Half a loaf is better than no loaf when it comes to a legislator’s bills, and state Sen. Barbara Favola came away with a partial victory in patroning legislation to expand child-care facilities across the commonwealth.
Favola (D-Arlington-Fairfax-Loudoun) entered the...
Its fate remains uncertain, but legislation to give the Arlington County Board authority to employ an independent police auditor will get an airing on the floor of the House of Delegates.
The House Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns on...
Legislation that would put an end to mandatory student masking at all Virginia public schools received a mixed response from the three members of the Arlington delegation to the state Senate.
Sen. Janet Howell (D-Fairfax-Arlington) on Jan. 8 voted to support incorporating the concept into existing legislation, while Sens. Barbara Favola (D-Arlington-Fairfax-Loudoun) and Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria-Arlington-Fairfax) opposed it.
The wording, which passed the state Senate on a lopsided 29-9 vote Feb. 8, was patroned by Sen. Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax-Vienna), a vocal critic of mandatory masking policies.
The measure unmasked splits within the Senate Democratic caucus, with 10 supporting the bill, nine opposing it and two not voting. All 19 Republicans supported the measure.
A day later, the state Senate passed the broader bill, patroned by Republican Dr. Siobhan Dunnavant, which also included language mandating that public schools retain an in-person option even if COVID spikes again.
The full bill passed the Senate 21-17, with a few Democrats, including Petersen (but not Howell), joining with Republicans.
The bill moves on to the Republican-controlled House of Delegates, which seems destined to approve it. The bill, SB 739, has the support of the Youngkin administration.
Whether the measure would have any practical effect, or is merely political theater, is an open question. Backers have devised a plan that would, after expected passage by the House of Delegates, have Gov. Youngkin propose an amendment to treat the bill as an emergency measure. Unlike legislation that originates in the General Assembly, which requires a supermajority of both houses, an amendment from the governor would only require majority votes, Republicans say. That would allow the measure to go into effect immediately, if at least one of the Democrats in the Senate went along.
A coalition of Northern Virginia school districts has sued the Youngkin administration, arguing that the new governor’s executive order requiring a mask-optional policy for all Virginia school districts violates their rights. The measure, now working its way up the judicial system, likely will be decided by the Virginia Supreme Court – unless the school districts throw in the towel first.
Petersen is something of a renegade Democrat, and had promised at the start of the 2022 General Assembly session that if local school districts did not end their mask mandates – which he believes are ineffective and do more harm than good – he would force the issue. Which he then proceeded to do, but only after first ripping into outgoing Fairfax Superintendent Scott Brabrand in a letter castigating that district’s mandatory-masking policy.
The fact that more than half the Senate Democrats voting opted to support Petersen’s position suggests how quickly the political winds on masking appear to be changing across the nation. A number of Democratic-dominated states are beginning to eliminate their own mask mandates, an effort that seems likely to be driven as much by polling data as by major changes in public health.
Legislators working on behalf of a request from the Arlington County government are shepherding measures through the General Assembly providing for creation of an independent police auditor for the county.
The position, whose occupant would report directly to the County...
A measure being patroned by a local legislator would make it easier for Virginia school districts to hire educators from outside the U.S.
State Sen. Barbara Favola (D-Arlington-Fairfax-Loudoun) has introduced a measure that would require the Virginia Board of Education...
And then there were two.
In the 2021 General Assembly session, three members of the Arlington delegation held committee chairmanships. But with the Republican takeover of the lower house of the legislature, the ranks have been denuded by one.
Del. Patrick...
Like snow melting off of area rooftops in recent days, bills crafted by local General Assembly members are beginning to trickle in for the session that starts Jan. 12.
As of Jan. 5, no House of Delegates members representing the...
Forget hand-knitted sweaters, gift cards or stale fruit-based confections: Two state senators whose districts include Arlington may have gotten the best holiday gifts of them all.
State Sens. Barbara Favola and Adam Ebbin have emerged from the redistricting sausage-making process...
Their party may be at a disadvantage in the House of Delegates, given the new Republican majority, but local Democratic legislators still hope to accomplish much in the General Assembly session that kicks off Jan. 12.
State Sen. Chap Petersen...
A decade ago this past fall, Barbara Favola and Caren Merrick were battling it out for the open 31st state Senate seat, which snakes from Arlington into McLean and Great Falls and even incorporates a few precincts in northeastern...
