COMMONW WEALTH OF VI RGINIA

HOUSE OF DELEGAT TES

RICHMOND R UGO

SCOTT A. SUROVELL T
PO BOX 289 MOUNT VE ERNON, VIRGINIA 22121 A FORTY Y-FOURTH DISTR RICT

COMMIT TTEE ASSIGNMEN NTS: CITIES, COUNTIES & T TOWNS NCE & TECHNOLO OGY SCIEN MILIT PUBLIC SAFET & POLICE TIA, TY

April20,2012 Deleg gateScottA. .Surovells2 2012Genera lAssemblyS SessionRecap M Mr.&Mrs.Constituent 1 1234MountVernonRd M MountVerno on,VA22300 0 D DearMr.Con nstituent: TheVirgin niaGeneralA Assemblycom mpletedmost tofitssubsta antiveworkforthisyearinamidApr ril s session,capp pingoffoneo ofthemostc contentiouss sessionsinre ecentlyhistory.Iamwrit tingtoupdat teyouon t thesession. Thisletter rfirstcoversmylegislatio on.Next,Ito ouchonsome eofmybillsthatwereco ontinuedton nextyear. T Then,Ifocusonsomeoth hersessionhighlights.La astly,Icovert dgetandcha angesintheV Virginia thestatebud R RetirementS System. P ProtectingPo owersofAttorneys Twoofmy ybillspassed dquickly.Thefirst(HB67 77)evolvedo outofasugg gestionbymy yconstituent t D DeborahMat tthews,whomaintainedthatthatVirg ginialawdid dnotclearlyt terminateap powerofattorney w whensomeonefilesfordivorce.Afterresearching gthematter, ,wediscoveredthatdivo orcewascovered,but o otherdomest ticconflictsw werenot.Th herefore,mybillamende dthelawtoautomaticallyterminateapower o ofattorneyw whensomeon nefilesacustody,visitation,childsup pportorsepa aratemaintenanceaction n. P Peoplefightin ngeachothe erincourtshouldnothav vecontrolov vereachothe erassetsandpeoplefrequently f forgettooffic ciallytermina atepowerso ofattorneyw whenconflict tcommences s. C ClarifyingAp ppellateLaw Asecondbillpassed(H HB681)thatwassuggestedbySteven nEmmertwh hopointedo outsomeambiguities indeadlinesf forcalculatin ngintereston nappealstha atcanresultintensofthousandsofd dollarsofunc certainty. M Mybill,nowlaw,clarifiesthedeadline es. P ProtectingCh hildrensAcc cesstoProte ectiveOrders s Third,alo oopholethathaddevelop pedinprotectiveorderlaw ws.Duetoc changesaftertheYeardle eyLove c caseatUVA,peoplecanf fileforprotec ctiveordersagainstnon familymemb berswithout tsimultaneouslyfiling c criminalchar rges.Howeve er,currentV VirginiaLawd didnotallow protectiveo ordersfiledb byoragainstjuveniles w whentheoth herpartyisnottheirfami ilymember.Iintroduced dabill(HB67 74)allowingaJuvenilean nd D DomesticRelationsCourt ttohearprot tectiveorder rsfiledbyoragainstjuveniles.Mybillwastabled,but identicallang guagewasinc cludedinano otherbilland dadopted.

DISTRICT: (57 249-4484 RICHMOND: (80 698-1044 EMAIL: DelSSur 71) 04) rovell@house.vir rginia.gov

