Making Tough Choices for the Long-Term Economic Well-Being of Virginia

Dear [fname],

 

I’ve said this before; as I talk with people one-on-one, even those who are unemployed, their wish isn’t for more government aid. It’s for a good job so they can pay their own bills and get back on their feet. I want to help them do just that, but it’s going to take new ideas.

 

As an elected leader, I know Virginia’s answer to its current economic slump is to find ways which allow small businesses to thrive. Virginia cannot keep going back to the old ways of looking for more federal money.

 

Virginia now has a projected $2.4 billion dollar budget shortfall, demonstrating that our economic landscape is dramatically different from what it was only a few short years ago. As sequestration bites into the revenue of Virginia contractors, the Commonwealth is awakening to the reality that federal spending is not guaranteed at any level. We Virginians can’t rely on Washington for our bread and butter.

 

This week the House of Delegates will meet for a special session, and it’s ironic that the item front and center on our agenda for discussion is Medicaid expansion. I’m glad to say that the legislature is almost certainly not going to decide to expand Medicaid this week to add 400,000 able bodied working-age adults to this welfare program.

 

Our Virginia Legislature is willing to make tough choices for the long-term economic well-being of Virginia.  Medicaid expansion would have been bad economic policy even without the current state budget shortfall, but now that things are tight, it would be crazy to consider taking on massive future spending obligations with no way to pay for them.

 

Forbes.com pointed out:

 

While the state wrestles with a $2.4 billion budget shortfall, lawmakers should remember that expanding Medicaid will only make this problem worse. None of the expansion funding can be used to shore up existing shortfalls or to provide care for current enrollees. It is reserved to create a new entitlement for working-age adults. Nearly 80 percent of these adults have no dependent children, more than 40 percent do not work at all and more than a third have prior involvement with the criminal justice system, including having spent time in jail or prison.

 

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Replacing our AWOL AG

 

Attorney General Mark Herring should be replaced! A good place to start is for the House of Delegates to pass HR 566.

 

Delegate Mark Cole has introduced HR 566, and I am a co-patron. It will direct Speaker Howell to appoint special counsel should Governor Terry McAuliffe attempt to implement Medicaid expansion without General Assembly approval as he (McAuliffe) has stated he may do. Also, HR 566 instructs the Speaker to remove Attorney General Mark Herring from the Marriage Amendment case and will require the Speaker to appoint special counsel to represent Virginia's interests in this case.

 

When courts subvert Virginia’s Constitution, when our Attorney General goes AWOL, when Governor McAuliffe threatens to ignore the law, it is the responsibility of the House to step up. That is what HR 566 is all about.

 

I encourage you to support this bill ASAP. It’s easy - here’s what you can do.

 

Step 1:

 

Call your delegate, and encourage them to support HR 566. Your message can be as simple as

 

“Please support HR 566 when the House reconvenes. Virginia’s right to enact our own laws regarding marriage and Medicaid must be defended!”

 

To find contact information for your Virginia elected officials, visit: http://whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov/

 

Step 2:

Forward this message to your friends all over Virginia!

 

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Finding Common-Sense Solutions

 

• I have introduced three resolutions commending public health clinics serving the 33^rd District. Each of these clinics is doing a spectacular job providing top-notch healthcare to many of the same folks who would be eligible if Medicaid were expanded. It makes sense to deal with this need at the community level, as opposed to going through a poorly-managed federal entitlement. I hope these resolutions will draw attention to these organizations and help to lighten their load.

• Governor McAuliffe, Speaker Howell, and other leaders from the General Assembly announced a bipartisan deal has been reached to address the current budgetary shortfalls. Despite the projected cuts to many state agencies' budgets, no cuts to K-12 education are included in the FY15 plan to close the shortfall.

 

Sincerely,