In the Belly of the Beast

Voters across Virginia have expressed outrage with the “abuser fee” portion of this year’s transportation bill. The bill included the Republican proposal to raise an estimated $65 million per year by charging Virginia drivers new fees, for a range of offenses from traveling 20 miles over the speed limit on up. Fees are also assessed on those who accumulate more than eight demerit points on their Virginia driver’s license starting this month.

I have consistently opposed abuser fees as a means of addressing our transportation funding crisis. I voted against bills to establish excessive fees. I support penalties for violating traffic laws, but these fees are in addition to already substantial fines for offenders.

Many far-right conservatives in the House have taken a pledge not to consider ever increasing taxes for any public need, no matter how great. Because of this inflexibility, Republicans have come up with “innovative” funding schemes like the abuser fees. Many Republicans rationalized their support for the Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads regional portions of the bill by voting to “allow” the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority to enact taxes, rather than have the Commonwealth fulfill its core responsibility of maintaining and improving Virginia’s transportation system.

Because more than 100,000 Virginians have petitioned against the new fees, I believe that the General Assembly will reassess them in 2008. Many constituents are upset that the abuser fees will only be charged to Virginians and not out-of-state drivers. Our state constitution requires that all “fines” go to the Literary Fund for school construction, hence the new driver’s license “fees” rather than increased “fines” on all violators.

Sen. Colgan’s bill to raise the minimum wage in Virginia (SB 1327) was reported out of the Commerce and Labor Committee today on a 13-9 vote! All committee Democrats voted for it and were joined by four Republicans.

Recorded as voting yes were: Delegates Plum, Johnson, Jones, D.C., Joannou, Melvin, Alexander, Sickles, McClellan, Morgan, Callahan, Hargrove, Tata and Purkey.

Voting no were: Kilgore, Byron, Ware, R.L., Dudley, Griffith, Nixon, Suit, Hugo, Abbitt.

If passed by the full House and signed by the Governor, the minimum wage in Virginia would raise to $6.50 per hour on July 1.

Lots of folks have been working on this for a long time. Kudos to Delegate Ken Plum for lining up the votes to ensure the bill would get a recorded vote in full committee!

Richmond Report from Delegate Adam Ebbin

February 6 marked “crossover” in the Virginia General Assembly, the deadline for final House action on the 1,599 bills and 331 resolutions introduced by Delegates. 911 pieces of House legislation have now been sent to the Senate, including ten of mine.

If successful in the Senate, some of my legislation that passed the House will:

• Establish a Virginia Commission on the Prevention of Human Trafficking. (HB2923) Trafficking is the obtaining of a human being via force, fraud or coercion for forced labor–modern day slavery. Among the most common motives for trafficking are to profit from forced prostitution, domestic servitude or back-breaking farm work. The new statewide commission would coordinate among various levels of government and law enforcement.
• Allow the establishment of an Alexandria arts and culture district. (HB 2267)
• Allow temporary employees of automobile dealers to be licensed after undergoing the same background checks as other employees to help protect sensitive consumer information from falling into the wrong hands. (HB 2270)
• Require School boards to annually review school crisis, emergency management, and response plans and certify them to the Virginia Center for School Safety. (HB 2271)
• Make it a crime to commit extortion by withholding an immigration document. (HB 2924)
• Require doctors to make lead poisoning information available to parents. (HB 3167)
• See that incapacitated persons get the best deal possible when real estate is sold on their behalf. (HB 3177)
• Allow the Statewide Independent Living Council to solicit grants for use to benefit Virginians with multiple disabilities. (HB 2269)
• Give judges the flexibility to allow holders of restricted drivers licenses to drive their spouse to receive medical care. (HB 2266)

Among my legislation that did not succeed in winning House passage this year was:

• HB 2555–Green Buildings Act would require that state buildings be built to the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards promulgated by the US Green Building Council. Besides saving millions in energy costs, it would lead to better practices in water efficient landscaping, waste water use, recycling of construction waste, healthier ventilation and increased employee productivity and health. This bill was referred to the Housing Study Commission for review.
• HB 2550–would have prohibited discrimination in public employment by the Commonwealth. The legislation would codify our current state personnel policy that was established by the Executive Orders of Governors Kaine and Warner. The fact that 50 General Assembly members co-sponsored non-discrimination legislation is a milestone indicating that the code of Virginia needs to make this the permanent practice of the Commonwealth.
• HJ 681 would have established a Joint Study Committee on Climate Change. It would have specifically reviewed how to expand business opportunities for Virginia industries brought about by climate change mitigation and what practices our state government could adopt to reduce harmful greenhouse gases which pose a growing threat to our environment, citizens and coastal areas.
• HB 2552 would have protected consumers from unreasonable maintenance fees for holding gift cards.
• HJ 678 would have protected unmarried Virginians by ensuring that their rights were not rescinded by use of the recently passed Virginia “Marriage Amendment”.

