of drunk driving (DWI) arrests for both drug and
alcohol relative to numbers of officers and population densities. The
bill also requires DMV to collect data on drug levels related to motor vehicle
deaths and DWI arrests so that we can determine where to leverage our resources
and make adjustments in the law.
We need this bill because most
police officers report that incidents of “drugged driving” or driving under the
influence of other drugs is rising. We also need to be better prepared to
interdict high drivers as we move toward the retail sale of marijuana. A
recent poll shows that 30 percent of Virginians think it is acceptable to drive
after smoking marijuana, which is very dangerous.
The number alcohol-related
arrests has plummeted in Fairfax County and in the entire state, although
alcohol-related collisions have not dropped by nearly the same amount.
Much of this decline in prosecutions has to do with reduced emphasis on enforcement.
I hope that this bill will help educate us all on the dangers of driving under
the influence of drugs and marijuana and help focus law enforcement.
Budgets
Indicate Priorities
The
Senate and House announced their proposed budgets last week. Here are some
of the key differences. The Senate rejected all of Governor Youngkin’s
proposed $1 billion in tax cuts. First, corporations should not pay a
lower tax rate than people. Second, most of our programs have been
historically underfunded and our excess revenues are being generated by
inflationary pressures. Our police, fire, teachers and other government employees
have not received raises that keep pace with inflation.
The
proposed Senate budget provides $300 million more for K-12 education than the
House budget and includes a 2 percent teacher pay increase instead of the
one-time merit bonus proposed by the Governor. We also allocated $230
million to lift the cap on non-teaching support positions in schools such as
guidance counselors, mental health counselors and nurses. Virginia has had
63,000 more students enrolled while employing 1,700 fewer support staff since
that arbitrary cap was put in place in 2010. Our children especially need
these services post-pandemic.
The Senate also eliminated the Governor and House’s proposed increase in
funding for so-called “lab schools” and reallocated the funding to make up for
the Governor’s $200 million error in school funds the state reported it was
sending to localities. The Senate budget also allocates $224
million more for financial aid than the Governor’s budget and $200 million more
than the House budget. We also included a $75 million payment towards our
$22 billion unfunded pension liability.
The Senate budget includes my request for $600,000 to fund new staff to help us
navigate our green energy transition and $200,000 each for the Lorton Community
Action Center and Ecumenical Community Helping Others in Springfield.
The budgets will now head to each chamber and a joint conference committee will
resolve the differences. The most difficult discussion will revolve
around tax cuts. We already cut $4 billion in taxes last year and our
chamber does not believe that we should continue reducing our resources given
our underfunded programs, continued economic uncertainty and our $22 billion
unfunded pension liability.
I have received hundreds of responses to my constituent survey. Only 10 percent
of respondents want us to invest funds on widening roads as opposed to
maintaining existing highways (48%) or investing in transit (19%).
Eighty-two percent of respondents want to see reproductive choice as decided by
the Roe v. Wade case codified in Virginia’s Constitution.
You can complete my survey at www.scottsurovell.org/survey.
This week, various House of Delegates committees will consider my bills. This will likely present new challenges given
the partisan differences between the chambers. As always, please share
your views and suggestions with me at scott@scottsurovell.org.
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February 8, 2023
2023 General Assembly Crossover Update
The General Assembly has reached the Crossover portion of the legislative session. This is when bills passed in the Senate go to the House and bills passed in the House go to the Senate to gain approval from both chambers.
This session the Senate has passed 29 of my bills. Those are all summarized and linked below:
SB 796
Consolidated Corporate Tax Filings
Makes it possible for larger companies to file a consolidated tax return instead of hundreds of separate tax returns to save paperwork and expense at the Virginia Department of Taxation.
Yea’s: 38
No’s: 0
SB 799
Juvenile and Domestic Relations Expert Witness Testimony
Allows parties to present expert medical testimony in Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court by affidavit instead of requiring witnesses to come to trial.
Yea’s: 40
No’s: 0
SB 801
US Army Police Authority
Gives U.S. Army and Air Force Police the authority to serve search warrants off-base jointly with Virginia law-enforcement agencies. Requested by Fort Belvoir police who discovered limitations trying to investigate stalking charges.
Yea’s: 40
No’s: 0
SB 813
Freedom of Information Act Credit Cards
Clarifies that governments are required to release the names of government employees using government credit cards. The Virginia Comptroller has claimed that this information is exempt from disclosure under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.
Yea’s: 39
No’s: 0
SB 814
Deaf Interpreters
Allows Virginia Courts to use interpreters from a broader pool of potential signing professionals due to lack of interpreters available post-pandemic.
Yea’s: 40
No’s: 0
SB 815
Lemon Law for Small Businesses
Extends Virginia Lemon Law to any small business that owns five or fewer cars.
Yea’s: 27
No’s: 12
SB 817
Attorney’s Fees Lien
Clarifies the rules regarding asserting and perfecting attorney’s liens in tort and contract cases.
Yea’s: 39
No’s: 0
SB 821
Sex Offense Notice Fix
Requires the Secretary of Education to gather notification information for all school systems for sex offense charges and convictions, clarifies method of notification to ensure a document trail, requires law enforcement to check employment for accused persons, and expands the list of sex crimes for notification.
Yea’s: 39
No’s: 0
SB 835
Definition of Obscenity
Removes depictions of homosexuality from the statutory definition of “sexual conduct” for purposes of books that can be sold, loaned, or displayed to juveniles.
Yea’s: 25
No’s: 12
SB 841
VASAP Local Boards
Clarifies that courts have the power to adjudicate probation violations for DUI charges that are reduced to Reckless Driving and requires Virginia’s Alcohol Safety Program to include a local attorney who practices DUI law on local alcohol safety boards.
Yea’s: 39
No’s: 0
SB 871
Auto Dealer Franchise Agreements
Prevents auto manufacturers from putting excessive requirements on automotive dealer franchises and preserves locally owned dealerships’ independence.
Yea’s: 39
No’s: 0
SB 886
Sick Leave for Healthcare and Grocery Store Workers
Requires employers of essential healthcare and hospital system workers to be provided sick leave to allow such workers to take time off when they are sick to help slow the spread of future COVID outbreaks as well as mitigating the common cold and flu.
Yea’s: 22
No’s: 18
SB 895
Court of Appeals Immunity Jurisdiction
Clarifies that interim orders in Domestic Relations cases are not appealable and that appeals of interim orders dismissing cases based on immunity are heard by the Court of Appeals instead of the Supreme Court of Virginia.
Yea’s: 39
No’s: 0
SB 1065
Leesylvania Easement
Allows the Department of Conservation and Recreation to transfer an easement to ten houses on the Potomac River surrounded by Leesylvania State Park.
Yea’s: 38
No’s: 0
SB 1067
Red Flag Clean-Up
Clarifies various factors to be considered by a magistrate or judge in reach a decision to remove firearms from a person due to their threats or mental condition.
Yea’s: 23
No’s: 16
SB 1083
APCO Shared Solar
Authorizes solar providers to begin providing shared solar in the Appalachian Power service territory.
Yea’s: 35
No’s: 5
SB 1166
Commission on Utility Regulation Transparency
Improves transparency and oversight of Virginia’s transition to clean energy by requiring regular meetings, reports to the Commission regarding implementation of significant legislation by the State Corporation Commission, Governor and other entities, provides full-time staff for vetting energy policies and studies, creates a new energy development fund to be promote energy research at in-state research universities, and provide oversight of state application for federal energy grants.
Yea’s: 21
No’s: 19
SB 1243
Reproductive Health Data Protection
Prohibits a Virginia judge from ordering the extradition of a Virginia citizen for out-of-state abortion or reproduction-related prosecutions for conduct that is legal in Virginia and creates a private cause of action to allow individuals to sue companies for selling data regarding their reproductive health or location data.
Yea’s: 23
No’s: 17
SB 1244
Crime Victim’s Rights Act Fix
Requires that the Attorney General comply with the Crime Victim’s Rights Act. If this would have been in place, the Ghaisar family would have been consulted before the Virginia Attorney General dismissed the prosecution of the two U.S. Park Police Officers who murdered him.
Yea’s: 40
No’s: 0
SB 1266
Shared Solar Minimum Bill Fix
Reduces the minimum bill that Dominion Energy can charge shared solar subscribers and expands the cap on allowed shared solar service.
Yea’s: 24
No’s: 15
SB 1397
Default Structure to Adopt Essential Health Benefits Plan
Creates a process for the state to adopt a new baseline essential health benefit for purposes of the plans sold in the Virginia State Healthcare Exchange for future years.
Yea’s: 40
No’s: 0
SB 1398
DWI Study
Requires DMV to collect data on drivers who are convicted of using drugs, alcohol, or a combination of them and aggregate the data on a statewide basis so that the decline in alcohol-impaired driving and the rise of drugged driving can be better evaluated for additional solutions.
