About this time of year in 1966 I wrote a letter to my hometown newspaper, Page News and Courier, suggesting that Virginia had just undergone one of the “bloodless revolutions” that Thomas Jefferson had suggested would be good for society periodically.
In the Democratic primary in a very different 8th Congressional District than we know today, liberal state delegate George Rawlings defeated the 36-year veteran Congressman Howard Smith who in his position as chairman of the Rules Committee had thwarted the will of presidents through his control of the flow of legislation and his bottling up of the Civil Rights Act for nearly a decade.
The shock waves when the polling results came in were as great as those heard in the 7th Congressional District this year. As if the defeat of a powerful committee chair was not enough, in that same primary moderate State Senator William B. Spong, Jr. defeated Virginia’s Senator A. Willis Robertson, who had been in the Senate for 20 years. President Lyndon Johnson had recruited Spong to challenge Robertson because the Senator opposed the Civil Rights Act and supported school segregation.
When Lady Bird Johnson came through Virginia campaigning for her husband on the Lady Bird Special train, Robertson was the only elected Democrat who did not come out to greet her. George Rawlings lost in the general election to William “Bill” Scott as conservative Southern Democrats voted for the Republican, and many never returned to the Democratic Party.
Spong was elected to the U.S. Senate where he served for one term before being defeated by the same Bill Scott who had defeated Rawlings six years before. Scott’s service in the House and in the Senate earned him the title given by one publication as being “the dumbest man” in Congress.
The primary defeats of two Southern Democrats in 1966 marked a sharp decline of influence of the Byrd Machine in Virginia politics and a realignment of the conservatives who had called themselves Democrats since Reconstruction. Some became Independents, but others switched to the Republican Party where they felt more at home with their conservatism. When Harry Byrd, Jr. ran for the U.S. Senate to replace his father, he won as an Independent.
No Democratic candidate for President was able to carry Virginia until ironically Barack Obama carried the state in 2008. While Democrats and moderate Republicans are celebrating the defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in another historic primary, it is important to consider the outcome of the election for the future of the Commonwealth.
The candidate who defeated Cantor did so by being more conservative than Cantor, and from the comments I have been reading he is a far-out Tea Party candidate. Just last year two Tea Party candidates defeated two Republican committee chairs in primaries and went on to win the general election.
An already conservative General Assembly is likely to be pushed further to the right by Republicans who fear a primary challenge. A bloodless revolution is occurring in the Commonwealth; Virginians will not be better for it.
Ken Plum represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates.
The Virginia Department of Transportation has launched a new website that can tell you which roads near you are undergoing — or will be undergoing — construction and repairs.
The interactive portal, www.Virginiaroads.org, provides a one-stop information source to VDOT data and projects, Virginia Gov. Terry McAullife said in announcing the project.
From the office of the governor:
An important feature of this new portal are interactive maps showing current and planned road construction projects included in the Six-Year Improvement Program as well as pavement conditions and resurfacing projects. Some of the data made available through this app is in response to requests by Virginia broadband providers to have greater visibility and earlier notice regarding road construction and repair projects. Providing access to this data will facilitate coordination between VDOT and broadband providers seeking to build new infrastructure.
“Virginiaroads.org is a prime example of the type of project I envisioned when we launched our Data. Virginia initiative aimed at using data to make government more transparent,” said Gov. McAuliffe. “It’s as simple as clicking on the link, selecting a location and seeing in a glance the status of current and future transportation projects. The information is easily accessible and open for to the public to see how their taxpayer dollars are being invested to improve Virginia’s road system.”
Virginiaroads.org features a series of interactive maps in a central online location. Maps display current construction projects, projects in the design phase, projects scheduled to go to construction and future projects. Projects can be searched via project stage, location, route or street name and the project identification number as it is listed in the Six-Year Improvement Program.
Another map shows pavement conditions, with colors identifying whether a section of pavement is in excellent, good, fair or poor condition. You can click on a section of pavement to find out more details on resurfacing projects.
Other maps on the site
- 511 real-time traffic information
- Park and ride lots
- Snow plowing status
- Virginia toll facilities
- Major road construction
- Highway safety corridors
- Truck routes
- Scenic roads
- Bicycling maps
- Capital trail
- State maps
- City maps
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has declared a state of emergency, an action that authorizes state agencies to be ready to assist local governments in responding to the snow and ice storm that will affect the commonwealth Monday evening and into Tuesday.
It also serves as a warning for citizens to stay off the roads and travel only if absolutely necessary.
After a cold rain feel through most of Sunday evening, the snow began falling about 3 a.m. and is expected to fall for most of the day. Most businesses and schools in and around Reston are closed.
“This storm could bring difficult travel and widespread power outages for the next few days,” said Governor McAuliffe. “It is also going to be very cold with gusty winds across Virginia. Please postpone travel during the storm, charge up your mobile devices so you can stay in touch, and take time to check on your neighbors in case they need help.”
