state legislature

Del. Adele McClure notches first legislative success with bill expanding minimum wage laws for farm workers

By James Jarvis
Adele McClure (courtesy of Adele McClure)

Del. Adele McClure is quickly making her mark in the Democrat-controlled Virginia legislature, just weeks after taking office.

The 2nd District representative’s first legislative success of her tenure came last week when the House of Delegates narrowly approved her bill to broaden the state’s minimum wage protections to include farm and temporary foreign workers.

“I had so many candid conversations with farmers who expressed that they are already paying their workers at or above the minimum wage,” McClure said in a press release. “My bill specifically addresses those outliers who, on the contrary, continue to pay workers lower wages while still demanding higher and higher output–which undercuts farmers who are doing the right thing and paying their workers fair wages.”

HB 157, which narrowly passed with a 50-49 vote, is now proceeding to the Senate, also controlled by Democrats.

Del. Jeion Ward, chair of the Labor and Commerce Committee, initially introduced this bill in 2021, arguing the farmworker exemption stems from Jim Crow-era discriminatory laws. At the time of its adoption in 1938, some lawmakers opposed paying farmworkers, many of whom were Black, the same rates as white laborers.

Ward’s bill failed in the Senate following opposition from agribusiness lobbyists who claimed farmers were already adequately compensated.

Inspired by Ward’s efforts, McClure told ARLnow that she wanted to continue where Ward left off.

“She has made valiant efforts to move that forward and ensure that the farmworkers are part of the conversation,” McClure said.

McClure claims the bill would only impact a small portion of farmers paying well below that minimum wage, which she says undercuts those who “pay their fair share.”

“These workers are just super hardworking… and they deserve to be protected under the minimum wage act like everybody else,” McClure said.

Over the last few years, Virginia’s minimum wage has risen from $7.25 to $12 per hour, a result of Democrat-endorsed legislation enacted in 2020. This law also sets out future increases, proposing a rise to $13.50 per hour in 2025 and $15 per hour in 2026. However, these planned hikes are contingent on further approval from the General Assembly.

Several other bills sponsored by McClure have also passed committee and are scheduled to be introduced on the House floor in the upcoming weeks.

These include a bill mandating firearm locking devices during the sale or transfer of firearms, a requirement for landlords to provide alternative housing options when a tenant’s unit is damaged, and a bill calling for law enforcement training standards to aid in preventing drug overdoses.

“I feel very privileged and honored to be in a position where I can effect so much change and so much change so quickly,” she said.

McClure admits she is unsure if her bills will make it past Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk, but she emphasized that each of the bills she has introduced has strong support from her constituents, which boosts her optimism.

“A lot of these things we’re passing are to help improve the lives of our fellow Virginians, so hopefully, he’ll take that into consideration when he’s wielding that pen,” she said.

Hope files bill allowing form of government changes but County Board says more discussion is needed

By Jo DeVoe
Virginia State Capitol in Richmond (staff photo)

A new bill in the Virginia General Assembly would give the Arlington County Board the authority to change its structure without seeking further approval from state lawmakers.

Del. Patrick Hope’s HB 1225 would allow the Board to decide if it should retain its 5-member, at-large form of government or consider altering the size, to between three and 11 members, and changing to a district-based representation model. It would also allow the County Board Chair to be elected by popular vote for a 4-year term where currently, the practice is to rotate the chairship among members yearly.

Hope tells ARLnow he wants the County Board to have the same powers currently enjoyed by governing bodies of neighboring jurisdiction. As Virginia is a Dillon Rule state, local governments only have the powers conferred on them by the state legislature.

“The Arlington County Board is one of the weakest localities in Virginia. It is certainly the weakest of a locality of our size,” he said. “If the Board, this year, or the Board five years from now, wants to make these changes, they shouldn’t have to go to General Assembly and figure out who’s in control. They should have the power to make the decision how they want to run their government.”

The Board is not yet on board, however.

