According to the U.S. Census, 13.1% of the 44th District's residents are veterans.  Also, the 44th District now includes a large part of Fort Belvoir which is part of these efforts.  Hopefully these measures will help make state government more responsive to residents of Mt. Vernon and Lee.

Here is what's in the works.

• Troops to Trucks
• Veteran's ID
• DMV Mobile Visits
• Military Base Partnerships
• Homeless Veterans Initiatives

You can read more below the fold.
Troops to Trucks
This program is designed to make it easier for military personnel to obtain a Virginia commercial driver's license (CDL) to ease the transition into civilian employment by doing the following:

• Waive CDL skills testing for service men and women with appropriate experience operating large vehicles as a part of their duties
• Provide for on-base commercial motor vehicle training for those without this experience
• Provide on-base opportunities for completing the written and skills test portions of the CDL application process
• Provide on-base processing and issuance of the CDL through DMV’s mobile customer service centers
• Assist in the completion of required medical certification
• Work with wounded service men and women to allow those with missing or impaired limbs to obtain a CDL
• Allow employers within the transportation industry to match up with prospective employees completing the Troops to Trucks program, potentially reducing the time between discharge and employment.

You can read more about this on the DMV website at: www.dmvnow.com/TroopstoTrucks.

Veteran’s ID
DMV will begin producing a Virginia Veteran’s ID at the end of May in conjunction with the Department of Veteran’s Services.  The ID will be available to all Veterans with an honorable discharge status so they can more more conveniently access the wide range of discounts and services available to them. It will cost $10 ID, be sold at all DMV Customer Service Centers, and will not carry an expiration date.
Click on this sentence for more information.

Mobile Visits
The DMV now has five used vehicles and transformed them into Customer Service Centers on Wheels to provide service to rural and underserved populations.  They have visited all military facilities willing to host them including:


Military Base Partnerships
DMV is also working on a more permanent presence on base including a new office on Fort Belvoir and Fort Lee. 

Homeless Veterans
The Virginia DMV is also in the final stages of finalizing an official ID card for homeless veterans that will allow homeless veterans to use the address of one of Virginia's three Veteran's Hospitals as the address for residence verification purposes.  This will help these individuals process various transactions that many of us take for granted.

Movie Star Tax Credits, A Gay Judge and the Session Ends 

Well, it’s over. The 2012 General Assembly ended on May 15, 2012 at 2:00 a.m. after a 13-hour House of Delegates’ session involving 117 of Governor Bob McDonnell’s amendments and the election of 40 judges. It was a fitting end to a very contentious session.

The day was not without controversy. This year, we authorized a bonus and raises for state employees for the first time in five years to be funded with unanticipated revenues.  These state employees include state troopers, corrections employees and people who work for the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC), Department of Transportation (VDOT), judges, court clerks, game wardens, and colleges. On a zero to 95 vote, the House of Delegates rejected the Governor’s proposal to allow raises only if employees could find millions of dollars of cuts in 45 days.

The Governor also proposed to increase funding for Virginia’s Movie Production Tax Credit by $2 million first enacted during my first session in 2010. I had serious concerns about enacting a $4 million tax credit program for Hollywood movie producers during the most serious budget crisis since the Great Depression. In 2011, Virginia gave over $5 million in tax credits and in-kind services to billionaire Steven Spielberg as part of the production of the movie “Lincoln” in Richmond.  I voted against and spoke against this gift to Hollywood. 

The House of Delegates defeated over 20 of the Governor’s amendments. The Governor withdrew a proposal to cut services by $2.5 million to agencies that assist the elderly after a public outcry. We also rejected a measure to undermine programs which provide supplemental education funding to Northern Virginia because of our higher  cost of living.

The Governor also proposed an additional $2 million to promote third- grade reading proficiency, but he added a whole series of reporting requirements to the bill. Because of the state funding formula, Fairfax County stood to gain $100,000 and a massive set of new reporting requirements. I moved to sever the funding from the reports.  The funding  passed 91-3 and the reporting requirements were rejected on a 50-45 vote after my motion.

