News

ALEXANDRIA – House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran made the following statement after Governor Tim Kaine signed legislation repealing the abusive driver fees and refunding monies collected. Delegate Moran had introduced legislation to repeal and refund the fees (HB1188) and was a long-time critic and opponent of them.

“These fees were a Washington-style gimmick that wouldn’t have fixed our transportation crisis, failed to make our roads safer, and turned our police officers into tax collectors. I was proud to oppose their introduction and support their repeal. I thank Governor Kaine for signing this important legislation.

As a former prosecutor, I knew these fees were not the solution we needed to our transportation crisis and am glad that the people of Virginia stood up in opposition. It is clear that these fees were not the right answer and now they are gone.”

ALEXANDRIA – Virginians for Brian Moran committee director Mame Reiley announced additional staff members today. In early January, Brian Moran formed this new committee to explore a campaign for Governor in 2009 and hired veteran strategist Steve Jarding as a General Consultant.

“We are proud of the strong team we have assembled to work for our committee,” said Director Mame Reiley. “Many of these people are veterans of the Warner and Kaine campaigns. These are people who understand how to help Virginia Democrats be successful.”

Del. Lionell Spruill, Sr. Spruill is Chesapeake’s Delegate to the Virginia General Assembly and joins the committee as Outreach Consultant. Spruill is a veteran of numerous successful campaigns, including Warner for Governor in 2001. He is also a member of the Democratic National Committee and Vice-Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.

Jean Jensen. Jensen joins the campaign as Senior Advisor and will be responsible for strategic direction and political affairs. She was previously Secretary of the State Board of Elections under Governors Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. A graduate of the Sorensen Institute’s Political Leadership program in 1996, Jensen was recognized with the Institute’s “Expression of Ideals Award” presented to the alumna who best represents the ideals at the heart of the Institutes mission. She previously served as Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Virginia and as the Northern Virginia Director of Warner for Governor.

Jesse F. Ferguson. Ferguson continues working for Moran as Director of Communications and Policy. He had served as Chief of Staff to Moran since April of 2006 and directed his political efforts in the 2007 elections. Prior to working for Moran, Ferguson served as Executive Director of the non-profit higher-education advocacy group Virginia21. He is a 2004 graduate of the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership.

Dave Mills. Mills will serve as State Director of Finance. He will serve as a senior member of the fund-raising team. He recently completed work as Finance Director of the Democratic Party of Virginia where he had served since January of 2006. Prior to that, Mills was Western Regional Finance Director of Kaine for Governor, and he has managed campaigns for the VA House of Delegates, VA State Senate and the US Congress.

Dominic Gabello. Gabello joins the committee as Political Director, having recently left the Kaine administration’s Liaison Office. He previously served as Deputy Political Director for Mark Warner’s Forward Together Political Action Committee (PAC) and Field Director of Warner’s One Virginia PAC. Gabello was President of the Virginia Young Democrats between 2005 and 2007.

Noble Ackerson. Ackerson will serve the committee as Technology Consultant. He is the principal of Anobleworld S3, Inc. and previously served as Director of Technology for Mark Warner's Forward Together PAC. He will be joined by Darrell Raymond, Chief Technology Officer at Anobleworld S3 and former Network Administrator for the Governor’s Office of Virginia.

Jerome Armstrong. Armstrong joins as Netroots Consultant. He is a principle in the Webstrong Group and will coordinate internet and technology strategy. Armstrong coordinates Netroots outreach for former Governor Mark Warner along with Senators John Kerry and Tom Harkin. He will be joined by Nate Wilcox, also formerly of Forward Together PAC. Armstrong is also the principle of the blog Mydd.com and is co-author of the book "Crashing the Gates" with Markos Moulitsas.

ALEXANDRIA - House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran helped launch the “SoberRide Free Cabs” program for St. Patrick’s Day in order to reduce drunk and dangerous driving. Delegate Moran joined representatives of the Alexandria Police Department, the Virginia State Police, and Red Top Cab service at Murphy’s Grand Irish Pub in Alexandria to announce the program. The program is available in the Greater Washington area and is offered by the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP).