Members directed legislators last fall to “oppose any efforts that make changes to Arlington County’s form of government without the County Board’s explicit policy support.” Now, the Board is looking to punt on it until these questions can be put to the community as part of the year-long 2050 Visioning Process — where community members can envision what Arlington should look like in 26 years.

The visioning process is set to launch on Feb. 5.

“We are hopeful those who support such changes will engage more fully with the community during this process,” Board Chair Libby Garvey said in a statement. “Board members have connected with Delegate Hope to discuss our visioning process and the opportunities it offers to engage more fully with the community on H.B. 1225, to consider its implications, what it proposes to solve, and what the community thinks about it.”

“We believe continuing this bill to 2025 will provide the time needed to do that, and we offer the Arlington 2050 Initiative to help create the space for that discussion,” Garvey added.

Some of suggested changes in the bill are not new. Longtime former Arlington County Board member Jay Fisette said in 2017 that Arlington County should have an elected mayor and city council. Before that, in 2010, an attempt to enact district-based representation failed to gather enough valid petition signatures.

More recently, the Arlington County Civic Federation recommended making the Board bigger, among other changes, to improve diversity and competition.

Hope said the impetus now was the unexpected outcome of a 2022 bill, vetoed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, that would have allowed the County Board to hire an independent policing auditor to oversee Arlington’s police oversight board — something other jurisdictions could have done without going to the state.

Arlington’s independent policing auditor now reports to County Manager Mark Schwartz, who also oversees the Arlington County Police Department. Hope and the Arlington branch of the NAACP, concerned about conflicts of interest, chafed at this decision.

“It’s not the Governor’s business, nor the House or the Senate, who Arlington County hires,” said Hope. He previously championed a 2015 bill, which passed, allowing the County Board to hire an independent auditor tasked with conducting performance reviews and finding inefficiencies in county government.

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Workforce resiliency and abortion are top of mind for County Board members and state lawmakers this session

By Jo DeVoe
Virginia State Capitol in Richmond (via Wikimedia Commons)

The 2024 legislative session will start in two weeks and, in advance, the Arlington County Board and local delegates and senators have hammered out their shared priorities for the session.

A week and a half ago, Board members approved its package of legislative priorities for the 60-day session, including two new additions.

One wording change might signal the Board’s interest in tackling the use of gas-powered leaf blowers. “Landscaping equipment” was added to a county climate goal to encourage “private sector efforts to support and regulate energy efficiency incentive and climate programs.”

The Board also added a push for sustained funding for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. Legislators expressed their sympathy for this request but noted historical issues with adding dollars to the program, which has already seen an uptick in staffing expenses as a result of previous expansions.

Overall, the priorities of the County Board boil down to fully funded commitments to local governments, respect for local authority and workforce resiliency. This last priority could look like streamlining the process for hiring people in the public safety, mental health and childcare sectors through paid internships, student loan repayment programs or changes to clinical supervision hours.

“These are areas where we have acute shortages in the county,” Board Chair Christian Dorsey said in a meeting last month with legislators. “[We need to be] getting out of this idea we compete with all other jurisdictions for these personnel, we really need to have every boat lifted with everybody’s needs… met.”

Fully funding mandates, meanwhile, could look like more staffing support for jail diversion efforts and body-worn camera programs. Respect for local authority would look like ensuring zoning and land-use decisions remain at the local level.

Other county priorities include:

Delegates Alfonso Lopez and Patrick Hope, Delegate-Elect Adele McClure, and Senators Adam Ebbin and Barbara Favola told the Board they are working on legislation for some of these priorities. Their pre-filing deadline is Jan. 10, 2024, the same date the legislative session begins.

Favola and Lopez are in talks with Arlington Public Schools about a bill allowing the prohibition of vape shops near schools, while Ebbin and Hope aim to set up licensing requirements for vape shops. Favola has prefiled a bill that would allow childcare centers to operate in unused offices.

Top of mind for local legislators, meanwhile, is enshrining the possibly imperiled civil liberties of abortion, voting rights and same-sex marriage in the state constitution.

