This Thursday was International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Religious hate crimes targeting Jews are on the rise – look no further than the hostage-taking at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas earlier this month, not to mention killings at synagogues throughout the country. Closer to home we have seen regular distribution of antisemitic pamphlets, desecration of Northern Virginia’s JCC, and a myriad of other incidents.
I had a chance to bear witness to the loss experienced by my own family and that of so many others on the House Floor.
We must never forget the anti-Semitic genocide perpetrated by the Nazis, but we must also speak out and act in the present day to combat bigotry and hate. As school boards ban Maus, a graphic novel that helped me as a boy conceptualize my own family’s experience in the Holocaust, and as we see personnel decisions here in Virginia including the firing of the attorney who investigated Nazis at the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville and hire as assistant state super intendendent a woman who has said we should teach “both sides” of the Holocaust, we must not be silent. We must speak out, and we must hold those in power accountable for matching rhetoric with action.
We must never forget the anti-Semitic genocide perpetrated by the Nazis, but we must also speak out and act in the present day to combat bigotry and hate. As school boards ban Maus, a graphic novel that helped me as a boy conceptualize my own family’s experience in the Holocaust, and as we see personnel decisions here in Virginia including the firing of the attorney who investigated Nazis at the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville and hire as assistant state super intendendent a woman who has said we should teach “both sides” of the Holocaust, we must not be silent. We must speak out, and we must hold those in power accountable for matching rhetoric with actionLegislative Updates
This week, we saw progress – and a few setbacks – on legislation that is important for our community. A lot can happen between now and the end of session, so we will do our best to keep you up to date.
Bills I’m working on with other legislators, including a bipartisan effort to make campaign finances more transparent, are progressing: fingers crossed. And while I’m disappointed that a bill I introduced for transparency on dark money was killed on a party-line vote, we will get one more shot to convince the other side to move forward with a companion bill coming from the Senate. Senator Barbara Favola and I have worked on this together for months, and after an election in which we saw millions of dollars of dark money come into Virginia, I’m determined to get the bill passed and encouraged that it moved forward on a bipartisan basis in the Senate.
I remain committed to making Virginia the best state for veterans and appreciative of the more than 1,000 members of the Virginia National Guard who are currently deployed to Africa and away from their families for a year. As such, I’m glad to see progress on Delegate Elizabeth Guzman’s and my legislation to provide free entrance for National Guard and veterans to state parks. The bill is now at appropriations – a big hurdle – but we’ll try to get it over the finish line as the fiscal impact is relatively small.
I also continue to work to ensure every family in our Commonwealth can live in dignity, have opportunity, and put food on the table. A bipartisan bill I co-patroned with GOP majority leader Terry Kilgore will deliver more opportunities for low cost broadband for disadvantaged households, passed the House this week, and should have smooth sailing in the Senate. Other bills I’ve co-patroned to combat hunger are moving forward in the House. After my bipartisan bill expanding access to food assistance for college students (and many others) became law last year, I’m particularly excited to be assisting on Delegate Danica Roem’s bill that ensures colleges inform students of opportunities to qualify for food assistance.
As a member of the Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources (ACNR) committee, I and other ACNR members had the opportunity to question Andrew Wheeler, Governor Youngkin’s nominee for Secretary of Natural Resources. Republicans like former EPA Administrator Christine Whitman have said that as EPA Administrator, Wheeler put politics before science. I asked him if he would operate differently in Virginia, but he said he “is going to take the same approach” to our climate as he did in the Trump Administration. We can’t have people in senior positions who put politics before science, and his answer convinced me to oppose his nomination.
You can follow the progress of other bills we’ve proposed here.
I look forward to keeping you informed on the progress we are making in the coming weeks and welcome your ideas and feedback.
Connecting with the Community
This past week, I had the opportunity to meet with Prince William County School staff and board members to discuss their concerns about divisive laws that will undermine education in Virginia and the need for more support staff. As the spouse of a teacher and father of two kids in public schools, I’m fighting for a world-class education for every child.
As a member of the Military and Veterans Caucus, I attended a meeting on the Virginia Veteran Services Foundation held by John Lesinski, Chairman of the Foundation, and Col. Elizabeth Sydow from the Virginia Civil Air Patrol.
I also had a great discussion with my fellow NOVA Delegation members about how to decrease traffic congestion. This is an issue of considerable importance to all of us in the 40th District.
Meetings like these are critical to helping us advance causes important to our community. I am happy to meet with anyone. If you or an organization you care about would like to connect in Richmond or by video, please let me know.
COVID-19 Updates
Omicron surge in Virginia. While the Omicron surge may have reached its peak last week (and we will know in a week or two), COVID case positivity remains very high in both Fairfax and Prince William counties. In Fairfax, positivity for the 14 days ended January 21 was 25.7%, down from 32.3% in the prior period. In Prince William, positivity for the period ended January 21 was 33.7%, down from 40.1% in the prior period. Rates this high simply mean that COVID is everywhere right now.
