Virginia joins nation in moment of silence for Sandy Hook victims

Flags flew at half mast on state buildings and the bell in the bell tower on the Capitol grounds tolled twenty-six times at 9:30 a.m. Friday as Virginians joined people across the nation in a moment of silence to remember the victims of last week’s massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

Gov. Bob McDonnell – like many in the gathered crowd – was teary-eyed as he reflected on the tragedy that took the lives of 20 young children.

"I ask you to gather here this morning to stand in solidarity with the people of Connecticut, particularly the heartbroken town of Newtown," McDonnell said. "What happened last Friday at just about this time was something that was unfathomable I think in most of our minds.

"I know as a parent with five children I know to think of someone going into a school and slaughtering 20 innocent, beautiful children – six and seven years old – along with six of their teachers and administrators is just something as human beings we have a real hard time even getting our hands around how something that evil and that violent can take place in our great country, the United States of America...

"I ask all of you as we listen to the bells to reflect in our daily lives what can we do to bring about a more just society – a more fair and equitable world in which we live and in which we’re raising this next generation of young children. Find ways to reduce our focus on violence; to increase understanding between peoples of all races, faiths and national origin.

"We all have this basic human dignity that God has planted in our hearts, that’s what the scriptures say. So what can we do as individuals, as Virginians, to be able to bring about a fair, more just, less violent state, nation and world? All us have the unique God given talents in that respect and I think all of us can do some things that will make a difference."

House GOP looks to expand school resource officer grant program

In light of last week's massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. members of the House of Delegates Republican Caucus said Thursday it would seek to add more money to the state budget during the upcoming General Assembly session to add police officers to elementary school in the commonwealth through the school resource officer grant program.

"Today, we are announcing our intent to expand funding for a school resource officer grant program to encourage the creation of school resource officer positions in Virginia elementary schools," said House Speaker William J. Howell of Stafford in a press release. "This is a critical step toward making sure all of our schools are as safe as possible."

The GOP caucus has not yet proposed a specific amount to add to the budget to expand the program into elementary schools, but hopes to do so by the time General Assembly session starts Jan 9.

Chairwoman of the House Appropriations Public Safety Subcommittee Beverly Sherwood of WInchester said the expansion of the grant program should build on the success of school resource officers already in roughly 80 percent of the state's public middle and high schools.

"Unfortunately, only about 25 percent of elementary schools have assigned school resource officers, many of which serve multiple schools," she said. "The expansion of this program will encourage the hiring of full-time school resource officers in Virginia elementary schools."

Sen. Dems start anti-arming school officials petition

In repsonse to Gov. McDonnell's comments on Washington D.C.'s WTOP 93.5 FM Monday that it is time to have a discussion about allowing pu lic school officials to carry guns on campus, the state Senate Democratic Caucus began an online petition Thursday opposing the idea.

"Governor Bob McDonnell says we should consider arming educators to defend our schools against gun violence," Senate Democratic Caucus chairman DOn McEachin wrote to supporters in an email. "You and I know that's the wrong answer. Giving teachers weapons and turning schools into armed camps is not the solution."

Click here to view the Senate Democrats petition.

House Dems to push for Medicaid expansion, state-run health care exchange

Members of the House of Delegates Democratic Caucus said they plan to push for Medicaid expansion and a state-run health care exchange in the upcoming General Assembly session despite Gov. Bob McDonnell's reluctance.

House Democratic Caucus chairman Mark Sickles of Fairfax said at a press conference Thursday complying with these two provisions of the federal Affordable Care Act "should be at the top of the agenda" during the upcoming session.

Last week McDonnell opted to go with a federal-based rather than a state-based health care exchange saying their were two many unanswered questions for the state to go it alone.

The governor has also said he does not want to go with an optional expansion of Medicaid to 138 percent of thepoverty level because he isn't sure the cash-strapped federal government will meet its agreements under the ACA to fully fund the expansion until 2017.

"It reckless and irresponsible for Gov. McDonnell to turn his back on over 400,000 of Virginia's poorest citizens - 84,000 of which are our children," Said Del. Patrick Hope, D-Arlington. "The fact is Virginia's hospitals and clinics are already providing care and treating the uninsured. Tax payers are already paying the bill."

Hope said data shows that by expanding Medicaid the state would save $1 billion over 10 years in the cost of treating the uninsured. This he said would cover the state's share of Medicaid expansion.

Hope also asserted that the move could create more than 30,000 jobs in the commonwealth.