Last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled abortion should be a decision made by the state, a ruling that some advocates predict could jeopardize the court decision that legalized same-sex marriage. After the Dobbs abortion decision, Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin tried, unsuccessfully, to rally voters around a 15-week limit this election.

A recent lawsuit over redistricting in Arkansas, meanwhile, has possibly teed up voting rights for Supreme Court review.

In response, Favola filed a constitutional amendment on abortion that includes no gestational limits and makes exceptions only for a “compelling state interest.”

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From homelessness to public office: Delegate-elect Adele McClure reflects on past after parents reunite

By James Jarvis
1/2

Until last week, Adele McClure lacked any photographs of her biological parents together.

Now, the 34-year-old Delegate-elect representing Arlington’s 2nd District has two such photos.

“I never thought I would ever see my parents in the same room,” she told ARLnow. “At one point, I thought I would never see my father or even knew what he looked like.”

Her father had just come back to the U.S. from a visit with his family in the Philippines and asked to have dinner with McClure, who subsequently invited her mother.

“I just mentioned to my mom, very casually, ‘Hey, my dad’s gonna be in town. She was like, ‘Really?’ And all of a sudden, the stars kind of aligned and they met for the first time since I was born,” she said.

While McClure has been in contact with her biological father, Romy, since the age of 16, it marked the first time her mother, Minnie, had seen or spoken with him since before McClure’s birth.

“For me it was significant because it’s something I hadn’t witnessed until much later in life,” she said. “It was certainly a surreal moment to see both my mother and my father sitting across from me, side-by-side.”

Although deeply meaningful for McClure, the reunion was tinged by the fact that she and her three siblings — who share a different absent biological father — had to navigate the challenging realities single-parent households face.

In 1988, about a year before McClure was born, her parents met and dated briefly in Yuma, Arizona. They became estranged after McClure’s father, a U.S. Army official, was deployed to Alaska.

Almost a decade later, McClure’s life took a dramatic turn after her mother was engaged to another man. Then 9-year-old McClure and her three siblings relocated to Alexandria to live with their mother’s new fiancé but soon after found themselves in a motel after getting kicked out of their new home.

McClure and her family frequently moved as her mother, who worked various minimum wage jobs, often faced evictions because she could not afford the rent.

“I knew what evictions were. I knew what not making the rent meant. I knew all that stuff at an extremely young age,” McClure said.

While still in high school, she juggled three jobs and cared for her niece and nephew while her brother was incarcerated. McClure said she remembers that, at one point, she and her siblings had nothing to eat and survived by drinking water for days at a time.

Aware of the stigma being homeless carried, she chose to keep her family’s challenges a secret from friends and classmates.

“I would get off at the bus stop and pretend like I was walking to my old apartment. And then, when my friends would get to a certain point, I would say, ‘Oh, I forgot something. I gotta go to the store.’ And then I’d walk to the hotel,” McClure said.

McClure says her mother eventually found stability when she received a housing voucher and became an early childhood educator in Alexandria.

The experience of facing homelessness during her formative years, however, left a lasting impact on McClure and steered her towards housing advocacy and politics.

“I got to see how firsthand how housing is truly the the center of everything,” she said. “You cannot have stability in your employment or education or receiving mental health treatment or substance use disorder treatment or any of those other things without some sort of stable housing.”

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Favola and Ebbin tapped to lead senate Democrats after party wins full control of statehouse

By James Jarvis
1/2

Arlington’s two state Senators have landed key leadership roles after Democrats won control of the General Assembly last week.

State Sen. Barbara Favola will continue as Majority Whip, sharing her duties with Richmond’s Sen. Lamont Bagby, according to a Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus press release. Sen. Scott Surovell, who will represent southeastern Fairfax County, is set to become the majority leader.

“I am looking forward to working with the Democratic Leadership team and all of my colleagues on issues important to the Commonwealth,” Favola said in the release. “We have a diverse and talented team of newly elected Senators who will bring fresh perspectives to the challenges facing the Commonwealth. I am confident that our Democratic team will deliver common-sense solutions that actually improves people’s lives.”