Vaccines and masks continue to be our best defense against serious illness and hospitalization.
Schedule your shot. If you haven’t been vaccinated or are eligible now for a booster, you can schedule your shot in Fairfax County here and in Prince William County here. Children aged 5 and up are eligible for vaccines. Teens aged 12 and up are eligible for boosters 5 months after completing their COVID vaccine series.
Vaccination Clinic. This week’s Favorites of the 40th, the Centreville United Methodist Church, offers COVID-19 vaccination clinics. Their next vaccination clinic will be held on February 12 from 8-11 AM at the church. The clinic is being conducted in partnership with the Fairfax County Health Department and the International Mayan League. All are welcome to attend. You may pre-register for an appointment here, but walk-ins are welcome, too.
Need a COVID test? Schedule your COVID-19 test in Fairfax County here and in Prince William County here.
In addition, you can use this tool to find a test by location, pediatric testing, rapid testing, Spanish language, and more.
N95 Mask rollout. The CDC recommends wearing a protective mask like an N95 mask. Following the White House’s announcement last week, US pharmacies and health centers have begun to distribute free N95 masks through clinics and pharmacies. Walgreens expects to begin offering free masks beginning January 28 and CVS expects to receive shipments of free masks and start handing them out in the coming weeks. Each customer is limited to three, and participating stores will have signs up letting shoppers know when the free N95 masks are available.
Questions? If you have any questions or concerns regarding the COVID-19 vaccine, click here and here.
Snow in the Forecast
With snow on the ground this weekend, be careful out there. Here is information about who to contact for road conditions, power and utility outages.
Roads
To report hazardous road conditions, call VDOT’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-367-7623 or visit online.
Road conditions can be tracked here and you can track VDOT’s plows here.
Power outages
Dominion: Report a power outage online here or call 1-866-366-4357
NOVEC: Report a power outage online here or call 703-335-0500
Utilities
Verizon: 1-800-837-4966
Cox: 703-378-8422
Washington Gas Emergency: 844-927-4427
Favorites of the 40th
This week’s Favorite of the 40th is Centreville United Methodist’s Food Ministries. Based in the 40th District, Centreville United Methodist Church offers a wide range of food ministry services. It is also one of the founding churches of both Western Fairfax Christian Ministries and the Centreville Immigration Forum.
Since 2008, Grace Ministry has been collecting distributions of food, clothing, diapers, toys and household items to serve 100-150 families each month. It is offered on the 2nd Saturday of every month from 7:30 – 9:30 AM. There are no pre-registration or income requirements to qualify to receive food and other items, however there is an on-site registration process since government-issued food items are distributed.
For the past 12 years, Centreville United Methodist has provided weekend food bags to area elementary school children, and are currently serving Centre Ridge and Bull Run Elementary Schools. This program is called UFOs (U Feed Others) and it distributes roughly 600 bags of food per month. UFOs work with school counselors to distribute the bags to children who are at high risk of food insecurity.
FACETS Hot Meals program. This program serves hot meals to unhoused individuals in the Fairfax Circle area. Roughy 100 meals are cooked, and served once a month. In addition, Centreville United Methodist provides meals every other month to the New Hope Fellowship Church homeless congregation in Fairfax, serving people who are unhoused or transitionally housed.
Teens Opposing Poverty program. This program serves hot meals to homeless women and men in Washington DC. For the past 12 years, this program has served about 75 people once each month.
During the pandemic, Centreville United Methodist has served over 60,000 families. Partnering with the County Health Department, the Church provides grocery boxes to families quarantined with COVID-19. Centreville United Methodist also provides groceries to the Centreville Regional Library in partnership with the Centreville Immigration Forum and Korean United Methodist Church of Koinonia. This distribution is on-going, is held from 5:30-6:30 every Wednesday evening, and offers fresh produce, frozen meat, bread and non-perishable groceries. All who are in need are welcome to receive.
Since the fall, Centreville United Methodist has been working with Western Fairfax Christian Ministries and several other Methodist churches to provide groceries to roughly 10 Afghan refugee families housed in a long-term stay hotel in Sterling.
Interested in donating? Centreville United Methodist accepts donations of non-perishable food items from the community. Donations may be brought to the church during business hours (M-F, 9AM – 4PM). There are collection baskets in the church lobby. Monetary donations also are accepted.
Want to volunteer? Due to COVID restrictions, volunteer opportunities remain limited, but if you or anyone you know is interested and not currently involved, please contact Phil Mohr, Director of Mission Ministries at pmohr@centreville-umc.org.
As always, feel free to reach out to my office if you have any concerns, questions, or need assistance with an issue. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.