Unfortunately, one of our last acts was the rejection of an openly gay prosecutor for a General District Court judgeship. Mr. Tracy Thorne-Beglund has prosecuted criminals for twelve years including supervising Richmond’s murder docket. By all accounts, he was a decorated and honorably discharged naval aviator and a stellar prosecutor. Several members argued that he was unqualified because he revealed he was gay over ten years ago while serving in the U.S. Navy and was a leader in the effort to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”  No objection was raised to his appointment until last week. Only 32 of 100 delegates voted to elect him including me.  

        The 2012 session is now over, albeit sixty days late and with a whole new level of partisanship.  While this has been common in Washington, D.C., the General Assembly has traditionally been more bipartisan.  Although House of Delegates has been passing bills mandating transvaginal ultrasounds and banning contraception in almost every session since I was elected, the media is finally paying attention. So are others. As I wrote this column on the floor of the House, the Family Foundation’s three representatives were the only people in the Chamber balcony late at night exerting quiet pressure before our vote on judgeships. 

We consumed entirely too much “legislative oxygen” this session debating contentious social issues. Next year, I hope to spend more time working to fund secondary education, reduce the cost of higher education, secure the future of our safety net, bringing Virginia’s tax system up to speed with the 21^st Century economy and permanently addressing transportation.

As always, if you have any questions, would like me to speak to your community group or civic association or if you have any feedback, please send me a note at scottsurovell@gmail.com. And be sure to read my online newsletter, The Dixie Pig, at scottsurovell.blogspot.com.

The 44^th District is a wonderful place to live and raise a family. I continue to work hard to keep it that way. It is an honor to serve as your delegate.

The 44th District has one of the largest concentrations of elderly citizens in the entire Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area.  One of the reasons for that is the popularity of "aging in place" and the services that Fairfax County makes available to my constituents in our community. 

This great movie below produced by Julie Ellis who is the director of the center shows some of the things that go on there today and demostrate why it's an asset to our community (and what a great job Julie does).



It's especially fun for me to watch all of the acitivity in the old cafeteria. Aside from eating there, that was our "gym" and also where I performed as Charlie Chipmunk in kindergarten. It's great to see that it's still being used!

I'm also pretty sure that when the room Hollin Hall Charlie goes into at the begining was the principal's office (not that I would have known where that was). 

Come out and support Delegate Scott Surovell while enjoying food by Chevy's and beer by Dos Equis!

Here's what's going on.  U.S. 1 is going to be widened between Telegraph Road and Mount Vernon Memorial Highway/Old Mill Road (a.k.a. where Roy Rogers is).  The project is fully funded and is currently undergoing design and environmental reviews.  The Mulligan Road (Old Mill/Jeff Todd Way) project is also proceeding along the other edge of Woodlawn Estate.

I've written about it a few times:


At its northern terminus the road runs right in between the the Woodlawn Mansion and Woodlawn Stables.  Woodlawn was originally the main home on the 2,000-acre estate of  Eleanor Parke "Nelly" Custis Lewis - the granddaughter of Martha Washington who gifted the property to her.  Both properties are owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  This was also the National Trust's first property and was donated to them by former U.S. Senator Oscar Underwood of Alabama in 1952. The main house was designed by the Architect of the U.S. Capitol and was constructed between 1800 and 1805. 

There are also two other houses on the property that are historic - one between the main mansion and Fort Belvoir and the other south/east of the stables.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is currently considering two alternatives.  One is widening in place (Yellow) and the other is a Bypass around the south/east side of Woodlawn Baptist Church (orange).  The FHWA has had several meetings with the National Trust and Woodlawn Baptist regarding these plans.  These alignment proposals have been out there for at least six months. 

Recently, the folks at Woodlawn Stables have started a campaign to oppose the "bypass" alignment.  They were able to generate about 3,000 signatures in a very short period of time.

Here's the issue.  Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) requires governmental entities to take actions that will minimize harm to National Historic Landmarks.  In this case, that would be Woodlawn Mansion.  There is also a second historic home behind Woodlawn.  Additionally, there are historic graves in the cemetery right next to existing roadbed. 

[I had previousl made a map roughly depicting what I thought the plans were along with some older FHWA designs - the doc I've posted below is what I'm told is the most recent designs under discussion].

