Tomorrow night at 7 PM, Kris and I will be on BlogTalkRadio with Vivian Paige and Jim Hoeft of Bearing Drift. BTR says it broadcasts “the very best information on Virginia politics,” so get your questions ready and call in.

(Even though it’s radio and you won’t be able to see us, to mark the occasion we’re going to dress up like in the picture. You have our word on it.)

The Roanoke Times laments that, with California leading the parade of states moving their presidential primaries to February 5, “Virginians’ roles in the selection process became much less meaningful.” I admit that that’s the likely outcome of clustering all those primaries on one date: by the time we go to the polls a week later, it’s probable that the game will be over, and both parties’ nominees will effectively be chosen. And yet . . .

 A sage  has noted that “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” It’s conceivable that one of the two parties will emerge from “Super-Duper Tuesday” on February 5 with two candidates close to clinching the nomination, but still short. Virginia could be the tie breaker. That’s where the “Potomac Primary” comes in.

A year or so ago, when it seemed that Virginia might be on the verge of producing a first-tier Presidential candidate in each party,  a bunch of us talked about promoting a “Potomac Primary” — having Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia hold their primaries on the same day.  Among the three jurisdictions, we’re fairly reflective of the US as a whole (and certainly more so than the traditional lead-off states of New Hampshire and Iowa), and our adjacency to DC would guarantee media coverage.

Nothing much came of the idea, and fate conspired to take our two Presidential contenders out of the running. But now Maryland is talking about moving its primary to February 12, and DC may follow. So we could end up with a Potomac Primary, and we could end up on the evening of February 12 hearing the words, “It all comes down to Virginia.” Remember how much fun that was on November 7, 2006?

My neighbor to the north, Vince Callahan, announced yesterday that he will retire at the end of this term. First elected in 1967, he rose to be Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and lead budget conferee.

When Vince first went down to Richmond, he became one of only 14 Republicans in the House. Northern Virginia’s population was 960,500 (21.3% of the state). Now, Republicans number 57 of the House’s 100 members, and Northern Virginia’s 2,440,091 citizens constitute 31.9% of the Commonwealth.

Vince has served long and well, and we wish him the best. 

“A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth.”

—Michael Kinsley

Happy 50th birthday to The Cat in the Hat. You can always identify the parents of a six-year old in a business meeting: When the leader says, “We need to concentrate on two things,” they’re the ones who reflexively murmur, “Thing One and Thing Two.”

This morning’s Washington Post ran an article on Senate approval of a bill that would permit local governments to reinstitute enforcement of red-light running laws with photo monitoring. “Photo red” had been used by a number of localities (including Arlington) under a pilot program for several years, but was allowed to lapse despite its demonstrated safety benefits. The article contained a quotation from me speculating on why, in this election year, the General Assembly had a newfound enthusiasm for bills regulating “photo red,” booster seats, and cell phone use by teenagers:

“I think they are recognizing that all their ideological talk about the ‘nanny state’ not only isn’t working, but it is also portraying them as callous and indifferent to measures that protect our families and kids.”

Well, at least one reader of the Post came to a different conclusion. This morning I received the following email from a purported constituent:

DEAR BOB “BIG BROTHER/NANNY STATE” BRINKSMANSHIP,

RE: DOUBLE-SECRET CAMERAS HIDDEN IN TRAFFIC LIGHTS THROUGHOUT NORTHERN VIRGINIA

YOU, SIR, ARE DUMB AS DOGDOODY AND A BLITHERING IDIOT TO APPROVE SUCH A MEASURE. DON’T YOU HAVE ANY REGARD FOR THE INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND PRIVACY OF VIRGINIA’S CITIZENS? ARE WE TO CONTINUE TO SUFFER FURTHER AND FURTHER ENCROACHMENTS ON OUR LIBERTIES BY “NANNY STATE” PROTAGONIST SOCIALISTS LIKE YOU? WHAT’S YOUR NEXT PROPOSAL, DELEGATE DUMB-AS-DOGDOODY BRINK – – TO INSTALL CAMERAS IN OUR HOMES TO MAKE SURE WE ALL EAT THE PROPER FOODS? YOU ARE A TYPICAL DEMOCRAT ADVOCATE OF BIG BROTHER-TYPE SOCIALIST AND NANNY STATE INFRINGEMENT ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CITIZENS OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA. IT’S IDIOTS LIKE YOU WHO ARE SCREWING UP OUR BELOVED STATE. WHY DON’T YOU JUST EMIGRATE TO FRANCE (OR SAN FRANCISCO), WHERE YOU’LL FIND MORE INDIVIDUALS WHO SHARE YOUR COMMUNISTIC VALUES. I’LL BE HAPPY TO PAY YOUR WAY, YOU SCOUNDREL ! ! !

