The Virginia Organizing Project : Recent Media Releases

Recent Media Releases

The Virginia Organizing Project works to help people become more active citizens. Below are VOP's recent media releases, calling people to action on issues of concern in our communities and announcing our successes.

This is a list of articles, please click on each title for details.

Local Woman, Debby Smith, Asked By The White House to Attend President Obama’s Town Hall Meeting on Health Care Reform Today at 1pm in Annandale, VA 7-1-09

VOP ASKS LOCAL RESIDENTS TO SHARE THEIR HEALTH CARE STORIES ON VIDEO SATURDAY IN HOPEWELL 6-26-09

Community Groups Call for Naming of Former Warren County High School After Local Civil Rights Leader 6-23-09

Health Care Reform Leaders to Unveil New Report on the Crippling Costs of Care in Virginia 6-22-09

VOP Provides Application Assistance for Rights Restoration 6-20-09

Hundreds of Virginia Health Care Advocates Attend Lobby Day in DC on Thursday June 25 6-17-09

Virginia Health Care Delegation Takes “Health Care Can’t Wait!” Message to Washington 6-17-09

VOP response to the Sunday New York Times op-ed on poverty written by Barbara Ehrenreich 6-15-09

Virginia Organizing Project Moving Forward On Health Care, Drug Courts and Rights Restoration 6-2-09

VOP Along With Civic and Religious Groups to Host Forum at Union Train Station on Restoring Civil Rights to Former Felons

VOP Holds Forum to Support Drug Courts As An Effective, Cost-Saving Approach To Drug Abuse Treatment and Probation

VOP Calls Attention to Anti-Competitive State Health Insurance Market

Virginia Organizing Project Kicks off Grassroots Summer Outreach Program 5-19-09

Virginia Organizing Project Kicks off Grassroots Summer Outreach Program 5-14-09

Thanks to Stimulus Bill and the Virginia General Assembly, Virginia’s Unemployed Have Increased Access to COBRA Benefits 5-7-09

Virginia Organizing Project and Health Care for America Now Thank Senator Webb for Supporting the Choice of Public Health Insurance Plan 4-30-09

State Groups Mark Equal Pay Day by Urging Senators to Support the Paycheck Fairness Act 4-28-09

More Than 1.6 Million People in Virginia are in Families Spending More Than 10 Percent of Pre-Tax Income On Health Care — And 84 Percent of Them Have Insurance! 4-28-09

Groups Ask Federal Judge to Order Reevaluation of I-81 Plan 4-6-09

Rebuild and Renew America Now! 3-25-09

Virginia Health Care for America Now Issues New Report: To Fix Virginia’s Economy, We Need To Fix Health Care Now 2-23-09

MILLIONS OF WORKERS WHO LOST THEIR JOBS ARE WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE 2-6-09

Civic Organizations Urge Assembly Not to Reverse Progress on Verified Voting 2-2-09

REPORT: State Health Safety Nets, Economies Stand to Gain from Recovery Package 1-28-09

Recommended Blueprint for Virginia's Response to the 2008-2010 Revenue Shortfall 12-12-08

The Virginia Organizing Project is active in getting people to vote 11-3-08

Virginia Forest Watch Celebrates Ten Years, Hires New Director 10-28-08

New Report available: Virginia Has Eight-Fold Increase in Voter Registration at Public Assistance Agencies after Reforming Procedures 10-20-08

Many Virginia precincts at risk of long lines on Election Day 10-17-08

HEALTH CARE PREMIUMS ROSE MORE THAN FOUR TIMES FASTER THAN EARNINGS IN VIRGINIA FROM 2000 TO 2007 9-30-08

Denise Smith picked as a Virginia spokesperson for national campaign 9-9-08

Immigrants Deserve Recognition for their Contribution to our Military 8-27-08

Virginia Health Care for America Now challenges Anthem 7-25-08

$40 Million Health Care Campaign Launched in Virginia and Nationwide 7-8-08

Health Care For America Now 7-7-08

VOP Releases Issue Brief on 2008 Transportation Funding Proposal 6-20-08

New Report Gives Virginia a Failing Grade in Providing Consumer Protections in the Individual Health Insurance Market 6-11-08

VOP Launches Major Door-to-Door Civic Engagement Project 5-20-08

VOP Applauds Governor's Transportation Plan, Asks For Some Tax Revisions 5-12-08

Berryville Revises Demonstration Ordinance 4-15-08

VOP Disappointed in Governor’s Inaction on Payday Loan Legislation 4-14-08

ACLU, VOP Demand Repeal of Berryville Ordinance 3-21-08

New Report Shows How Many People Are Likely to Die in Virginia Due to Lack of Health Coverage 3-19-08

National, State and Regional Citizens Groups Join Suit To Block Massive I-81 Widening 2-15-08

Sustaining Virginia's Forests through Forest Certification 1-30-08

Senator Herring Introduces Bill for Verified Voting in Virginia 1-24-08

ViOP and Other Groups Hold Media Conference to Support an Increase in the Minimum Wage 2-9-07

VOP Announces Legislative Agenda 1-4-07

Local Woman, Debby Smith, Asked By The White House to Attend President Obama’s Town Hall Meeting on Health Care Reform Today at 1pm in Annandale, VA 7-1-09

Annandale, VA-On Wednesday, July 1, 2009, Virginia Organizing Project member Debby Smith from Appalachia will have the opportunity to attend President Obama’s Health Care Town Hall Meeting. She will have the opportunity to meet the President and possibly ask him a question about health care reform. The Online Health Care Reform Town Hall meeting is scheduled for 1:00 pm at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale. Live participants in the town hall will ask the President questions along with participants online through Twitter, You Tube and Face Book.

All of this came about in the last 24 hours when Smith received a call from the Executive Office of the President inviting her to attend the meeting. She was invited because she has been vocal in her community on the issue of health care reform and has shared her own personal health care story with local legislators. As a member of The Virginia Organizing Project she has been active in planning health care events and lobbying Congress on health care reform. Smith suffers from a serious illness and has struggled with the broken health care system for the past several years, incurring thousands in debt while still not getting the care that she needs. Since becoming ill she has become an advocate for health care reform that includes a public plan option that would provide quality, affordable health care for everyone.

Tuesday evening Smith and her husband David packed up their car and started the eight hour drive to Annandale. “I would not miss an opportunity like this for anything. Health care is an issue that I feel strongly about and I am thrilled to be able to attend the meeting and hopefully put in my two cents. I am excited about shaking the President’s hand and letting him know that we need health care reform now. I am going to let the President know where I am from and I hope that it will be an opportunity for some recognition of Appalachia,” said Smith.

Smith is hoping that she will be chosen to ask a question at the health care town hall meeting. If given the opportunity to speak face to face with the President, she plans to invite him to RAM (Remote Area Medical) days in Appalachia July 24-26. RAM hosts an annual outdoor health care event to provide care for those who could otherwise not afford it. Volunteer doctors and nurses will set up outside and provide free medical care to over 2500 Appalachians who need health care. “I hope that the President will consider coming to one of the RAM days in Appalachia this summer. I can think of no better example to illustrate that our health care system is broken. The fact that people line up days ahead in the sweltering heat just for a chance at free medical care shows that we definitely need serious health care reform,” said Smith.

VOP ASKS LOCAL RESIDENTS TO SHARE THEIR HEALTH CARE STORIES ON VIDEO SATURDAY IN HOPEWELL 6-26-09

DOCTORS, NURSES, ADVOCATES AND INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE BATTLED OUR BROKEN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM ARE ENCOURAGED TO SHARE THEIR STORIES

HOPEWELL, VA—On Saturday, June 27, 2009, the Virginia Organizing Project and Hopewell/Prince George Volunteers for Change will hold a health care story event at the Hopewell Public Library.

As the health care reform debate heats up, local residents will gather Saturday to share their personal health care stories on video. The videos will be shared with members of Congress to show the local impact of the heath care crisis.

The health care story event comes on the heels of the largest ever health care reform lobby day in Washington, DC on Thursday. Several hundred Virginians traveled to the capital to meet with their Representatives in Congress and ask for health care reform that includes a public plan option. The local residents who could not travel to DC Thursday to share their health care stories with members of Congress, will have a chance to do so by video on Saturday.

WHO: Virginia Organizing Project, Hopewell/ Prince George Volunteers for Change

WHAT: Make Your Voice Heard: Share Your Health Care Story!

WHEN: Saturday, June 27, 2009 11 - 2 pm

WHERE: Hopewell Library, 209 E. Cawson, Hopewell VA 23860

Community Groups Call for Naming of Former Warren County High School After Local Civil Rights Leader 6-23-09

Community Groups Call for Naming of Former Warren County High School After Local Civil Rights Leader

Fifty years of Virginia history will be put to a vote on June 25

The Virginia Organizing Project has joined a host of other community groups in asking the Warren County School Board to name the former Warren County High School after James Wilson Kirby, a local civil rights leader.

“This year, all Virginians are experiencing the 50th anniversary of the end of ‘massive resistance’ to school integration. The Virginia Organizing Project, as a statewide organization that brings together grassroots people of all ages and from all communities, is keenly aware of this process,” Janice “Jay” Johnson, chairperson of the Virginia Organizing Project wrote to Warren County School Board members.

“For several years, Warren County residents have raised the issue of naming the former Warren County High School after James Wilson Kilby. The residents who did so, mainly the members of the Historical Educational Movement, used their constitutional liberties responsibly and effectively, in the spirit of James Wilson Kilby. By doing so, they gave us all, and especially the members of the Warren County School Board, an opportunity to do something very important,” Johnson wrote. “We urge you to name the former Warren County High School after James Wilson Kilby.”

James Wilson Kilby was president of the Warren County NAACP Branch, and at personal risk he led efforts to get his children and other African-American children to attend high school in their own county, instead of being bussed hours away. Supported by an NAACP legal team that included legendary Virginia attorney Oliver W. Hill and current Virginia State Senator Henry Marsh, the local NAACP won their case, but not before the Commonwealth of Virginia had closed the school. Virginia's policy of massive resistance to civil rights was rejected by the courts, and African-American students entered the high school in February 1959.

Mr. Kilby went on to be involved in bringing housing and weatherization programs to the community, working closely with people of all races.