Yea’s: 40
No’s: 0
SB 1399
Authority to Adopt New Essential Health Benefits Plan
Creates authority for the State Corporation Commission to adopt a new baseline essential health benefit plan this year based on two new mandated benefits approved in last General Assembly Session.
Yea’s: 40
No’s: 0
SB 1402
Expungement Cleanup
Amends the expungement and sealing reforms passed in 2021 to facilitate the implementation and programming of the new sealing processes. Clarifies that marijuana charges are automatically sealed instead of expunged, clarifies that a petition for sealing can only include offenses that stem from the same transaction or occurrence, and ensures access to expunged records by the subject of the record.
Yea’s: 39
No’s: 0
SB 1431
Recall Election Rewrite
Clarifies the circumstances that a local government official can be removed from office in a recall election.
Yea’s: 39
No’s: 0
SB 1482
New Commissioner for the SCC
Authorizes a new commissioner on the State Corporation Commission to equalize the length of terms due to two pending vacancies.
Yea’s: 40
No’s: 0
SB 1494
Attorney Discipline Revision
Provides a disbarred attorney seeking reinstatement to elect a three judge panel to consider reinstatement instead of only consideration by a committee of attorneys.
Yea’s: 25
No’s: 14
SB 1495
Civil Penalty for Abuses of Power
Allows any person who is impacted by the willful unlawful actions of a local government to sue the locality to seek an injunction and recover attorney’s fees.
Yea’s: 40
No’s: 0
SJ 257
Commending the Honorable Glenn L. Clayton II
Passed Senate and House
SJ 279
Commending the Honorable Mitchell I. Mutnick
Passed Senate and House
SJ 280
Commending Doreen Gentzler
Passed Senate and House
SJ 299
Commending the Honorable William J. Minor, Jr.
Passed Senate and House
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February 8, 2023
The following is my column that will appear in this week's Mt. Vernon Gazette in the week of February 8, 2023.
Crossover Approaches, Protecting Women & Expanding Solar Access
The
middle of the General Assembly session is called “Crossover” – the day that
each chamber must complete work on all bills originating in each chamber before
starting work on bills that have “crossed over” from the other Chamber.
I
introduced thirty-one pieces of legislation and twenty-nine appear to be on
track to cross to the House of Delegates where passage will be much more
difficult. I was disappointed that my
bill to turn the VA529 Plan’s $1.4 billion actuarial surplus into an endowment
for Pell-eligible students failed, but no competing bills passed and both
chambers appear poised to set up committees to further study the issue over the
coming year to see if we can develop a consensus approach.
Many
constituents have reached out to me after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe
v. Wade in the Dobbs case about doing more to protect women’s right
to reproductive healthcare. The Senate
Privileges and Elections Committee reported a Senator Jennifer McClellan’s
proposed amendment to the Constitution of Virginia that would put women’s right
to reproductive healthcare on track to be placed on the ballot for ratification
by voters into the Constitution of Virginia.
The
Senate Judiciary Committee also reported out my legislation which would protect
Virginia’s doctors and women assisting with abortion care or contraception from
extradition to states such as Alabama who have pledged to prosecute women. My legislation also would allow Virginia
women to sue any company who sold information regarding their reproductive information
to any third party. Many women keep
information regarding their menstrual cycles on phone apps and location data
kept by phones can be used to track who has travelled to and from various
locations such as abortion clinics. My
legislation was sent to the floor on a party-line vote.
In 2020,
I passed legislation that authorized companies to sell shared solar or
community solar in Dominion’s service territory which I thought would be very
useful in our community. If you have
lots of sun and own your roof, you can put solar panels on your roof and reduce
your electric bill to nearly zero, but if you live in a community with lots of
trees, do not own your roof, or live in a community with a homeowners’
association that prohibits solar panels, you cannot generate your own power.
Shared
solar allows homeowners to purchase portion of output from a specific smaller solar
project and then net the output of those panels against your home electricity
bill. The solar industry and incumbent monopolies
have continued to fight about what homeowners should pay to support existing
electrical infrastructure and other costs associated with electricity
production. One of my bills requires the
State Corporation Commission to consider the benefits of solar energy such as
climate change, health benefits, and infrastructure upgrades in connection with
determining that amount. In addition, I
am carrying legislation to authorize a shared solar program in the territory
for Appalachian Power which is in Southwest Virginia.
On
November 17, 2021, Bijan Ghaisar was shot and killed at the corner of Fort Hunt
Road and Alexandria Avenue. He was
unarmed and chased down by the police after leaving a traffic collision where
he was struck from behind. After the Trump
Administration’s Department of Justice refused to prosecute the two police officers
who shot him, the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office attempted to
prosecute him. The prosecution was
removed to Federal Court and Attorney General Mark Herring joined in the
prosecution. After Attorney General Jason
Miyares was elected, he voluntarily dismissed the prosecution during its appeal
without ever taking input from Mr. Ghaisar’s parents who qualify as victims
under the Virginia Crime Victim’s Act.
My legislation to make clear that the law applies to the Attorney General
has passed so far without any opposition.
Finally,
the chambers announced their respective budget amendments this weekend and I
will discuss that next week. I have also
received over 300 responses to my constituent survey which you can complete at www.scottsurovell.org/survey. As always, if you have any feedback, you can
reach me at scott@scottsurovell.org.
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January 28, 2023
The following is my column that will appear in this week's Mt. Vernon Gazette in the week of January 29, 2023.
Important Bills Are Moving in the State Legislature
After three weeks into this General Assembly session, many of my bills are moving through committees or have been approved by the Senate and sent to the House of Delegates.
Stronger Consumer Protections
The regulation of monopoly utilities is one of the most complex topics for crafting good policy. Virginia’s two investor-owned utilities, Dominion Power and Appalachian Power, have combined revenues of nearly $20 billion from their customers. That is nearly half the state’s $43.5 billion in General Fund revenues, but unfortunately, the legislature invests very little time supervising this spending by Virginia’s residents and businesses.
Over the last decade, criticism of utility policy-making has risen, especially in compressed, 45 to 60-day sessions during which time there is limited public input. The Division of Legislative Services provides us an attorney who is prohibited from giving policy advice leaving us to educate ourselves as best we can and largely dependent on stakeholder lobbyists and interest groups for policy analysis or other information. Working through the facts, noise and conflict is often very difficult. There has to be a better way.
This is why I introduced legislation to reinvigorate the Utility Regulation Commission that was created in 2003 to oversee utility policy. It has only met a handful of times in the last ten years and has no staff. My legislation would require the commission to conduct regular meetings, conduct independent studies, review potential legislative options, receive annual reports from our utility regulators and have seven professional staffers. Conservation advocates argue is could become the most important energy policy measures introduced in this session. The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee unanimously approved the bill this week. It will be reviewed in the Finance Committee this week before moving on to the full Senate.
The Virginia Comptroller recently reinterpreted an exemption in the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and began withholding the names of government employees using government credit cards. With the support of the Virginia Open Government Coalition, I have introduced a bill to require names to be disclosed. Two Senate committees passed the bill and the full Senate will considerit this week.
Accepting All of Us
Earlier this year, Governor Youngkin issued guidance to schools addressing parental notification of books that contain potentially obscene material used in educational settings. However, his guidance used a definition from a state law that prohibits the sale or loan of obscene books to children that labels any depiction of homosexuality as “sexual conduct,” even a book just depicts a gay couple eating dinner or playing golf. This statutory language reflects ancient prejudices that sought to dehumanize gay Virginians as deviants instead of normal human beings. The Senate passed my legislation to remove any depiction of homosexuality from the Code of Virginia on a bipartisan vote.
On a bipartisan vote, the also Senate passed my bill to expand the “Lemon Law” to Virginia’s small businesses so that manufacturers will be required to deal with defective work trucks or passenger vans.
More College Scholarships
In the early 1990s, Congress authorized states to create tax-deferred college savings plans which are now called “529 Plans.” Virginia was one of the first states in America to create a plan. The state partnered with American Funds and now has the most assets under management in America today. Ninety-four percent of participants in the mutual fund-style component of the plan are residents of other states.
Last year, Virginia’s independent auditor, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) studied Virginia’s 529 Plan with independent actuaries and determined that the plan had a $1.6 billion actuarial surplus that could be available for appropriation. Forty-percent of these funds came largely from out-of-state investors and sixty percent derives from unspent revenues in Virginia’s Prepaid Tuition Plan. I introduced legislation to create a new endowment to be funded by this surplus which would eventually generate about 2,500 full scholarships per year to Pell Grant-eligible Virginia college students. A Senate committee will hold a hearing, the first level of consideration, this week.