(NOTE: Our 7 West neighbor, Delegate Mark Sickles, offers his analysis of the funding mechanism for the transportation plan the House passed this week. Bottom line: “it is very bad transportation policy.”  What do you think?)

The majority leadership transportation plan approved by the House of Delegates is commendable for allowing, for the first time, the two hottest economic corners of the Commonwealth to provide for themselves in order to make up for years of underinvestment in public infrastructure.  As good as the Northern Virginia bipartisan plan is, it provides little more than half of the needed construction funds to build our constrained 2030 plan if the revenues are approved by all nine local jurisdictions. 

Northern Virginia still needs a robust statewide plan to fill the statewide maintenance backlog so that construction funds under existing programs are no longer siphoned off the top for repaving roads.  The bill that passed the House raises the lion’s share of the new statewide funds from a “commitment” in perpetuity of $250 million annually from “General Fund” income, corporate, and sales tax revenues.  Until now, almost all of the money spent on transportation has come from “Non-General Fund” sources, meaning user fees and dedicated transportation taxes. 

The often heard opposition to using general funds for transportation comes from the fear, not irrational, that education re-benchmarking, or nursing home care, or Medicaid waivers, or natural resources, or public safety will be shortchanged in the future competition with transportation for scarce funds.   

The bigger worry, however, is that it is very bad transportation policy.  In good economic times like these, taking $250 million off the top for transportation may not do significant harm to vital state programs.  We can prioritize with greater overall state revenue—in theory, there will be more for everybody. 

What happens with the next economic downturn?  It is much more likely that transportation will be cut before touching K-12 education, or Medicaid reimbursement (since we already rank 48 of 50), or cost of living adjustments, or the number of prison guards.  Transportation spending will certainly be first up on the chopping block, since—as we have impressively proven—investment can be delayed.  The costs of delay simply show up later in quality of life measures as we continue to grow in the shadow of the Nation’s Capital. 

Finally, without new, reliable, sustained sources of dedicated revenue, it will be hard to plan and execute our transportation future.  The General Assembly’s commitment to $250 million will only be known with the passage of each two-year budget.  Our six-year plans, if we assume the revenues, will once again not be worth the paper they are printed on.  How can you build a reliable long term transportation program using a two-year budget?  In 2000, the General Assembly tried to use general funds with disastrous results.  The economy went sour.  All of the general funds were pulled out of the six-year program and the state had to sell nearly $1 billion in debt, simply to prevent total chaos.  Even with the new debt, the program was cut by 27 percent or $2.7 billion in 2002.

It is conservative, and often preferable, to provide public services with user fees when you can.  (Virginia’s Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is wholly funded by non-general funds known as hunting and fishing licenses.)  If we adopt the House bill, it will mark the beginning of the abandonment of a conservative policy that served Virginia and all other states well for decades.  Unfortunately, our collective elected leadership has, for the last 21 years, simply allowed our non-general funds to be eaten away by inflation while that Commonwealth has grown by two million people, and the number of Virginia drivers has increased by 74 percent.  I hope we can enact a plan that puts the entire state on solid footing for the next twenty years, and not simply a bill to get us through the November elections.

January 28, 2007

Dear Friends:

Three weeks down, four to go in the Short Session. The pace is picking up as we move toward three milestones: presentation of House and Senate transportation plans, the unveiling of the two houses’ budgets, and, on February 7, Crossover. By midnight on that date, all legislation that is going to make it to the finish line has to have been reported out of its House of Origin. That means long days, figuring out how to be three places at the same time, and probably a weekend session to celebrate Super Bowl Sunday.

