Washington D.C. — Today, Congressman Moran responded to Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s statement regarding legislation passed by the General Assembly to divvy up future offshore drilling royalties received by the Commonwealth. Mr. Moran outlined his concerns in a letter to McDonnell last week (included below). In light of the Governor’s statements at the bill signing yesterday, the Congressman made the following remarks:

“I appreciate the Governor’s desire to bring in new transportation dollars, but any projections for offshore drilling revenue are a mirage.

 

“As I stated in my March 5th letter to Governor McDonnell: even under the most optimistic scenario, drilling would not occur for at least another eight years. Because drilling would occur in federal waters, by law all royalties must go to the federal government.

 

“Due to a solid coalition of non-coastal states who believe that offshore drilling royalties belong to all the States, there’s little to no chance the Commonwealth would receive special consideration.

 

“Putting aside the obvious environmental concerns, drilling off Virginia’s coast could also hamper our efforts to ‘Save the Carrier’ at Norfolk. The Navy and Department of Defense are strongly opposed to any activities in the proposed region that would affect training operations. Erecting oil rigs in this zone could add fuel to Florida’s efforts to take our carrier and jeopardize other naval and NASA assets along our coastline.”

March 5, 2010

The Honorable Robert F. McDonnell
Governor
Patrick Henry Building, 3rd Floor
1111 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219

Dear Governor McDonnell: 

I wanted to follow up on one key issue of concern addressed at the Virginia congressional delegation meeting last week:  offshore oil and gas development. 

While we both share a goal of securing new revenue to address the state’s transportation needs, I would strongly advise against any assumption that oil and gas royalties will be flowing into the state’s treasury.  Regardless of our different positions on the merits of offshore drilling, these facts are immutable.  Lease Sale 220 will not occur before 2011 and will occur exclusively in federal waters at least 50 miles offshore.  Under the most optimistic scenario, drilling will not occur for at least another eight years and any royalties from these operations by law must go to the federal government, not the Commonwealth.  There are no special provisions for revenue sharing with the coastal states.  Efforts in Congress to share royalty revenue with the Atlantic coast states have been rejected repeatedly, most recently in the Senate last April by a vote of 37-60.  There is a bipartisan coalition of non-coastal states that strongly believe that offshore royalties belong to all the States.  

I also believe the assumptions about what the oil and gas might generate through economic activity are grossly overstated and may come at the expense of the fishing, recreational and tourism industries whose livelihoods could be jeopardized.

Perhaps even more significant, the military’s investment in Virginia, which is so critically important to the Commonwealth’s economy, could be jeopardized by offshore drilling.  As a delegation we are united in our effort to block Florida’s efforts to move one of the Navy’s carriers to Mayport.  Support for drilling in the Virginia Capes Operating Area, however, strengthens Florida’s case for moving Navy forces from Virginia to Florida.  “Save the Carrier” resolutions you will see from the General Assembly are utterly meaningless when Virginia is on record as supporting encroachment in a training range strongly opposed by the Defense Department and the Navy.  Support for drilling will undermine the efforts our congressional delegation is making to prevent Florida from taking naval and NASA assets from Virginia. That would be an economic disaster for Virginia, far exceeding even the most optimistic economic assumption on the possible benefits of offshore drilling.

Sincerely,

James P. Moran

Cc:  The Honorable Mark Warner
        The Honorable Jim Webb

http://moran.house.gov/

#   #   #   #

April 10th, 2010 3-6 pm
6209 Edison Dr
Alexandria, VA 22310
map: http://tinyurl.com/evans-home

Details, online ticket purchase, flier, etc., click here.

President Obama raises the point that health reform will not only have long-term advantages for the country but will have immediate protections and benefits this year if passed by Congress.

We don’t usually do this, but the Weekly Republican response delivered by Rep. Parker Griffith (R-AL) was so laughably inaccurate, that we’ve included the link to view it here.

Rep. Griffith: “In the next 10 days, Democrats in Washington will try and jam through a massive government takeover of health care. It would raise taxes, slash Medicare benefits and destroy American jobs. It would put federal bureaucrats in charge of medical decisions that should be made by patients and doctors. And it must be stopped.”

• What: American Health Insurance Professionals Rally
• When: Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 – 10:00 am
• Where: Meet at the Dupont Circle Metro Station in Washington, DC. The AHIP conference will be held at the Ritz Carlton at 22nd St NW & N St NW.
• Why: We’re not going to back down in the fight for comprehensive Health Care Reform. Let’s show AHIP that we are unwavering in our support for this vital subject!

For more information, please contact:
Shereen Zaid
Organizer, Change That Works Virginia
shereen.zaid@changethatworks.net   918-409-6325

You knew in the 2009 General Election that very conservative Bob McDonnell had a plan, a plan that he wrote about in his thesis (see August 2009 posting). Well, the devastation continues …

In the wake of an ex-Vice President of the United States publicly stating that torture is ok and admits to condoning it, now we see the new Governor of Virginia and his Attorney General emboldened to endorse and promote discrimination. This is wrong, so terribly wrong.

