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Beltway On The James—A Virginia Political Blog
DEL. HERRING ADDRESSED OVER 1,000 PARTICIPANTS AT THE 2010 NATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS
On the heels of yesterday's speech, Delegate Herring will meet with Bob Sledd next week to discuss initiatives reduce homelessness in Virginia.
UPDATE: DEPARTMENT OF ARMY WILL JOIN VDOT AT DELEGATE HERRING'S NORTHERN VIRGINIA BRAC WORKING GROUP MEETING ON JULY 29, 2010
Department of the Army will Join VDOT Representative to Discuss Traffic Plans for BRAC 133 facility at Delegate Herring's Northern Virginia Community BRAC Working Group
REMINDER: DELEGATE HERRING'S NORTHERN VIRGINIA BRAC WORKING GROUP MEETING SCHEDULED FOR JULY 29, 2010
WHO: Delegate Herring and VDOT Representative WHAT: Review and Discussion of Traffic Management Plan and Zoning Issues WHEN: July 29, 2010, 7:30-9:00 PM WHERE: Ellen Coolidge Burke Branch Library, 4701 Seminary Road, Alexandria, VA 22304 Contact: For additional information or questions, please contact my legislative office at 703-606-9705 RSVP: info@charnieleherring.com This is not required but it will allow us to ensure that there is enough seating make for people who desire to attend.
STARTING WORK FOR THE 2011 VA LEGISLATIVE SESSION
My office has begun to prepare its legislative package for the 2011 session. There are several bills that we will continue to pursue from the 2010 session which include providing a registry of qualified health care providers for Virginians who need services provided in their home and service of emergency protective orders. If there is a change in Virginia law that you would like to see or an initiative pursued please contact me. My job is to represent you and I want to know your ideas.
ARE VIRGINIANS CURBING THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING?
On this hazy hot and humid day in July, I found an interesting article from the Northern VirginiaTransportation Alliance. Click here for the article. Basically it noted while there has been a record tying early summer heat wave, there have been no code reds. According to the article "[t]emperatures reached the 90s or higher on 18 days, tying a record set in 1943. In the past, such heat levels might have produced a dozen or more Code Red (unhealthy for all) air quality days. Yet, despite record temperatures our region did not experience one Code Red day." Why has there been no Code Red day in June despite the record heat? Many believe that technological advances including cleaner fuels and vehicles have been the key to improved air quality. As a matter of policy, this is instructive for our efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.
Delegate Kory honored as a "Conservation Hero"
The Virginia League of Conservation Voters is proud to honor Delegate Kaye Kory as a 'Conservation Hero.' Her first year at the General Assembly has shown her to be a legislator who understands that protecting our environment goes hand in hand with promoting healthy, livable and economically viable communities.
Notes from Community Hours
On Saturday, June 26 and Thursday, July 1, I invited School Board Members Sandy Evans and Patty Reed to join me at my Community Hours at the James Lee Center and the Woodrow Wilson Library.
Join me as we celebrate Autism Champions
Please join me and Good Morning America Anchor, Sam Champion, this Friday evening, July 2, from 6pm to 8pm at the Country Club of Fairfax, 5110 Ox Road, as we raise money to support the Virginia Autism Project.
Thank you for a successful event!
Many thanks to the hard-working volunteers who made our First Year Celebration such a great success! And more thanks to the many supporters who joined me to celebrate.
First Year Celebration
You are invited to celebrate the first year with Delegate Kaye Kory, Virginia House of Delegates, 38th District. Sunday, June 27th, 2010, 5pm to 7pm at the home of Mr. David Feld, 6405 Lakeview Drive, Falls Church, VA 22041.
Kaye's Community Drop-in Hours
We had a good turnout at the George Mason Regional Library a couple of weeks ago for my community hours. People from around the 38th district came by to talk politics, transportation, redistricting, upcoming legislative issues and more.
DEL. HERRING SLATED TO GIVE KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE TO END HOMELESSNESS JULY 14
"I am honored to have been invited to address leaders from across the nation about homelessness and to share my thoughts about ending homeless ens in our nation,"
DELEGATE HERRING WILL PARTICIPATE ON VIRGINIA STATE CRIME COMMISSION'S PROTECTIVE ORDER WORK GROUP
The process for protective orders has come under scrutiny since the death of University of Virginia student Yardely Love.
DEL. HERRING JOINS DEEP WATER HORIZON SPILL COALITION
Delegate Herring participated in the Deep Water Horizon Spill Coalition of the NFWL’s National Policy Committee on Energy, Natural Resources & Agriculture.
DEL. HERRING FORMS NORTHERN VIRGINIA COMMUNITY TASK FORCE ON BRAC
On May 24th, Delegate Herring attended the Palisades Homeowners’ Association meeting along with Delegate Adam Ebbin (49th House District), Senator Mary Margaret Whipple (31st Senate District), and Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Member, Penny Gross (Mason District Supervisor) to discuss BRAC 133 at the Mark Center. Many issues were discussed at the meeting including the traffic gridlock and adverse impacts to our neighborhoods. Hearing comments and suggestions from concerned residents during the meeting, Delegate Herring announced that she will start a region wide task force.