In response to the storm:
- The Virginia Emergency Operations Center is at increased readiness with emergency response team members monitoring the storm and ready to coordinate the state’s response.
- The Virginia Department of Emergency Management is coordinating conference calls between the National Weather Service, state agencies and local governments.
- Virginia Department of Transportation crews have begun full preparations for a significant winter weather event expected to impact the commonwealth Monday.
- The Virginia National Guard has been authorized to bring up to 100 personnel on state active duty to support emergency response operations. Virginia Guard personnel have been alerted to begin staging and expect to be in place tonight so they are able to rapidly respond if needed.
- The Virginia State Police will extend shifts and have additional troopers on patrol to expedite response times to traffic crashes and disabled motorists.
Virginians should:
- Be prepared to take care of yourself and your family for at least 72 hours, in case roads are blocked and/or there are power outages.
- Prepare a three-day supply of food that includes a gallon of water per person per day and food that does not require electricity to prepare it.
- Have a battery powered and/or hand-crank radio and extra batteries for emergency information. Listen to local weather forecasts and instructions from local officials.
- Always run generators outside in well-ventilated areas. Never use a portable generator in any enclosed or partially enclosed space.
- Only travel if absolutely necessary. Roads can become very hazardous very quickly. Always wear a seatbelt, and know road conditions before you leave. Road condition information is available 24/7 by calling 511 or going towww.511Virginia.org
- Have emergency supplies in your vehicle. If you are stranded you will need water, food, blankets, flashlight and extra batteries at a minimum.
- Avoid overexertion while shoveling snow and cleaning up from the storm, no matter your age or physical condition. Shoveling snow or pushing a car can bring on a heart attack or make other medical conditions worse.
- If you need help for an elderly or disabled person during the storm, need information on warming shelters or are concerned about an unsheltered individual or family, call 211 or visit www.211virginia.org. When you call 211, a trained professional will suggest sources of help using one of the largest databases of health and human services in your community and statewide.
- Get winter weather preparedness information at www.ReadyVirginia.gov and download the new Ready Virginia app for iPhones and Android devices.
Photo via Dulles International Airport via Twitter.
Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge in Norfolk late Thursday, which may clear the way for same-sex marriage to become legal in the commonwealth.
U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright said in her 41-page opinion that the nation has “arrived upon another moment in history when We the People becomes more inclusive, and our freedom more perfect.” She also mentioned the 1967 Loving case, in which overturned the ban on interracial marriage in Virginia.
Wright Allen said struck the constitutional amendment Virginia voters approved in 2006 that both bans same-sex marriage and forbids recognition of such unions performed elsewhere.
“Gay and lesbian individuals share the same capacity as heterosexual individuals to form, preserve and celebrate loving, intimate and lasting relationships,” Wright Allen wrote. “Such relationships are created through the exercise of sacred, personal choices — choices, like the choices made by every other citizen, that must be free from unwarranted government interference.”
“Tradition is revered in the Commonwealth, and often rightly so. However, tradition alone cannot justify denying same-sex couples the right to marry any more than it could justify Virginia’s ban on interracial marriage.”
Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D) said the state will continue to enforce the prohibitions until the legal process is completed. Herring, reversing the state’s stance on the issue, joined two gay couples in the suit.
The decision in Virginia is similar to what federal judges in Utah and Oklahoma have used in reversing same-sex marriage bans. Both decisions are now stayed pending appeal. Seventeen states and DC now allow gay marriage. Read More
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring filed a brief in federal court in Norfolk on Thursday that told the court Virginia has changed its position in Bostic v. Rainey, which challenges the commonwealth’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
Herring (D) filed the brief with the support of Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), and the challenge to the law marks a drastic change from Virginia’s position of just a few years ago. Virginians voted to amend its constitution in 2006 to ban gay marriage.
“I believe the freedom to marry is a fundamental right and I intend to insure that Virginia is on the right side of history and the right side of the law,” Herring said at a press conference in Richmond.
Herring, then a state senator from Loudoun, voted for the same-sex marriage ban in 2006, along with 57 percent of Virginia voters. He now says his views have changed since then.
“The Attorney General has concluded that Virginia’s laws denying the right to marry to same-sex couples violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” the brief reads.
Seventeen states and the District of Columbia now recognize same sex marriage. Is it time for Virginia to do the same?
Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) and his wife Maureen McDonnell were indicted Tuesday on federal public corruption charges.
The McDonnells are accused of receiving numerous high-value gifts from businessman Jonnie Williams Sr. in exchange for McDonnell using his influence to benefit Williams’ Richmond-area business, Star Scientific.
The 43-page indictment lists more than $140,000 worth of luxury goods, golf equipment, clothing and dietary supplements subject to federal seizure if the McDonnells be convicted.
McDonnell left office Jan. 11 when his four-year term expired.