Warren County School Board members received e-mails from people across Virginia:

James Wilson Kilby's work was a gift to all Virginians. It provides us with a timeless reminder of the necessity to be inclusive of all persons as we seek to heal the wounds of our painful history of racism and intolerance.

The Rev. Mary Hutcheson Johns
Colonial Heights, VA

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Members of the Warren County Public School Board:

I am W. E. Clark III, a citizen of Lynchburg, Virginia, writing in support of the naming of the school in question after the late Mr. James Wilson Kilby. After finding on your web site an open invitation to make a comment in the affairs of your responsibility, I decided to accept the granted invitation.

The pride I feel coming from having served as a U. S. Marine during WWII and being a retired educator of the Lynchburg City School system compels me to see great value being derived from the naming of the school after one whose community service shines so bright.

Considering what the youth of today have to face in their growth and development, the more community references on which they can feel a sense of pride the better.

Thanks for the opportunity to participate in this important issue.

Sincerely,

W. E. Clark III
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Members of the School Board,

Please do not be dissuaded from naming your new middle school for James Wilson Kilby. Mr. Kilby led the non-violent, legal struggle to open public schools to all children regardless of race. For his courage and that displayed by his family in the long struggle for equality in Warren County and Virginia, he should be so honored. As a Fairfax County student at the time, I remember with shame and disgust the brazen disregard for equal rights displayed by the State of Virginia in 1958 and '59. As Virginia and Warren County enter the 21st century, take the bold step to declare your support for the cause of equality before the law that Mr. Kilby struggled for. Name the new school for James Wilson Kilby and help Front Royal and Warren County rise from the shame of the 1950s.

Thank you,

Bruce Smith
Reading Teacher
Prince William County Public Schools

Health Care Reform Leaders to Unveil New Report on the Crippling Costs of Care in Virginia 6-22-09

Health Care Reform Leaders to Unveil New Report on the Crippling Costs of Care in Virginia

Virginians Head to Washington on Thursday, June 25, Armed with New Data on the Urgency of Real Health Care Reform That Lowers Costs, Forces Competition

Richmond, VA - On Tuesday, June 23 at 11a.m., the Virginia Organizing Project - as part of the Health Care for America Now (HCAN) campaign - will release the findings of a new report detailing how the skyrocketing cost of health insurance is increasingly putting health care out of reach of working people in Virginia.

“These startling numbers show how insurers are taking hard-working Virginians for every last dime. Clearly, if we want real relief and quality, affordable health care for everyone in Virginia, we can’t leave reform up to the insurance companies,” said Jill Hanken from the Virginia Poverty Law Center. “While Virginians are struggling to hold on to their health insurance coverage, insurers are busy spending our money lobbying in Washington against real competition that would keep down costs and give us a real choice of insurers and plans.”

Among the speakers will be Thomasine Wilson, who later in the week will join thousands of health care activists, including hundreds from Virginia, in Washington, DC. for the largest-ever lobby day in support of legislation to provide quality, affordable health care for all. On Thursday, June 25, the activists will meet with members of their congressional delegations and take part in an historic rally in Congress’ backyard.

WHO: Jill Hanken, Staff Attorney: Health Care Law, Virginia Poverty Law Center

Dr. Chris Lillis MD, Fredericksburg Primary Care Physician

Thomasine Wilson, VOP health care advocate personally affected by health care crisis

Brian Johns, VOP Health Care Reform Coordinator

WHAT: Press teleconference to unveil report showing rising costs of health care in Virginia and kicking off Virginia’s trip to rally for reform in Washington, D.C.

WHEN: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 11a.m.

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VOP Provides Application Assistance for Rights Restoration 6-20-09

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Julie Blust
June 20, 2009 267-242-1752

APPLICATION ASSISTANCE TO BE PROVIDED SATURDAY IN HOPEWELL TO RESTORE CIVIL RIGHTS FOR FORMER FELONS

HOPEWELL, VA—On Saturday, June 20, 2009, the Virginia Organizing Project and Hopewell/Prince George Volunteers for Change will hold a resource fair to provide application assistance to local former felons who wish to have their civil rights restored. The event is part of an ongoing Rights Restoration campaign by the local chapter of the Virginia Organizing Project.

Virginia is one of the two permanent disenfranchisement states along with Kentucky that bar all persons with felony convictions from voting even after they have completed their full sentences. Voting rights can be restored only when an individual submits an application to the Governor requesting an executive pardon for reinstatement of voting rights and the Governor decides to restore the right to vote.

Local faith-based organizations have rallied around the issue of restoration of rights. The event will be held at True Deliverance Church in Hopewell. Pastor Joyce Garnett of True Deliverance Church in Hopewell began working on the issue because many members of her congregation are affected by the restoration process.

“When an individual has completed their sentence and paid their debt to society they should have all of their rights restored. The state of Virginia continues to punish people that are trying to put their lives back together by withholding their civil rights. There is no benefit to the state in making it more difficult for people to re-integrate into society after completing their sentences. Withholding the civil rights of former felons does nothing to prevent crime and only creates an unnecessary bureaucracy for the state government and an unnecessary hardship for former felons,” said Pastor Garnett.

WHO: Virginia Organizing Project, Hopewell/ Prince George Volunteers for Change

WHAT: Application assistance for former felons wishing to restore their civil rights

WHEN: Saturday, June 20, 2009 12 - 2 pm

WHERE: True Deliverance Church 909 City Pointe Street Hopewell, VA 23860

The Virginia Organizing Project is a statewide, multi-issue citizens' organization committed to challenging injustice by empowering people in local communities to address issues that affect the quality of their lives.

www.virginia-organizing.org

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Hundreds of Virginia Health Care Advocates Attend Lobby Day in DC on Thursday June 25 6-17-09

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Julie Blust
June 17, 2009 267-242-1752

Virginia Health Care Delegation Takes “Health Care Can’t Wait!” Message to Washington

Hundreds of Virginia Health Care Advocates Will Board Buses and Travel to Washington DC on Thursday June 25, in Support of
Quality Affordable Health Care for All

WASHINGTON, DC-On Wednesday June 25, 2009, the Virginia Organizing Project, as part of Health Care for America Now will join thousands of health care supporters from around the country in Washington, DC for Health Care-We Can’t Wait 09!-a health care reform lobby day.

Hundreds of Virginia health care activists, health care providers and community leaders will board buses and vans from Richmond, Harrisonburg, Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Norton, Tidewater and northern Virginia destined for Washington, DC. A Health care rally will be held on the Capitol where 10,000 people are expected to attend. Following the rally, the Virginia delegation will visit with Virginia members of Congress during scheduled visits. The lobby visits will include testimony on health care from small business owners, rural residents, faith leaders, health care providers, and underinsured and uninsured Virginians.

The purpose of the lobby day is to encourage Congress to support comprehensive health care reform that includes the choice of public health insurance option in addition to the current private health insurance market.

Members of the media are invited to join the Virginia delegation on their trip to Washington, DC or to attend the local bus send-offs the morning of the event. To interview local participants who will be attending the lobby day on June 25, please contact Julie Blust 267-242-1752 or blust@virginia-organizing.org

June 25th Schedule

7:00 am (earlier departure in some cities)

Virginia delegation boards buses leaving from Richmond, Harrisonburg, Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Norton, Tidewater and northern Virginia.

11:00 am- 11:30pm

Virginia delegation arrives in Washington, DC and convenes at the capitol, Upper Senate Park. Delegation members will share their health care stories with the media and record video footage of why they are participating in the event.

11:30 pm- 1:00 pm

Health Care-We Can’t Wait Rally, Upper Senate Park. 10,000 expected to attend.

1:00 pm-4:00 pm

Virginia delegation to attend lobby visits to Virginia’s members of Congress and town hall meetings on various health care topics.

4:00-5:00 pm

Buses leave Washington, DC for Virginia.

To schedule an interview with any of the event participants or learn more about health care reform efforts in Virginia, contact Julie Blust 267-242-1752 blust@virginia-organzing.org

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Virginia Health Care Delegation Takes “Health Care Can’t Wait!” Message to Washington 6-17-09

Virginia Health Care Delegation Takes “Health Care Can’t Wait!” Message to Washington

Hundreds of Virginia Health Care Advocates Will Board Buses and Travel to Washington DC on Wednesday June 25, in Support of

Quality Affordable Health Care for All

HAMPTON, VA-On Wednesday June 25, 2009, the Virginia Organizing Project, as part of Health Care for America Now will join thousands of health care supporters from around the country in Washington, DC for Health Care-We Can’t Wait 09!-a health care reform lobby day.

7:00 am (earlier departure in some cities)
Virginia delegation boards buses leaving from Richmond, Harrisonburg, Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Norton, Tidewater and northern Virginia.

11:00 am- 11:30pm
Virginia delegation arrives in Washington, DC and convenes at the capitol, Upper Senate Park. Delegation members will share their health care stories with the media and record video footage of why they are participating in the event.

11:30 pm- 1:00 pm
Health Care-We Can’t Wait Rally, Upper Senate Park. 10,000 expected to attend.

1:00 pm-4:00 pm
Virginia delegation to attend lobby visits to Virginia’s members of Congress and town hall meetings on various health care topics.

4:00-5:00 pm
Buses leave Washington, DC for Virginia.

To schedule an interview with any of the event participants or learn more about health care reform efforts in Virginia, contact Julie Blust 267-242-1752 blust@virginia-organzing.org

VOP response to the Sunday New York Times op-ed on poverty written by Barbara Ehrenreich 6-15-09

Media Advisory
Monday June 15, 2009
CONTACT: Julie Blust
Communications Director, 267-242-1752

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA- The Virginia Organizing Project-a statewide grassroots organization dedicated to challenging injustice by empowering people in local communities- released the following statement in response to the Sunday New York Times op-ed on poverty written by Barbara Ehrenreich:

Janice “Jay” Johnson, Chairperson, Virginia Organizing Project:

“We commend Barbara Ehrenreich for shining a light on the issue of poverty in America in her New York Times editorial series ‘Too Poor to Make the News.’ As a grassroots community organization, the Virginia Organizing Project has been fighting poverty in Virginia for 15 years through campaigns like health care affordability, tax reform, living wages and anti-predatory lending.