Please complete my constituent survey at www.scottsurovell.org/survey. As always, send me an email at scott@scottsurovell.org to share your views and suggestions or for constituent services.
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January 25, 2023
The following is my column that will appear in this week's Mt. Vernon Gazette in the week of January 22, 2023.
The
second week of the General Assembly is in the books and I am carrying thirty-one
bills and over a dozen budget amendments.
Several saw movement this week.
Earlier
this year, it was discovered that a guidance counselor was working in Glasgow
Middle School two years after having been convicted of soliciting prostitution
from a minor. It is not clear whether the
Chesterfield County Sheriff failed to notify Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)
or whether FCPS failed to take action after receiving notice. His employment was discovered after he was
charged with solicitation a second time and discovered at that time.
My
legislation requires the Secretary of Education to publish a written list with
fax, email, and postal addresses for notification, requires notification of all
arrests and convictions in writing by certified first class mail or fax and
email so that there is a paper trail. The
Fairfax County guidance counselor also lied about his employment so the legislation
requires law enforcement to run an employment check with the Virginia
Employment Commission. Hopefully, with
these changes no further sex offender notifications will be lost in the
system. My bill passed out of committee
unanimously and will be on the floor this week.
Fort
Belvoir also came to me because Virginia Law restricts their law enforcement’s
ability to investigate crimes that cross the boundary from the military base
like stalking. My legislation to allow
Army and Air Force Police to investigate crimes that cross lines passed out
unanimously.
Two years
ago, we passed legislation that prohibited foreclosing on someone’s home if a
judgment does not exceed $25,000. However,
there is an exception for Homeowner and Condominium Associations who can
initiate a foreclosure proceeding if you own as little as $1. Attorneys have made me aware of associations
and law firms who have initiated foreclosure proceedings over amounts as small
as
a few hundred dollars while demanding thousands in attorney’s fees to
terminate foreclosure sales. The homeowners
associations complained that they needed to be able to threaten to take people’s
homes to make them pay their assessments and my bill was referred to the Virginia
Housing Commission to be studied over the next year.
The
Fairfax County Circuit Court also asked me to carry legislation to assist with the
procurement of interpreters for the deaf and hard of hearing. The Fairfax County Circuit Court has seen a
shortage of these interpreters post-pandemic and would like to procure them
from a larger pool. The bill passed unanimously.
I am
also carrying a bill that expands Virginia’s Lemon Law to a business that has
less than five vehicles. A
malfunctioning vehicle can be destructive to a small business owner. Manufacturers are in a much better position
to deal with lemons than our local car dealerships. My legislation was reported by the Transportation
Committee and will be voted on this week.
I am
also carrying several budget amendments to help our area including
appropriations to help the Gum Springs Museum, the Wish Center in Hybla Valley,
the Ecumenical Community Helping Others organization in Springfield, and the
Lorton Community Action Center. I am
also carrying legislation to appropriate funds to provide body cameras to the
Virginia State Police which have already been deployed for all of our local
police departments.
If you
have any questions or feedback on session, please email me at scott@scottsurovell.org.
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January 17, 2023
The following is my column that will appear in this week's Mt. Vernon Gazette in the week of January 15, 2023.
The 2023 General Assembly Has Started Its Work
The first week of the General Assembly session is in the books. We
spent most of it getting organized.
On the day before the session started, we learned that Virginia
Beach voters had elected Virginia Beach Councilman Aaron Rouse to the state
Senate in a special election to replace now-Congresswoman Jen Kiggans.
That changed the party composition of the Senate to 22 Democrats and 18
Republicans. Senator-elect Rouse will be sworn in this week after his
election is certified and he will be a welcome addition.
The
Governor delivered his State of the Commonwealth Address to a joint session of
the legislature during our first week. While it appears the Governor has
presidential ambitions, I was disappointed that he used the occasion to blame
President Biden and former Governor Northam for national and international
trends like inflation and learning loss instead of offering more solutions that
we could work together on. The Senate
has common ground with him on issues like bolstering investments in mental
health.
Governor Youngkin’s presidential ambitions appear to have prodded him to focus
on China at the expense of his state’s needs. He focused part of his
speech on banning Chinese land purchases. The next day, we learned that he
had cut off negotiations with Ford Motor Company on the construction of an
electric vehicle battery plant in Halifax County. Ford’s plan would have created 2,500 jobs in
a county that has a median family income of $45,000 per year – 40 percent of
Fairfax County’s – because Ford had chosen to partner with a Chinese technology
firm to produce the batteries. While China bashing is a popular sport
right now with other presidential hopefuls, raising this topic in a speech historically
meant to address the state’s problems, puts personal, national ambitions
ahead of Virginians’ needs.
I am carrying 31 bills and about a dozen budget amendments. Among them, I
have introduced legislation to expand
transparency in our utility policy process. Many people have concerns
that Virginia’s regulated monopolies, like electricity transmission, have too
much influence in making policy by moving billions of dollars around annually
through your utility bills. While we have attorneys to help draft legislation,
the General Assembly has no permanent policy staff to brief us and provide
objective advice on many issues. My legislation would require the
Virginia Commission on Utility Regulation to meet regularly, hire permanent policy
staff and help better inform legislators.
With so few professional, knowledgeable staffers working for the General
Assembly, I fear that too many legislators rely too heavily on industry
lobbyists. We have made massive changes in our energy laws in the last
three years, involving billions of taxpayer and ratepayer dollars, and we need
enhanced, professional policy support to transition to a clean energy
economy.
I am also carrying legislation to protect Virginia women in the aftermath of
the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs reproductive choice decision.
Several out-of-state attorneys general are targeting those who facilitate
abortions. I am concerned that a Virginian could be charged for giving a
ride or otherwise helping a friend seeking this medical care. My bill
would prevent their extradition.
Today’s smartphones can log your every move and it is very easy to purchase
data that shows who has visited a reproductive healthcare clinic. Several
phone applications also allow women to track their menstrual activity. My
bill would allow a person to sue if any information regarding their
reproductive health history is sold by a third-party data broker. Senator
Barbara Favola is also proposing similar legislation prohibiting Virginia
prosecutors from seizing such information by search warrant.
The Virginia 529 Plan has generated a $1.2 billion surplus due to investment
management fees and lower-than-anticipated tuition inflation. I have
proposed to create an endowment, fund it with the surplus and create 2,500 full
scholarships for Virginia students who agree to remain in Virginia for eight
years after graduation.
Finally, I am hosting my Mount Vernon town hall meeting this Saturday, January
21, 9 to 11 a.m. at Walt Whitman Middle School and at 1 p.m. at Hayfield Elementary School with Senator Adam Ebbin, Senator George Barker, Delegate Mark Sickles, and
Delegate Paul Krizek. I will hold a town hall in South County after that. If you have any feedback, please
email me at scott@scottsurovell.org.
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December 28, 2022
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.
Support Teachers and Police Officers The Governor proposed another $50 million for his “lab school” experiment, an approach that is actually another attempt to divert funds away from our public schools. He also proposed teacher retention bonuses. I believe these funds should be structured as raises that permanently increase teacher pay instead of one-time raises for one year only.My caucus will try to focus more funding on secondary and post-secondary education, as they try to address the pandemic’s adverse impacts and expand educational opportunities for all students. Unfortunately, we have not adequately funded raises for teachers, police or other public employees to keep up with inflation or private sector salary rates. The state government currently has a record-high 17 percent staff vacancy rate, in part because of non-competitive salaries and the Governor’s directive prohibiting any of the state’s 106,000 employees from working from home without the personal approval of his chief of staff. Law enforcement staffs across the Commonwealth continue to have 10-20 percent vacancy rates. We must pay our public employees better or we will continue to see attrition which erodes services that taxpayers expect. Most disturbing is the Governor’s proposed expenditure of $50,000 to apparently cover costs associated with some type of new abortion ban. Longstanding Virginia law requires all new felonies or bills that expand existing felonious conduct to be contingent upon appropriating $50,000 for new prisoner costs and it appears the Governor included this in his budget in anticipation of new abortion restrictions. No legislation restricting women’s healthcare decision-making will pass the Virginia Senate. A ban is unacceptable.No to Corporate Tax Cuts The Governor proposed $1 billion in new tax cuts by putting corporate tax rate at 5 percent, a rate that is lower than the 5.75 percent rate paid by individuals. Unlike individuals, most businesses already benefit from deductions, depreciation and other policies that lower the actual amount they pay in taxes. In addition, our economic advisors have cautioned us against making significant changes how we fund the state governmentbecause some predict a likely recession in the next year. I will fight unsound tax cuts for corporations.More for Mental Health The Governor did propose $230 million of major new spending on behavioral or mental health. The Senate Democratic Caucus proposed a similar measure last session, but it was sacrificed due to the Governor’s demand for $2 billion in tax cuts. I am sure we can find common ground on this important priority as the shortage of mental health services continues to be a crisis. He also proposed $100 million for Richmond’s massive raw sewage problem, a worthwhile proposal that I support. The city needs state help to end this pollution. Last year’s sales tax cut also created a $700 million hole in our six-year plan for transportation projects that we need to fill. State budgeting should also recognize potential impacts of the Federal Reserve’s actions. Home sales are declining – which fund grantors’ taxes - and the economy could begin to slow down as interest rates reduce borrowing and consumer spending. We must prepare and not set ourselves up for shortfalls by baking long-term tax cuts into our budget. The legislature will convene on January 11 in Richmond. In the coming weeks, I will report on proposals that I will carry this session. Please share your views and suggestions with me at scott@scottsurovell.org.
