Getting the words right

I know I can’t be the only one who finds myself shouting back at the radio or television these days. Usually it’s at the news, so I was a little surprised to find myself shouting at the radio this weekend, since I was listening to an all sports station.

In my car on the way back from Richmond, I heard someone describing what happened at the beginning of the Dallas Cowboys football game. Apparently, quarterback Dak Prescott, after winning the coin toss, simply said, “we’ll kick.” In this age of analytics, every team has figured out your statistically more likely to win if you start the second half on offense, so Prescott told the referee- “we’ll kick,” thinking his team would kick off in the first half, and receive the kick and start the game on offense in the second half.

The problem is, that’s not what the rules say. The rule is actually that each team gets to take a turn deciding whether to start on offense or defense. The winner of the coin toss gets to decide first, but they are also allowed to defer that decision and decide whether to start on offense or defense during the second half. According the referee, he heard “we’ll kick” to mean the Cowboys electing to start on Defense in the first half, which meant the Rams would still be able to decide whether to start on offense or defense in the second half. What Prescott should have said, was “we defer the decision to the 2nd half, our opponent can make the election for the 1st half.”

So, what was I yelling at the radio?

“He should have talked to his Parliamentarian!”

I couldn’t help thinking it was such a great example of the importance of understanding the rules and picking your words with precision to make sure the rules worked to your advantage.

As it turns out, the referee had a little trouble hearing (I know we often accuse the refs of having problems with their vision). After a video review of the conversation at the coin toss, it was determined that Prescott did in fact use the magic words “we defer to the second half” followed by “we’ll kick” so thanks to instant replay the Cowboys got the ball at the start of the 3rd quarter and went on to win the game.

In the Virginia House of Delegates, we have a lot of arcane procedural rules, and as a member of the minority caucus, I took great pride in listening closely and looking for opportunities to take advantage when the other side used words in a way that might allow us to gain an advantage, the equivalent of making the other team kickoff to start both halves of the game on defense.

Now that we are in the majority, it’s incumbent on us to make sure we choose our words carefully. With 55 votes to the other side’s 45, we should be able to win every vote, but that only helps if we know what we’re voting to do - and I know the other side will be listening carefully, and we don’t yet have instant replay on the floor of the House of Delegates.

Now that my party is in the majority, we have an awesome responsibility to govern, and to legislate knowing that the bills we propose in January are likely to become laws this July. We owe it to our constituents and all Virginians to choose our words carefully and make sure the words we use effect the policies and produce the outcomes we actually intend.

That’s why I’ve only pre-filed one bill so far, a bill that I’ve introduced and word-smithed for the last 3 years. It requires student loan servicing companies to be licensed to do business in Virginia and adhere to a student borrower’s bill of rights - a list of consumer protection standards - in order to retain that license. They’ll be subject to regulation and oversight by Virginia regulators, so borrowers don’t have to make a literal federal case of it every time their servicer does something wrong.

We will make big strides forward this year on gun violence prevention, moving toward a living wage, providing more funding for education, and increasing the use and affordability of renewable energy. We’ll increase women’s bodily autonomy in Virginia, and reform a criminal justice system that too often treats people of color more harshly than others. Some things just can’t wait.

Getting the words right and choosing them carefully also means that we may not get to all our priorities immediately. So be patient with us. There are more great things to come.

Virginia's Blue Wave

The Blue Wave. A Blue Tsunami. These are the metaphors we’ve heard bandied about to describe the remarkable transformation of Virginia’s electoral landscape since 2017. If we are going to stick with water analogies, perhaps it’s more apt to describe what’s happened in the Commonwealth as political sea change.

Waves, even Tsunamis, are sudden, singular events that crash and transform the landscape, but then quickly recede. Climate change, actual or political, is more incremental and more permanent - occasionally reaching certain tipping points where changes become more sudden and undeniable.

It’s tempting to look back only as far as the surprise election of Donald Trump as president in 2016 as the beginning of this change, but the truth is, it started long before that.