More from a Justice Department news release:
From April 2011 through March 2013, the McDonnells participated in a scheme to use the former governor’s official position to enrich themselves and their family members by soliciting and obtaining payments, loans, gifts and other things of value from Star Scientific, a Virginia-based corporation, and “JW,” then Star Scientific’s chief executive officer. The McDonnells obtained the things of value in exchange for the former governor performing official actions on an as-needed basis to legitimize, promote and obtain research studies for Star’s products, including the dietary supplement Anatabloc®.
As alleged in the indictment, the McDonnells obtained from JW more than $135,000 in direct payments as gifts and loans, thousands of dollars in golf outings, and numerous other things of value. As part of the alleged scheme, the official actions that Robert McDonnell performed included arranging meetings for JW with Virginia government officials, hosting and attending events at the Governor’s Mansion designed to encourage Virginia university researchers to initiate studies of Star’s products and to promote Star’s products to doctors for referral to their patients, contacting other Virginia government officials as part of an effort to encourage Virginia state research universities to initiate studies of Star’s products, and promoting Star’s products and facilitating its relationships with Virginia government officials.
The indictment further alleges that the McDonnells attempted to conceal the things of value received from JW and Star to hide the nature and scope of their dealings with JW from the citizens of Virginia by, for example, routing things of value through family members and corporate entities controlled by the former governor to avoid annual disclosure requirements. Moreover, the indictment alleges that on Oct. 3, 2012, Robert McDonnell sent loan paperwork to a lender that did not disclose the loans from JW, and on Feb. 1, 2013, the McDonnells signed loan paperwork submitted to another lender that did not disclose the loans. Similarly, the indictment alleges that on Feb. 15, 2013, Maureen McDonnell was questioned by law enforcement about the loans and made false and misleading statements regarding the defendants’ relationship with JW. Three days later, on Feb. 18, 2013, Robert McDonnell is alleged to have sent loan paperwork to one of the previously mentioned lenders disclosing the loans from JW. Additionally, after her interview with law enforcement, Maureen McDonnell allegedly wrote a handwritten note to JW in which she falsely attempted to make it appear that she and JW had previously discussed and agreed that she would return certain designer luxury goods rather than keep them permanently, all as part of an effort to obstruct, influence and impede the investigation.
An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
If convicted, the McDonnells could each face a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss on the conspiracy to commit honest-services wire fraud count, the honest-services wire fraud counts, the conspiracy to obtain property under color of official right count, and the obtaining property under color of official right counts; a maximum statutory sentence of 30 years in prison and a fine of the greater of $1,000,000 or twice the gross gain or loss on the false statement counts; and a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss on the obstruction of an official proceeding count.
More information and updated statements from the McDonnell’s attorneys on Washingtonpost.com.
In a couple of days, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell will present a proposed budget to the General Assembly for the next two years. Early announcements about what it contains have been good: critically needed funding for mental health and restoration of funding to education programs.
What is unique about the budget is that Governor McDonnell will not be around to defend or to implement it. The Constitution of Virginia limits the governor to one term. A governor can run a second time as Mills Godwin did in the 1960s, but the terms cannot be successive.
The limitation on executive leadership goes back to the earliest days of Virginia as a state. Concerned about the excesses of the king, the leaders of the newly independent Virginia limited the governor to terms of one year. Patrick Henry was the first governor who served for multiple years, but he had to be re-elected each year. While it is seriously questionable whether Gov. McDonnell could have been re-elected with his serious ethical lapses, he simply was not allowed by the Constitution to stand for re-election. All governors have been constrained in what they were able to do by the necessity that they get their work accomplished in four years.
I have supported several attempts over many years to amend the Constitution to allow the governor to serve two terms, but these efforts have not been successful. If the legislature approved such an amendment, it would have to approve it a second time after an election and then put it before the people in a referendum. Because of the timeline involved, such an amendment would not apply to the governor who was in office at the time. I continue to support a constitutional amendment to permit the governor to serve two terms, recognizing that the electorate can still enforce a one-term limit if it chooses to do so.
The electorate can likewise limit the terms of members of the House of Delegates to two years or any multiple thereof and of the Senate to four years or any multiple of four. Members serve at the will of the people for the amount of time determined by the electorate and not by an arbitrary number in the Constitution.
There is less need for a specific time limitation because the General Assembly is made up of part-time citizen legislators rather than being full time like the governor. While some states have chosen to limit legislators to a set number of years, the experience in these states has been a serious loss of experience in the legislature and an increase in the power of staff and lobbyists.
To ensure that the people are truly free to choose their legislators, an independent non-partisan redistricting process needs to be put into place. Under the current gerrymandering process, legislators choose the people they want to represent rather than the people choosing their legislators. A commission that I first proposed in 1982 and continue to advocate for would take the task of redistricting from legislators and give it to an independent body. Open elections with competitive races are the best form of term limits.
