Krupicka to Hold Three Legislative Wrap-Up Sessions

Del. Rob Krupicka kicked off his re-election campaign in March.

Del. Rob Krupicka (D-45th) is hosting three legislative wrap-up sessions in his district this month, giving residents an opportunity to ask questions and have a dialogue concerning the 2013 session of the General Assembly. Krupicka is hosting one session in each of the jursidictions included in the 45th District—Alexandria, Fairfax County and Arlington County. Each session is expected to last an hour. His legislative wrap-up schedule is as follows: Krupicka, a former Alexandria City Councilman and former member of the Virginia Board of Education, was elected delegate during a special election in September 2012. He kicked off his re-election campaign last month at Capitol City Brewing in Shirlington with endorsements from State Sen. Sharon …

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Democrats: 'We Have a Lot of Fight Still in Us'

Virginia senators say GOP redistricting plan is unconstitutional; Republican legislators say proposal helps the state better comply with the Voting Rights Act.

By Mark Robinson, Capital News Service Virginia Democrats continued to call a Republican-backed plan to redistrict the state's senate seats unconstitutional on Wednesday — but GOP leaders say the measure could actually help the commonwealth better comply with the federal Voting Rights Act. After Republicans narrowly passed a bill Monday that included an amendment to redraw the lines of several state senate districts, the result of which in many cases was more seats with GOP-leaning voters, Democrats took to the Senate floor Tuesday to blast the measure, calling it unconstitutional.  In remarks on the Senate floor on Monday, the bill's sponsor, Sen. John Watkins, R-Powhatan, said the move would create a sixth majority-African American …

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PHOTOS: The 2013 Virginia General Assembly Convenes in Richmond

Lawmakers gather at the state Capitol.

The Virginia General Assembly convened Wednesday for its 2013 session at the state Capitol in Richmond with lots of hot-button issues before them such as transportation, school security, gun laws and uranium mining. As they arrived, lawmakers likely saw several hundred protesting demonstrators on both sides of the abortion debate demonstrating outside of the Capitol. According to Richmond Sunlight, the 100 members of the House of Delegates have filed 1,153 bills and the 40 members of the Senate have filed 597. The 140 elected representatives are from an equal number of constituent districts across the commonwealth. The House of Delegates is presided over by the Speaker of the House. The Senate is presided over by the Lieutenant Governor of…

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Del. Krupicka Heads to Richmond with Eye on Education

Krupicka plans to address a diverse portfolio of issues, but says the bulk of his bills will focus on education.

Newly elected state Del. Rob Krupicka is headed to Richmond next week with a focus on education. “The bulk of my bills deal with education issues and a lot of my education concepts are informed by my work on the Board of Education and the relationships I built from that,” Krupicka told Patch editors last month in an interview at Del Ray’s St. Elmo’s Coffee Pub. Krupicka served on the state Board of Education since 2009 where he has been a strong advocate of early childhood education and increasing math and science opportunities in the commonwealth. He stepped down from that role when elected to the General Assembly. The board work “also informs how I think about drafting bills in the sense that I’m not trying to draft education policy that…

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Democrats Organize Caucus to Choose Delegate Nominee

The 45th House District Nominating Committee convened on Thursday to organize a caucus to nominate a candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates.

Just days after Gov. Bob McDonnell called for a special Sept. 4 election to fill the soon-to-be empty 45th District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, Democrats in Alexandria, Arlington and Fairfax have laid the groundwork for a last-minute caucus to choose a nominee. The 45th District includes Alexandria, parts of southern Arlington County including Fairlington, and a portion of the Huntington-Belle Haven area of Fairfax County. The seat is being vacated by Del. David Englin, who recently announced his resignation effective Aug. 31. On Thursday evening, the nominating committee decided to offer two opportunities for registered voters to participate in the caucus. Craig Fifer, chairman of the 45th House District Nominating Committee…

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Richmond Report

Egregious, Divisive Bills Cast Shadow on Bipartisan Progress

A Richmond Report from Alexandria's delegate

By Delegate David Englin, 45th District During marathon floor sessions earlier this week, the House of Delegates debated and voted on dozens of bills before "crossover," the Tuesday deadline by which bills must pass the House before being considered by the Senate. In terms of sheer volume, most of the bills we passed enjoyed strong bipartisan support and drew little controversy. These included bills I cosponsored to expand medical assistance to pregnant women who are legal immigrants, to give our community the power to decide our school calendar for ourselves, and to give Northern Virginia a stronger voice on the Commonwealth Transportation Board to help us get our fair share and better meet our transportation needs. However, over my …

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