I was first elected to the General Assembly in 2013, sharing a ballot with Terry McAuliffe, Ralph Northam, and Mark Herring. Coming one year after Tim Kaine’s 2012 election to the U.S. Senate, the 2013 election marked the first time in decades that Democrats held all 5 statewide elected offices. This was despite the glitch-plagued rollout of the Healthcare.gov website.

In 2015, an off-off year election, in spite of very low turnout (only 29% of registered voters), the Virginia House of Delegates picked up a seat in a cycle where we’d become accustomed to losing ground to the GOP. In 2016, Hillary Clinton easily won Virginia’s 13 electoral votes.

So, in 2017, when even the most optimistic of us thought we might pick up 7 or 8 seats and we picked up 15, it certainly did look like a wave. Or even a tsunami, triggered by the earthquake that was Donald Trump’s election.

Virginia has been getting bluer and bluer, though. We’ve known since the 2008 Presidential election that there are enough Democratic voters across the Commonwealth to give us control of the General Assembly. As the state has grown, it has grown more diverse, and become less rural, with its growth mostly in suburban communities.

The election of Donald Trump, in spite of his losing Virginia, was the event that grabbed the attention of those voters that weren’t attuned to politics except for once every four years. It showed them that there really is a difference between the two political parties, and how much their participation in the process matters.

In 2017, we had nearly 48% turnout for a Governor’s race with 100 House of Delegates races on the ballot at the same time. Had this been a wave, that crashed and receded, we might have contented ourselves with near parity in the General Assembly that enabled us to expand health care to nearly 400,000 Virginians.

But that was just the beginning. Voters are now awakened to what they can accomplish when they vote. And the fact that control of the House was decided by a random drawing of a name from a bowl just drove home the point that every vote counts.

Last night we saw the blue tide continue to rise, reaching a new tipping point. Democrats took a 2-seat majority in the State Senate, and a healthy 10-seat advantage in the House of Delegates (55-45 pending the outcome of two very close races). With Democrats now in control of both houses of the legislature and the Governor’s mansion, Virginia will finally have state government policies that reflect the new reality of who we are as a Commonwealth.

Gun Violence prevention legislation will be enacted into law, rather than being dismissed after 90 minutes of political theater.

Virginia will continue to be the best state in which to do business, but without being the worst place to be a worker, as we work to provide everyone with a living wage and affordable healthcare, and to remove impediments to workers’ ability to organize their workplaces where and when they so choose.

Women won’t be subject to medically-unnecessary medical procedures and have to jump through bureaucratic hoops to access healthcare services, asserting their right to control their own bodies without government interference.

Virginia will contribute to slowing (non-political) climate change, by moving swiftly towards becoming carbon-free and transitioning to clean, renewable energy sources like wind and solar, creating new job opportunities in these innovative industries.

Bottom line - we finally have an opportunity to enact substantive, progressive policies, because Virginians yesterday voted in a legislature that finally looks like and shares the values of the Commonwealth it represents.

It won’t all happen overnight, but yesterday’s election results are both the start and the continuation of something very big, very impactful, and in the case of this particular political climate change, something very good for all Virginians.

Ain't Baseball Great?

Ain’t baseball great?

I’ve had the privilege to attend one game from each round of the National League Playoffs, including the Wild Card Round. It’s been so good for my soul to spend three hours surrounded by like-minded folks all pulling for the same thing (with the exception of the stray Brewer or Dodger or Cardinal fan here and there) at the same time, in the same place.

Everyone wearing their lucky outfit, the one that they haven’t washed since Juan Soto broke the game open in the bottom of the 8th against Milwaukee. Some of us imagine that our superstitious rituals have a real influence on the outcome of the game. We cheer and wave our towels together. We stand as one when the pitch count reaches two strikes. We pat each other on the back when the other team gets the better of us that night.

Rarely do we ask each other “Where were you born?” “What language do you speak at home?” “Is that your friend you brought to the ball park with you, or your ‘friend’?” “Who are you voting for?”