Del. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, said she was puzzled that McDonnell would opt out of a state-run health care exchange when a commission he created advised creating one. She also noted that the idea of state health care exchanges came from Republicans in other states.

"It is time to put policy and the best interest Virginians and our current uninsured ahead of politics," She said. "It is time to move forward and implement the recommendations of the governor's own advisory commission to implement a state run exchange in Virginia as quickly as possible."

McClellan said at this point the state has until mid-February to decide to go with an exchange run fully by the federal government or enter into a federal-state partnership.

She said she hopes McDonnell will choose the later with an eye toward creating a state-run health care exchange in the future.

Hope said the House Democratic Caucus will be putting forth a resolution supporting the expansion of Medicaid and submitting a budgte amendment to allow Virginia the federal funds for the expansion.

 

Kaine sees fiscal cliff discussions moving his direction

U.S. Sen.-elect Tim Kaine saw the fiscal cliff negotiations between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, move his way Tuesday as Obama put forward his first serious compromise position.

Obama campaigned on and has long insisted that the President George W. Bush-era tax cuts expire on yearly incomes over $250,000. It was widely reported Tuesday that the resident has softened his position and put forward a plan that would allow the tax cuts to expire for incomes over $400,000.

Kaine, who campaigned on letting the cuts expire for annual incomes over $500,000, saw that as a victory for compromise.

"For more than a year I have called on Congress to find a balanced approach of cuts and revenues to help get our fiscal house in order," Kaine said ina press release Tuesday. "I am encouraged to see signs of progress in the negotiations between President Obama and Speaker Boehner, and while much work remains, I am glad to see the sides moving towards the compromise I have promoted on the Bush tax cuts. Neither side will get everything they want, but if Washington can put the country’s best interest first, they can pass a deal by year-end that will give the markets confidence, give our small businesses certainty, and provide a springboard for a long term solution."

Audio: McDonnell calls for discussions on arming school officials

On Tuesday Gov. Bob McDonnell said there should be discussions on arming school officials in the wake of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. during his weekly chat on Washington, D.C.'s WTOP 93.5 FM's weekly "Ask the Governor" radio show.

To hear the WTOP audio click here.

To read the whole story visit www.dailypress.com.

 

Rep. Bobby Scott seeks clemency for drug offenders

U.S. Reps. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, D-Newport News, and John Conyers, D-Michigan, sent a letter to President Barack Obama Tuesday seeking clemency for people convicted and sentenced for crack cocaine offenses.

Under prior law sentences for crack offenses were much stiffer than sentences for the powder cocaine by 100 to 1 ratio - meaning a sentence for five grams of crack cocaine was a mandatory five years, while it took 500 grams of powder cocaine to garner a five-year sentence. In 2010 that discrepancy was lessened to an 18 to 1 ratio under the federal Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which both Scott and Conyers worked for years in Congress to achieve.

Scott and Conyers - along with 20 other memebrs of Congress who signed the letter - are asking Obama to begin a process of reducing the sentences of felons convicted under the mandatory 100 to 1 ratio to terms compatible with the new sentencing laws.

"With the strong national consensus, including within the Legislative, Executive and Judiciary branches of the federal government, that the 100 to 1 sentencing ratio is unfair to crack defendants, it is unconscionable that we still have people serving mandatory sentences under the 100 to 1 ratio," Scott and Conyers wrote."Therefore, we are calling upon President Obama to exercise his constitutional clemency authority to right this wrong by setting up a process for according those whose sentence length is based on a mandatory sentence for a crack violation, a reduction equivalent to an application of the FSA 18 to 1 reduction."

Scott and Conyers suggested Obama take a page out of President Gerald R. Ford's book when he set up a commission in the mid-1970s to make recommendations on offering clemency for people who dodged the draft rather than fight in the Vietnam War.

"Without the President’s intervention through his clemency authority, men and women will continue to be held accountable to unfair sentences, some involving life imprisonment for non-violent crimes that resulted from romantic or familial relationships with other offenders, such as the so-called ‘girlfriend problem’ where the defendant was a bit player in the boyfriend’s drug offense," They wrote. "It is appropriate and necessary for the President to close this gap in fairness in the application of our drug laws.”

Gov. McDonnell to form School Safety Task Force

In the wake of Friday's massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. which took the lives of 28 people including 20 young children, Gov. Bob McDonnell announced Monday he is forming a School Safety Task Force to review safety procedures at the state's K-12 public schools.