“While we all struggle through the worst economic crisis in decades, it is important to remember those who have known nothing but tough economic times. Virginia Organizing Project State Governing Board member Denise Smith is featured in the op-ed and has been a tireless anti-poverty advocate in the face of her own economic hardship. Through the efforts of people like Denise Smith we will continue to fight poverty in Virginia.

“We hope that Barbara Ehrenreich’s series will inspire more people to take notice of those Americans that live in poverty all the time whose situation in only worsened by difficult economic times.”

READ BARBARA EHRENEICH’S NEW YORK TIMES SUNDAY EDITORIAL: “TOO POOR TO MAKE THE NEWS”

Virginia Organizing Project Moving Forward On Health Care, Drug Courts and Rights Restoration 6-2-09

All in a week’s work.

Last week The Virginia Organizing Project held events on health care reform, Drug Courts, and Rights Restoration. All while sending forty interns out into the community every day to encourage civic engagement and voter education. As the summer moves on VOP will continue to be active in every corner of the state, addressing key issues and mobilizing new members.

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VIRGINIA HEALTH CARE ADVOCATES CALL ATTENTION TO UN-AMERICAN, ANTI-COMPETITIVE STATE HEALTH INSURANCE MARKET

PRESS CONFERENCE HELD TO RELEASE NEW REPORT SHOWING TWO COMPANIES CONTROL 61 PERCENT OF VIRGINIA’S HEALTH INSURANCE MARKET

Click Here for Photos Of The Event http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Tidewater%20Healthcare%20event&w=all

HAMPTON, VA-On Wednesday, May 27, 2009, the Virginia Organizing Project, as part of Health Care for America Now!, held a rally and press conference to call attention to a new report showing how a lack of real competition in the Virginia health insurance marketplace is causing skyrocketing premiums for both patients and employers.

Health care advocates met outside of the Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce drawing attention to the lack of competition that is keeping health care premiums high and quality low. Built on the premise of free enterprise and healthy American competition, the Chamber of Commerce served as the perfect backdrop for the rally. Health care professionals, community activists and religious leaders lined up along the aptly named Enterprise Drive to push for increased competition in the health insurance industry through a public health insurance option and substantial health care reform.

The report titled Virginia Health Care Premiums Soar as Insurers Face Less Competition shows how a handful of private health insurance companies have built a near-monopoly in the Virginia market, burdening families and businesses with premiums that grew 4.1 times faster than wages from 2000 to 2007.

“When health insurance companies do not compete, the only winners are the health insurance industry and their CEOs. As a retired nurse practitioner, I have seen the negative effects of health insurance consolidation. Patients pay higher premiums and get less care for their money while the health insurance companies make record profits. Health care providers are often unable to provide necessary care because of the insurance company’s unwillingness to pay. With no competition, the insurance companies are able to deny care because they are the only game in town. We need real health care reform and a public plan option that will keep give Virginians a choice,” said Beverly James of the Virginia Organizing Project Health Care Reform Committee.

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LOCAL GROUPS HOLD FORUM ON DRUG COURTS, ASKING FOR DELEGATE KILGORE’S CONTINUED SUPPORT

IN THE FACE OF STATE AND LOCAL BUDGET CUTS, DRUG COURTS SAVE MONEY AND PROVIDE AN EFFECTIVE APPROACH

TO DRUG ABUSE TREATMENT AND PROBATION

LEE COUNTY, VA- With local jail costs crippling the Lee County budget, social service and legal professionals are held a forum Friday to support the use of drug courts as an alternative to the existing expensive and ineffective justice and treatment system.

Advocates from the judiciary, prosecution, defense bar, probation, law enforcement, mental health, social service, and treatment communities gathered at the Mountain Empire Community College to educate the public on the benefit of Drug Courts and to encourage state Delegate Terry Kilgore to support the funding of a Drug Court in Lee County. Drug Courts are widely supported among the criminal justice and substance abuse treatment communities as an effective alternative to jail time and probation.

Rufus Bryant is a Recovery Coach with Lee County Behavioral Health and is a strong supporter of Drug Courts.

“As someone who is both in recovery and works with individuals in recovery I see Drug Courts as a great alternative to our current system. Our current system locks drug abusers up and does nothing to provide treatment and rehabilitation. Offenders get released from prison and go back and repeat the same behavior when they get out. I feel that people need to be treated for their substance abuse addiction and rehabilitated, not locked up at a great expense to the County,” Bryant said.

“Drug Courts save money and provide a rigorous treatment program with a great deal of accountability. Offenders are not let off the hook with the Drug Court system. They have to work hard at an intensive outpatient program. Instead of being locked up, they are actively involved with their treatment and rehabilitation. Drug Courts in other parts of the country have been very successful and I feel that Lee County needs to support this initiative,” added Bryant.

Dennis Lee, Commonwealth's Attorney in Tazewell County spoke at the forum in support of Drug Courts.

“I have been working with young offenders for years and have seen an increase in the young drug-abuse offenders that go through the criminal justice system. What these young people need most is treatment and instead they end up in prison. Drug Courts provide a detailed treatment program and are the best shot an offender has at rehabilitation. Drugs Courts are the best change to come out of the system in years.” said Lee.

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ALL ABOARD: DESTINATION RESTORATION

COMMUNITY GROUPS HELD FORUM AT UNION TRAIN STATION ON RESTORING CIVIL RIGHTS TO FORMER FELONS

PETERSBURG, VA—On Saturday, May 30, 2009, the Virginia Organizing Project , Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, the Petersburg Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta and the office of state Delegate Rosalyn Dance hosted a community forum, training and resource fair on the restoration of civil rights for former felons.

Moderated by Richmond 104.7 FM’s Maya Love, the forum addressed a range of issues that affect the civil rights of more than 300,000 Virginia citizens that are unable to vote because of a felony conviction. The forum educated the public on the issue of restoration of rights and also provided application assistance.

Despite having completed their sentences and being released from probation or parole, thousands of Virginians are denied the right to vote, serve on a jury and pursue employment. Jackie Wiggins is a full-time student and motivational speaker who has experienced first-hand the difficulty of the state’s restoration of rights process. “When you become a felon, all the doors close. It is important to try to move forward with your life but it is difficult when you are not treated like an equal citizen. I pay my taxes and contribute and want to be a full member of society,” said Wiggins.

Local faith-based organizations have rallied around the issue of restoration of rights. Pastor Joyce Garnett of True Deliverance Church in Hopewell began working on the issue because many members of her congregation are affected by the restoration process. “I feel that if someone has done their time then they have paid their debt. Withholding their rights when they get out is like keeping them in prison. It is hard enough for individuals to re-integrate into society after prison without giving them one more hurdle. This is about more than just voting rights, it is about civil rights.”

VOP Along With Civic and Religious Groups to Host Forum at Union Train Station on Restoring Civil Rights to Former Felons

ALL ABOARD: DESTINATION RESTORATION

COMMUNITY GROUPS TO HOST FORUM AT UNION TRAIN STATION ON RESTORING CIVIL RIGHTS TO FORMER FELONS

PETERSBURG, VA—On Saturday, May 30, 2009, the Virginia Organizing Project , Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, the Petersburg Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta and the office of state Delegate Rosalyn Dance will host a community forum, training and resource fair on the restoration of civil rights for former felons.

Moderated by Richmond 104.7 FM’s Maya Love, the forum will address a range of issues that affect the civil rights of more than 300,000 Virginia citizens that are unable to vote because of a felony conviction. The forum will serve to educate the public on the issue of restoration of rights and also provide application assistance.

VOP Holds Forum to Support Drug Courts As An Effective, Cost-Saving Approach To Drug Abuse Treatment and Probation

LOCAL GROUPS TO HOLD FORUM ON DRUG COURTS, ASKING FOR DELEGATE KILGORE’S CONTINUED SUPPORT

IN THE FACE OF STATE AND LOCAL BUDGET CUTS, DRUG COURTS SAVE MONEY AND PROVIDE AN EFFECTIVE APPROACH
TO DRUG ABUSE TREATMENT AND PROBATION

LEE COUNTY, VA- With local jail costs crippling the Lee County budget, social service and legal professionals are holding a forum Friday (May 29) to support the use of drug courts as an alternative to the existing expensive and ineffective justice and treatment system.

Advocates from the judiciary, prosecution, defense bar, probation, law enforcement, mental health, social service, and treatment communities will gather at the Mountain Empire Community College to educate the public on the benefit of Drug Courts and to encourage state Delegate Terry Kilgore to support the funding of a Drug Court in Lee County. Drug Courts are widely supported among the criminal justice and substance abuse treatment communities as an effective alternative to jail time and probation.

Rufus Bryant is a Recovery Coach with Lee County Behavioral Health and is a strong supporter of Drug Courts.

VOP Calls Attention to Anti-Competitive State Health Insurance Market

VIRGINIA HEALTH CARE ADVOCATES CALL ATTENTION TO UN-AMERICAN, ANTI-COMPETITIVE STATE HEALTH INSURANCE MARKET

PRESS CONFERENCE HELD TO RELEASE NEW REPORT SHOWING TWO COMPANIES CONTROL 61 PERCENT OF VIRGINIA’S HEALTH INSURANCE MARKET

HAMPTON, VA-On Wednesday, May 27, 2009, the Virginia Organizing Project, as part of Health Care for America Now, held a rally and press conference to call attention to a new report showing how a lack of real competition in the Virginia health insurance marketplace is causing skyrocketing premiums for both patients and employers.

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Virginia Organizing Project Kicks off Grassroots Summer Outreach Program 5-19-09

Virginia Organizing Project Kicks off Grassroots Summer Outreach Program

Lynchburg, VA – On Tuesday, May 19, The Virginia Organizing Project will launch a statewide non-partisan canvassing effort to organize members of the community around health care reform, climate change, immigration, tax fairness, and numerous local issues.

Forty VOP interns from all corners of the state will go door-to-door in communities large and small asking residents how they want to improve their communities and to hold their elected officials accountable. The internship program will begin with a canvass kick-off on Tuesday where interns will receive community organizing training. The interns will then be assigned to cities and towns all over Virginia, where they will be canvassing neighborhoods with the goal of making one-on-one connections with residents and encouraging community involvement.