State Sen. Adam Ebbin, meanwhile, will take on the role of Vice Chair, previously held by Surovell.

“I look forward to working with my Senate Democratic colleagues to find solutions for the betterment of all Virginians. I am ready and excited to get to work,” he said in a statement.

Favola and Ebbin secured resounding victories in their districts, the new 40th and 39th districts, respectively, each earning more than 75% of the vote against their Republican opponents. Arlington Democratic candidates to the House of Delegates — incumbents Alfonso Lopez and Patrick Hope and first-time candidate Adele McClure — also won their races handily.

Not only were Democrats able to hold their majority in the 40-member Senate, securing 21 seats, but they also flipped the 100-member House of Delegates with a narrow majority, taking 51 seats.

Local political experts and officials say that the party’s victory and high voter turnout were driven in part by concerns about Gov. Glenn Youngkin and his Republican party’s support for a 15-week abortion ban, while races were more competitive due to redistricting.

The updated Democratic leadership list is below.

  • Sen. Scott Surovell, majority leader
  • Sen. Mamie Locke, caucus chair
  • Sen. Adam Ebbin, vice chair
  • Sen. Aaron Rouse, secretary
  • Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, treasurer
  • Sen. Barbara Favola, whip
  • Sen. Lamont Bagby, whip

County legislative priorities include more speed cameras, more funding for prosecutions

By Jo DeVoe
Arlington County courthouse on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023 (staff photo by James Jarvis)

Widespread speed cameras and more funding for prosecutors are two emerging priorities for Arlington County during the upcoming legislative session.

The Arlington County Board got a first look at its legislative priorities during a meeting last night (Tuesday). They cover a range of topics, from funding for improving public transportation to tackling the behavioral health crisis crippling Arlington and the state.

The new priorities come one week after elections for both chambers of the state legislature. Democrats retained control of the Virginia State Senate and obtained a slim majority in the House of Delegates, previously controlled by Republicans. Still, policymakers — who will meet with the Board on Tuesday, Nov. 28 to discuss their priorities — will have to contend with a divided government, as the GOP controls the executive branch.

Going into the session, which begins Jan. 10, 2024, Arlington County is looking to state legislators to introduce bills granting local authority for automated speed enforcement beyond work and school zones, per a county report.

More speed cameras are part of the county’s Vision Zero initiative to reduce serious injury and fatal crashes, as well as a recommended way to reduce potentially adverse interactions between officers and civilians during traffic stops. In January 2022, the County Board approved their installation in school and work areas to reduce speed-related crashes in these areas.

Since then, however, the process of installing these cameras in these zones has stalled. In March, Police Chief Andy Penn said a contract could be ready this spring but, nine months later, police and Vision Zero Coordinator Christine Baker told ARLnow this week that the contract is still in the “procurement” phase and tied up in negotiations.

Moving from the streets to the county courthouse, Arlington County says it would like legislation to “ensure there is adequate funding for the prosecution of misdemeanors, civil duties, and the creation of diversion services.”

This responds to several issues that have arisen within the local criminal-legal system and others across the state, with the introduction of body-worn cameras, contracted staffing levels and mounting pressure for programs diverting from jail people who commit nuisance crimes or have an addiction or serious mental illnesses.

“The work of prosecution has changed considerably over the past years, and arguably decades, and in some respects, our office has failed to keep pace or appropriately adjust expectations about the services our office could reasonably provide with limited resources,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti said in a 2020 memo to County Manager Mark Schwartz.

Reviewing body-worn camera footage, for instance, became a deciding factor for Dehghani-Tafti to pull prosecutors from jailable misdemeanor offenses such as driving without a valid operator’s license, driving on a suspended license, reckless speeding and numerous registration offenses.

In the memo to Schwartz, the top prosecutor said she did not come to this decision lightly. Rather, she first sought counsel from a state agency that trains prosecutors and the Virginia State Bar Ethics Counsel. Both said prosecutors would need to review thousands of hours of body-worn camera footage to meet their obligations to share all exculpating or incriminating evidence.