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November 27, 2022
The following is my column that will appear in this week's Mt. Vernon Gazette in the week of November 28, 2022.
Continuing Our
Progress - Working for You
It has been an honor to serve our
community in the Virginia legislature for the last 12 years. I am letting you know that I will run for
re-election to represent the 34th District in the Senate of Virginia
in 2023.
A New District
The redistricting of state and
federal elected officials’ districts made substantial changes in the Senate
district I have represented for the last six years. The area of Fairfax County
south of Alexandria and east of Interstate 95/495 is currently divided between
three state Senate districts. After the
election in 2023, there will only be one district and it has been renumbered as
the 34th Senate District similar to the configuration in our
area before 2001. The new boundaries are roughly everything in Fairfax
County south of Alexandria, west of the Potomac River, north of the Occoquan
River and east of the CSX railroad tracks that run from Alexandria to Richmond,
Pohick Creek and the former Lorton Prison.
The New 34th Senate District
I am excited to be
reunited with many of my existing neighbors, former constituents and I look
forward to working for a district that is more of a community than the current
fragmented district. My life in elected
public service began in 2009 when I was first elected to the 44th House of
Delegates District after Delegate Kris Amundson’s retirement. I was elected to the current 36th
Senate District after Senator Toddy Puller announced her retirement in 2015.
Much Accomplished - More
to Do
Since 2009, one of my top objectives has been the reconstruction and
redevelopment of U.S. 1 to facilitate the extension of the Yellow Line Metro
subway to the south. As a result of Senator Puller and I securing $2
million in 2011 to conduct the U.S. 1 Multimodal Alternative Analysis Study,
our community reached a consensus on a road design and supporting development
which has resulted in a near $1 billion transportation improvement project that
is currently underway in the corridor with the full support of Delegates Paul
Krizek and Mark Sickles along with and Supervisors Dan Storck and Rodney Lusk.
In 2020, I was proud to carry legislation to abolish the death penalty in Virginia
and lead reforms of Virginia’s criminal justice system. I led the fight to require Alexandria to stop
discharging 150 million gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River every year
and to require Dominion Energy to spend an additional $2 billion to clean up
its coal ash ponds to the highest standards.
Expanding Medicaid and
health care to 300,000 Virginians in 2017 was a proud moment for me, an advance
that has created tens of thousands of Virginia jobs and made health care
available to over 10,000 people that I represent. I also proudly carried
a bill to prohibit people from operating a motor vehicle while holding a cellphone
and to provide driving privilege cards to 300,000 Virginians awaiting legal
status – many of whom live in our community where one in four residents was
born in another country.
As a graduate of West
Potomac High School, James Madison University and the University of Virginia
School of Law, I recognize that state and local public education invested in me
so I could have success. Fairfax County Public Schools now receive $463
million more per year or about $2,700 per student than when I was first elected
in 2009 – a 98% increase over 2010. We still do not pay our teachers nearly
enough, but we have made significant progress.
I was also honored to
negotiate Virginia’s new minimum wage bill with Delegate Paul Krizek which will
increase Virginia’s minimum wage will rise to $12.00 per hour on January 1,
2023. I was also proud to lift the ban
on collective bargaining on our local public employee unions and expand all workers’
rights to hold employers accountable for wrongful conduct.
We have much work to
do to improve our quality of life. I hope I will earn your vote as your state
Senator on November 7, 2023. Please share your suggestions and views with
me at scottsurovell@gmail.com.
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August 9, 2022
Several Alternative Travel Options Available While Yellow Line Service is Suspended
Need help navigating your options? Check out: https://novatransit.org/programs/novarides/
YELLOW LINE PASSENGERS: As you may recall, back in March the WMATA announced they are suspending Yellow Line service across the Potomac between Pentagon and L’Enfant stations for eight months, starting Sept. 10th, 2022. You can see my blog post about it here: Yellow Line Service Disruptions. As promised, I wanted to provide you with information for alternative service options while the Yellow Line is suspended.
WMATA is providing several travel alternatives over the next eight months. This includes free shuttle bus service, alternative rail routes, free passage on the Virginia Railway Express (VRE), and Northern Virginia supplemental services from DASH, OmniRide, and Fairfax Connector. Riders can plan ahead by visiting the project’s Service Impacts and Travel Alternatives information webpage now.
The work to the Yellow Line will happen over two phases. Below you will find Yellow Line specific travel alternatives for each phase.
Phase One Travel Options-Sept. 10 - Oct. 22, 2022
Free Shuttle Service:
Seven free shuttles will be offered during Phase One, including local and express shuttles in Virginia and three limited-stop shuttles crossing the Potomac River.
Local shuttles will be available during all Metrorail operating hours.
Yellow Line Local
Express shuttles will be available most of the day (from 4:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., 6:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. weekends).
Yellow Line Express: Huntington-Pentagon
Express shuttles will be available most of the day (from 4:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., 6:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. weekends).
Yellow Line Express: Huntington-Pentagon
Limited shuttles will be available during weekday rush hours only.
VA-DC Shuttle 3: Mt. Vernon-Potomac Park (former 11Y Route) (5 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. and 3:10 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.)
Peak direction is toward Washington, DC in the morning and toward Virginia in the afternoon
The shuttle stops at several locations in Alexandria along the George Washington Parkway, including Huntington Point, Franklin Street, King Street, and Pendleton Street. In Washington, D.C., stops are near the McPherson Square Station at 14th and I Streets, NW, and near the Farragut West Station at 19th and I Streets
Rail Service:
No Yellow Line service, but Yellow Line stations north of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Station will be served by the Blue or Green lines
Note: If 7000-series trains remain out of service, trains will operate less frequently
Virginia Railway Express (VRE):
VRE passengers will ride free during September and between certain stations in Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia during October. The decision to suspend fares will make VRE a more viable option for Metrorail riders during the closure of Blue and Yellow Line stations south of Reagan National Airport for those returning to work post-Labor Day.
DASH Bus (Fare Free)
Line 35: Service between Van Dorn Metro, Yoakum Pkwy, Beauregard St, and Pentagon Metro
Line 103: Service between Braddock Metro, Russell Rd, Glebe Rd, and Pentagon Metro
Line 104: Service between Braddock Metro, Cameron Mills Dr, Parkfairfax, and Pentagon Metro
OmniRide/PRTC
Route D-100: Service between Dale City and Downtown Washington
Route L-100: Service between Lake Ridge and Downtown Washington
Route D-200: Service between Dale City, Pentagon, and Rosslyn/Ballston
Route L-200: Service between Lake Ridge, Pentagon, and Crystal City
Route D-300: Service between Dale City, Pentagon, and Washington Navy Yard
RS South Route 1: Service between Triangle, Dumfries, Woodbridge, Pentagon, and Downtown Washington
MC Montclair: Service between Montclair, Pentagon, and Downtown Washington
Reagan National Airport (DCA) Traveler Information:
Free Shuttle Service:
Travel options from the six closed stations:
Yellow Line Local customers should transfer to the Blue Line Local at King St-Old Town Station.
Phase Two Travel Options-Oct. 23, 2022 - May 2023
Free Shuttle Service:
Metro will continue to provide three limited-stop shuttles crossing the Potomac River during weekday rush hours only.
VA-DC Shuttle 3: Mt. Vernon-Potomac Park (former 11Y Route) (5:00 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. and 3:10 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.)Service between Mt. Vernon, Alexandria, and Potomac Park every 20 minutes. Peak direction service only.
Peak direction is toward Washington, DC in the morning and toward Virginia in the afternoon
The shuttle stops at several locations in Alexandria along the George Washington Parkway, including Huntington Point, Franklin Street, King Street, and Pendleton Street. In Washington, D.C., stops are near the McPherson Square Station at 14th and I Streets, NW, and near the Farragut West Station at 19th and I Streets
Rail Service:
All stations will reopen, and service will resume south of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Station
Yellow Line stations will be served by the Blue or Green lines
If there are any changes or updates regarding these alternative travel options I will be sure to let you know in a timely manner. Thank you for your flexibility during this time as we continue to better transportation in our community.