“In addition to managing the historic resources on the site, the National Trust leases land at Woodlawn to a for-profit stable facility. We recognize that many Northern Virginians care deeply for Woodlawn Stables and consider it an anchor for the community. If the FHWA’s road project requires the stables to move its operations, the Uniform Relocation Act would provide funds for moving costs and related expenses to reestablish the facility at another site.

Over the next several months, the FHWA will finalize the alignment.  There will likely be a public hearing on any proposed alignments along with a public comment period.   
There is clearly significant community support for the Woodlawn Stables.  However, the legal framework will make it very difficult to accomplish this widening without some impact on that side of the property.  If you have any comments, feedback or ideas, please post them up below or email me at scottsurovell@gmail.com.

This column below was my weekly column that appeared in the Mount Vernon Gazette and Patch in their April 26, 2012 editions:

The New State Budget Misses the Mark

I voted against the final state budget last week because it fails to address our needs and reflects badly-skewed priorities.    It was an eventful two days in Richmond.

The Senate budget deadlock  centered on new funding to “buy down” tolls on the Dulles Toll Road and in Hampton Roads.  Hampton Roads is in revolt right now due to a public-private partnership the Governor negotiated for a new tunnel that could cost Portsmouth drivers $1,000 per year.

Several years ago, the Dulles Toll Road was transferred to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), which assumed responsibility for the construction of the Silver Line.  Tolls will double next year to over $4.00 per trip.  For someone driving five days per week, fifty weeks per year, that totals over $1,000 .  The High Occupancy Toll (HOT) Lanes on the Beltway will bring more tolls, plus the Governor has plans to bring HOT lanes from Fredericksburg to I-395.


For  reference, a $0.25 gas tax would cost a person who drives 15,000 miles per year at 25 miles per gallon $150 per year ($0.25 x 15,000 ÷ 25).  A driver who gets 40 miles per gallon(MPG)  would pay $93.75 per year.  The overall U.S. average was 22.6 MPG last year.

The Governor objected to additional Silver Line funds on multiple grounds, but what this dispute really highlights is that there is simply no money.  Virginia’s Transportation Trust Fund is flat broke and the McDonnell Administration and the legislature’s majority leadership are exercising feeble leadership  to solve the problem.

I supported Senator Toddy Puller and her colleagues who objected to a budget lacking Silver Line funding.  The Silver Line will turbocharge the Northern Virginia economy.  Commercial growth in the Dulles Corridor will generate real estate tax revenues which would take pressure off homeowners in our area.  More importantly, the extension of the Yellow Line in our area will require state participation.  We need to establish the precedent for state involvement in transit funding for the future of our area. The deadlock resolved when Senator Chuck Colgan from Manassas unexpectedly changed his vote.

I voted “no” on the budget for several reasons.

First, in addition to the missing Silver Line funding, the budget shorts Northern Virginia.  Over a decade ago, the state added a special supplement called “cost to compete” for Northern Virginia jurisdictions to help fund teacher salaries.  The Governor zeroed this money out.  The final budget only partly restored this funding. The budget cut beds at the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute.  It raided Fairfax County’s traffic fine revenue which supports law enforcement operations.

The budget also took $59 million from the National Foreclosure Settlement and diverted it to rural Virginia sewage plants.  Most foreclosure victims and damage were in Northern Virginia.  I will write more about this soon.

The  budget funds K-12 education at a lower level than in 2007-2008.  In 2008, the General Assembly appropriated $6.8 billion for direct aid for secondary education.  This year’s budget provides  $5.8 billion, while costs are up and there are more children to educate.

The budget also funds a new $25 million tax credit to individuals and businesses who contribute to scholarships for “low-income families” whose children attend private schools.  The threshold for being “low-income” was set over $70,000 per year.

Fifteen percent of the 44th District’s residents receive health care from Medicaid.  Eighty-five percent of those  are children.  The rest are mostly elderly.  The  budget cuts Medicaid reimbursements to providers yet again. These costs will be passed along to people with private insurance.

The budget funded numerous tax credits for movie production, bee hives, the coal industry and wineries and maintained tax exemptions for yachts, online hotel booking and oil and gas drilling equipment.  Our state government, like the rest of us, must live within its means, but it also must set the right priorities.  We can do better and I hope to work toward a budget that spreads the benefits and burdens of government spending more fairly throughout our state.