“Unfortunately, at present we have neither the staff nor resources to review, process and disclose camera footage and other evidence from 40,000 cases,” Dehghani-Tafti said in the memo.

To that end, Arlington County says it is also wants to see state funding for additional positions to review body-worn camera footage “to increase transparency and accountability with law enforcement.”

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Deep blue Arlington played a supporting role for Dems in competitive state races

By Jo DeVoe
1/6

(Updated at 4:10 p.m.) Tight races for the state legislature and proposed restrictions on abortion motivated Virginians to the polls on Election Day.

This was despite the lack of statewide and federal elections, which typically drive turnout. The races for local office and the Virginia General Assembly played out against the backdrop of Republicans vying for a trifecta — control of the governor’s office as well as the lower and upper legislature chambers — and Democrats trying to stop them.

At stake were abortion rights, as Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) floated trying to pass a 15-week ban if Republicans took the Senate and kept the House.

Arlington had two state Senate and several House of Delegates seats on the ballot. Only three races had challengers, however, and among them Democratic incumbents Sen. Adam Ebbin, Sen. Barbara Favola and Del. Alfonso Lopez all won last night. While their road to victory was easier, the competition was stiff elsewhere in Virginia, commanding their attention and that of other politically minded Arlingtonians.

“It’s a little strange in Arlington because we’re in this blue bubble in what’s essentially a purple state leaning slightly toward Democrats,” says Sam Shirazi, an East Falls Church resident and Virginia elections analyst. “Virginia is just one of those states where, especially in these state elections, as opposed to federal elections, it’s almost always going to be close. ”

Shirazi had predicted Democrats would secure slim majorities in the Senate and House of Delegates, which he says is coming to pass. Democrats flipped the House and retained the Senate, not in a sweep but by securing key seats in suburban counties such as Loudoun and Henrico.

Arlington played a supporting role in these races, says Arlington County Democratic Chair Steve Baker. Volunteers spent 40 days canvassing, making thousands of phone calls and sending out 18,000 postcards and targeted seven districts of which Democrats won in six.

“Grassroots organizing works,” said Kip Malinosky, chair of the initiative dubbed Beyond Arlington. “Democrats win when we’re talking about issues that matter: abortion rights, voting rights, and gun safety. I’m proud that we played a role in helping Democrats win across the state.”

State Sen. Adam Ebbin, who was re-elected in the 39th District, said Virginians sent their governor a strong message last night.

That message would be that you can work with people across the aisle to get things done for the betterment of the Commonwealth rather than dividing them in a cynical and twisted manner. And I believe that Virginians don’t want, and will express by the end of tonight, that we don’t want the government banning books. We don’t want people interfering with our personal freedoms, whether it’s reproductive rights, your right to breathe clean air, or the safety of our communities from gun violence.

Shirazi says the state races were closer due to Virginia’s 2021 redistricting effort, in which he participated.

“Previously the maps were drawn by the legislatures themselves and obviously they had an incentive to try and protect themselves, to maybe protect their party,” he said. “This time… a lot of the incumbents, either in the primary or the general election, lost, so we had a lot of turnover in the General Assembly, and then, both chambers were competitive because they weren’t drawn to favor either party.”

“That’s why there was a lot of suspense going into the election,” he continued.

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To tackle underage vaping, APS may push law preventing smoke shops near schools

By Jo DeVoe
A smoke shop and 7-Eleven (right) across the street from Kenmore Middle School (via Google Maps)

Arlington Public Schools is mulling support for legislation that would allow localities to prevent vape shops from opening up near schools.

This is the first time the idea for such a bill has been considered as part of the School Board’s annual legislative package, according to Frank Bellavia, a spokesman for the school system. The package has not yet been approved by the Board.

“Lawmakers around the region have been discussing this issue recently, which drew our interest,” Bellavia said. “We’ve been speaking with Senator [Barbara] Favola and Delegate [Alfonso] Lopez about this so far but may speak with others about it as well.”