Veronica Gutierrez, an alumnus of the Virginia Organizing Project Internship program found her experience to be inspiring and continues to be involved with community organizing. “When I joined the program last summer I had no idea that it would be such an eye-opening experience. I found that after talking to hundreds of people you have the same conversations over and over. I came to realize that everyone is suffering from the same problems. There was really no way for people to connect and talk about their problems and see that they are not alone. What we did with the Virginia Organizing Project was bring people together to talk about their problems and find common solutions. I came to the realization that there is a lot of power in people,” said Gutierrez.

In addition to building relationships with people in the community, Virginia Organizing Project interns will be distributing a non-partisan voter guide that explains voter registration and voter rights, as well as providing information about key issues affecting residents in the state. Interns will be working with ten Virginia Organizing Project organizers and hundreds of volunteers throughout the state.

The voter guide is produced by the Virginia Organizing Project in collaboration with 25 other Virginia non-profit organizations. Over 300,000 voter guides will be distributed to Virginia households.

Media are invited to attend the kick-off and to join Virginia Organizing Project interns in their door-to-door canvassing throughout the summer. Contact Julie Blust: 267-242-1752 to schedule an interview in your area.

Program Kick-off

WHO: Virginia Organizing Project State-wide Interns

WHAT: Internship Canvass Kick-off

WHEN: Tuesday, May 19 5:30-9:00pm: canvass kick off

WHERE: Randolph College
2500 Rivermont Avenue
Lynchburg, VA 24503

Ongoing Canvass

WHO: Local Intern Programs

WHEN: Monday through Friday 4:0pm-9:00pm (scheduling is flexible, call to arrange a time)

WHERE: Northern Virginia, Fredericksburg, Virginia Beach, Roanoke/Salem, Southwest Virginia, Charlottesville, Danville, and Petersburg.

Virginia Organizing Project Kicks off Grassroots Summer Outreach Program 5-14-09

The voter guide is produced by the Virginia Organizing Project in collaboration with 25 other Virginia non-profit organizations. Over 300,000 voter guides will be distributed to Virginia households.

Program Kick-off

WHO: Virginia Organizing Project State-wide Interns

WHAT: Internship Canvass Kick-off

WHEN: Tuesday, May 19 6:00-9:00pm: canvass kick off

Monday, May 18th 1:00-5:00pm: briefing on community organizing and the history of VOP

WHERE: Randolph College

2500 Rivermont Avenue

Lynchburg, VA 24503

Ongoing Canvass

WHO: Local Intern Programs

WHEN: Monday through Friday 4:0pm-9:00pm (scheduling is flexible, call to arrange a time)

WHERE: Northern Virginia, Fredericksburg, Virginia Beach, Roanoke/Salem, Southwest Virginia, Charlottesville, Danville, and Petersburg.

Thanks to Stimulus Bill and the Virginia General Assembly, Virginia’s Unemployed Have Increased Access to COBRA Benefits 5-7-09

RICHMOND, VA – Virginia advocacy groups are working to spread awareness of recent changes to COBRA benefits that would allow unemployed Virginians expanded access to employer-based COBRA health care benefits.

Two major changes at the state and federal level will make it easier for many of the nearly 300,000 Virginians who are currently unemployed. The America Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has provided funding for a 65 percent subsidy of individual COBRA premiums for up to nine months. Normally, unemployed workers are responsible for 100 percent of COBRA premiums and many forgo taking advantage of the program due to unaffordable premiums. The second change has been adopted at the state level with the passage of Delegate Danny Marshall’s House Bill 2024-which creates a Mini-COBRA program that would allow workers of small businesses to receive COBRA. Previously, COBRA was limited to employers with over 20 employees.

“I put forth House Bill 2024 to make health care more accessible and affordable for Virginians. Governor Tim Kaine added on the Mini-COBRA program and I am glad that he did. Health insurance is a huge concern for the people of my district. Laid-off workers often have no access to COBRA benefits through their employer and find themselves and their families without any health insurance. I know the Mini-COBRA program will help a lot of people in my district and I want to make sure that everyone knows about this benefit,” said Delegate Danny Marshall, VA 14th State House District.

While employers who qualify for Mini-COBRA are required to send newly laid-off employees information about the new benefits, advocacy groups are spreading the word so that the program helps the commonwealth’s unemployed who need it most. Jill Hanken from the Virginia Poverty Law Center stresses the importance of getting this information out to the public. “Laid off workers often find that navigating the world of unemployment-related benefits can be confusing and difficult at times. With recent changes resulting from the stimulus bill and new efforts from the state legislature, it is critical that we make sure that people are aware of the benefits that are out there. It is important to note that the employee must elect the COBRA or mini-COBRA coverage within 60 days of receiving notice about it from their former employers. If they have not received notice, they should contact their former employer directly,” said Hanken.

State Delegate Danny Marshall represents Virginia’s 14th State House District. Delegate Marshall is available for interview regarding the Mini-COBRA benefits and HB2024. (434)-797-5861.

Jill Hanken is a Staff Attorney with the Virginia Poverty Law Center (VPLC) and is available for interview regarding increased COBRA benefits for Virginians and how this legislation impacts the work of the VPLC. (804)-649-0974 x13.

# # #

Virginia Organizing Project and Health Care for America Now Thank Senator Webb for Supporting the Choice of Public Health Insurance Plan 4-30-09

CONTACT: Julie Blust
267-242-1752

Sixteen Senators Sign Letter to Chairman Kennedy and Chairman Baucus Insisting Health Care Reform Legislation Includes Public Health Insurance Option

*** Read the Letter here: http://brown.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Letter.pdf***

Richmond, VA — Health care advocates from the Virginia Organizing Project (VOP) (http://www.virginia-organizing.org/) and Health Care for America Now (HCAN) (http://www.healthcareforamericanow.org/) released the following statement today thanking Senator Jim Webb for supporting giving everyone the choice of a public health insurance plan – a key component of President Barack Obama’s and Health Care for America Now’s vision for achieving a guarantee quality, affordable health care for all this year:

“We applaud Senator Jim Webb for supporting health care reform that includes a public insurance option. The Senator’s support of a public insurance option is one more example of how he is listening to his constituents and understands the problems they face. For the past year, we have been organizing Virginians in every corner of the state around the health care issue and have heard from thousands who say it is their most important issue,” said Janice “Jay” Johnson, chairperson of the Virginia Organizing Project.

The letter written by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) was sent to Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy (MA-D) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (MT-D) expressing the need to include a public health insurance option in order to set “the standard for quality, efficiency, and cost.” Fifteen other Senators, including Senator Webb, signed the letter which says that while private insurance industry reform is important, it alone is not enough to guarantee we achieve quality, affordable health care for all in 2009.

“We thank Senator Webb for his support of a public plan option because a public plan will be vital to substantial health care reform. We cannot rely on the profit-driven, private, health insurance industry alone to provide us with quality, affordable health care. The health insurance industry does not want to have competition from a public plan. Yet recent history has shown that without healthy competition, they will continue to raise prices and lower quality-making health care out of reach for millions. Senator Webb’s support of the public health insurance option is a signal that quality, affordable health care for all can, and will, become a reality,” said Johnson.

# # #

State Groups Mark Equal Pay Day by Urging Senators to Support the Paycheck Fairness Act 4-28-09

Richmond, VA — In recognition of Equal Pay Day (April 28) 2009, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, the American Association of University Women of Virginia, and the Virginia Organizing Project are urging Senators Mark Warner and Jim Webb to support the Paycheck Fairness Act.

The Paycheck Fairness Act, which overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives on a vote of 256-163 earlier this year, would strengthen the Equal Pay Act, a flawed and ineffective law passed in 1963 to combat wage discrimination against women.

Forty-five years after passage of the Equal Pay Act, it will take a woman all of 2008 and nearly 4 more months into 2009 (until April 28), to earn the same amount that a man earned in 2008 alone. The statistics are even worse for women of color.

“When the Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963, women earned 59% of what men were paid for doing the same job,” said Kent Willis, Executive Director of the ACLU of Virginia. “Although the wage gap has shrunk to where women now earn 78% of what men earn, at the current rate of progress, it will be another 45 years before the gap is eliminated entirely. It’s time that we take stronger measures to bring about pay equity for women.”

“Pay disparities force families to live on less than they rightfully deserve,” said Janice “Jay” Johnson, Chairperson of the Virginia Organizing Project. “In these times of tight family budgets, Congress can help households dependent on single mothers or two-wage earners by putting effective tools in place to remedy wage discrimination.”

“The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, signed into law by President Obama in January, was a big step toward righting the wrongs of pay disparity,” said Laura Wimmer, Co-President of the AAUW of Virginia. “Named for a woman who for nearly 20 years was paid far less than her male co-workers with the same job and who fought for another 10 years to expose unfair pay practices, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act restored the long-standing interpretation of civil rights laws and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission policies allowing workers to challenge their discriminatory paychecks. Together with the Ledbetter Law, the Paycheck Fairness Act can help create a climate where pay discrimination is not tolerated. It would prohibit employer retaliation against workers who inquire about their employers’ wage practices or disclose their own wage—a provision that would have helped Lilly Ledbetter.”

The Paycheck Fairness Act requires employers to demonstrate that wage differences between men and women doing the same work actually stem from factors other than sex. It also bans retaliation against workers who have simply asked about wage practices or told someone their wages. It gives women the same remedies for gender discrimination that are in place for race and national origin discrimination.

Under this legislation, the federal government would have more tools to stop unlawful pay disparities. Staff at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would receive additional training, and the U.S. Department of Labor would establish new programs to educate employers and employees about best practices and to collect wage-related data.

For more information about the Paycheck Fairness Act, please read below.

About The Paycheck Fairness Act

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 requires that men and women be given "equal pay for equal work" in the same place of business or establishment. Unfortunately, while its goals are critically important, the Equal Pay Act has not been able to achieve its promise of closing the wage gap because of limited enforcement tools and inadequate remedies.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would update the Equal Pay Act by taking several important steps toward remedying pay discrimination, including:

* requiring employers to demonstrate that wage differentials between men and women holding the same position and doing the same work stem from factors other than sex. The legislation clarifies acceptable reasons for differences in pay by requiring employers to demonstrate that wage gaps between men and women doing the same work have a business justification and are truly a result of factors other than sex.
* prohibiting retaliation against workers who inquire about their employers' wage practices or disclose their own wages. It is important to note, however, that employees with access to colleagues' wage information in the course of their work, such as human resources employees, may still be prohibited from sharing that information.
* permitting reasonable comparisons between employees within clearly defined geographical areas to determine fair wages.
* strengthening penalties for equal pay violations. The bill's measured approach levels the playing field by ensuring that women can obtain the same remedies as those subject to discrimination on the basis of race or national origin.
* authorizing additional training for EEOC staff to better identify and handle wage disputes. It would also require the U.S. Department of Labor to reinstate important activities, such as directing educational programs to assist women in the workforce, providing technical assistance to employers, recognizing the achievements of businesses that address the wage gap, collecting wage-related data, and conducting and promoting research about pay disparities between men and women.