We are all there for the same reasons. To enjoy America’s favorite pastime and perhaps get a break from the daily grind. This is probably why I also like the Nationals current popular HashTag or team motto, “Stay in the fight,” so much.

It’s relevant to this year’s team that started the season playing poorly and enduring bad breaks. Yet they never did quit or stop believing in themselves and each other. They stuck with what they knew was right and trusted that the results would follow. Stay In The Fight describes the team well.

I also really like the hashtag/motto from years ago. One pursuit. That’s a motto that I think still applies to those of us that fill the stands each night, clad in red jerseys featuring our favorite player’s name and number. WE are all there pulling for the same thing, all of us in our own way. I think by now you might see where I am going with this.

Besides having World Series Playoff fever, I think my Nationals fandom may hold some hints for how to cure what ails us as a nation. We need to recognize that all of us really are rooting for the same things. We all want to live in a Country, a Commonwealth and a Community where we can feel safe and welcome, where we have opportunities to prosper, and build a world where our children can be better off and have an easier time than we did.

Of course, the best way to achieve that is subject of some debate. You can debate whether Davey should have brought in a left-handed relief pitcher or not. Fervent fans can have heated disagreements about that. The beautiful thing about baseball is that everyone is judged on their results.

Some of us believe the best path to prosperity is to create an economy where no one is left behind, and no one is excluded because of who they are, where they came from, how they got here, or who they love. We can all have a bigger slice of pie if we all throw in some more ingredients - or some of us can have a whole pie by taking it home and eating it ourselves.

(Wait, that’s a food analogy, not baseball. I must be hungry!)

This is my last column before the November 5th election. I’ve written previously about what’s at stake and what policies are likely to be enacted if my “team” wins control of the legislature. I’ve also seen the letters to the editor decrying the policies I’ve called for, suggesting they’ll be destructive and impede us in our pursuit of that shared vision of prosperity and opportunity and safety for all.

I hope that once the outcome is known, we’ll remember that we are all on the same team. We all want the same thing for ourselves and our loved ones, and we will root for whomever wins to be successful.

My hope for 2020 is that when I leave the baseball game and tune the radio form the sports station to the news, all my positive feelings that come from being amongst a community working together, playing together, even many of us praying together in our own ways - that all those positive feelings don’t evaporate when I hear the latest quotes from our national leaders.

So, let’s root for the home team and for a post-election season that moves us forward. Let’s play ball!

Show me your budget

Last month I devoted my column to bills that the Virginia General Assembly could pass to improve life for our residents and make Virginia a better, more affordable place to work, live and safely raise a family. Passing new laws are an important part of what we do. The most important bill we consider, and the one to which the most time and resources are devoted is the State Budget.

The Commonwealth of Virginia operates on a biennial budget proposed by the Governor and adopted by the General Assembly every other year during our “long” 60-day session.  Since our Governors are term-limited to a single 4-year stint, they are generally sworn in a day after their predecessor introduces a new State Budget.

This January, though, the Governor will have his one and only opportunity to introduce his own budget, developed with the input of his staff members, agency heads and the Cabinet Members he appointed at the beginning of his term.  He’ll also be able to shepherd it through the legislative process while he continues to have the leverage of his Veto pen in hand.

This is the opportunity the Governor has to craft a budget that is a statement of his values and priorities, hopefully with the support of a like-minded General Assembly.

This is an opportunity for the Governor to invest in Higher Education, Transportation Infrastructure, Affordable Housing and other important priorities.

One area of the budget that doesn’t get as much attention is one where a relatively modest increase in funding could do immeasurable good for one of my priority issues, Criminal Justice Reform.

Earlier this month, I met with local Public Defenders and officials from the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission.  During the meeting, they told me the most impactful criminal justice reform the General Assembly could take in the upcoming session is to adequately fund indigent defense in Virginia.

The Virginia Indigent Defense Commission (VIDC) is the state agency tasked with protecting the most vulnerable members of our community, those accused of a criminal offense and who are unable to afford counsel.

