VOP Newsfeed

4/11/10 Why do I pay only $474 in Virginia income tax?

4/7/10 Grassroots Response to Health Care Passage

4/3/2010 Grassroots group eyes reform

3/30/10 Augusta Free Press audio show on VOP's state budget proposals

3/15/10 New Yorker audio slides on Martinsville, site of VOP's newest office

1/22/10 VOP on NPR's Morning Edition

11/25/09 Charges dropped against Joe Szakos, the Anthem Blue Cross customer arrested for questioning rate increases

Great New Books on Organizing:

Knocking on thousands of doors in one summer can really help change some power dynamics in the state of Virginia. Southwest Virginia VOP members are already seeing this new dynamic in action as they meet, and schedule meetings with, local elected officials this fall. Legislators have been much quicker to return calls to schedule the meetings and have been very interested in what thousands of people VOP talked to in their districts are saying are the major community issues.

VOP members and allies have already had meetings with Senator Phillip Puckett in Russell County and Delegate Anne Crockett-Stark in Wytheville to talk about the summer project, local issues, and our statewide campaigns on health care and car title lending.

“Overall, I think the meeting went really, really well because he let us talk and then he listened to every one of our concerns,” said Loretta Johnson, a Russell County resident who attended the meeting with Senator Puckett.

VOP had seven members and allies meet with Senator Puckett at his office on September 9. Former VOP summer intern and resident of the district, William Garrett, presented the numbers from the summer project. Then the senator listened to people talking about their experiences with the current health care system and agreed that it’s a major issue in his district. He agreed to contact U.S. Representative Boucher to call for meaningful reform. Finally he listened to our points on car title lending and agreed to review legislation to pull the industry under the Consumer Finance Act.

Leabern Kennedy, a CWA member and VOP ally who attended the meeting, said, “It went very well because the Senator was receptive to all of our issues and ideas. Now the work is to press him to action on those ideas.”

Wythe and Bland County VOP members also met with their local Delegate, Anne Crockett-Stark, on October 6. The first thing the Delegate mentioned was, “Man, you all are growing,” as we had to pull extra seats into her office for the members in the meeting. She was very interested in VOP’s work on car title lending and agreed it made sense for it to be moved into Consumer Finance Act oversight. She also listened closely as we discussed health care reform, saying that it was her number one issue.

“We all know health care reform is an incredibly important issue in our district,” said Karen Brooks, who works at a local free clinic, “No one has the simple answer, but it was good that she has an open mind about the issue.”

For more information about VOP’s organizing in Southwest Virginia, or if you are a resident or group who wants to connect to that organizing, contact Brian Johns at bjohns@virginia-organizing.org or (276) 619-1920.