One of my regrets is not being able to spend more time with visitors from Area Code 703. My staff and I were pleased to see familiar faces – Sue Zajak, Terri Lynch, Wendy Rahm, David Briggs, Erica Wood, Frank O’Leary, Mike Staples, among many others – as they toured the halls in support of their groups and causes: Arlington schools, retirees, firefighters, the arts, the medical professions community colleges . . . the list goes on and on. While all of the Members would like to be able to give each of these visitors the time they merit after having driven hundreds of miles to present their case, often the most we can squeeze in is a few minutes of hallway time or a hurried conversation waiting for the elevators.

Deck the Walls
The areas outside our offices, where visitors gather, feature bland carpeting and expanses of putty-grey colored walls. The only decoration is the occasional map of a Member’s district, and, on our doors, the seals of the jurisdictions we represent. (Mine has only the Arlington seal; some of the Members who represent sparsely populated areas downstate, containing many counties and small towns, have as many as eight.)

To brighten up the surroundings, we seek artwork from groups back home. This year I asked Denise Phalan, Arlington’s lead secondary art teacher, to provide some works done by Yorktown students. The results are terrific.

Taryn Riley of the Class of 2006 painted “Hanging Objects” (charcoal on paper) during her senior year. It was the Gold Key Portfolio winner in the Scholastic Art Awards last year. Taryn is in her freshman year at Washington University in St. Louis.

Two renderings of the Stars and Stripes, both oils on pastel, make a great backdrop for photographs with visiting constituents.

“American Flag,” by the Class of 2007’s Paul Bohannon, was a regional Gold Key winner in the Scholastic Art Awards.

“Americana,” by Claire Furbush of the Class of 2008, was produced in her sophomore year. Both Paul and Claire are planning on pursuing art in college.

“Boy Chief Exemplar, after George Catlin,” is an acrylic paint on stretched canvas by Alexa Leister-Frazier of the Class of 2006. It was a regional Honorable Mention winner in the 2005 Scholastic Art Awards and a regional Gold Key Portfolio winner in the 2006 Scholastic awards. Alexa is a first year art major at VCU.

Finally, Ting Ting Qian, a Yorktown graduate who now is in her second year at Central St. Martins College of Art and Design in London, produced two works of acrylic paint on stretched canvas: “Yakity-Yak” and “Gabby.”

Thanks to all of these Yorktowners for brightening our halls!

The Library of Virginia
In 1823, the General Assembly created the Library of Virginia to organize, care for, and manage the state’s growing collection of books and official records dating back to the early colonial period. They located the Library on the third floor of the Capitol. In 1895, a new library was erected on the eastern side of Capitol Square and again in 1940, the library moved into a new art-deco structure where it remained until 1996.That building was renovated and renamed the Patrick Henry Building, and is now home to the Governor’s working offices and, during the Capitol renovations, the House and the Senate.

In 1997, the Library of Virginia moved into a new six-story building across from our offices in the GAB. The new Library houses a comprehensive collection of material on
Virginia government, history, and culture, and is wired and equipped to accommodate the most sophisticated technology. In addition to managing and preserving its collection, the Library supplies research and reference assistance to all state officials and agencies, as well as all of the Commonwealth’s public libraries.

During the Legislative Session, members frequently cross Broad Street to attend receptions held in the spacious foyer of the Library, to shop at the gift store that offers a variety of Virginia-related items, and to view the exhibits on display. This month and until February 3rd, the Library is featuring an exhibit of The Dottie Schick Collection of Political Memorabilia. Dottie, a native Arlingtonian and graduate of Washington-Lee High School, was Chair of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee for many years and went on to serve on the Democratic National Committee. For nearly four decades, many of us have gathered in Dottie’s back yard for the Mason District Crab Feast.What started as a small fundraiser grew to a nationally famous campaign event that drew not only all local elected Northern Virginia Democrats, but presidents, governors, candidates and party hopefuls.

Artwork and the Library of Virginia: that’s your Culture Moment for the week. Now, back to more mundane things like transportation and the budget.

Dear Friends:

MORNING HOUR

Our days usually start with several hours of subcommittee and committee meetings (some convening as early as 7:00 am). Sessions of the full House customarily open at high noon (on Fridays, when we’re all anxious to get out of Dodge and on the road for the weekend, we often go into session a bit earlier). After a prayer offered by a visiting religious figure, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the roll call, we go into “Morning Hour” (since it’s 12:10 or so by that point, why it’s called “Morning Hour” is an unsolved mystery).