On February 5th, 2010 Governor Bob McDonnell enacted an Executive order under the radar. This order took “sexual orientation” out of the list of things that a state worker cannot be discriminated against. Basically, any state worker can be fired for their respective sexual orientation (GLBT). This executive order supersedes the former Executive Order No. 1 by Timothy M. Kaine in 2006.

Here is the Executive Order No. 6
By virtue of the authority vested in me as Governor, I hereby declare that it is the firm and unwavering policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia to assure equal opportunity in all facets of state government.

This order is in furtherance of the stated policy enacted by the General Assembly, and specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, political affiliation, or against otherwise qualified persons with disabilities. The policy permits appropriate employment preferences for veterans and specifically prohibits discrimination against veterans as contemplated by state and federal law.

State appointing authorities and other managers are hereby directed to take appropriate measures, as determined by the Director of the Department of Human Resource Management, to emphasize the recruitment and appointment of qualified minorities, veterans, women, disabled persons, and older Virginians to serve at all levels of state government. This directive does not in any way permit nor requires the lowering of any job requirements, performance standards, or qualifications so as to give preference to any state employee or applicant for state employment.

Allegations of violations of this policy shall be brought to the attention of the Office of Equal Employment Services of the Department of Human Resource Management. No state appointing authority, other managers, or supervisor shall take retaliatory actions against persons making such allegations.

Any state employee found in violation of this policy shall be subject to appropriate disciplinary action.

The Secretary of Administration is directed to review annually state procurement, employment, and other relevant policies for compliance with the non-discrimination mandate contained herein and in general law, and shall report to the Governor her findings together with such recommendations as she deems appropriate. The Director of the Department of Human Resource Management shall assist in this review.

This Executive Order supersedes and rescinds Executive Order Number One (2006), Equal Opportunity, issued by Governor Timothy M. Kaine on January 14, 2006.

This Executive Order shall become effective upon its signing and shall remain in full force and effect until amended or rescinded by further executive order.

Given under my hand and under the Seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia this 5th day of February 2010.

/s/ Robert F. McDonnell, Governor

Ridiculous, no? Angry? Do something about it. Let Governor McDonnell know how angry we are that he went out of his way to discriminate against citizens of the Commonwealth. Contact him!

Mailing address:
PO Box 1475
Richmond, Virginia 23218

Street address:
Office of the Governor
Patrick Henry Building, 3rd Floor
1111 East Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219

Phone Numbers:
(804) 786-2211
Fax: (804) 371-6351
TTY/TDD (For the Hearing Impaired):
1-800-828-1120, or 711

“In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
Martin Luther King Jr.

The county executive’s proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins on July 1 reflects our new reality—one that is likely to continue for some time.  Between the proposed budget’s release and its adoption on April 27, my colleagues and I will be listening to constituents and working to fine tune the budget to align it as closely as possible with citizen priorities and economic reality.  It will be a challenge to maintain our quality of life and our school system while reducing services and turning our backs on programs that might be wonderful but unaffordable.  I will be participating in these budget deliberations believing that there are some government responsibilities that are not negotiable.  Public safety and basic human services are more important than ever during this economic downturn. 

At first read, this budget makes the best of a difficult situation.  I am pleased that it recognizes the importance of zoning enforcement to our neighborhoods.  Bringing together staff from different agencies into a centralized department of code enforcement (including the Strike Team) will let us respond to enforcement issues more quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively.  The budget also recognizes that we cannot use homeowners as a bottomless piggy bank for programs that we cannot afford.  While the county executive’s proposed budget has a property tax rate of $1.09, because of declining property values, the average homeowner’s bill will be $48 less than last year’s.  This budget also recognizes the need to find revenue sources other than homeowners and I note that my suggestion last year to reinstitute the vehicle registration fee has been included.  The $33 fee is estimated to raise $27 million a year . 

Schools are the Board of Supervisors’ priority and that’s reflected in this budget with almost 54 percent of the General Fund.  It may be possible to increase the school transfer but it’s too early to make that call as we wait for more information about the impact of the state budget on K-12. 

Right now, I am concerned by the proposed elimination of middle school SROs (school resource officers )—these police officers have made impressive inroads into eliminating gang activity in our schools. Eliminating them would cost us much more in the long run.

Our challenge is to find new ways of doing things: better and more efficient ways to stretch our revenue dollars, more partnerships with non-profits and the private sector, and diversified revenue sources to take the pressure off our homeowners.

You can find more detailed information on the county budget at
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/news/2010/county-executive-budget-proposal-fy2011.htm

FILLER-CORN

EVANS

Neither of these elections are for Lee District residents, but we are committed to electing Democrats all across Northern Virginia.