If I can be of assistance to you on a state related issue please call my office at 804-698-1049. You can e-mail me at DelAEbbin@house.state.va.us or register your views on a particular bill by calling our toll-free constituent viewpoint line at 800-889-0229.

Last night the House of Delegates passed a bill that may lead to the first significant injection of new dedicated transportation funds in twenty years. The approach was largely the result of negotiations between select House and Senate Republicans and is a welcome indicator of the House Republican caucus finally acknowledging that the issue is critical enough to require continuing public funds. I commend the House Republicans for finally bringing a plan to the table.

However, I believe there are some significant deficiencies in Speaker Bill Howell’s bill that need to be addressed:

1. House Bill 3202 relies on $250 million General Fund dollars each year until 2028. Virginians rely on General Fund taxpayer funds for education, public safety, health care and social service safety net programs. We can devote $250 million dollars from the General Fund this coming year, but it is unrealistic to plan on tax collections exceeding forecasts each and every of the next twenty years. It would be imprudent for Virginia not be prepared for a recession and other factors negatively impacting our economy over the long term. Delegate Chuck Caputo of Fairfax offered an amendment to protect most of the General Fund dollars, in part by increasing fees on heavy trucks. Unfortunately, his amendment was rejected by the Republican majority.
2. The GOP plan relies on charging excessive “abuser fees” on drivers with bad records. Of course I support punishing violators of the rules of the road, but these civil penalties would be on top of the fines that drivers already pay for violations. Is it fair to have to pay thousands of dollars in addition to the fine for the actual offense? Is it smart public policy?
3. The version of the bill that passed the House takes unprecedented power from the Governor to manage our transportation system. It would stop the Governor from appointing the Commissionor of the Virginia Department of Transportation (V-DOT) and instead have the part-time Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) appoint the full time manager of our transportation system. It would also have the House appoint the regional CTB Commissioners rather than the Governor appoint them. It would certainly add more politics to transportation decisions.
4. Hampton Roads colleagues are very concerned that the regional portion of the plan addressing their area is inadequate and unlikely to be signed onto by the local governments.
5. There are statewide needs that are not adequately funded in the plan. We still have rural areas with unpaved roads. While Northern Virginia is foremost in my mind, we do also need to remember that economic development in less booming areas requires a reliable transportation system.
6. Out of staters need to pay their fair share for using Virginia’s roads too. I would like to see a larger percentage of the monies raised to come from non-Virginians who drive on Virginia roads.

I voted no last night and am hopeful that the Senate and Governor Kaine will offer amendments that raise the money needed for transportation without risking funds for other essential core services. But now that Republicans have come to the table, let’s hope that the spirit of compromise will make the proposal a sounder one.

Arriving in Richmond yesterday reminded me of going to summer camp. We run into friends who we haven’t see in a while—colleagues, administration folks, secretaries, Capitol police, the Clerk’s staff, lobbyists and legislative aides. We pick up redrafts of bills that legislative services have done, talk with folks who will be affected by our legislation and start filing our bills with the Clerk.

Here are some of the bills I plan to introduce in the next 24 hours:

• A Green Buildings Act to require that the Commonwealth’s buildings are environmentally friendly, not just in terms of energy efficiency, but also in natural ventilation, recycled building materials and water conservation.
• Emergency Communications bill to ensure that all new buildings be designed and constructed so that first responders can send and receive emergency communications.
• A bill to require that schools’ safety plans are made public so that parents and other parties can be prepared and aware.
• A Human Anti-Trafficking Act to outlaw modern day slavery where people are “obtained” for forced labor (usually domestic work, prostitution or agriculture) by force, fraud or coercion.
• A bill to allow Metro jurisdictions to increase their sales tax by a quarter of a cent in order to match federal funds and ultimately dedicate $1.5 billion to transit over ten years.
• Nondiscrimination in Public Employment to put our policies against discrimination regarding our state workforce into the state code. Current policies have been issued by Executive Order from Governor to Governor.
• Authorize the City of Alexandria to create an Arts and Culture District.
• Authorize judges to allow drivers on restricted licenses to drive their spouse to medical treatment. Right now, some folks convicted of DUI are allowed to drive their kids and their parents, but not their spouses.
• Establish a procedure for local governments to meet electronically in the event of a state of emergency.
• Set up a study commission to build consensus on what we are going to do to combat climate change!

stay tuned for the rest…

It was a thrill to know that my friend Keith Ellison was sworn into the US House of Representatives today. I got to know Keith when both of us attended a retreat as Fellows of the Flemming Leadership Institute a year ago. The Flemming Fellows program is centered on values-based policymaking and building bipartisan consensus in state legislatures. Keith was inspired by the late Senator Paul Wellstone and in December I heard him talk about the ‘politics of enough’ and saw why people have compared him to his fellow Minnesotan.