Contacts:
Kent Willis, ACLU of Virginia Executive Director

Joe Szakos, Virginia Organizing Project Executive Director

Laura Wimmer and Dianne Blais, AAUW of Virginia Co-Presidents

More Than 1.6 Million People in Virginia are in Families Spending More Than 10 Percent of Pre-Tax Income On Health Care — And 84 Percent of Them Have Insurance! 4-28-09

Number Shows Dramatic Jump from 2000 to 2009; Teleconference Will Focus on Growing Number of Underinsured

A report from Families USA, the national organization for health care consumers, reveals that approximately 1.6 million people in Virginia families are spending more than 10 percent of their pre-tax income on health care costs. The report also documents how this number has grown since 2000, as rising health care costs consume an ever-growing share of family budgets.

The new report updates a 2007 Families USA report, which was the first state-by-state analysis of its type. It includes:

* Total number of people in families in Virginia that will spend more than 10 percent — and more than 25 percent — of their pre-tax income on health care costs in 2009;
* Number of insured people in families in Virginia that will spend more than 10 percent — and more than 25 percent — of their pre-tax income on health care costs in 2009;
* The increase from 2000 to 2009 in the number of people in families spending more than 10 percent and more than 25 percent of their pre-tax income on health care costs.

A teleconference on Tuesday, April 28, 2009, will focus the new Families USA report for Virginia.

WHAT: Teleconference to discuss Families USA report “Too Great a Burden” for Virginia

WHEN: 11:00 a.m. EDT, Tuesday, April 28, 2009

HOW: Dial in toll-free: 877-627-6511 * Confirmation code: 5416536

WHO: Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA

--30 --

Families USA is the national organization for health care consumers. It is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization
that advocates for high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

1201 New York Ave., NW, Suite 1100 * Washington, DC 20005 * 202-628-3030 * Fax: 202-347-2417
E-mail: info@familiesusa.org * Web site: www.familiesusa.org

Groups Ask Federal Judge to Order Reevaluation of I-81 Plan 4-6-09

Case Exposes Effort by Agencies to Make it Impossible for Landowners and Local Officials
to Offer and Win Less Damaging Alternative Solutions

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.—Attorneys for a coalition of non-profit groups and a Shenandoah County farmer today asked a federal judge to direct state and federal transportation officials to reevaluate an $11.4 billion plan to widen I-81 throughout Virginia. Judge Norman K. Moon, of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Charlottesville, heard oral arguments April 6 in a suit filed in December 2007 against the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).

“It’s time for VDOT to abandon the costly and destructive plan for I-81,” said Kate Wofford of Luray, executive director of the Shenandoah Valley Network. “Our state transportation budget has evaporated and taxpayers are tapped out. Virginia’s plan to spend billions on an ineffective widening of all 325 miles of I-81 is, and always was, unaffordable. Better alternatives exist, but were ignored in the FHWA/VDOT environmental study,” Wofford said.

Betsy Merritt, Deputy General Counsel to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, D.C., said, “The two transportation agencies need to offer more sensible and affordable approaches to addressing traffic in the I-81 corridor, other than widening to eight or more lanes. Only then can we ensure that historic treasures on the I-81 corridor, such as historic Belle Grove Plantation and the seven Civil War battlefields, are preserved.”

Washington, D.C.-based Attorney Andrea Ferster, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, said that FHWA and VDOT “admit that they view this conceptual decision on I-81 widening as a means of blocking any future argument, including legal challenges, to consider a broader range of alternatives when individual projects are advanced on I-81 in the future. Therefore, we argued today that fundamental due process rights were violated when the highway agencies sought to use a statute of limitations notice to make it impossible for landowners or local governments on I-81 to raise questions about whether widening I-81 is the best solution when future projects move forward.

Ferster also argued that the transportation agencies must reopen the I-81 plan to include the results of a multi-state freight rail study, which was mandated and funded by the Virginia legislature after VDOT failed to include a multi-state rail analysis in the original I-81 environmental study. According to the new study, rail freight improvements for I-81 would cost up to $4 billion and would include significant funding from Norfolk Southern and neighboring states, far less than the $11.4 billion highway widening proposed just for Virginia, which would require tolls on both cars and trucks on I-81.

During the previous environmental study VDOT denied public requests for incorporation of a multi-state rail improvement alternative, arguing it was unfeasible, yet last fall signed a Memorandum of Understanding with neighboring states to jointly invest in multi-state rail. The current multi-state rail study shows significant diversion of trucks from I-81 is possible, but this alternative could be ignored by VDOT unless the judge orders VDOT to reevaluate their current plan.

The 10 parties to the I-81 lawsuit include the Shenandoah Valley Network, Valley Conservation Council, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Coalition for Smarter Growth, Scenic Virginia, APVA Preservation Virginia, Virginia Organizing Project, Rockbridge Area Conservation Council, Sierra Club Virginia Chapter and landowner Larry Allamong of Fishers Hill, a Shenandoah County farmer whose property would be consumed by highway widening.

“At a time of daunting budget deficits, uncertain energy costs and a new focus on building the next generation of transportation infrastructure, an $11.4 billion highway widening project is out of date before it starts,” said John Eckman, executive director of the Valley Conservation Council in Staunton, which works in 11 Shenandoah Valley counties on or near the I-81 corridor.

“The impacts on natural, historic and scenic resources and on local communities are far too great when viable alternatives exist.” Eckman added. He said alternatives include the diversion of truck freight to rail as well as improvements to the worst safety and congestion hotspots on the corridor, improvements to local road networks, greater enforcement of speed limits and increased transit options.
________________________

Link to Shenandoah Valley Network’s I-81 Lawsuit Resources & Background
http://www.svnva.org/

Rebuild and Renew America Now! 3-25-09

Media Conference Call — Wednesday, March 25 at 2:30 p.m. EDT

Virginia Health Care, Environmental Advocates to Encourage Virginia’s Congressional Delegation to Support President Obama’s Historic Budget Plan — a Transformative Blueprint for Rebuilding and Renewing America

On Press Conference Call, VA Delegation Urged to Turn the Page on the Failed Policies of the Past by Supporting the Most Historic Commitments to Health Care, Education and Clean Energy in Generations

Americans United for Change to Unveil Details of New Television Ad in Support of the President’s Budget to Run in Major Virginia Media Markets

Richmond, VA — As the U.S. House and Senate Budget Committees begin key work this week on President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2010 budget request to Congress, Americans United for Change will host a media conference call with Virginia environmental and health care advocates on Wednesday, March 25 at 2:30 p.m. EDT to encourage Virginia’s congressional delegation to support President Obama’s historic budget plan -- a transformational blueprint for rebuilding and renewing America. In addition, on the call, a representative from Americans United for Change, a national progressive issue-advocacy organization, will announce details of a new ad that will begin airing this week in support of the President’s budget plan on broadcast television in the Richmond, Newport News and Roanoke media markets.

While President Obama inherited the nation’s worst economic crisis in generations and the largest deficit in history, his budget resets America’s priorities in historic fashion to rebuild and renew America for the challenges we face now and in the future. From returning fairness to our tax code, to taking control of the federal deficit, to making significant down payments on health care reform, an energy policy to reverse global climate change, and education, President Obama’s budget is not just a list of line items or plusses and minuses – It is a blueprint for the transformational change Virginians voted for in November. Call participants will encourage Virginia’s congressional delegation to stand up to the special interests who are trying very hard to block this change and hold on to the spoils they reaped from the last eight years.

WHO:

* Julie Blust, Americans United for Change

* Jim Gould, Conservation Project Coordinator, Sierra Club of Virginia

* Jewel Royal — a VA home care worker who does not have insurance and was injured on the job, amassing thousands of dollars in medical bills; Royal exemplifies why major health care reform as outlined in the President’s budget in needed

* Denise Smith, Virginia Organizing Project State Governing Board from Bland County

WHAT: Press Conference Call to Encourage VA Congressional Delegation to Support President Obama’s Historic Budget, Announce Details of New Ad Backing the Plan which will Run in major Virginia media markets

WHEN: Wednesday, March 25 at 2:30 p.m. EDT

Virginia Health Care for America Now Issues New Report: To Fix Virginia’s Economy, We Need To Fix Health Care Now 2-23-09

Release highlights grassroots mobilization in Virginia and 39 other
states pushing for quality, affordable health care for all in 2009

(A full copy of the report is at the end of this media release)

A new report released today by Health Care for America Now (HCAN) shows why we must fix our health care system in order to fix Virginia’s economy. The report, “Next Step: Health Care — To Fix Virginia’s Economy, We Need To Fix Health Care Now,” details how out-of-control health care costs are crippling local businesses, busting state and local budgets, and making it hard for families to afford the health care coverage they need. Similar reports were released in 39 other states around the country.

“We cannot get Virginia’s economy moving again if we don’t fix health care,” said Rev. C. Douglas Smith, executive director of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. “The health care provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are a good first step, but in order to truly get Virginia back on track we need comprehensive, national health care reform, and we need it fast. Current health care costs are unsustainable, and we just cannot afford to wait any more. ”

* From 2000 to 2007, health insurance premiums in Virginia increased by 82.5 percent while median yearly wages increased only 20.2 percent.
* Virginia’s median yearly wage in 2007 was only $31,800 but the average health care premium for a family was $12,198.
* In 2008, the average premium for family coverage in Virginia was $13,423. By 2016, that number is expected to be more than $24,000.

President Obama and 184 Members of Congress support the Health Care for America Now principles for reform and recognize the urgency of broad, comprehensive health care reform this year.

As President Barack Obama said on February 10, 2009, “[T]here are some people who are making the argument that, well, you can’t do anything about health care because the economy comes first. They don’t understand that health care is the biggest component of our economy and, when it’s broken, that affects everything.”