Interest in such a bill comes as APS is upping its focus on tackling youth substance use in schools through lessons on the impacts of vaping delivered to students in grades 4-12 and to their families. While fentanyl abuse has captured more community attention, vaping is a significant concern, particularly as students matriculate through high school.

For instance, exposure to and frequent vaping increased from 9th to 12th grade, according to the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Bellavia says this is the most recent data that APS has on vaping trends, though another such survey will be conducted next year and inform the school system’s advocacy.

Vaping rates among Arlington high schoolers, broken down by grade (by ARLnow)

Notably, per the survey, nearly 200 students under 18 reported buying their own vape products at convenience stores, gas stations or vape stores.

The survey was conducted just before the state raised the minimum age for buying tobacco products from 18 to 21.

Vaping rates among Arlington high schoolers, broken down by race (by ARLnow)

That is where a law limiting where vape shops can do business could come in. As for a potential legislative push, Bellavia says APS is still early in the process of formulating possible legislative text that would inform a potential bill. The school system will have more details in a few weeks, he noted.

Lawmakers representing Arlington in Richmond tell ARLnow they are interested in sponsoring or voting for such a bill or other bills firming up requirements of vape shops to curtail underage sales. Currently, nearly 17% of sales are to minors and the state would incur a $4 million penalty if the rate were to exceed 20%, according to a state report released last week and provided to ARLnow.

“I am interested in giving localities the authority to prevent vape shops from locating near schools and look forward to discussing this idea at the legislative work session with the County Board,” said Favola.

Sen. Adam Ebbin and Del. Patrick Hope say underage vaping has concerned them for years but they are not sure preventing shops from moving near schools is enough. Moreover, such a law could not be used to boot out existing retailers near schools.

“We have a real epidemic right now — not just among high schoolers but junior high schoolers — who are vaping,” says Ebbin. “It’s highly addictive and nicotine has adverse consequences on young developing brains.”

He and Hope say the state ought to require shops or dealers who sell nicotine products to obtain licenses where they currently are only subject to a law banning the sale of nicotine products to those under 21 years old. In the 2023 legislative session, both tried to pass a licensing scheme, which would tee up the state to inspect stores and fine or ban those that repeatedly sell to minors.

“We have a problem in Virginia of underage vaping,” Hope said. “I think the solution to the underage issue is licensure… because it is ultimate death for these establishments. They would have to close their doors.”

Hope says penalties for selling to minors are weak, making it harder to enforce the law effectively. Violating this rule carries a civil penalty, applied to the business, and even a third offense only carries a $500 fine whereas a licensing scheme could carry stiffer penalties and ultimately result in banning bad actors who sell to minors from ever being able to sell nicotine products in Virginia again, he said.

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Barbara Favola: Why you should vote for me

By Opinion Contributor
State Sen. Barbara Favola (courtesy photo)

Last week, we invited the candidates running in competitive races in the June 20 Democratic primary to write a post about why Arlington residents should vote for them. Find information on how and where to vote here.

Below is the unedited response from Barbara Favola, incumbent for Virginia State Senate – 40th District. Challenger James DeVita did not submit a response prior to publication time.

As your senator, I promised to bolster public education, make health care more affordable, pass climate change policies and make Virginia safer with common-sense gun safety measures.  I have made considerable progress on these promises while honoring the values of equity and inclusiveness.

The most important investment we can make is in public education. I advocated to increase resources to low-income schools, enhance teacher pay, encourage the teaching of our complete history and reinforce the practice of making schools a welcoming place for all students. These successes were achieved in-spite of a prevailing anti-public education narrative and with the help of a Democratic majority in the Senate.

In the area of health care, I was the chief patron on legislation to prohibit surprise medical bills, contain medical debt and expand community-based MH services.  My efforts also resulted in more funding for MH counselors in our schools. I successfully advocated for legislation to prohibit conversion therapy.

As chair of the Senate Women’s Reproductive Health Care Caucus, I fight everyday so all Virginians can make their own health care decisions without the interference of politicians. In this past session, I put Governor Youngkin on the defensive when he opposed my bill to protect menstrual health data.  I am committed to protecting bodily autonomy in Virginia’s constitution.