I would appreciate your comments. Please send me an email at scottsurovell@gmail.com.  It is and honor to serve as your delegate.

The Census has a map that helps you get oriented.  the Fairfax County Map is split into quarters and two parts are relevant for our area.  One if the overall map for our quadrant. Second, there is a closeup of Route 1.  You can click on the copies below to enlarge or I've put both below or you can download your own copy here:

The Friends of Little Hunting Creek have organized numerous cleanups next weekend as part of the 24th Annual Alice Ferguson Foundation Potomac Cleanup.

Please volunteer at one of these sites in our community. 

This column below was my weekly column that appeared in the Mount Vernon Gazette, Mt. Vernon Voice and Patch in their April 5, 2012 editions:

Lee and Mount Vernon’s Streams and Rivers Are Polluted, says Virginia DEQ

Last week, I received a report from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) regarding Mount Vernon and Lee’s rivers and streams. The annual assessment reports are disturbing and continue to show our rivers and streams are in poor health.

According to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s analysis of the data, 71% of Virginia’s streams violate state water quality standards along with 94% of all estuaries (tidal parts of Hunting Creek/Cameron Run, Little Hunting Creek, Dogue Creek and the Potomac River). Every embayment and stream monitored in my delegate seat violated state water quality standards.

Here are the specifics for our local streams. Paul Spring Branch has elevated levels of e-coli on five of 12 samples taken where it crosses under Sherwood Hall Lane and an impaired macro-invertebrate community (e.g., crawfish, water bugs and other indicators of a health stream). The sources of impairment are “unknown.” The stream is impaired for recreational uses.

Little Hunting Creek has elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s) and is impaired for fish consumption and aquatic life from toxic pollutants, combined sewer overflows, contaminated sediments, and unidentified upstream sources.
The data for Dogue Creek is incomplete , but DEQ’s findings show impairment for fish consumption.
Hunting Creek/Cameron Run, which is fed in part by Quander Brook, has elevated e-coli levels and is impaired for recreation. The sources are combined sewer overflows (collection system failures), sewage discharges in unsewered areas, urban runoff/storm sewers and wastes from pets, waterfowl and wildlife other than waterfowl.
Each estuary (embayment) in the 44th District is impaired for fish consumption due to PCB’s and the state recommends limiting fish consumption to no more than two meals per month. The sources of PCBs listed are toxics, clean sediments, combined sewer overflows, contaminated sediments and unidentified upstream sources.
The larger question is how do we remedy this? The stormwater infrastructure in our part of the county is entirely outdated due to the age of most development. Most county stormwater control requirements in effect today post-date the development of our area. The county channelized many streams and converted them into concrete troughs designed to whisk water away, instead of letting it naturally infiltrate into the ground. Many wetlands which normally act as natural filters and absorptive “sponges” were filled or drained. The inexorable expansion of impervious surfaces like parking lots, roofs and roads has created too much polluted runoff.
This approach has effectively turned our streams into sewers and even a small amount of rain can effectively turn a stream like Paul Spring, Little Hunting Creek, Quander Brook or Dogue Creek into a toilet bowl – pushing anything and everything out into the Potomac River. Route 1’s massive parking lots act as large stormwater funnels.

The Center for Watershed Protection says that stream quality is threatened when watershed development exceeds 10-15 percent of impervious cover or one house every one to two acres. The Little Hunting Creek watershed has 25 percent impervious cover; the Belle Haven watershed, 32 percent.

Redevelopment can actually help and the County is upgrading infrastructure.. The state also needs to participate by reconfiguring storm water outflows when roads are rebuilt. Homeowners can help by reducing impervious surfaces and doing things as simple as cleaning up after pets.

DEQ’s monitoring does not even cover litter which is also a massive problem in our community. Last year, the Friends of Little Hunting Creek removed 127 bags of trash from one site in three separate cleanups in 2011 alone. Last week, a group hauled 100 bags of trash out of Dyke Marsh.