McDonnell asked the state's Secretary of Education Linda Fornasch and the Secretary of Public Safety Marla Decker to review safety auditssubmitted by local school divisions and work with school superintendents to identify any changes that need to be made to procedures.

He is also forming a panel ofeducators, public safety experts, local leaders and legislators to review school safety procedures, look into best practices and identify challenges the state's public schools face in these areas.

“While we all seek answers surrounding the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy, it is incumbent upon me, as governor, to ask our experts to reflect upon and review our system<" McDonnell said in a press release. "That is why I am calling upon a team to do just that in the form of this task force. Virginia must evaluate safety in our schools and ensure that we are providing our young people with the best opportunity to learn. Getting a quality education cannot happen if students and parents are worried about safety in the classroom. Experts in education and public safety will carefully review our process, procedures, laws and initiatives in order to determine how we can best identify safety and security best practices, review our state efforts and responses and support localities as they look to invest or reallocate resources to improve safety and security. It is our duty in state and local government to do everything we can to ensure our young people from kindergarten through college are able to learn and thrive in a safe and secure environment.”

The governor is also creating a school and campus safety coordinator position within the state Department of Criminal Justice Services based on a recommendation from the Governor’s Domestic Violence Prevention and Response Advisory Board.

Sen. McEachin 'morally compelled' to introduce legislation following Connecticut school massacre

State Sen. Don McEachin, D-Henrico, said Monday he felt "morally compelled" to introduce legislation in the upcoming General Assembly session on mental health and gun violence following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Friday in which a gunman killed 28 people, including 20 six and seven year olds, before turning the gun on himself.

“In light of last Friday's events, I feel morally compelled to introduce concrete legislation in the General Assembly Session in January," McEachin said in a press release. "Over the coming weeks, I will consult with my fellow legislators and announce specific plans that will help stem this horrific tide of gun violence."

McEachin, who chairs the Senate Democratic Caucus, did not offer specific legislation but said laws were needed that dealt with both the state's mental health system and keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.

"We must work as a nation to improve and strengthen our mental health system. We must ensure that teenagers and adults get the help they need and are not just pushed, ill and unready, into society," McEachin said.
"And we must address the tide of gun violence, fed by an unlimited supply of ever more dangerous guns. We can no longer pretend that the wide availability of dangerous weapons has had no impact on the brutal killings committed over the past year. In Newtown, not one child survived the hail of bullets from a semiautomatic assault weapon. I call on our national leaders to finally have a serious conversation about how to stop criminals and the mentally ill from accessing dangerous weapons."

General Assembly Dems respond to Gov. McDonnell's budget amendments

Democratic members of the General Assembly offered the following responses Monday to Gov. Bob McDonnell's amendments to the fiscal years 2013-2014 budget:

Senate Minority Leader Dick Saslaw of Fairfax:

"We need a comprehensive statewide plan to solve transportation. We cannot build and pave roads by taking money out of our classrooms.  It's time we got real."

Senate Democratic Caucus chairman Don McEachin of Henrico:

 "The state's budget should be a moral document that reflects the values and priorities of  Virginians. I find unconscionable the Governor's decision not to include any funding for the expansion of Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of Virginia's working poor. Expanding Medicaid will provide essential health care to hard-working Virginians who are struggling to support families as well as create jobs. In the coming General Assembly Session, I hope to work with my colleagues in the legislature and the Governor to grow jobs and increase health care for Virginians by expanding Medicaid."

Chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Virginia and Del. from Alexandria Charniele Herring:

"As we continue to dig ourselves out of the worst economic period we've seen in decades, it is critical that we focus on a pragmatic approach to sustain Virginia's future as the best place to live, work and raise a family.

The Governor's budget fails to address some of the Commonwealth's core priorities. Raiding money from education to fund transportation not only fails to address the need for Virginia's roads and infrastructure but diverts much-needed funds away from Virginia students.

"As we move in to the 2013 legislative session it is my hope that the members of the General Assembly will put politics ahead of ideology and move forward to do what's best for Virginia's hard working families." 

House of Delegates Democratic Caucus Chairman Mark Sickles of Fairfax:

"Governor McDonnell had the opportunity to make a substantial investment in Virginia's diverse and growing health care economy. McDonnell's failure to address routine health care for over 400,000 Virginians is irresponsible and counterproductive.  I look forward to working with members of the General Assembly over the next few months to expand access to Medicaid and affordable health care for Virginia seniors and working poor."