To honor our commitment to the next generation, I passed a clean energy bill that will challenge Virginia to achieve 100% of its electricity sales from renewable sources by 2045. I serve on the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and am a solid vote to protect our environment and keep us in REGGI.

As a member and former Chair of the Virginia Advisory Committee on Sexual and Domestic Violence, I have immersed myself in these important issues and succeeded in passing legislation to remove firearms from those convicted of assault and battery of a household member. I was a co-sponsor of Virginia’s red flag law and co-sponsored other common-sense gun safety measures.

As chair of the Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee. I have overseen major reforms in the operations of our local jails and prison system. My legislation to remove the death penalty from those who were seriously mentally ill at the time the crime was committed laid the groundwork for a repeal of the death penalty.

Additionally, I serve on Senate Rules, Local Government, Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Transportation. I have earned a reputation as a lawmaker “who gets it done”, a compassionate and fair leader, and an individual who has developed relationships across the aisle. These traits enable me to shape major priorities in my role as Democratic Whip.  I have earned endorsements from the Virginia Education Association, LABOR, the VA Sierra Club, Emily’s List, VA NOW, a “Candidate of Distinction” notice from Moms Demand Action and many other groups.

I have always fought for a Commonwealth that encourages a shared prosperity and celebrates our diversity.  My knowledge and experience as an Arlington County Board member combined with my 12 years in the Senate gives me an insight into Arlington’s values that no other candidate can match.  I respectfully ask for your vote in the June 20 Democratic primary.

Sincerely,

Barbara Favola (D)

A second Democratic hopeful launches bid for District 2 House of Delegates

By Jo DeVoe
Kevin Saucedo-Broach, a candidate for Virginia’s 2nd District in the House of Delegates (courtesy photo)

(Updated at 9:35 a.m. on 03/22/23) A second candidate has emerged for the open seat in Arlington’s new 2nd District in the Virginia House of Delegates.

Last week, Kevin Saucedo-Broach, a former Chief of Staff for Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-Arlington), announced his candidacy for the district, created after a 2021 redistricting process.

Saucedo-Broach, the treasurer for the Democratic Latino Caucus of Virginia, will run against Adele McClure, the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus executive director, in the Democratic primary this June.

According to the Virginia Public Access Project, Saucedo-Broach and McClure, who announced her candidacy more than a year ago, are the only two candidates in the running. Former candidate for state Senate and County Board Nicole Merlene withdrew last year after buying a home outside of the district’s boundaries.

If elected, Saucedo-Broach — who identifies as bisexual — says he would be the first openly LGBT legislator of color in Virginia’s history.

“It would be an incredible honor to bring my hometown’s progressive values of openness, compassion, and justice to the House of Delegates,” Saucedo-Broach said in a statement.

As Lopez’s chief of staff, he says he helped pass legislation that allowed undocumented residents to pay in-state college tuition rates and receive financial aid, as well as another that established the first statewide LGBT governmental advisory body in the South.

“As someone who has spent over a decade organizing to elect progressives in Virginia, I can’t sit on the sidelines while MAGA Republicans like Glenn Youngkin step up the attacks on low-income, immigrant families like mine to push an extremist agenda,” he continued. “I am more than ready to fight back and to take that fight all the way to Richmond.”

Saucedo-Broach is outspoken on LGBT equality, healthcare and anti-poverty measures.

The fourth-generation Arlingtonian says healthcare reform in particular motivated him to get involved in politics.

“I started organizing a decade ago to help expand Virginia Medicaid, because I was terrified of what would happen to my mom if she couldn’t afford health insurance,” Saucedo-Broach said. “The struggle to access vital primary and mental healthcare services has deeply impacted my entire family and I know that far too many other people in our community are struggling with it, too.”

He says his grandmother died by suicide in Arlington in 1992.

“I’m running for Delegate to ensure that all Virginians have access to the kinds of services that could have saved her life, so we might keep other families from suffering the same pain mine has,” he said.