The VIDC operates 25 Public Defender (PD) offices across the Commonwealth in furtherance of their mission to protect and defend “the rights and dignity of their clients through zealous, compassionate, high-quality legal advocacy.” Each office has a Chief Public Defender, a Deputy Public Defender, and Assistant Public Defenders. The number of Assistant Public Defenders depends on the size of the jurisdiction.

Despite much higher attorney workloads as a result of an increase in the number and needs of seriously mentally ill clients, greater travel due to the increased use of remote regional detention centers, and voluminous (often electronic or forensic) evidence, including body worn cameras (BWC), the General Assembly has not authorized any new attorney positions for these public defender offices in over a decade.

The Brennan Center for Justice recently released a report documenting the impact of underfunding indigent defense on the criminal justice system including mass incarceration that noted “the fiscal cost of indigent defense reform is not nearly as high when one accounts for the savings it can bring. Issues exacerbated by defender resource disparity - pretrial incarceration, overly long sentences, wrongful convictions - are extremely expensive.”

Of course, these issues affect prosecutors’ offices as well.  The difference is, we’ve been increasing attorney staffing in the Commonwealth Attorney’s office substantially over the last ten years. As a result, it’s not uncommon for a local Public Defender Office to have half the number attorneys as the local prosecutor. Just since 2016, there have been ten new prosecutor positions added in Fairfax County to address the issues described above. Again, no new attorney positions in Public Defender offices.

This disparity is another driver of increases in workload for Public Defenders, as many of those new prosecutor positions come with the expectation that there will be increased prosecution of a particular type of case or area.

Increasing funding for indigent defense will improve outcomes for the wrongfully accused, those suffering from mental illness, and for offenders working to re-enter society and return to their communities as productive and contributing citizens. This enhances public safety for everyone, while reducing so many of the ill effects of mass incarceration.

To that end, I look forward to receiving the Governor’s budget this winter and working with him to enhance the quality of life for all Virginians.

What if Democrats controlled the GA?

Earlier this month I wrote a news story for the FCNP about some of the new laws that went into effect on July 1, 2019 across the Commonwealth of Virginia, on topics ranging from public safety to transportation, health care and the environment, to education and taxation.

Writing that story go me thinking- great, now restaurants can advertise Happy Hour specials including discounted drink prices, and sure some new funding is available for amateur bee-keepers, which is nice. But imagine what next year’s July 1 new law story could be if progressive Democrats control both chambers in the General Assembly for the first time since…maybe ever.

I mean, we just need to pick up two more seats in each chamber. So, let’s indulge in a little bit of time travel. Come with me, to July 1, 2020, in a world where control of the General Assembly has flipped…

One of our first orders of business when we returned to Richmond for the 2020 Session was to pass common sense reforms related to gun purchases and ownership. Beginning July 1, every firearms transaction in the Commonwealth is subject to a background check available on a website operated by the Virginia State Police. Falls Church City and Fairfax County owned buildings are not only tobacco free, but local governments have voted to make them gun free zones as well. It’s no longer legal to buy bump stocks and assault weapons in Virginia.

Voting in the upcoming 2020 election is expected to break records for voter participation, not just because it’s a presidential election year, but because Virginia residents are now automatically registered to vote when they go to re-register their cars, apply for government benefits, or have any other interaction with state government. For those who aren’t automatically registered on Election Day, they will be able to register on the spot, and voting will begin early for anyone who wishes to cast a ballot, no reason need be provided.

Virginia is now part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and is committed to reducing our emissions while funding renewable energy programs and promoting green jobs. Expect to see rooftop solar panels dotting the landscape as the General Assembly removed regulatory barriers and added financial incentives for residential and community solar installation.

Many Virginians will begin to see a more money in their paychecks each week as we begin the first step in a gradual increase in the minimum wage, which is on its way to $15 an hour. Those struggling with crippling student loan debt have new options to consolidate and refinance their loans, and those who suspect they’ve been overpaying can complain to the Virginia Bureau of Financial Institutions which now has oversight authority and will be enforcing a Student Borrower Bill of Rights in Virginia.