PromotingRenewableEnergyinVirginia Fourth,weconsideredabilltogiveelectricitygeneratedbyanimalwaste(SB413)thesamecreditas solarandwindunderVirginiasRenewablePortfolioStandard(RPS),alawthatincentivizesinvestorowned utilitiestopurchaserenewableenergy.Iintroducedanamendmenttostrikelanguagefromthebill becauseasdrafteditallowedautilitytopurchaseanimalwastegeneratedelectricityinNorthCarolina, Pennsylvania,Delaware,WestVirginiaorMarylandandmakeVirginianspayforit.Myamendmentcarried 5145.Ultimately,acompromisewasbrokeredusinglanguageIsuggestedthatwouldallowautilitytoget VirginiacreditonlyifthefacilityislocatedinVirginia.Inadditiontoencouragingtheproductionofcleaner energy,thiswillalsohelpcreateVirginiajobs,whichisoneofthepurposesoftheRPS. PromotingSolarandProtectingConsumerPrivacy Severalofmybillswerecontinuedforstudy.HB660directstheVirginiaDepartmentofTransportation toinvestigateusingroadrightofwaysforsolarenergyproduction.Anotherwouldcreateacauseofaction againstanydataproviderthatsellsaccesstoanexpungedcriminalrecord.Currently,thousandsofpeople aredeniedemploymentwhenprivatedatacollectorsprovidereportsthatcontainunfoundeddismissed chargesthatarehighlysensitiveandwereexpunged. ReformingTransportationSpendingandFightingforOurShare Finally,mytopprioritycameveryclosetobecominglawthisyear.Transportationspendingdecisions aremadebytheCommonwealthTransportationBoard(CTB),whosemembersareappointedbythe governor.TheCTBwascreatedinthe1930sandappointmentsofBoardmembersisbasedondistricts reflectingVirginias1930congressionaldistricts.Inthemid1980sdecisionmakersrealizedthatNorthern VirginiawasnolongerpartoftheCulpeperTransportationDistrictandtheycreatedtheNorthernVirginia District.Today,66%ofthestatespopulationisinthreedistricts(NorthernVirginia,HamptonRoadsand Richmond).Theothersixdistrictshave33%ofthestatespopulation.Inotherwords,theBristol,Salem, Lynchburg,Culpeper,FredericksburgandStauntonDistrictshavedoublethevotingpowerofthemost populouspartsofVirginia.Itiscompletelyunfair. Forthreeyearsinarow,torebalancetheboardalongtodaysactualpopulationlines,Ihaveintroduced abilltorequireCTBmemberstorepresenttodayscongressionaldistricts.Thisyear,mylegislationwas promotedbyRepublicanDelegatesTomRust,ChrisPeaceandJimLemunyon.Weworkedtogetherand wereabletobuildabipartisancoalitionof24Democratsand29RepublicanstoconvincetheHousetopass thebillbya5348vote.ItwastabledintheSenate,buttheSenatorsonthecommitteemadeclearthat theMcDonnellAdministrationneedstoaddresstheissuebecauseweareclearlygoingtorevisititnext year.Ihopethatthiswillbethestartofthesuburbanurbanpartofthestateassertingitselfon transportationissues. WomensReproductiveChoice Someofthemostcontentiousfightsthissessionrevolvedaroundawomansrighttochoose.Ihave alreadywrittenextensivelyaboutthisinmyonlinenewsletterandmycolumns.Ivotedagainstthe followingbills: MandatoryUltrasoundsPriortoAbortion(SignedbyGovernor)Thislegislationrequiresall womenseekinganabortiontoundergoanultrasoundwithin48hoursofanabortionevenifthey havealreadyhadone. PersonhoodLegislation(PassedHouse,Continuedto2013)Definesafertilizedeggasa personforall25,000referencesVirginiaslawsandoutlawsmostformsofcontraception.

HPVVaccineRepeal(SignedbyGovernor)Repealslegislationrequiringschoolstovaccinategirls fromHPVvirusunlessparentsoptout. RepealBanonStateFundingforDeformedFetuses(PassedHouse,TabledinSenate)Eliminates fundingforlowerincomewomentogetabortionsincasesoftotalandincapacitatingphysicalor mentaldeformitiesandforceslowerincomewomentocarryadeformedfetustofulltermeven whenthereisalmostnochanceofsurvival. WrongfulFetalDeathLegislation(SignedbyGovernor)Createsnewcauseofactionifaperson negligentlycausesafetaldeathsuchasinacaraccident.