WORDS

Morning Hour consists of procedural motions affecting pieces of legislation that are on the calendar, announcements by Members that his or her seatmate is absent that day due to “pressing personal business,” introductions of constituent groups that are visiting the Capitol, and “Points of Personal Privilege,” which often take the form of brief speeches commemorating notable events or people.

On Monday, the House observed Martin Luther King Day with an eloquent tribute delivered by Richmond Delegate Jennifer L. McClellan. Noting that Dr. King was much more than a great civil rights leader, she praised him as “a noted scholar, prolific writer, peacemaker, humanitarian, consummate pulpiteer, theologian, philosopher, and servant who decided early to give his life to something eternal and absolute.” Delegate McClellan went on to quote Dr. John Kenney, Dean of the School of Theology at Virginia Commonwealth University, who was the principal speaker at an earlier breakfast.

After discussing Dr. King’s dream, Dr. Kenney repeatedly asked the question “Are we there yet?” – “Have we arrived at Dr. King’s destination – the fulfillment of the ‘Beloved Community,’ where people are judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin?” Most of us felt we had come a long way, but the echo of “Are we there yet?” stayed with us.

As of Tuesday, the answer to that question seemed to be, “Umm . . . not quite yet.” Responding to a reporter seeking his views on the advisability of passing a resolution apologizing for the institution of slavery in Virginia, one of my colleagues objected and pointed out that no living person in Virginia was involved in slavery. He suggested therefore that “our black citizens should get over it,” and then compounded the folly by asking, “Are we going to force the Jews to apologize for killing Christ?”

The two events at the beginning of the week – the invocation of Dr. King and the furor over my colleague’s remarks – show the positive and negative power of a public figure’s words. Decades later, Dr. King’s 1963 speech still carries the moral force that moved our nation in a better direction. More recent utterances have demonstrated careless words’ destructive power – damaging the speaker’s reputation and sometimes his career, and casting those he represents in an unfair shadow.

This is the third time in six months that a Virginia politician’s thoughtless comments have put the Commonwealth on the map, on the front pages of newspapers across the nation, and on 24-hour cable networks. Those remarks feed the stereotype of Virginia as just another insular southern backwater and undermine those who believe in a 21st Century Virginia that recognizes, accepts, and embraces its newfound diversity. We’re not there yet.

NOT READY FOR REFORM YET, EITHER
Another procedure of Morning Hour involves reading proposed changes to the Rules of the House for five consecutive days. Last week, I wrote about Delegate Ken Plum’s attempt to add a little sunshine to the legislative process by requiring that bills receive a recorded vote at subcommittee meetings. The majority leadership argued that killing bills in subcommittee has made the process more efficient, winnowing out frivolous bills before they reach the full committee. Delegate Plum pointed out that 615 bills, roughly 30% of last year’s total, were killed without being given much of an audience, and without any recorded votes. Among those were ones that banned smoking in most public buildings and reinstated the use of cameras to catch drivers who run red lights. I guess “frivolous” is in the mind of the beholder. Many citizen groups and newspaper editorial boards around the state supported Ken’s reform proposal, but on Friday the rules change went down by a 39-59 vote.

THERE TO HERE
Several folks (including Arlingtonian Bob Atkins) have asked the most direct way to get to our Richmond office from Arlington. The first part is easy: just get on Shirley Highway and stay on I-95 for about 100 miles (after nine years, every mile marker is engraved in my memory). Once into Richmond, you exit onto Broad Street (Exit 74-C), literally 4 blocks from the General Assembly Building which is on the south-east corner of 9^th Street and Broad. To park, you get in the left lane, overshoot the GAB which is on your left, pass the Library of Virginia which is on your right, and go left on 8^th Street (there is a left turn light) where in the second block you will find several parking garages.

Walk east one block to Capitol Square, and enter the GAB at the doors facing the Square near the ornamental clock. Unless you have the misfortune to arrive at the same time as huge busloads of visitors, security at the door is very efficient – and the Capitol Police are always friendly. Take the elevator up to the seventh floor, and welcome to 7-West. Jean and Sean will greet you at 712-A. We look forward to seeing you!