Simple possession of Marijuana is no longer a criminal offense, but it is illegal to discriminate in housing and employment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Virginia passed the Equal Rights Amendment, becoming the last state needed to add it to the US Constitution.

We firmly established that the government has no business interfering in women’s healthcare and reproductive rights.

Political candidates can no longer use campaign funds for personal use – the highlight of several meaningful campaign finance reforms we passed earlier this year to limit the influence of money in politics that will impact the next state election cycle. Many localities will launch pilot programs to provide public financing to campaigns that pledge to forego corporate contributions and accept caps on the amount any individual can donate.

And tolling hours on I-66 are restored to the original HOV hours and a whole slate of new transportation improvements are in the works as we’ve made the decision to prioritize funding these projects with gas tax revenues.

That’s the column I’d like to write in 2020.

Although I don’t have an opponent on the ballot in the 53rd district this year, I’ll be spending as much time as possible between now and November working to make sure we elect candidates around the state who share that vision.

What new headlines would you like to see in 2020?

2019 Special Session

If you are wondering how seriously Republicans in the General Assembly took Governor Northam’s special session call to address gun violence here in the Commonwealth, you can start watching the Lion King on Netflix. By the time the closing credits wrap on this movie designed not to exceed the attention span of the typical 4-year-old, you will have spent as much time as it took Republicans to adjourn.

Had I known that was going to be “their play” as Senator Amanda Chase described it on the radio recently, I probably wouldn’t have headed to Richmond on Monday night to review the eight bills the Governor had proposed.

While I was working with bill patrons to restore Virginia’s one handgun a month purchase limit and working on a procedural resolution that would have required these bills to come before the full House for a vote, the NRA was huddled in the Speaker’s Conference Room in the General Assembly, mobilizing the opponents of these popular, common-sense gun violence prevention bills.

On the Capitol grounds, hundreds of Virginians associated with Moms Demand Action, Everytown, Giffords, Brady, and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence rallied to support the intent of the special session – to finally address gun safety, all unaware that the script had already been written and the play had already been called.

By the time we gaveled into session that day, more than 60 bills had been introduced. Most of them we had seen before – requiring universal background checks, establishing a red flag law, instituting an assault weapons ban, increasing penalties for recklessly leaving loaded firearms within reach of children, and banning weapons in government buildings – to name a few.

First order of business was to vote on the procedural rules that would govern the special session. Not surprisingly, my Republican colleagues introduced a very broad resolution that simply said legislation related to “public safety.”

As the Parliamentarian, I submitted an alternative procedural resolution on behalf of House Democrats establishing a timeline for the introduction of bills, a deadline for committees to act on those bills, and requiring each house to reconvene on a date certain to vote on the committee recommendations even if it meant we had to vote to discharge the bills from committee.

The resolution also included specific language, stating that we would only consider legislation related to firearms safety. Adopting this resolution would have meant that we had a clear, concise agenda for moving forward and for ensuring that we completed the work we were tasked to do all by July 30th.

Unfortunately, my version failed to pass and the Republican procedural resolution which contained no timeline for action was adopted. I spoke against the resolution, pointing out that if we passed it we might adjourn today and never come back.

As it turned out, we only stayed in session for a slightly extend morning hour, during which several of my colleagues offered heartfelt speeches as to why it is past time that we address gun violence prevention. I highly recommend that you watch them – the video archive can be accessed via VirginiaGeneralAssembly.gov.

Quite abruptly, the Speaker called for us to adjourn until November 18th for a lame duck session after November’s elections.

Then an announcement - House Militia, Police, & Public Safety (MPPS) Committee would meet 45 minutes after adjournment and the House Courts of Justice Committee immediately upon adjournment of House MPPS. I happen to serve on both committees, so I held out some hope that the bill patrons would at least have an opportunity to present their bills and we could have some discussion of next steps.