“Special interests profiting from our current broken health care system are going to fight vigorously to oppose change. They’ll claim we can’t afford reform and use everything they can to either maintain the status quo or push through some token measures masquerading as real reform,” said Janice “Jay” Johnson, chairperson of the Virginia Organizing Project. “Enough is enough. The numbers don’t lie. The costs are staggering. We need Congress to join with President Obama and support a national health care solution this year.”

Today’s report release is part of an unprecedented grassroots campaign that launched July 8, 2008 in Washington, D.C., and 52 cities across the country. Health Care for America Now will keep up the drumbeat during the April recess with 50 events including 100 Members of Congress. HCAN is also planning a large-scale event in Washington, D.C., in June as part of the campaign to win quality, affordable health care for all in 2009.

Health Care for America Now (HCAN) is made up of more than 725 organizations representing 30 million people dedicated to winning quality, affordable health care we all can count on. We are doctors, nurses, community organizations, small business owners, faith-based groups, people of color, seniors, children’s and women’s rights groups, and labor unions fighting to achieve a national solution to our health care crisis in 2009.

# # #

Next Step: Health Care
To Fix Virginia’s Economy, We Need To Fix Health Care Now

“[T]here are some people who are making the argument that, well, you can’t do anything about health care because the economy comes first. They don’t understand that health care is the biggest component of our economy and, when it’s broken, that affects everything.”

President Barack Obama
February 10, 2009

Now that Congress has passed the economic recovery package, and President Obama has signed the legislation that will help get our nation moving in the right direction again, we must solve America’s health care crisis. We cannot fix Virginia’s economy and fiscal crisis unless we fix our broken health care system now.

We need a national health care solution in 2009 that controls costs and guarantees quality, affordable health care to everyone in Virginia and America. Skyrocketing health care costs are bankrupting our businesses, busting our state and local government budgets, and harming our families’ financial security.

In order to build a healthy economy, we need to fix our health care system now.

We simply cannot afford the current system and its crushing impact on our economy. Comprehensive, national reform is the only way to get our state back on track.

In Virginia, health insurance premiums have been increasing more than four times faster than wages. It is impossible for businesses, governments and families to keep up. As a result, businesses are laying off workers or closing their doors. Governments are faced with unmanageable deficits. And every 30 seconds, someone in the United States declares bankruptcy due in part to medical costs. The numbers are alarming. In 2008, the average premium for family coverage in Virginia was $13,423. By 2016, that number is expected to be more than $24,000. (See note 1.) This is simply unsustainable. We must control health care costs, and the only way to do that is with comprehensive, national reform that fixes the system and guarantees quality, affordable health care for everyone.

Health care costs strangle state and local budgets.

Like in 46 other states, Virginia has a staggering state budget deficit. This year Virginia faces a $3.7 billion budget shortfall, a gap that has grown 25 percent since December 2008. (See note 2.) Rising health care costs is one of the reasons.

* As of 2007, 15 percent of all Virginia state spending went to Medicaid and SCHIP. $5 billion went to spending on Medicaid alone.
* Virginia has decreased facility reimbursements for special hospitals serving people with needs relating to mental health, mental retardation, or substance abuse.

States like Virginia are struggling to keep up with health care costs both in funding programs like Medicaid and CHIP and in providing their own employees health care coverage. And while states are trying to do the right thing and extend health coverage to children, families, and others who need it—which reduces overall costs by reducing hospital visits and increasing preventive care – these piecemeal solutions will not solve the health care crisis or help jump start the economy. We need a national solution that controls spending and guarantees quality, affordable health care to everyone in America.

The situation in Virginia, as in most states, is getting worse, not better, during the current economic recession. As the number of jobs goes down, the demand for public health care services goes up at the very time when Virginia is already struggling to meet its current responsibilities and obligations. This is why Congress must act now.

Health care costs drain family budgets.

“[E]ven if they’ve got health insurance, the average family has seen their premiums double over the last eight years. Folks are paying twice as much. Co-payments have gotten higher; deductibles have gotten higher. And now, with people losing their jobs, they’re also losing their health care.”

President Barack Obama
February 10, 2009

Nationally, premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose to $12,680 annually for family coverage in 2008. On average, employees pay $3,354 out of their paychecks to cover their share of the cost. (See note 3.)

Health care is increasingly unaffordable to Virginia’s families — even those who have “good” coverage — thanks to rising co-pays, deductibles, and premiums. Every day, Virginia residents are going without the care they need. And every day, families — and businesses — are dropping coverage altogether.

* From 2000 to 2007, premiums in Virginia increased by 82.5 percent, while median earnings rose by only 20.2 percent.
* Virginia’s median yearly wage in 2007 was only $31,800 but the average health care premium for a family is $12,198. (See note 4.)

Health care costs force businesses to lay off workers or close shop.

“Businesses are also less competitive because of the fact that, here in the United States, we spend more than anybody else does. [More than] any other nation on Earth per capita we spend more on health care, but we don’t get better results, and companies are paying for that.”

President Barack Obama
February 10, 2009

For the 63 percent of employers in Virginia who offer health coverage to employees, the skyrocketing cost of health premiums increasingly endangers the business’ ability to provide coverage to employees. Employers are forced to cut benefits or raise employee contributions in order to keep up with soaring premiums. (See note 5.)

* According to a recent survey by the Main Street Alliance—a network of state-based small business health care coalitions—73 percent of small employers say they are willing to contribute financially to achieve quality, affordable health coverage for their employees. 63 percent say they are willing to contribute four to seven percent or more of total payroll costs, and 61 percent said they would have interest in buying into a statewide or national health care pool. (See note 6.)
* Virginia companies spend an average of $7,933 per employee per year for family coverage. (See note 7.) Employers pay approximately 69 percent of the total cost of premiums for family coverage. Employees contribute the remaining 31 percent.
* The cost of employer-paid health coverage premiums in Virginia increased by more than 82 percent from 2000 to 2007. (See note 8.)

The problem is getting worse, not better. More lost jobs means more lost health care coverage.

“COBRA is the law that says that, if you lose your job, you can keep your health care and you go through COBRA. Here’s the only problem: If you’ve lost your job, who can afford $1,000 a month or $1,200 a month for health care? You can’t afford it.”

President Barack Obama
February 10, 2009

* As of December 2008, 222,656 Virginia residents were unemployed. That reflects a loss of 91,021 jobs statewide last year alone, increasing the state unemployment rate by almost 2 percent.
* More than 4 million Virginia residents (over 56 percent) depend on their employers for health care coverage. (See note 9.)
* While 30,792 people will likely enroll in COBRA, which lets workers who lose their jobs continue their health benefits at their own expense, the high cost of COBRA will force an estimated 56,494 people to enroll in Medicaid instead or fend for themselves on the private market. (See note 10.)
* The average Virginia family unemployment insurance benefit is $1,245 per month.
* The average cost of COBRA for a family in Virginia is $1,079, which eats up 86.7 percent of the average family unemployment benefit. (See note 11.)

Conclusion

The urgency to fix America’s broken health care system cannot be overstated. In Virginia and across the nation, families, businesses, and state and local governments are struggling with health care costs that are spiraling out of control. There is no end in sight without a national solution. We need quality, affordable health care we all can count on in 2009.

In the words of President Barack Obama: “My hope is, over the course of the year, I’m going to be able to work with Congress to move forward a bill that gets us on track to every single person in America being able to get affordable, decent health care coverage.”

“We are a wealthy enough country to do it, and that’s going to be one of my top priorities as President of the United States.”

Endnotes

1. “The Cost of Doing Nothing: Why the Cost of Failing to Fix Our Health System is Greater than the Cost of Reform,“ by Sarah Axeen and Elizabeth Carpenter, New America Foundation, p.38, November, 2008.

2. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/02/17/ST2009021700504.html

3. “Employer Health Benefits Survey,” Kaiser Family Foundation, December 2008.

4. Premiums vs. Paychecks: A Growing Burden for Virginia’s Workers

5. State Health Facts: Virginia, Kaiser Family Foundation, Accessed 2/12/09.

6. The Main Street Alliance, “Taking the Pulse of Main Street. Small Businesses, Health Insurance, and Priorities for Reform.” January 2009.

7. Kaiser Family Foundation, State Health Facts, Accessed 2/12/09.

8. Premiums vs. Paychecks: A Growing Burden for Virginia’s Workers

9. “Civilian labor force and unemployment by state and selected area, seasonally adjusted,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1/27/09.

10. Calculations based on: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1/27/09; “Employee Coverage, Eligibility, and Participation,” Kaiser Family Foundation, 9/24/08; State Health Facts: Individual State Profile for Virginia, Published by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Full Methodology Available Upon Request.

11. Families USA, “Squeezed! Caught Between Unemployment Benefits and Health Care Costs,” January 2009.

MILLIONS OF WORKERS WHO LOST THEIR JOBS ARE WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE 2-6-09

New Report Shows that Only 1 Out of 5 Unemployed Workers, Now with Moderate or Low-Incomes,
Have Private Health Coverage; Most are Uninsured

Families USA Also Releases a Consumer Guide for Laid-Off Workers So They Can Explore
Options for Retaining Health Coverage

Washington, D.C. — A new report shows that millions of workers who lost their jobs are losing their health insurance coverage. According to the report, only one out of five (20.8%) unemployed workers, now with low or moderate incomes, have private or military health coverage.

The report, by the health consumer organization Families USA, was issued on the same day that the government released its latest statistics documenting how many people were unemployed in January 2009. The U.S. House of Representatives last week adopted an economic recovery package that includes health coverage relief for laid-off workers, and the Senate is now considering relief measures as well.

The new report focuses on middle-class and lower-income workers with annual incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level ($44,100 in annual income for a family of four). These workers represent half of unemployed workers under 65 years of age and are the most vulnerable economically and at the highest risk of being uninsured. It is this group that is intended to receive special health coverage relief in the economic recovery bill passed by the House (H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009).

Despite their modest incomes, only one in four (25.2%) unemployed workers with incomes below 200 percent of poverty receive health coverage through public safety-net programs such as Medicaid. As a result, more than half (54.0%) of unemployed workers with incomes below 200 percent of poverty are uninsured.