Until next week –

How to Reach Me:

Voice: 804-698-1048
FAX: 804-643-0976
Session E-Mail: delrbrink@house.state.va.us

Dear Friends:

Welcome to the first edition of my General Assembly Newsletter for the 2007 Session. Between now and our (scheduled) adjournment date of February 24, I’ll try to give you a weekly update on how the session is going and where it may be headed.

I’ve done this every year since 2003 (you can read previous sessions’ letters). This time, I’m posting them as entries on 7 West, so I can include pictures and occasional sound bites and – most important – so you can submit comments, tell me what you think, and we can talk about it. I want your feedback!

So let’s begin where it all began . . .

JOURNEY TO JAMESTOWN

On May 13, 1607, three small ships carrying 104 men and boys arrived at Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America. Last Wednesday, five buses, ten police cars and eight motorcycle policemen transported nearly 140 members of the General Assembly and 40 or so guests from Richmond to this historic site to kick off the 2007 Session and launch the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown landing.

The Jamestown settlement’s first governing body was an exercise in privatization: established by the Virginia Company (a “venture capitalist” group selling shares of stock at 10 pounds 8 shillings a share to finance their hunt for gold, a route to the Orient, etc.), a Council headed by John Smith governed from 1607 to 1609. In 1619, the Virginia Company decided to try a new system with the creation of a legislative assembly consisting of “two Burgesses from each Plantation freely to be elected by the inhabitants thereof.” The Governor and the Governor’s council was still appointed by the Virginia Company, who also maintained veto rights… limited, but a first step towards democracy. The newly elected body, believed to be 23 men, met for the first time on July 30, 1619 in the Jamestown Church, as it was the only structure large enough to hold them. The foundations of the original Statehouse lie beneath Jamestown’s Archaearium, the site’s archeological museum.

Through four churches and five fires, today’s church tower is the only 17th century structure that has survived. The current church, now attached to that tower, was built in 1909 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Jamestown, using materials and the foundation of the church destroyed by fire in 1676 as part of Bacon’s Rebellion. It was here that we assembled to hear an address by Vice President Cheney.

The 140 members of our General Assembly did not fit as well as the original 23 council members; however, in the unheated sanctuary we appreciated being packed in tight. The Vice President’s remark that Virginia had an established government before anyone set foot on Plymouth Rock delighted his chauvinist audience.

Following the Vice President’s presentation, members were on their own to explore the archaeological digs, the Archaearium, and the statues of John Smith and Pocahontas. It was very much like a fifth grade field trip, but without the adult leadership.

STATE OF THE COMMONWEALTH

The day in Jamestown concluded with Governor Kaine’s State of the Commonwealth address. He began with a tribute to the 400 year old settlement where the roots of our fundamental principles of governance were established. Over the next thirty minutes, he used various combinations of the words “to work together” twenty-five times. He began by citing the accomplishments of the 2006 Session where cooperation produced meaningful results on many issues, including water quality improvements, expanded access to children’s health services, and investments in job creation. Along with the 800-pound gorilla issue of transportation, he focused on several economic priorities that will demand our attention during the 2007 Session: increasing the minimum wage, protecting families and businesses from dramatic increases in utility bills, and removing thousands of low income Virginians from the state income tax rolls, among others.

MEANWHILE —

For Senator Janet Howell and me, our week began on Monday with a news conference unveiling a bill to help combat the fast-growing crime of identity fraud. It would require companies and state government agencies to notify Virginians if their information has been lost or stolen. This seems like a pretty reasonable proposal to most of us, but the Commonwealth has not followed the lead of 34 other states in requiring this important notification. The people of Virginia deserve protection and notification if the information that they entrust to others is lost or stolen. I’ll let you know how the bill turns out.

On Friday, the most important item of business during our brief floor session was Delegate Ken Plum’s proposed amendment to the Rules of the House which would require recorded votes in subcommittees. Last session the majority changed the rules to give committee chairs virtually unlimited latitude in assigning bills to subcommittees, where they could be disposed of (often in meetings scheduled for way early in the morning or way late at night) by as few as two members — without a recorded vote. Last year, of approximately 2000 bills considered, nearly 1/3 of them met their demise under these shadowy circumstances.

As always, words from home are welcome, so keep in touch using the tried and true methods listed below or through the “Comments” feature below. Until next week —

How to Reach Me:

Voice: 804-698-1048
FAX: 804-643-0976
Session E-Mail: delrbrink@house.state.va.us