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August 1, 2022
The following is my column that will appear in this week's Mt. Vernon Gazette in the week of August 1, 2022.
Working for a Safer, More Efficient Transportation System
This is an update on several important transportation projects underway in our area, including the U.S. 1 Speed Study, undergrounding utilities on U.S. 1, the I-495 Southside Express Lanes Study, and the Youngkin Administration’s reallocation of transit funds.
Since 2017, we have seen the following on U.S. 1 in Fairfax County:
1,785 crashes
1,185 injuries
15 deaths
The per-lane-miles-travelled accident rate between Fort Belvoir and Hybla Valley is 70% higher than the Virginia and Fairfax County averages. From Hybla Valley to Alexandria it is 40% higher. These are troubling numbers. The $800 million widening of U.S. 1 and construction of bus rapid transit will bring significant safety improvements and is being engineered with lane widths assuming a 35 MPH speed limit.
Last week, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) held a public hearing to announce the preliminary results of its study to lower the speed limit on U.S. 1 during the eight years between today and the completion of U.S. 1 construction. VDOT’s study showed that a 35 MPH speed limit would significantly improve safety and reduce a driver’s travel time on the seven-mile stretch by only 90 seconds. VDOT is taking public comments on its website before finalizing its recommendation.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors recently had their first public discussion on undergrounding utilities on U.S. 1 as part of the widening plans and examined a new utility fee to pay for the undergrounding, an outgrowth of legislation I carried in 2017 and 2019. Over 450 Mount Vernon residents signed the petition I circulated with Delegate Paul Krizek requesting County action. County staff expressed concern that undergrounding utilities could jeopardize funding from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). It is not clear to me why that concern is only now being raised since this discussion has been ongoing for over five years, but I am hopeful that Congressman Don Beyer and Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine can work out a solution with the FTA.
VDOT has also begun a study of adding express toll lanes on I-495 from the Springfield “Mixing Bowl” to Prince George’s County, Maryland. When the Woodrow Wilson Bridge expansion was finalized in 2005, the extra capacity on the bridge was expressly reserved for transit, including rail. I have serious concerns that toll lanes would permanently eliminate the possibility of rail on the bridge and cannot be accomplished without reducing the current toll-less access on the bridge’s existing ten lanes. Additional vehicle capacity creates more vehicle-dependent, sprawling development and adds more vehicle commutes from Prince George’s County to Tyson’s Corner. The Wilson Bridge, which carries heavy interstate traffic, is already clogged almost daily. Rail is a more prudent, forward-looking investment.
The National Park Service instituted traffic calming measures on the south George Washington Memorial Parkway, including a “traffic diet” last year. At the time, VDOT analyzed concerns by several constituents that the traffic diet would gridlock Fort Hunt Road predicted no impact. This spring, VDOT analyzed new traffic data at my request and found traffic volumes on Fort Hunt Road have not changed since the Parkway traffic diet was implemented.
Finally, many of us are concerned about the Metro system’s lack of capital investment due to insufficient government support. The forthcoming closure of the Yellow Line Bridge over the Potomac River for eight months is the latest reminder. Last week, we discovered that the Youngkin Administration reallocated $71 million of state transit assistance dollars into statewide road maintenance funds. First, this means that area localities will have to make up the difference with local funds (e.g., your real estate or property tax dollars). Second, it means that transit funds will be used to repave roads across the entire state instead of being spent here.
While road paving needs funding, I am shocked the Governor would take this action while simultaneously claiming we have $2 billion of unanticipated transportation revenues that can support a $500 million gas tax cut. Many of us view his action as a raid on Northern Virginia transit to benefit other parts of Virginia. We have asked staff to determine if this unilateral reallocation violates the state budget law.
It is an honor to serve as your state senator. Please email me at scott@scottsurovell.org with your suggestions and feedback.
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July 18, 2022
On July 26, Mt. Vernon Supervisor Dan Storck is bringing a board matter before his colleagues that would raise the funds to finally underground utilities on U.S. 1 and other revitalizations areas in Fairfax County. His plan creates a revolving fund with revenue raised by a utility fee capped capped at $1/month and reimbursed by development proffers. Fairfax County is the only jurisdiction in Virginia authorized to impose this fee.
Supervisor Rodney Lusk supports the measure and Patch is reporting that Chairman Jeff McKay also supports funding for underground utilities on U.S. 1.
Transit-oriented development requires underground utilities. Climate change and traffic accidents undermine Fairfax County resiliency.
VDOT has committed $15 million and Verizon has already committed to fund their $45 million cost of undergrounding on U.S. 1 if the County pays $10M for to expand the underground duct bank. Prince William County funded underground utilities on 14-miles of U.S. 1 using local funds. Fairfax County is significantly wealthier and can afford the same amenities, and we cannot leave this money on the table.
Underground utilities are supported by the Mount Vernon Council of Citizens and the Mount Vernon-Lee Chamber of Commerce. Please join Delegate Paul Krizek and me in urging the County Board of Supervisors to support Supervisor Dan Storck's proposal.
We will deliver all comments you make to the Board of Supervisors before their meeting.
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July 4, 2022
The following is my column that will appear in this week's Mt. Vernon Gazette in the week of July 4, 2022.
U.S. Supreme Court Puts Virginian's Safety at Risk
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 23 issued a disturbing decision on
guns, the New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. v. Bruen case, which
clarified the scope of firearms rules declared by the Supreme Court in a
previous case, D.C. v. Heller, decided in 2008. This is yet another
disappointing decision from that court, like the one I wrote about last week, the Dobbs case, which would
severely limit women’s reproductive rights.
Before 2008, American courts interpreted the Second Amendment as authorizing states
the freedom to regulate their militias – today’s National Guard. In Heller,
the Court invalidated the District of Columbia’s handgun ban and requirement
that rifles in the home be stored with trigger locks and unassembled.
This was the first time the Court found such a right existed.
Today,
New York requires every gun owner to obtain a license to own or possess a gun
and to meet certain character standards. If a person wants to carry a
concealed firearm outside the home, he or she has to demonstrate “good cause,”
which courts have found is “a special need for self-protection distinguishable
from that of the general community” such as specific threats.
New York’s concealed handgun ban dates to 1905 and it was one of
only six states where concealed carry permits are discretionary. In
Virginia, concealed carry permits must be issued unless you fall within one of
18 exclusions such as a felony conviction, mental illness or have specific
misdemeanor convictions.
The NY Rifle case abandoned tests that had been settled on by the federal
appellate courts and set aside the New York rule by creating a new test
stipulating that all firearms rules must be “consistent with this Nation’s
historical tradition . . . when the people adopted them” and consistent with
the “public understanding” of the amendment.
This “historical tradition” test is preposterous. At the time our country
was founded, it took eight to 10 seconds to put one bullet in a musket. The effective range of an 18th
century musket was 50 to 100 meters. George Washington would not
recognize today’s firearms, you could not carry a pistol with 33 bullets your pocket
and it is unlikely James Madison ever stuffed his musket rifle in his jacket while
he perused grocery store aisles. Concealable
guns did not exist.
The Court also discussed what kinds of “sensitive places” firearm regulation might
be allowed including some “government buildings,” such as courthouses, but it
did not clarify the scope. Given this discussion, Virginia’s rules prohibiting
firearms on school property, in Richmond’s Capitol Square or in state
government buildings could be at issue.
In 2020, I helped pass several historic laws that could be at issue because of
this case:
·
Universal background checks;
·
“Red Flag” laws allowing police to seize guns from mentally
unstable people in an emergency;
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Allowing only one handgun purchase per month; and
·
Allowing localities to regulate firearms on government
property and at government-permitted events.
I was especially proud to carry the local authority bill after
several men from Hopewell, Virginia, carried AR-15 rifles around the Alexandria
Farmer’s Market while my father and son tried to buy a baguette and ham biscuits. Since then, many Virginia localities have adopted
ordinances prohibiting firearms in government centers, libraries, local parks
and during parades, protests or other government-permitted events. All of
these ordinances are now at risk. Background
checks, red flag laws and gun purchase limits did not exist in 1776 and I have
no idea what the Supreme Court thinks the “historical record” says about these
rules.
The Court has also created this new legal regime out of thin air. It effectively
requires legislators and judges to become historians. History is often written by the victors,
filled with the period’s prejudices and interpretation is subject of
debate. Law schools do not teach historical
analysis and our system is wholly unprepared for this new “legal test” which is
going to result in a legal feeding frenzy which is one reasons courts often avoid
overruling precedents.
Confidence in the Supreme Court is at an all-time low today
because today’s Court operates more as a legislature instead of nine impartial
jurists who follow the U.S. Constitution or law enacted by democratic legislatures.