IalsointroducedtheEqualRightsAmendmentwhichpassedtheSenateforthesecondyearinarow.My colleaguesintheHouserefusedtogivemybill(orthepassedSenatebill)acommitteehearing. OtherSignificantLegislation TherewerealsoseveralothersignificantpiecesoflegislationthatIhavesummarizedbelowalongwith myvote. PrivateSchoolTaxCredits(SurovellNo)Legislationcreates$25millionoftaxcreditsfor individualsorbusinesseswhocontributefundstocharitiesthatprovideprivateschoolscholarships tochildreninfamiliesearningapproximately$70,000peryearorless.Ivotednoforvarious reasons,butmainlybecauseIopposepublicfundingforprivateschools. MandatoryVoterID(SurovellNo)Legislationrequiresvoterstopresentvalididentification beforevoting.WearecurrentlywaitingtoseeiftheGovernorsignsthislegislation.Ivotedno becauseitdiscriminatesagainsttheelderly,blind,lowincomevotersandminorities. IgnitionInterlockMandate(SurovellNo)Requiresallpersonsconvictedoffirstoffensedriving whileintoxicatedtoinstallminiaturebreathalyzermachineontheirvehiclesforsixmonths.These machinesareexpensive,inaccurateandstudiesdonotuniformlyshowthattheyareeffective. RepealofOneGunaMonth(SurovellNo)Repealsthestatebanonpurchasingonehandgunper month.Idonotseewhyanyoneindividualneedstopurchasemorethantwelvehandgunsper year. RepealofAmazonSalesTaxExemption(SurovellYes)RequiresAmazontocollectsalestaxeson allpurchases.Thiswillresultinover$20millionofrevenuerecapturedandlevelstheplayingfield forlocalretailers. EminentDomainConstitutionalAmendment(SurovellNo)Virginialawcurrentlyprohibitsany governmententityinVirginiafromcondemningpropertyandthenturningitovertoapersonor company.ThisamendmentmovesthatprohibitionintotheConstitutionofVirginiaandaddslost profitsandlostaccessasdamagespaidthetaxpayers.OurexistingConstitutionallanguagewas writtenbyGeorgeMasonandhasworkedfor230years.Lostprofitsandlostaccesswillrunupthe costoftransportationprojectstotaxpayersbybillions.Thisissubjecttovoterapprovalthisfall. Youcanreadamorecompletesummaryofthesessionlegislationinmyonlinenewsletter,TheDixiePig,at http://bit.ly/2012session. StateBudgetandVirginiaRetirementSystem ThemajorfightfromDay#1wasthestatebudget..AsIwritethisletter,itisstillnotfullyresolved.We

startedthesessionwitha$1billionshortfall.Attheendofthesession,thebudgetwaslargelybalancedby cuttingprojectedcostincreasesinK12education,Medicaidandpublicsafety. TheGovernordidinjectsignificantneededfundingintohighereducation.FairfaxCountywill receiveanadditional$160millionforK12educationoverthenexttwoyearspartofwhichincludes$40 millionofcosttocompetemoniesoriginallycutbytheGovernor.WehavenowfinallysurpassedFairfax Countyseducationallocationin2008,butwenowhave15,000morechildrentoeducate.Overall,the statehasbudgeted$700millionlessthanthestatebudgetedforK12DirectAidin2009.Wehavealong waytogoandwestillhavenotmeaningfullyaddressedtransportation. At7:30p.m.onthelastdayofsession,Iwashandedthreebillsrewritingthebenefitsofthousandsof stateandlocalemployeeswhoparticipateintheVirginiaRetirementSystem(VRS),includingFairfax Countysteachers.Thelegislationwassprungatthelastminute.Thepublichadnoopportunityforinput. Ihavewrittenthreearticlesonmyonlinenewsletterexplainingmyobjectionstothechanges.Thebottom lineisthatweareaskingstateemployeestopayfora$20billionproblemcreatedbytheGeneralAssembly usingVRSasapiggybankforthelast20years.Inthelongterm,thiswillseverelyhurtourabilitytoattract andretainhighqualityteachers,professors,attorneys,judges,scientistsandotheremployeesatalllevels ofgovernment. KeepinginTouch Istronglyencourageyoutokeepintouchwithmethroughouttheyear.Ihaveenclosedaflyer describinghowIcanhelpyouandwaystocontactme.IstrivetokeepintouchsoyouknowwhatIam doingandhavetheopportunitytoprovideyourviewsandsuggestions.The44thDistrictisoneofthemost diverse,dynamicdistrictsinVirginiaanditisveryimportanttomethateveryoneinthedistrictfeel involved. Servingyouisatremendoushonor.Ilookforwardtocontinuingtohearfromyou. SincerelyYours,

DelegateScottA.Surovell 44thDistrictMountVernon