On Saturday, April 14, 2012 from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. as part of the Alice Ferguson Foundation Potomac River Cleanup, I am sponsoring a cleanup of Upper Little Hunting Creek before it flows east under Route 1. I walked the creek last week in the creek I and saw hundreds of bottles and plastic bags, over 20 discarded shopping carts, two mattresses, chairs, tables, a scooter and other trash. To sign up, RSVP online at my newsletter, The Dixie Pig, at scottsurovell.blogspot.com or send me an email at scottsurovell@gmail.com.

It is an honor to serve as your delegate.

I've been writing a lot about trash in our community waterways, but there are other problems as well that are much harder to see.  Virginia's Department of Environmental just came out with its most recent water quality reports and the results are still ugly for our area.

Overall, 71% of Virginia's rivers and streams do not meet Virginia water quality standards.  Additionally, 94% of all estuaries (e.g. the tidal part of Little Hunting Creek & Dogue Creek) are out of compliance.

I've been writing about this occassionally when these come out. 

I also posted our 2010 water quality reports here (hint: we've made no progress):


In terms of our area today in 2012 here's what it says or you can click on the links below:

Paul Spring Branch

• Impaired Uses: Recreation
• E. coli bacteria criterion excursions (5 of 12 samples - 41.7%) at station 1aPAU001.17, at Route 626.  Two biological monitoring events in 2007 at station 1aPAU001.17 (Route 626) resulted in a VSCI score which indicates an impaired macroinvertebrate community.
• Source: Unknown

Little Hunting Creek

• Impaired Uses: Fish Consumption, Aquatic Life
• Date First Listed: 2002
• Excursions above the human health criteria of 0.64 parts per billion (ppb) polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were recorded in 2 water quality grab samples (2006, 2006), collected at monitoring station 1aLIF002.48.
• Sources: Atmospheric Deposition - Toxics, Combined Sewer Overflows, Contaminated Sediments, Upstream Source

Dogue Creek

• Impaired Uses: Fish Consumption
• Date First Listed: 2002
• Segment includes all tidal waters of Dogue Creek, extending from approximately rivermile 2.1 until the confluence with the Potomac River. Portion of CBP segment POTTF.

             **Note: Some of the Dogue Creek info is missing.  I'm following up with DEQ to find it.

Hunting Creek/Cameron Run
Quander Brook is too small to be considered, but it empties into Hunting Creek and the monitoring state is below Quander Brook.  Here's what they found there.

• Impaired Uses: Recreation
• Date First Listed: 2004
• E. coli bacteria criterion excursions; 17 of 39 samples (43.6%) from station 1aHUT000.01, at George Washington Parkway, 3 of 11 samples (27.3%) from station 1aHUT001.72, at Route 611/241 (Telegraph Road), and 4 of 29 samples (13.8%) from station 1aCAM002.92, at Eisenhower Avenue.
• Sources: Combined Sewer Overflows, Sanitary Sewer Overflows (Collection System Failures), Sewage Discharges in Unsewered Areas, Urban Runoff/Storm Sewers, Wastes from Pets, Waterfowl, Wildlife Other than Waterfowl

Potomac River Embayments (Tidal Portion of Hunting, Little Hunting & Dogue Creeks)

• Impaired uses: Fish Consumption
• PCB in Fish Tissue / 4A, PCB in Water Column / 4A - The fish consumption use is categorized as impaired due to a Virginia Department of Health, Division of Health Hazards Control, PCB fish consumption advisory. The advisory, dated 4/19/99 and modified 12/13/04, limits consumption of American eel, bullhead catfish, channel catfish less than eighteen inches long, largemouth bass, anadromous (coastal) striped bass, sunfish species, smallmouth bass, white catfish, white perch, gizzard shad, and yellow perch consumption to no more than two meals per month. The advisory also bans the consumption of carp and channel catfish greater than eighteen inches long.
• Sources: Atmospheric Deposition - Toxics, Clean Sediments, Combined Sewer Overflows, Contaminated Sediments, Upstream Source

These results are horrible and it will be hard to address them until we start investing serious money in stormwater infrastructure and enforcement.  The State is effectively defunding enforcement. 

Hats off to Supervisor Gerry Hyland who has proposed a small increase in our local stormwater tax to begin addressing these problems in Fairfax County.