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June 26, 2022
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 26, 2022.
The U.S. Supreme Court Decision
Threatens Women’s Fundamental RightsLast
week the U.S. Supreme Court issued three very important decisions: Carson
v. Maikin, New York Rifle & Pistol Assn v. Bruen and Dobbs
v. Jackson Women’s Health Org. (Dobbs). The Carson case relates to
taxpayer funding of religious schools. NY Rifle affects
firearm violence prevention. Dobbs eviscerates
a woman’s right to make her own healthcare decisions. This column
addresses the Dobbs decision. I will discuss NY Rifle next
week, Carson and the Governor’s budget amendments in future columns.
The Dobbs case
overruled the landmark Roe v. Wade decision which has been the
law of the land since January 22, 1973. That
decision held that the right to privacy embodied in various amendments in the U.S.
Constitution’s Bill of Rights gave women a constitutional right to make their
own healthcare decisions. Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the Roe
case was wrongly decided and should no longer stand.
The Dobbs decision does not change Virginia law -- yet.
In Virginia, abortion is legal and in 2020 we even repealed a series of
restrictions on a woman’s right to make this decision, limits put in place
between 2010 and 2019, including requiring an external ultrasound and a picture
of the ultrasound’s results given to the woman, requiring a 24-hour wait after
obtaining the ultrasound, the provision of medically inaccurate information,
and revoking a mandate to the Board of Health to unnecessarily regulate abortion
clinics like hospitals.
Today, a Virginia woman may obtain an abortion in the state without restriction
during her pregnancy’s first two trimesters or during the third trimester if
three medical doctors certify that the pregnancy will lead to the woman’s death
or “substantially and irremediably impair the mental or physical health of the
woman.”
After
the Supreme Court’s decision, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin announced that he
will propose legislation to ban all abortions after the fifteenth week of
pregnancy. Another Senator has announced that he will introduce
legislation to state that life begins at conception. These bills will not pass the current Senate
Education and Health Committee, but after the 2023 elections, if the membership
and control of the State Senate changes, Virginia’s laws could be significantly
modified or repealed.
I support a woman’s right to make her own healthcare decisions. In 2020,
I even introduced legislation to codify Roe v. Wade, to put that
policy into Virginia’s laws. Senator
Dick Saslaw introduced legislation to start the process of placing Roe in
the Constitution of Virginia. We withdrew our own bills at the request of
several abortion rights organizations who did not want the legislation to be
presented for various reasons. The current composition of the General
Assembly along with Governor Youngkin’s views make it impossible to pass these
bills today, but that could change after 2023 or 2025 when we could try again.
I cannot convey how disturbed I am by the Supreme Court’s decisions.
While past precedents have fallen before, the Court has never taken away a
constitutional right. Americans rely on the Court to follow our
Constitution and the law through reliance upon precedent and incremental change.
Last week, the Court inappropriately behaved like a
legislature.
Five of the six justices who signed on to Dobbs and the other
two opinions were nominated by presidents who did not win the American popular
vote. All six told Congress that Roe was
settled precedent in their confirmation hearings. One was confirmed after the U. S. Senate
refused to hold confirmation hearings six months before an election. Three were confirmed after the Republican majority
changed internal rules and exempted Supreme Court nominations from the
filibuster. All were confirmed by U. S. Senators representing a minority of America’s
population.
The Court’s legitimacy derives from the public’s trust, that the public
believes that the court bases its opinions on the law and not on a judge’s
personal opinions or religious beliefs. This week’s decisions have
eviscerated public confidence and will further inflame the divisions that have
plagued our country for the last five years.
I will do everything I can to protect the ability of Virginia’s women to have
access to contraception and make healthcare decisions without government
interference. It is an honor to serve as your state senator.
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June 6, 2022
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.
The overall budget is about $180 billion over a two-year period or biennium. The General Fund portion of the budget which we have the most discretion around totals about $59 billion over two years. It is balances and contains a constitutionally-mandated $1.1 billion deposit to our “Rainy Day Fund” which is now projected to total $3.8 billion by FY2023 as required by the Constitution of Virginia. It also contains a $750 million deposit against our $15 billion unfunded retirement liability with the Virginia Retirement System.
The Budget contains a number of tax cuts which reduced available revenue by over $4 billion. Specifically, it reduced revenues by $1.6 billion by increasing the standard deduction to $8,000 for individuals and $16,000 for joint filers. It eliminates the state sales tax on food for human consumption and personal hygiene products at a cost of $372 million but leaves the 1% local option sales tax that funds K-12 in place. The budget also contains rebates of $250 and $500 for single and married tax filers which will cost $1.0 billion. It also makes the Virginia Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) partially refundable at a cost of $315 million and exempts military retirement pay from state income taxes in $10,000 increments starting in 2022 up to $40,000 in 2025.
The budget contains historic investments in K-12 education including the state share of teacher pay increases of 5% each year and $1,000 bonuses for each school employee. It partially eliminates the cap on state support for non-teaching personnel that has been in place since 2010 and contains state funded teacher recruitment bonuses of up to $5,000 per position.
It also contains a new $1.0 billion school modernization fund which directs funds to localities through three separate streams. School construction has historically been a locally-funded activity and many conservative areas have refused to raise taxes to keep up with maintenance.
Higher education received over $200 million of additional support for in-state tuition, financial aid, but the state is still only funding in-state student tuition at 50% of historic levels. Several universities have kept tuition flat in light of this.
The bill increases Health and Human Services funding by $1.4 billion including investments which will reduce our Medicaid Waiver Waiting List for developmentally and intellectually disabled persons. It provides $86 million in new funding to raise personal care rates for personal attendants and $85 million for increased dental insurance reimbursements so more dentists will take Medicaid funded dental patients. It raises the salaries of state mental health workers to the 50th percentile with salary increases averaging around 37%. Our mental health system has been unable to keep up with demand or retain employees. It also funds a state reinsurance program for our state healthcare exchange which will reduce insurance premiums for individuals purchasing their insurance from the exchange.
The budget contains $47 million to fund local police departments like Fairfax and Prince William County, about $70 million for raises to our Sheriffs, and $113 million for raises with the Virginia State Police and our correctional workers. It also funds raises for state employees ranging between 10-15% over two years along with $1,000 one-time bonuses.
Finally, it also contains funds to widen I-64 to four lanes between Richmond and Williamsburg and creates a new State Trails Office with $41 million to develop major trails in the Commonwealth. We also authorized $1.0 billion of capital improvements at our Western Hemisphere leading the Port of Virginia. The remaining transportation budget is programmed by the Commonwealth Transportation Board.
It is an honor to serve as your state senator. As always, you can reach me at scott@scottsurovell.org.
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June 1, 2022
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 31, 2022.
On Wednesday of this week, I cleared my trial calendar and headed to Richmond to vote for the bipartisan conference report on our $188 billion state budget. The compromise was a mixed bag. This week, I will write about some local priorities in the budget. Next week, I will write about the coming tax cuts and some of the broader investments that benefit the entire Commonwealth.
First, the Commonwealth’s current fiscal picture appears healthy but I have serious concerns that our excess revenues are largely driven by $5 Trillion of federal stimulus monies that have been pumped into our economy instead of solid underlying economic fundamentals. It is very dangerous to reset tax rates assuming revenues that could vanish when the stream of borrowed money fizzles out.
The budget appropriates an additional $214 million for Fairfax County Public Schools, $219 million for Prince William County Public Schools, and $78 million for Stafford County Public Schools. The state is now sending Fairfax County, $468 million more per year than the first budget that was adopted when I was elected in 2010. These funds will go a long way to ensure our teachers are paid fairly as long as the our localities match the state funding consistent with progressive Virginia policy.
Last year, Senator Adam Ebbin, Delegate Paul Krizek, Delegate Mark Sickles and I secured $2 million in the state budget to help defray the cost of purchasing River Farm which was under threat of development. Now that the threat has been eliminated, I proposed budget language to repurpose that money to provide public access improvements, education opportunities, viewing platforms and shoreline stabilization which was included in the final budget. It would not have happened without a team effort and will pay dividends for decades.
Water service to the Town of Quantico has been a long standing battle between the Town and Marine Corps Base Quantico. My proposal to use $17 million of funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (APRA) to connect the Town to the Prince William County Public Service Authority water system was included. The amendments also restored many water quality priorities I secured in the Governor’s and Senate’s budget including $3 million for stormwater mitigation in the Town of Dumfries and $300,000 of stormwater remediation in the Town of Occoquan which will help clean the Potomac River.
Delegate Krizek, Delegate Sickles, Senator Ebbin and I also secured $400,000 of ongoing funding for Good Shepherd Housing’s to continue to provide housing, emergency services, children's services, budgeting, counseling and other resources for low-income families. Good Shepherd has found this additional funding to be crucial – even in our raging economy where our recovery has been uneven.