Saucedo-Broach notes that he is a longtime volunteer with Arlington County Democratic Committee, a former chair of the local party’s Latino Caucus, and former executive board member for its LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus.

District 2 mostly consists of the Metro corridor communities of Rosslyn, Courthouse, Clarendon, Crystal City and Pentagon City, and the single-family home neighborhoods surrounding them.

The Democratic primary will be held on Tuesday, June 20.

Two bills to even playing field for online local news publications fail in Richmond

By ARLnow.com
Virginia State Capitol on Feb. 1, 2023 (staff photo)

Two bills that would have given online-only local news publications like ARLnow some of the same privileges afforded legacy media outlets failed in Richmond over the past few weeks.

In the House of Delegates, HB 1920 would have included online local news publications that employ at least one full time journalist in an exemption from local Business, Professional, and Occupational License (BPOL) taxes.

Current statute exempts radio stations, television stations, newspapers, magazines, newsletters and “other publication[s] issued daily or regularly at average intervals not exceeding three months.” Online publications are not considered an “other publication” in Virginia, in part because the state exemption was originally passed in the late 1980s, before the advent of the modern commercial internet.

ARLnow’s parent company, which is based in Arlington and pays a mid-four-figure BPOL tax annually — nearly 10% of the company’s net income for 2022 — appealed the exclusion from the media outlet BPOL exemption to the Arlington Office of the Commissioner of Revenue in the fall. The office rejected the appeal, citing a 2020 Virginia Tax Commissioner ruling against a food blog that was also seeking the exemption.

Introduced by Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington), the bill garnered support from other Virginia online-only local news publishers but Arlington County officials expressed concern about a loss of tax revenue. Several other online publications, including Axios, are also based in Arlington.

HB 1920 was ultimately “laid on the table” by a House finance subcommittee, with committee members expressing both interest in studying the bill’s financial impact and surprise that legacy media outlets are excluded from BPOL.

Also considered this year was SB 1237, proposed by state Sen. Mark Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg), which would have given local governments and businesses the option of placing legal notice ads in qualifying online local news publications. Currently, such notices must be placed in printed newspapers to satisfy legal requirements.

Obenshain argued that numerous online-only local news publications have as many or more readers than their print counterparts, while citing the continued closure of print newspapers across the country, including the Richmond-area Chesterfield Observer earlier this month.

Here in Arlington, residents and County Board members have at times expressed frustration with the county placing its legal notices in the relatively lightly-circulated Washington Times newspaper. Board members, however, said that doing so is the most cost-effective way to meet state notice requirements and placing notices in the Washington Post, for instance, would be considerably more expensive.

Arlington County spent more than $37,000 with the Washington Times, an unabashedly conservative daily paper owned by an offshoot of the Unification Church, between fiscal years 2018 and 2019, according to a Freedom of Information Act response to a resident’s query in 2020.

The owners of ARLnow, Page Valley News and the MadRapp Recorder were among those to testify in favor of the bill last week. It was opposed by the Virginia Press Association and the publisher of InsideNoVa on the grounds that newspapers provide a permanent physical record of such notices and Virginia newspapers publishers already post notices online.

The state Senate’s judiciary committee ultimately voted 6-9 against the bill, after expressing concerns about which publications would qualify under SB 1237 and whether notices would be lost if online publications closed.

The vote was largely along party lines, with six GOP members voting in favor. Among those voting against it were members of the Democratic delegation from Fairfax County: Sen. Jennifer Boysko, Sen. Chap Petersen, Sen. Dick Saslaw and Sen. Scott Surovell. Previous attempts to pass a similar bill on the House side by Del. Hope have also failed in committee.

Online-only local news publishers who supported the bill — there are currently more than a dozen such local sites throughout the Commonwealth — have vowed to try again to gain bipartisan support for a modified version of this year’s bill during next year’s General Assembly session.

Separately, a bill from Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-Arlington) to provide tax credits that would benefit both print and online local news publishers, also failed in a House finance subcommittee. The bill, HB 2061, had the support of the Virginia Press Association.

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