As the first Muslim elected to Congress, Keith demonstrated his commitment to the Jeffersonian principal of religous freedom when he used a Quran once owned by Jefferson in a ceremonial swearing-in. Keith will be an amazing Congressman and inspire many Americans to believe that the United States is for all of us…regardless of religion!

After the General Assembly session convenes at 10:30 am on Wednesday, January 10 we get on the bus for a road trip. First it’s off to Jamestowne Island where Vice President Dick Cheney will address the General Assembly at 2 pm. After that the Director of the US Mint will present a copy of the 400th Anniversary of the Jamestown settlement commemorative coin. Later we are off to the Jamestown Settlement Visitors’ Center in time for Governor Tim Kaine’s State of the Commonwealth Address.

Virginia will experience more DC starpower in 2007 too. On Saturday, February 17, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois will keynote the Democratic Party’s Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner in Richmond.

By May, we will welcome Queen Elizabeth II to Virginia too.

Can Brad and Angelina be far behind?

We often hear talk about returning civility to politics, but for our late President Gerald Ford, politics was always civil.

I am confident that history will remember him as a great man, though his presidency was too brief and he was never elected to office outside of Michigan.

As an eighth grader, I was very excited when he came to visit the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island in October 1976. I had rooted for Ford throughout the campaign–being a real geek by wearing a President Ford button to Sawmill Junior High School. The president had come from 30 points behind to make the election a real exciting horse race. It was even going to be close in New York state. A cousin of my Mom’s by marriage, Richard M. Rosenbaum, was the New York GOP chairman and a big Ford supporter.

Gerald Ford was a real moderate. A supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment, a healer and a decent, honest man whose patriotism was evident and inspiring. His family was real and Americans could relate to them.

Later in life, as a former president, he spoke out for gay and lesbian Americans, saying “I think they ought to be treated equally. Period.”

It was heartwarming that in their time of loss, Ford’s adult children took the time to personally thank all the everyday Americans who had waited in line to pay their respects in the Capitol Rotunda. Just the kind of gesture to be expected from children raised by Gerald and Betty Ford.

I recently received an invite in the mail to a dinner in London commemorating the 400th Anniversary of the British settlers departure for Jamestown. Coincidentally, I already planned on using frequent flyer miles to visit Paris at that time and was able to change my departure to leave from London and go to the dinner and some related events.

On Monday, Governor Kaine and First Lady Anne Holton hosted a dinner at Leeds Castle in Kent. A royal castle since 1278, it was quite a place. It was home to Baron Colepeper, the Colonial Governor of Virginia, who is also the namesake for Culpeper County. His grandson, Thomas Fairfax, the 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron was born at Leeds Castle and eventually moved to Virginia. It was a beautiful place and hard to believe we were standing in a room where King Henry VIII himself had selected the stained glass windows!

Dinner was in a converted Barn and was a traditional British Christmas meal, including turkey and Christmas pudding. Among those in attendance were the Sheriff from the area (a “sheriff” there does not run the jail), a Viscount and Viscountess, Speaker Bill Howell & Cessie Howell, Delegate Vince Callahan and Yvonne Callahan, Delegate Kirk Cox and Julia Cox.

Tuesday morning we were off to the opening of The Journey to the New World at the Docklands Museum. The VMI Color Guard presented the colors. US Ambasador Robert Tuttle, Governor Tim Kaine and a Member of the House of Commons from the area all spoke. The Governor formerly gave a replica of the Discovery (the smallest of the three ships that carried the settlers across the Atlantic) to the British people.

A group of Virginians, including members of the Jamestown 2007 Steering Committee and the Jamestown Commemoration Commission then went to Virginia Quay for a wreath-laying near the spot where the ships departed. Speaker Howell reminded us how daring it was to journey across the perilous seas in crowded, tiny ships.

The main event of the trip was the dinner at Middle Temple. Dating from the 14th Century, the Temple is the historic center of the British legal system and in the 17th century investors in the Virginia Company met there.

We heard some wonderful remarks on what happened 400 years ago and Governor Kaine delivered some stirring reflections on what the British brought to America that still remains after 400 years… representative democracy, religous freedom and capitalism. Delegate Callahan reminded us that Virginians and the Crown did get along pretty well for more than 150 years before our differences got a bit severe.

I was seated with a Labour party member of the House of Commons who is one of only two firefighters in Parliament and represents the Docklands area, his wife, the Mayoress of a town (kind of like the First Lady) and the Viscount and Viscountess I had met the night before. We were joined by a Supervisor from James City County and his guest.

The next day Speaker & Mrs. Howell, Delegate & Mrs. Callahan and I joined the Governor’s family for a tour of Parliament by Lord Hanningfield, a member of the House of Lords. It was a real treat to stand on the floors of the House of Commons and the House of Lords and to compare systems.

Overall, it was an amazing trip and to top it off I went to see Billy Elliott, the British musical with my British friend Lucy Symons.