I was also able to pass and secure nearly $400,000 of funding to conduct a bipartisan autopsy of the Commonwealth’s pandemic response. This pandemic was (hopefully) a once-in-a-century opportunity to test Virginia’s emergency and pandemic response systems. There are many lessons to be learned about not just the pandemic but also our way of life. We all received a crash course in remote meetings, vaccine distribution, vaccine mitigation and other practices that can pay us long-term dividends. We tested our stockpiles and state of emergency statutes, and learned exactly which workers are essential and must continue working no matter how risky it is. We need to continue our discussions in a post-pandemic environment.
While the budget has some important local priorities, it also contained major tax cuts and investments. Next week, I will discuss that along with funding I did not support along with major missed opportunities. As The Rolling Stones sang, "You can't always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes you get what you need." I voted “yes” to reach a bipartisan compromise.
It is an honor to serve as your state senator. If you have any feedback, you can reach me at scott@scottsurovell.org.
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March 23, 2022
Mark your calendars to join me, Delegate Paul Krizek and Friends of Little Hunting Creek for our annual creek cleanup!
Details are as follows:
2022 LITTLE HUNTING CREEK CLEAN UPAPRIL 30TH9 AM - 11 AMRSVP: bit.ly/CreekCleanup2022
Little Hunting Creek is one of the most severely degraded streams in Fairfax County. In 2007, it was named “Fairfax County’s Trashiest Stream” by Fairfax County who spent over $50,000 of taxpayer funds removing trash.
In our 12 years of creek cleanups, we have removed over 200 shopping carts, over 500 bags of trash, over a dozen bikes, multiple car sears and a .22 caliber rifle.
We will have two sites staged for the event:
Janna Lee Avenue Little Hunting Creek Bridge:
From Route 1 (at the intersection with Mount Vernon Memorial Highway), turn west onto Buckman Rd., right on Janna Lee Ave to the bridge over Little Hunting Creek.
Click here to view this site on Google Maps
Mount Vernon Shopping Plaza Near Sherwin-Williams Paint Store:
From Route 1, turn N on Fordson Rd, the cleanup site is in the concrete channel adjacent to a Sherwin-Williams store in the NE corner of Mount Vernon Plaza. Enter from Fordson Rd., directly across from Mamma’s Kitchen (7601 Fordson Rd.)
Click here to view this site on Google Maps
As residents of Mount Vernon, we have a responsibility to improve our natural environment and protect the health of our local watershed. Volunteering is a great opportunity for young adults to spend time outside, gain community service hours and learn about their local ecosystem.
Please note that all volunteers are strongly encouraged to wear rainboots or sneakers. Additionally, we will be providing water, light snacks and pizza for all those who come out and volunteer!
If you are interested in attending, please RSVP so my team can be sure to provide enough food and supplies:
RSVP
After the cleanup, you are invited to join me at Cinco De Surovell at Fort Hunt Park at 1 pm! I hope to see you there.
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March 14, 2022
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 14, 2022.
Session Ends - Budget Is Pending
Last week, state
legislators completed the 2022 General Assembly session and 18 of the 27 bills
I introduced are now on their way to the Governor. Unfortunately, we were
not able to reach an agreement on a state budget, on two state Supreme Court
justices or on a commissioner for the State Corporation Commission and will
have a special session.
Last
week, I served on 16 conference committees charged with working out compromises
on some of our most difficult bills to reconcile.
Unfortunately, the
House of Delegates unexpectedly killed one of my bills to generate more bike
and pedestrian solutions. We have a massive backlog of unfunded pedestrian
and bicycling infrastructure projects in Northern Virginia - especially in eastern
Northern Virginia which were built before County land use rules required
sidewalks or bike lanes on roads. There is also no meaningful funding
stream under which these projects are competitive so planners do not even
develop or seek significant projects.
U.S. 1’s forthcoming
$1 billion redesign, which will include a median dedicated bus rapid transit
lane, dual sidewalks and multiuse paths, will be a bike and pedestrian magnet,
but few of the roads connecting to U.S. 1 have the bike or pedestrian
infrastructure to serve the project. The Washington Area Bicyclists
Association recently predicted that we need to invest $1 billion in cycling
infrastructure in the D.C. metropolitan area over the next 20 years to meet
minimum demand.
I introduced SB251 to require the Virginia Department of Transportation
to work with Northern Virginia localities to prepare a 20-year bicycle and
pedestrian project list. This would help
us estimate future need and develop funding solutions. The House of
Delegates defeated the bill, largely because downstate legislators feared the
bill would lead to less road funding for rural areas in the state. I will
try to accomplish this in other ways.
My legislation to regulate facial recognition technology in law enforcement
also passed both houses on bipartisan votes. Last year, the General
Assembly passed a ban on local police departments using the technology, but the
ban did not apply to state police who can still use the technology with no
restrictions, when either using it on their own or in coordination with local
police.
My legislation
restricts usage and creates criminal offenses for misuse. It also
prohibits facial recognition results from being stated in affidavits or search
warrants and requires law enforcement officers to develop alternative
corroborating evidence to link an individual to a crime. We are fully
aware that many people have concerns about this new technology so the bill also
requires each law enforcement agency to publish an annual report detailing the
use of facial recognition technology.
With this information, we will have more information on how it is being
used and try to prevent its misuse.
I also served on a conference committee to reconcile a bill to reverse
legislation we passed last session to subject closed criminal investigations to
the Freedom of Information Act. I did not support the underlying bill,
but I was put on the conference committee to try to improve it.
I represent many crime victims in my legal practice and can appreciate the
sensitivity of opening up closed files to public scrutiny. However,
accountability in police shootings and police misconduct can also be achieved
with sunlight as we have learned from the Bijan Ghaisar case who was killed in Mt.
Vernon by the U.S. Park Police. The voices of victims can be heard in
record disputes without giving law enforcement complete discretion on
withholding files so I refused to sign the final conference report which passed
both chambers on close votes.
The budget is bogged down in a dispute over tax cuts which I do not
support. Our February revenue numbers were down compared to 2021 and I am
not convinced our rosy economic growth is here to stay, especially with the
instability in Ukraine, rising gas prices and inflation. Cutting taxes means
fewer revenues to support services people expect from their government. We have many long-ignored needs to fund and
reducing revenues will likely continue that neglect. Stay tuned.
I hope you will share your views with me at scott@scottsurovell.org.
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March 9, 2022
WMATA Announces Yellow Line Construction: Service Across the Potomac to Pause for Renovations
YELLOW LINE PASSENGERS: The WMATA has announced they will be suspending Yellow Line service across the Potomac between Pentagon and L’Enfant stations for seven to eight months, starting Sept. 10th, 2022.
Per the WMATA statement:
“A major rehab of the Yellow Line tunnel and bridge will begin concurrently in September. Metro’s chief engineer has identified the steel-lined tunnel near L’Enfant Plaza as the agency’s top structural priority, with repairs needed to stop water intrusion and strengthen the tunnel lining. Metro will also remove and rewire miles of critical communications cabling used by multiple jurisdictions and make repairs to the Yellow Line bridge. The project and associated bridge closure is expected to begin in September and be completed in spring 2023.”
In addition to the tunnel updates, WMATA has announced construction to connect the future Potomac Yard Station to the mainline tracks, which will be completed this fall. As the WMATA stated:
“Potomac Yard Station, Sept. 10 – Oct. 22, 2022: Potomac Yard Station construction will require a six-week shutdown of rail service south of Washington National Airport station to build new tracks that “tie-in” the new station with the existing Metrorail system. Engineering, testing, and commissioning needed to integrate the track, power, communications and signal systems into the system will also be conducted during this time. This will be followed by additional testing and training to determine when service can begin.”
You can view the WMATA statement in full by clicking here. I will be sure to provide an update when the WMATA provides more information on what alternative service option(s) will be provided during the closures.
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March 7, 2022
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 7, 2022.
Last Week On Tap: House Kills Five Bills
Last week, Week 7 of the 2023 Regular General Assembly Session, brought major action on many bills. This coming week, no committees can meet after Monday and the session is scheduled to end on Saturday, March 12.
The House of Delegates killed seven of my 25 remaining bills. First, SB246 required law enforcement officers to advise a driver why they were stopped before asking for their driver’s license and vehicle registration. I introduced this bill after a constituent from Kingstowne ended up in the local news after she was stopped and charged with driving while intoxicated and after she asked why she was stopped. She blew a 0.00% breath alcohol concentration and her case dismissed, but the entire situation was avoidable. This policy is consistent with Virginia law enforcement accreditation standards, Virginia State Police and Fairfax County Police policies, but the Virginia Sheriffs Association opposed it and a House committee voted the bill down on a party-line vote.