“Losing a job often means losing health coverage,” said Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA. “Most laid-off workers can’t afford COBRA coverage and do not qualify for public health safety-net programs — and, as a result, millions of middle-class and lower-income workers become uninsured.”

The data for the Families USA report were compiled by the Lewin Group, a well-respected health analysis organization, based on U.S. Department of Labor and Census Bureau sources.

According to the report, in virtually every state in the nation, more than half of unemployed workers with family incomes below 200 percent of poverty are uninsured. This is largely due to two factors.

First, many lower-wage workers do not have COBRA protections — the right to continue their employer-based insurance coverage if they pay the entire premium out of their own pocket. And for those workers who do have a COBRA option, the premium is often unaffordable. Average premiums for COBRA coverage consume more than 30 percent of average Unemployment Insurance benefits for individual coverage and almost 84 percent for family coverage.

Second, state Medicaid eligibility levels for adults are very low. For parents, eligibility levels in many states are significantly below the federal poverty level. In fact, even a meager unemployment check can make them ineligible for the program. According to the report, “in 43 states, Medicaid is simply not available for adults without dependent children unless those adults are permanently disabled. Even if those adults are penniless, they are ineligible for Medicaid.”

The House bill is designed to address these problems. It provides a 12-month subsidy for laid-off workers that pays for 65 percent of COBRA premiums; the Senate bill does likewise but only for a period of nine months.

Many laid-off workers are ineligible for COBRA either because their previous employer has gone out of business or has fewer than 20 employees. Recognizing the gap in both availability and affordability of COBRA for moderate-and low-income families, the House bill also establishes temporary Medicaid eligibility for laid-off workers and families relying on unemployment benefits or with incomes below 200 percent of poverty, a measure that is not included in the Senate bill.

At the same time that Families USA released its report about the health insurance status of laid-off workers with incomes below 200 percent of poverty, it also released a consumer guide for laid-off workers to help them retain health care coverage. The guide is designed to provide advice to newly laid-off workers so that they can better understand the potential opportunities and obstacles for retaining health care coverage.

Civic Organizations Urge Assembly Not to Reverse Progress on Verified Voting 2-2-09

A coalition of civic organizations is urging the Virginia General Assembly to stop legislation that would undo the state's move toward verifiable voting. House Bill 2422 and Senate Bill 988 would repeal a current law that forbids the future purchase of direct-recording electronic voting systems.

“Two years ago, the General Assembly passed a bill that would phase out unverifiable electronic voting,” said Alex Blakemore, a computer scientist and founder of Virginia Verified Voting. “All of our neighboring states are moving toward verifiable systems, and today we find Virginia talking about heading backwards. Passing these bills would be a huge mistake for election integrity, and embarrassing for the Commonwealth,” said Blakemore.

Most of Virginia's neighboring states, including North Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland, and Tennessee, have passed laws to require a voter-verifiable paper record.

Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Greyson is urging his state's counties to adopt paper ballot voting systems, and last year 34 Kentucky counties did just that.

Thirty nine states have by law, regulation, or purchasing choice, adopted paper-based voting systems.

The organizations opposing SB 988 and HB 2422 include the League of Women Voters of Virginia, the Libertarian Party of Virginia, the New Electoral Reform Alliance for Virginia, Virginia Verified Voting, Common Cause, Southern Coalition for Secured Voting and the Virginia Organizing Project.

The Senate Privileges and Elections Committee is expected to vote on SB 988 Tuesday afternoon (February 3); the House Campaign Finance subcommittee is expected to vote on HB 2422 Wednesday afternoon (February 4), with a final vote expected on Friday morning (February 6) in the House Privileges and Elections committee.

The nationwide trend toward paper is essential to the integrity of the election process, said Blakemore.

“Without a voter-verifiable paper record, there is no possibility of a meaningful recount, because there is no record independent of the software in the voting machine,” he said.

Long lines are another issue that is alleviated by paper ballot systems.

“In Fairfax County, we had paper ballot systems in every polling place, and we did not have the long lines that were reported in areas with only electronic systems,” said Jeremy Epstein, a computer scientist who served as a poll worker in the 2008 election. “With paper ballot optical scan systems, only one scanning machine is needed in the polling place, and more voters can vote at the same time than in a polling place with only electronic machines.”

Scientists from government laboratories, the private sector, and universities have warned that when voting systems provide no voter-verified paper record, there is no way to be verify that error or tampering has not occurred.

“If these bills pass, most Virginia voters will cast ballots on systems that cannot prove their accuracy,” said Epstein.

REPORT: State Health Safety Nets, Economies Stand to Gain from Recovery Package 1-28-09

New Report Contains State-By-State Data Detailing Economic Impact
of Economic Recovery Package Moving Through Congress

Economic Boost to Come at a Critical Moment, as Recession Forces More States to Make or Plan
Cuts in Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs

Washington, D.C. – A report released today by Families USA, the national organization for health care consumers, details what each state can expect to receive in temporary additional Medicaid funds in the economic recovery package moving through Congress and the impact of that funding on each state’s economy.

The recovery package in the U.S. House of Representatives contains $87 billion in additional federal Medicaid funds for all states, which includes a 4.9 percent increase in each state’s federal matching support for Medicaid, often referred to as FMAP. This funding is a critical response to state cuts being made in Medicaid programs at a time when more people need access to this important health safety net.

Today’s new report, titled “Critical Care,” projects on a state-by-state basis the impact of each state’s specific FMAP increase on the state’s business activity, along with job retention and associated wages.

The report also catalogues the 25 states and the District of Columbia that have planned or are making cuts to Medicaid or children’s health coverage through one or a combination of four different methods: (1) reducing enrollment and eligibility in those programs; (2) cutting program benefits; (3) increasing required out-of-pocket costs for program enrollees; and (4) reducing payments to health care providers who, as a consequence, may refuse to treat Medicaid and CHIP patients. Among the report’s findings are the following:

* Reducing enrollment: 12 states (AZ, CA, CT, FL, MN, NV, OR, RI, SC, TN, UT, and WA) have enacted or are considering cuts that would reduce eligibility or limit enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP. This is an increase of four states from a Families USA report titled “A Painful Recession,” released in December 2008.

* Cutting benefits: 20 states (CA, FL, GA, ID, KS, LA, MA, ME, MN, NE, NV, NY, OR, RI, SC, TN, UT, VT, VA, and WA) and the District of Columbia have enacted or are considering reductions in benefits covered by Medicaid or CHIP, such as dental care, vision care, hearing services, and home and community-based services for people with disabilities who may now need to stay in nursing homes instead of moving back into their own homes. This is an increase of eight states from the Families USA December report.

* Increased out-of-pocket costs: Eight states (CA, ME, NE, NY, RI, SC, UT, and VT) have enacted or are considering increases in low-income people’s out-of-pocket costs in Medicaid or CHIP, which may make program participation unaffordable. This is an increase of three states from the Families USA December report.

* Health provider cuts: 19 states (CA, FL, GA, ID, IL, KS, LA, MA, MD, ME, MN, NV, NH, NY, OR, SC, UT, VA, and WA) and the District of Columbia have reduced or are considering reductions in payments to health care providers serving Medicaid and CHIP enrollees. Such rate cuts mean that these enrollees will have a harder time finding a health care provider to treat them. This is an increase of six states from the Families USA December report.

The report notes that 45 states and the District of Columbia face budget shortfalls because of the economic downturn. The cuts couldn’t come at worse time for American families, however, because an estimated one million people — 400,000 adults and 600,000 children — become eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program with every 1 percent rise in the national unemployment rate.

“At a time when more and more families face their own economic crises and the loss of their health coverage, states are cutting back on their health care safety nets,” Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA, said today, “The increased federal funding will help protect families while giving an important economic boost to states.”

The Families USA report analyzes the potential economic boost of the FMAP increase through the use of the U.S. Department of Commerce RIMS II economic input-out model. The RIMS II model is widely used to analyze the economic impact on states of projects or events such as hospital expansion military base closings, airport construction, and tourism.

The new Families USA report is available at http://www.familiesusa.org/assets/pdfs/critical-care.pdf

Recommended Blueprint for Virginia's Response to the 2008-2010 Revenue Shortfall 12-12-08

Statement from the Virginia Organizing Project

It has already been projected that the Commonwealth of Virginia will face a budget deficit of an estimated $973.6 million in fiscal year 2009 and $1.54 billion in fiscal year 2010. New estimates suggest that the biennial revenue shortfall may be $3.2 billion or higher ($686 million greater than the October estimate).

In the face of these expected deficits, the Virginia Organizing Project (VOP) applauds Governor Tim Kaine’s efforts to limit the number of state employee layoffs and the reduction of state services as he and the Virginia General Assembly move to close these anticipated shortfalls. The Governor’s October recommendations to use $250 million in bond proceeds in place of cash capital outlay appropriations, to withdraw $400 million from the Revenue Stabilization Fund, to replace approximately $57 million in state general funds with other sources (including federal funds), and to reduce expenditures in his own office are to be commended as wise and expedient measures in the current fiscal crisis.

We do urge the Governor and the General Assembly, however, to go much further in this regard, since any reduction in state services and any increase in state government layoffs at this time will actually postpone economic recovery and delay the return of fiscal stability. Recognized by economists for nearly a century, the paradox of thrift is a reality. Cuts in spending and increases in savings will depress economic activity and revenue, especially during a recession. State government “belt-tightening” during a fiscal crisis actually worsens its impact. In this light, VOP regards cuts to public schools, public safety, transportation, and reduction of aid to local governments as measures of last resort, to be kept to an absolute minimum.

The Virginia Organizing Project also recognizes that the Commonwealth has at its disposal the means to address this crisis in a much more positive way to prevent a deeper crisis. By doing so, we can also avoid customary repercussions, such as higher college tuition and higher property taxes. To offset part of or the entire projected revenue shortfall, VOP urges the Commonwealth to abide by three principles:

1. Use the legal maximum amount from the Revenue Stabilization Fund (50 percent of the expected shortfall or fund total, whichever is less) for fiscal years 2009 and 2010. Under current deficit projections for 2009 this would be $86.8 million greater than the total currently recommended by the governor (for a new total withdrawal of $486.8 million). To stave off further shortfalls and economic decline, it is wise to withdraw the maximum amount from this fund at the earliest possible moment in any economic and fiscal recession. Setting aside more for later will only force larger deficits at that later date.