The St. Patrick’s Day SoberRide program will operate between 4 p.m. today (March 17) and 4 a.m. Tuesday as a way to keep local roads safe from impaired drivers during this traditionally high-risk holiday. During this 12-hour period, area residents celebrating with alcohol may call the toll-free SoberRide phone number 1–800–200–TAXI and be afforded a no-cost (up to a $50 fare), safe way home.

“Too many Virginians are hurt each year because of the preventable tragedy of drunk driving,” said Delegate Moran. “I’m proud to join with the regional alcohol program to launch this program and provide free cab rides on St. Patrick’s Day that will reduce drunk driving on our road ways.”

Delegate Moran has worked for years to reduce underage drinking and drunk driving, including authoring Virginia’s felony driving under the influence law (HB1812, 1999). He has been recognized as Mothers Against Drunk Driving “Legislator of the Year” and received the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) Public Policy Award.

“People might be surprised to know that more Americans are killed by drunk drivers during St. Patrick’s Day than on New Year’s Eve,” said WRAP President Kurt Gregory Erickson.

Expanding law enforcement to protect kids

Richmond – House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran made the following statement after the budget conference committee approved $1.5 million in funding for Alicia’s Law. The law, named after the a 13-year old victim of an online child sex predator, will expand regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces (ICAC) that will investigate, arrest and prosecute these predators. The ICAC reports more than 20,000 computers in Virginia with online child pornography, but ICAC only has the capacity to investigate and arrest approximately 2 percent of these cases. The final budget will be approved this Thursday afternoon.

“Today is a tremendous step in our efforts to protect Virginia’s children from the most violent, vile online predators. Every time you bring a computer into your home, you provide online predators with access to your children. Law enforcement officers have not had the resources to combat these crimes, but today we have taken a major first step by expanding two regional task forces to investigate and arrest these offenders.

As a former prosecutor and the father of two young children, I know there is no more important investment than protecting our kids. These task forces will be able to save thousands of children from unspeakable and unimaginable crimes. I thank the members of the House and the Senate who have worked to secure this important investment.”

The $1.5 million investment in Alicia’s Law will be split evenly between the Southern Virginia ICAC based in Bedford and the Northern Virginia ICAC based in Fairfax.

ALEXANDRIA – House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran sent the following letter to Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Colgan (D-Manassas) and House Appropriations Chairman Lacey Putney (I-Bedford) to call for their support in funding “Alicia’s Law.” Delegate Moran was alerted today that this morning House and Senate budget conferees opted to consider removing funding from Alicia’s Law in the final budget proposal to be offered this Thursday. This initiative will expand our regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces to investigate, arrest and incarcerate the most hardcore child sex offenders in Virginia.

“The Honorable Chuck Colgan
Senate Finance Committee
General Assembly Building, 10th Floor
State Capitol
Richmond, VA 22319

The Honorable Lacey Putney
House Appropriations Committee
General Assembly Building, 9th Floor
State Capitol
Richmond, VA 22319

Dear Chuck and Lacey,

I came to Richmond today and heard highly disturbing news that the budget conferees had retreated from supporting critically needed investments in Alicia’s Law. As you already know, Alicia’s Law is designed to expand our regional Internet Crimes against Children Task Forces (ICAC) so we can arrest, prosecute and convict online child sex predators.

There are over 20,000 Virginians that we know are trafficking in hardcore online child pornography. These are not merely “innocent images.” These are hardcore pictures and videos of children – as young as 18 months – being brutally raped. There is no more vile, heinous act. But, unfortunately, law enforcement does not have the resources to investigate these leads, catch these criminals, and rescue these children. So we came to the General Assembly for help.

I would be remiss if I did not thank the House Appropriations Committee for making an investment of $1.25 million in their proposed budget and thank the Senate budget conferees for their press release, dated March 8th, where they announced support for the funding. Unfortunately, I was told today that the current draft conference report does not include these funds to which all sides have publically pledged their support. The funds proposed in the House budget for ICAC would double their capacity to investigate and arrest child offenders and double their ability to rescue child victims.

So I ask you – as the leaders of the two delegations – to step in and ensure the funds for this important initiative. I know, and deeply respect, the hard work that you both put in to crafting the state budget for the next two years. There are myriad demands and interests to balance. But I truly do not believe that the values we bring to the General Assembly – or any of us bring to our life in public service – are well served if we fail to find these critically needed funds.

