Rob Bloxom Reports From Richmond

Hi, this is Rob Bloxom with this week’s Capitol report. The days are full, starting early in the morning with sub-committees and sometimes ending late in the evening. Squeezed in between are full committees that act on the bills that survive the sub-committees and of course, the floor session which begins at noon. The floor session is the last hurdle for legislation before the Senate gets their chance to act on the legislation. 

I have submitted eight pieces of legislation, two of which have passed subcommittees. One of these pieces of legislation was incorporated into another bill and also passed subcommittee. I put two bills in, knowing they would not pass, and they did indeed die. The remaining three are awaiting a hearing in the subcommittees they were assigned.The two that died met the same fate last year and are mainly intended to make a statement. The first was to allow cities and towns to decide for themselves when their elections would be held. This is a policy that was changed a few years ago and I thought it was a mistake to do so. Nothing that has happened since this time has changed my mind.The new policy injects national politics into local elections and also raises the cost.The other that died was an attempt to incentivize socializing between legislators of opposite parties. As we all know, politics has become increasingly polarized, including in Richmond. I believe a large part of this is because legislators from opposing parties do not know each other or spend time together outside of session. When I first began serving the 100th district, lobbyists would take out legislators for meals, and it was not subject to reporting requirements. In the wake of Governor McDonnell’s corruption case, the reporting requirements were overhauled, and lobbyists must now report any meals above $25 per person.

This has led to a chilling effect, with many lobbyists and legislators preferring not to dine together for fear of falling afoul of the new rules. The bill I proposed would be a narrow exception to this cap, increasing it to $200, only if the lobbyists took legislators of opposite parties to dinner together. I knew the bill was doomed to die in committee, but I wanted to advocate for the importance of breaking bread with those of opposite views and parties. It not only leads to a better functioning government, but it results in better bills and outcomes for Virginians.

My two bills that passed subcommittee both went through the Chesapeake Subcommittee. House Bill 52 simply broadens the use of dredged materials for beneficial use. It also removed “beach replenishment “ as not all dredged materials are suitable for beach replenishment, and that language limited the program.The next piece of legislation was House Bill 1381 which prohibits bioslurry well injection in a groundwater protection area. When the proposed project was brought to my attention, I immediately contacted the counties. I knew the opinion of Northampton County because of their public statements. I talked to Accomack County officials and learned the proposal had zero support so I felt 100% confident that it would not be allowed. Just to be sure the project would not be approved, I called the Department of Environmental Quality, DEQ. The director told me it was a federal permit and the state had no regulation or law for them to stop this. He was extremely worried that the supremacy rule could override any objections. The aquifer could easily be contaminated if this bioslurry seeped out. He was also concerned about the other groundwater area in the state which is basically from the Chesapeake Bay to I-95. Something in code would help him promulgate regulations and policy about this type of injections. The company withdrew its application at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after the negative feedback from Accomack County. This bill gives the DEQ some rationale to deny permits in code, preventing this type of project from going forward without approval.

As always, feel free to contact me while I am in Richmond with any questions or concerns. The Richmond office can be contacted by phone at (804) 698-1000, email: delrbloxom@house.virginia.gov or at my district office in Mappsville at (757) 824-3456. If you are coming to Richmond, I encourage you to take the time to visit the General Assembly Building and my office, which is room number 711.

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