The same constituent was also encouraged to file a police complaint, which she did, but when her case became public the law enforcement agency claimed she had not filed anything. A second bill required law enforcement agencies to provide a written confirmation all complaints, a practice also consistent with accreditation. The state’s Sheriffs opposed this bill too and a House committee defeated it on a party-line vote.
Next, we passed Senator Adam Ebbin’s legislation last session that decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana by adults. This session, I introduced legislation allowing anyone currently incarcerated for marijuana distribution to seek a resentencing proceeding and all people whose sentences were enhanced due to a prior marijuana-related conviction to see a review of their sentence by the Parole Board. A House committee killed the bill on a party-line vote.
Fourth, the COVID-19 Pandemic spotlighted the sacrifice and vulnerability of our front-line healthcare, grocery store and other workers who kept working and because of the nature of their jobs, could not work from home. I carried SB352 with Delegate Candi King which required most healthcare and grocery store employers to provide 30 hours of sick leave per year to these heroes who also lost many colleagues. Front-line workers should not have to choose between going to work sick where they can spread illness and their paycheck. It died in committee on a party-line vote.
In 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision that allows police officers to lie to suspects in an effort to obtain a confession. However, multiple studies show that juveniles do not have the sophistication of adults, are more susceptible deception, are more deferential to authority than adults which can result in false confessions and wrongful convictions. I carried legislation similar to a bill introduced by Delegate Sally Hudson to heighten the government’s burden in such cases, but it died on a party-line vote in a House committee.
Finally, I also carried legislation to clean up and clarify some inconsistencies in our rules relating to the sealing of convictions and expungement of acquittals in connection with the landmark legislation I passed with Delegate Charniele Herring last year. A House committee rejected it on a party-line vote with little discussion.
Nearly all of my other bills are awaiting the Governor’s signature. A few will go into a conference committee for negotiation and final resolution. The House and Senate budget negotiators have started meeting, but when the available revenues are $3 billion apart, it is virtually impossible to negotiate. We may need a special session to resolve the differences.
Over 250 constituents have completed my constituent survey. Thus far, 91% support extending the Yellow Line to Woodbridge, 87% would like to see Fairfax County match our state funds to provide teachers a 5% pay raise, 76% support underground utilities on U.S. 1, and funding priorities should be secondary education, mental health care and transportation, while the top issue is climate change. Please provide your opinions on the Commanders football stadium, reproductive choice, firearm violence prevention and marijuana legalization. You can complete your version at www.scottsurovell.org/survey.
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March 2, 2022
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.
Next,
the Senate Budget includes language repurposing $2 million for River Farm previously
secured by Delegate Paul Krizek and Senator Adam Ebbin by allowing it to be
spent on public access improvements on the property. This will help River Farm truly become a
public asset.
I also
worked with Delegate Paul Krizek to secure $250,000 in both chambers’ budget to
help Good Shepherd Housing continue to provide services to family who received Temporary
Aid to Needy Families aid. The Senate
also included $50 million in new financial funding for Pell Grant eligible
college students at universities with smaller endowments such as James Madison
University, George Mason University, Longwood, Radford and Mary
Washington.
Governor
Northam previously included $17 million in his budget to connect the Town of
Quantico to public water service. This has
been a major source of friction between the town and Marine Corps Base Quantico
and I am pleased it was left in both budget.
He also
included $3 million and $300,000 in stormwater grants for the Town of Dumfries
and the Town of Quantico, but these were removed in the Senate. I am hopeful they will be restored during the
budget negotiations.
More globally, the House Budget
relies on over $3 billion of tax cuts whereas the Senate Budget fulfills our
obligation to pass a balanced budget by only cutting state tax on groceries. Without these tax cuts, the Senate Budget
provides funding for a 5% raise on teacher salaries. The Senate Budget also provides about $500
million to help fund the state’s $26 billion school maintenance deficit which
mostly exists outside of Northern Virginia.
It also provides $1 billion towards the state $6 billion shortfall in
the Virginia Retirement System.
The Senate
Budget also provides a 5% raise for all state employees and a one-time $1,000
bonus. It also includes $388 million in
new funding for public safety including raises for law enforcement. It provides $85 million to pay down the $300
million maintenance backlog in our state parks, funds $289 million of
improvements at the Virginia Port Authority which provides goods for nearly
every big box store in Virginia, and also over $300 million for the Virginia
Water Quality Improvement Fund. The Senate
Budget also fulfills our constitutionally required Rainy Day Fund deposit which
would leave $3.9 billion available for the next downturn.
These
budgets are substantially apart due to the House of Delegates irresponsible
decision to cut taxes. Our nation is
currently experiencing 7% inflation which is helping to generate the revenue
surpluses and we are not even providing pay raises to allow our teachers,
police and other government employees pay raises that keep up with that. At this time, it is not clear how we will
reach a compromise.
We still
have two Supreme Court vacancies that we need to fill and a vacancy on the
State Corporation Commission (SCC). Most
people have never heard of the SCC, but it decides how much you pay for
electricity, water, gas, all types of insurance, regulates banks, credit unions
and railroads, and runs our state healthcare exchange. We have two weeks to figure these out.
Please
consider completing my constituent survey seeking your feedback on important
issues this session. You can complete it
at www.scottsurovell.org/survey.
It is an honor to serve as your state senator.
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February 23, 2022
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 21, 2022.
Juvenile Deception, Facial Recognition and Medical Record Transparency
The
sixth week of the General Assembly brought us to “Crossover” – the moment when
each chamber must finish work on bills originating in each chamber and we begin
work on bills coming from the other side.
Twenty-five
of my twenty-seven bills were passed by the Senate and will now be heard in the
House of Delegates. On the last day of
session, I defended eight bills on the floor of the Senate alone. I will discuss several in this column that I
have not covered in prior columns.
In 1969,
the Supreme Court of the United States held that it was constitutionally permissible
for law enforcement to lie to suspects during interrogation to gain information
for prosecution. Several states have questioned
the fundamental fairness of using this tactic to juveniles who are not as sophisticated
and are more susceptible to persuasion than adults. False confessions are involved in about
thirty-five percent of wrongful convictions and there is a plethora of cases
involving juveniles who wrongfully confessed.
My legislation would prohibit law
enforcement from using deception tactics during a custodial interrogation of a
juvenile and shift the burden of showing a confession was voluntary to the government
if these tactics were used. It passed
the Senate on a bipartisan 26-14 vote.
I also carried a bill that will
allow the limited use of facial recognition technology to develop leads in
criminal investigations and for use in specific community welfare
situations. Last year, we passed
legislation prohibiting facial recognition from being used in Virginia law enforcement
due to concerns about accuracy across racial subgroups. The Fairfax County Police Department had
previously used this technology over 12,000 times with no false positives.
More recently, you may have read
about the “shopping cart killer” who was arrested on U.S. 1 near the Penn Daw
Wal-Mart pushing two dead bodies in containers in a shopping cart. He was later linked to three other murders
across the country. Facial recognition
companies have additional information about him, but the FCPS is prohibited
from obtaining or using it by statute.
This technology can also be used to identify individuals without identification
such as lost adults with dementia, people unable to provide information due to medical
emergencies such as strokes or concussions, or dead bodies. Police cannot use this technology even if no
foul play is suspected.
The National Institute for
Standards and Technology (NIST) has begun a program that now certifies many
facial recognition technologies as being 98-99% accurate with minor deviations
across racial subgroups. Many are being
used in national security applications, for air travel, and for trusted-traveler
programs such as Global Entry run by U.S. Border and Customs Control. My legislation would allow it to be used for
specific investigations and community welfare incidents, but not for general surveillance
or monitoring. It passed the Senate on a
bipartisan vote.
I am
also working with the Virginia Chapter of the Humane Society on legislation to
modernize Virginia Law relating to the sexual abuse of animals. While Virginia currently prohibits
beastiality, it does not have criminal sanctions for individuals who traffic in
animals for sexual abuse or for the manufacturing or possession of “animal porn”
which has all been shown to have strong correlation with child sexual abuse and
other sex crimes. Detectives also testified
at our hearing regarding suspects destroying child pornography during raids,
but separately storing or keeping their animal porn because they knew it was
not illegal. My bill passed the Senate unanimously.
Medical
records have become electronic over the last two decades. However, when a doctor makes a change on your
chart, you can no longer see the scratches to show the change and the edits are
often invisible without careful inspection.
I carried legislation requiring medical providers to produce the audit
history for medical records so that patient can quickly see any changes made to
their contemporaneous medical records.
Next week, we move on to the budget and action
on legislation that has crossed over.
Please complete my constituent survey at www.scottsurovell.org/survey and
if you have feedback, send me an email at scott@scottsurovell.org.
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