Every time you bring a computer into the home, you provide these online predators access to your children. As a former prosecutor, I know our law enforcement must have the tools to combat these criminals and as the father of two young children, I know there is no more important investment to make.

I hope to return to Richmond on Thursday with different news than what I heard today. When we return to Richmond, I hope we will have a conference report that honors our public commitment and moral responsibility to protect children. In a budget of over $77 billion dollars, I find it inconceivable that we could not find the first $1.25 million to take the next step in protecting our kids.

As you know, this initiative is named after Alicia Kozakiewicz. At age 13, Alicia was the victim of an online child sex predator in Northern Virginia who tortured her for 4 days. Fortunately, she was rescued by the Northern Virginia ICAC officers. With your help, more children like her can be rescued.

Thank you for giving this all necessary consideration.

Sincerely,

Brian J. Moran

Cc: The Honorable William J. Howell
The Honorable Richard Saslaw
The Honorable Janet Howell
The Honorable Phil Hamilton
Grier Weeks, National Organization to Protect Children”

For more information about this initiative please click here and review the new online video available at The National Association to Protect Children.

by Brian Moran

In 1971, in response to segregation and unequal schooling across the Commonwealth, Virginia’s leaders joined together to create our educational financing system that ensures every child in Virginia has a chance to succeed. Just last year, Virginia was named the best state in the nation for a child’s lifetime success.

Now, however, that fundamental compact between the Commonwealth and our children is in danger.

Despite the basic commitment that educational funding will be based on the realistic costs of educating a child, some General Assembly members have proposed significant reductions in educational funding – far below the true cost.

When it comes to education, the Commonwealth can do nothing less than meet our challenges with steadfast commitment and real, honest solutions.

But, just like finding the hidden charges on your credit card bill, to find the hidden costs in the House Republican budget, you must read the fine print. Embedded in its budget proposal is a formula change that alters the fundamental state commitment to provide public education to our children. This fine print has major impacts: dramatic cuts to public education, an inability to pay competitive teacher salaries and forced increases in local property taxes.

Among other things, Republicans simply ignore the efforts of local governments to raise teachers’ salaries.

According to the state’s nonpartisan watchdog agency, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, the Republicans’ proposal would reduce state support for education by $78.8 million in this budget and take away at least another $250 million the following budget.

In one formula change, they would undo nearly all the investments we made in public education in 2004 under Governor Warner’s leadership. Those investments made us the best-managed state in the nation, the best state in which to do business and, most importantly, the best state for a child to achieve lifetime success.

Why would we turn back?

Last spring, I traveled on the Governor’s Trade Mission to India and saw firsthand the competition we face for good, high-paying jobs. Now is the time to recommit to public education. If we want to compete globally – and succeed – we need the best and the brightest from our schools, and our children.

The gap between the national average teacher salary and Virginia’s teacher salaries has doubled in the past decade. We have fallen $6,100 per teacher behind the rest of the country.

The Republicans’ reduction in funding for local public schools is only going to make it harder to recruit and retain top-quality teachers for our children.

To obfuscate the debate, some will call this merely a change in methodology. But in reality, it’s turning a blind eye to reality and the true costs facing our school system.

That’s not the Virginia way.

In the mid-1970s and again in the mid-’80s, Virginia’s attorneys general supported proper funding for public education.

They have said that the Assembly “must take into account the actual costs of education” and cannot rely on arbitrary estimates to develop our education funding policy. But arbitrary is exactly the methodology of the House Republican budget.

In the 21st century, we face tremendous challenges in our education system, from workforce training to university research, in order to succeed. We need to tackle those challenges in the best traditions of Govs. Mills Godwin and Warner. If we invest in those critical areas that drive our economy and determine our future, then we will be rewarded.

This is a tough budget environment with declining revenues. Yet education should be our number-one priority, and these tough times are not an excuse to shy away from that commitment.

Record investments in the early part of this decade helped pull us out of challenging economic times, and we can do it again.

Education is not just a promise we make to our children during a campaign, but a value we must fight for as public servants.