MPPS met first. No sooner had we begun than the committee chair announced that all the referred legislation would be sent to the Virginia Crime Commission for review per a letter from the Speaker of the House. The motion was quickly moved and seconded. There was no discussion.

Moving to House Courts, the same script was read. Everything is going to the Commission, which has announced that it will meet on August 20th in Richmond.

As reported in some news stories, the 90-minute special session cost taxpayers nearly $45,000 in per diem and mileage reimbursement for all 140 legislators. This does not include projected overtime costs for Capitol Police or having additional officers on hand during regular shifts.

Maybe we all should have gone to the movies instead.

The Primary is over

I can’t tell you all how glad I am to have the primary election behind us. Picking amongst my fellow Democrats is almost like asking me to pick a favorite family member. On any given day I may have a preference, but I never want THEM to know that.

This year, though, I did make my preferences known, and as readers of the FCNP know, it put me at odds with some of my best political friends here in Falls Church. Now that the nominees are decided, we can all put that unpleasantness behind us and work together toward or shared goals.

That said, it’s a little easier to be magnanimous when all of your favorites win. I’m proud of the great campaigns run by Dalia Palchik for Providence District Supervisor, Jeff McKay for Fairfax County Board Chairman, and Parisa Dehghani-Tafti and Steve Descano for Commonwealth’s Attorney in Arlington/Falls Church and Fairfax respectively.

With the Commonwealth’s Attorney (CA) races being perhaps the most contentious, with some aspersions cast (unwarranted in my view) about how these races were funded, I hope supporters of all the candidates share my excitement about what comes next.

Both Mr. Descano and Ms. Tafti have promised to implement evidence based best practices in their offices to ensure their policies will actually reduce crime and incarceration rates. For instance, both have pledged to stop asking for cash bail. Cash bail unfairly discriminates against low-income people. In localities where Commonwealth’s Attorneys that stopped asking for this, there has not been any significant impact on public safety or court appearances.

Virginia’s Attorney General Mark Herring appears to have been paying attention to our local races as well. He recently announced that he now agrees that prosecuting marijuana possession is a waste of time and resources, an issue on which both successful candidates campaigned. Voters chose the candidates that agreed to use their discretion not to prosecute these misdemeanors. There are people serving jail time for marijuana possession after the first offense or even for first time offenses if they constitute probation violations.

I look forward to watching both Ms. Tafti and Mr. Descano work to reshape the legislative agenda of the Virginia Association of Commonwealth’s Attorney (VACA), which lobbies the General Assembly. A more progressive VACA membership means they may drop their opposition to marijuana decriminalization, embrace a prohibition on the death penalty for the seriously mentally ill, and support new trials for people sentenced with junk science.

Some folks have lamented the role of money spent on behalf of the challengers in the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s races.

As a champion of campaign finance reform since my first term, I have introduced legislation to prohibit using campaign funds for personal use, to strengthen our ethics laws, to require online political ads to be regulated like newspaper and TV ads, and to give localities the option to publicly finance campaigns – just to name a few.

The concerns about money in politics I hear from constituents generally have to do with the role of business interests influencing those who are supposed to be their watchdogs. They feel like the systems is rigged against ordinary people – a system where big business buys influence and pays off politicians in exchange for favorable rules, regulations, and laws. For instance- allowing bail bond companies to contribute to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s who oppose ending cash bail. Or Defense Attorney’s feeling obligated to pitch in to these races.

Transparency is also a concern. Dark money is money that comes from organizations that don’t disclose their donors’ identities for the purpose of influencing elections. Unlike a political action committee (PAC), these organizations are not regulated by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

That said, the race for Commonwealth’s Attorney in Fairfax and Falls Church-Arlington was about a need for a more progressive approach to our criminal justice system that was sorely lacking. The voters of Falls Church, Fairfax and Arlington County won because they ran good campaigns and connected with voters (and some local elected officials) who share their values.

As for campaign finance reform, we can still do better. I’ll keep introducing legislation to increase transparency and hold elected officials accountable in how they receive (and spend) their campaign funds. And we owe it to our constituents to do so.