The Long View
Governor McDonnell and the Republican-dominated House of Delegates crafted and passed a budget for the 2010-2012 Biennium that fell short of funding program priorities I believe are vital to Virginia’s quality of life. This budget was based on Governor Kaine’s recommended budget, which closed the gap between projected revenues and spending with a combination of program cuts and revenue enhancements. The Kaine budget proposed eliminating the state’s car tax reimbursement and adding a surtax to individual income tax. The Governor and the House chose to eliminate the tax changes, which required them to find an additional $1.9 billion in program cuts and funding deferrals.
Diverting attention from the real work at hand
Since Attorney General Ken Cuccinnelli launched his nullification efforts the day after President Obama signed the Health Care legislation, I have been receiving a steady flow of constituent mail mostly critical (90+%) expressing feelings ranging from ridicule to outrage. Governor McDonnell's ill-considered "Confederate History Month" proclamation and his decision to add the additional requirement of a persuasive essay to the already cumbersome application process that nonviolent ex-offenders must follow in order to regain their voting rights have added increased volume to my mailbox - both in numbers and intensity of opinion.
College Credit for IB Courses
Good News: We unanimously passed the International Baccalaureate College credit bill on Friday afternoon. This bill states that Virginia Colleges and Universities must award equal course credit to IB and AP courses when determining student placement. While this measure might be seem like a no-brainer (and for me, it is), it has long been an issue for many parents and students. Most Virginia colleges have not given equal weight to IB & AP and this is a problem in 2 ways:
Well, I guess it all depends upon where you are sitting.....
Members of the House of Delegates have issued press releases describing this first half of the 2010 Legislative Session as successful in getting our economy moving. From my seat, I saw the House debate more than 20 gun rights bills in one afternoon, several of which would allow those carrying concealed guns to carry those guns onto private property without that private property owners' permission or in spite of having been denied permission by the property owner.
Making up Snow Days
I have been talking to Fairfax County School Board Members, other Fairfax County Delegates, meeting with Delegate Bob Tata, Chair of the House Education Committee, and staff members from the Governor's office and the Department of Education to look at options for easing the burden that the extraordinary number of snow days so far in this school year has placed on FCPS.
News Flash Update
HB 629 was brought back to the floor by a member who voted on the prevailing side and a vote was taken again. This time the bill failed by one vote. At least 2 members of the House did not vote. So, the bail-out goes forward!
News Flash
After being snowbound for several days, I arrived to today's session in time to cast the deciding vote to defeat HB 629. This bill would effectively release a 'successor corporation' from any asbestos-related liabilities. This bill was specifically a bail-out for a certain company. I am proud that I was able to cast the deciding no vote!
Delegate Kory's Report from Richmond
Report from the capital city after three and a half weeks: as the days of this 2010 session go by, the stronger the partisanship displayed in the House. We have dealt with the perennial Virginia General Assembly social issues: abortion, and the death penalty--gun control will be up soon. The votes have all lined up along party lines. We have barely touched education.
Fighting to raise teachers' salaries
Yesterday my bill calling for Virginia to pay its teachers at a rate that is competitive with the national average teachers salary was killed in subcommittee on a totally partisan vote. This bill is purely goal--setting without any financial commitments. There was no clear reason to kill it--just a 'we've spent enough time on this and she needs to go away'.
Governor McDonnell refuses to overturn the LCI freeze
I just learned that Gov McDonnell has publicly stated that he will NOT overturn the LCI freeze in Gov Kaine's December budget. This is disastrous for Northern Virginia! Refusing to re-benchmark/update the Local Composite Index--the formula that all state education funding is run through to determine the exact amount of $ going to each school system--cheats Fairfax County Public Schools out of $61 million dollars. Prince William & Loudoun lose a total of $60 million.
Delegate Kory’s Report From Richmond
Today I completed my first week as the Delegate from the 38th district to the Virginia House of Delegates. One of my highest priorities in this role is to inform and engage the citizens of the 38th in the sometimes opaque legislative processes that unfold in Richmond. One note of caution, though. I have heard it said that there and two things you don’t want to see in the making: sausages and laws!
Welcome To Beltway On The James
We started this blog to provide updated reports to Virginians regarding activity at the Virginia General Assembly. We thought that this blog was a good idea because each of us represents a district within the beltway. I represent Alexandria City and parts of Fairfax County, Patrick Hope represents Arlington County, and Kaye Kory represents parts of Fairfax County. While each of us is a Democrat, we may have different views on issues. Therefore, we want our readers to know that we do not necessarily endorse or support the statements of each other. However, we each share the strong belief that Jefferson’s words that “information is the currency of democracy” are just as true today as it was when he wrote them hundreds of years ago. Therefore, we want to hear from you.
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