2. Propose reductions in planned expenditures so that they will match but not exceed the estimated shortfall. Under current projections, the cuts already recommended exceed the anticipated deficit by $151 million. While deficit forecasts may soon be adjusted upward by no small amount, there is no compelling economic reason for the state to recommend cuts that exceed the projected deficit by any amount. The likelihood of significant federal aid to state Medicaid and infrastructure programs makes it even less wise to recommend cuts greater than the expected shortfall. While it may seem prudent to leave a larger cushion in the event of further, as yet unseen deterioration, the larger this amount, the greater will be the reductions in economic activity and revenue affected by this fiscal contraction.

3. For larger deficits, very likely to appear in FY 2010, use modest progressive tax reform to raise additional revenue. VOP has in recent years identified at least three distinct ways that this could be accomplished. Because all three are based upon the taxpayer’s “ability-to-pay” and represent changes that would increase revenue, promote economic activity and stability, and result in the lowest possible rates for the greatest number of Virginians, they ought to be considered closely at any time. In a fiscal crisis such as the one we are now facing, they are even more appropriate and beneficial. Our recommended tax reform options are:

Option A: Eliminate State Income Tax Deduction for Federal Excess Itemized Deductions, for Virginia taxpayers with over 50K adjusted gross income (single) or $100K adjusted gross income (married, filing jointly) (Virginia Resident Form 760, Line 10)

* All taxpayers permitted to use existing standard deduction ($6,000 for joint returns; $3,000 for single taxpayers)
* Introduces a progressive change that flattens the regressive slant at the top of the state’s income tax structure
* Raises an estimated $876 million annually (approx. $230 million of which would be returned to Virginia taxpayers due to increased federal tax deductions)

Option B: Modernize State Income Tax Brackets (rates for the bottom two tax brackets haven’t been modified since 1919)

Current Brackets:
$0-3,000: 2%*
$3,001-5,000: 3%
$5,001-17,000: 5%
$17,001 and up: 5.75%

* Had this bracket been adjusted for inflation, the upper limit would be approximately $33,000

Modernized Brackets

$0-4,999: 2%
$5,000-29,999: 4%
$30,000-49,999: 6%
$50,000-99,999: 7%
$100,000 and up: 7.5%
Total Change:

Revenue Change

-$68,977
-$114,935,848
-$190,077,550
-$78,230,140
+$770,506,366
+$387,193,851

Option C: Add Two New Upper Brackets (Personal Income Tax)

New Bracket

6.75% (all taxable income > $100,000 <= $200,000
7.75% (all taxable income > $200,000

Total:

Estimated New Revenue

$350 million
$422 million

$722 million

Implications of VOP Tax Reform Proposals

Option A: Eliminate State Income Tax Deduction for Federal Excess Itemized Deductions (Above 50K, single returns; above 100K, married-joint returns)

* For tax returns with over $100K in adjusted gross income (single and married, filing jointly), this change would affect 13.7 percent of Virginia tax returns. For tax returns with over $50K in adjusted gross income (single only), this change would affect another 6.9 percent of Virginia tax returns.
* With a standard deduction set for $11,400 (married, filing jointly), plus $1,000 for new property tax standard deduction in 2009, it is very likely that many fewer Virginians, at that point and beyond, would be affected by this change (since greater numbers would then elect to take the federal standard deduction).
* Example of Joint Return, with 2 dependent children, 80K Adjusted Gross Income, and $16,000 in itemized deductions on federal return. Additional Virginia income tax under reformed structure = $0
* Example of Joint Return, with 2 dependent children, 105K Adjusted Gross Income, and $18,000 in itemized deductions on federal return. Additional Virginia income tax under reformed structure = $356. Reduction in federal taxable income due to this (federally deductible) state tax increase = $89. Aggregate additional tax = $267
* Example of Joint Return, with 2 dependent children, 125K Adjusted Gross Income, and $20,000 in itemized deductions on federal return. Additional Virginia income tax under reformed structure = $460. Reduction in federal taxable income due to this (federally deductible) state tax increase = $115. Aggregate additional tax = $345
* Example of Joint Return, with 2 dependent children, 150K Adjusted Gross Income, and $25,000 in itemized deductions on federal return. Additional Virginia income tax under reformed structure = $684. Reduction in federal taxable income due to this (federally deductible) state tax increase = $171. Aggregate additional tax = $513

Option B: Modernize State Income Tax Brackets

Hypothetical returns, all married, filing jointly, with 2 dependent children:

* $20K Adjusted Gross Income
* Current Tax = $390
* New Tax = $316 (Income tax reduction of $74)

* $60K Adjusted Gross Income (Slightly Above Virginia Family Median)
* Current Tax = $2,640
* New Tax = $2,328 (Income tax reduction of $312)

* $100K Adjusted Gross Income
* Current Tax = $4,894
* New Tax = $5,128 (+$234)
* Federal Tax Reduction = -$59
* Aggregate additional tax = $175

* $150K Adjusted Gross Income
* Current Tax = $7,815
* New Tax = $8,830 (+$1,015)
* Federal Tax Reduction = -$254
* Aggregate additional tax = $761

Option C: Add Two New Upper Brackets (Personal Income Tax)

Hypothetical returns, all married, filing jointly, with 2 dependent children, added tax:

* $150K Adjusted Gross Income:
* Current Tax = $7,815
* New Tax = $8,219 (+$404)
* Federal Tax Reduction = -$101
* Aggregate additional tax = $303

* $250K Adjusted Gross Income:
* Current Tax = $13,566
* New Tax = $15,373 (+$1,807)
* Federal Tax Reduction = -$506
* Aggregate additional tax = $1301

The Virginia Organizing Project (VOP) is a statewide grassroots organization dedicated to challenging injustice by empowering people in local communities to address issues that affect the quality of their lives. As a non-partisan organization, VOP especially encourages the participation of those who have traditionally had little or no voice in our society. By building relationships with diverse individuals and groups throughout the state, VOP strives to get them to work together, democratically and non-violently, for change.

Created in 1998, the VOP Tax Reform Committee is a non-partisan body of citizens, advocates, and scholars who work to create a sound and fair tax system for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The Virginia Organizing Project is active in getting people to vote 11-3-08

The Virginia Organizing Project, a non-partisan statewide grassroots organization, has been working hard all year to encourage people to exercise their fundamental right to vote.

"We have worked in hundreds of communities, distributing non-partisan voter guides, encouraging people to register to vote and performing a wide range of get-out-the-vote activities," said Janice "Jay" Johnson, chairperson of the Virginia Organizing Project.

"From the country roads in Scott County to African-American communities in Hampton Roads, from Latino neighborhoods in northern Virginia to working class communities in Danville, from suburban areas in Fredericksburg to middle class neighborhoods in Salem, we have been very busy encouraging people to raise their voices and participate in the democratic process," Johnson said.

"The message carried by our volunteer canvassers, our staff and our 72 interns is truly a Commonwealth message," Johnson said. "We each may have our own unique problems, but the solutions come from everybody working together."

"Drawing on my experience canvassing this summer, I've been working with other interns at the College of William and Mary in non-partisan canvassing," Addie Alexander, VOP Intern, said. "Last Saturday, for example, we covered a huge area of Williamsburg with 50 students who distributed informational door-hangers. On Election Day, we will be coordinating rides to the polls, helping those who’ve been turned away for lack of proper ID, and doing whatever else we can to ensure that everyone who registered to vote gets to vote!"

The Virginia Organizing Project is also involved in many other civic engagement activities throughout the year, providing leadership training to individuals and groups who want to make their communities better through changes in local and state policies.

"We have helped communities develop programs so that all school facilities are accessible for everyone," said Sandra Cook, VOP vice-chairperson. "We have worked with groups to get more affordable housing and better health care for children. Working for the common good is what we are all about."

"But right now, we are concentrating on getting everyone to cast their ballot on Election Day," Cook said.

Virginia Forest Watch Celebrates Ten Years, Hires New Director 10-28-08

The Virginia Forest Watch, a non-profit organization which promotes forest conservation, is celebrating ten years of advocacy on November 8 at Hollins University. Virginia Forest Watch plans a silent auction, live music, readings by Virginia authors and refreshments. Virginia Forest Watch capped ten years of advocacy for forest conservation in Virginia with the hiring of a new executive director and a staff forester. The board of directors is hosting a Tenth Anniversary Celebration on November 8, 2008, at Hollins University Chapel. Bud Watson, former staff to a partner organization, replaced Steve Brooks under whose leadership Virginia Forest Watch has grown since its founding in 1998. Watson worked in the southeast region for the Model Forest Policy Program before taking the helm at Virginia Forest Watch. Bud is the founding director of the Virginia office of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and the first executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Department. "We value VAFW's history of work to conserve and defend the public and private forests of Virginia," said Sarah Francisco, staff attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center out of Charlottesville. What started in 1998 with a few dedicated volunteers from Southwest Virginia has become a significant statewide organization. "It all began when we became aware of the expansion of chip mills in the southeastern United States," explained Dave Muhly, the first chairman of the group. "We convinced the General Assembly to pass legislation to set up a Chip Mill Study." The following year the "Neighborhood Forest Watch" program was set up, with citizens from across the state informing VAFW of logging jobs in their communities. "We informed the Virginia Department of Forestry of these jobs so that the agency could assure the logging jobs were not causing pollution of our streams," stated Jerry Gray, president of VAFW. "As a result we learned that the Department of Forestry had not been notified of over half of the logging jobs as required by law, and when inspected a great number of logging jobs were causing stream pollution." "In 2001 we were able to get the legislature to pass another bill which put teeth into the logger notification law," Gray continued "the following year the number of notifications increased tri-fold and the number of water quality violations went down." Virginia Forest Watch still performs its Neighborhood Forest Watch function, and has grown to include forest landowner education in its programs. Jason Woodfin, previously a consulting forester from Charlottesville, joined the staff to promote sustainable forestry practices on private land in Virginia. Woodfin has launched a forest landowner forum on the internet at www.forestlandownerva.com. Virginia Forest Watch remains an advocate for the lawful management of the National Forests in Virginia. Staff member Sherman Bamford of Roanoke remains on dedicated watch of our National Forests for all the ecosystem services and benefits to us which our forests provide. Visit www.virginiaforestwatch.org for information about forest planning and logging projects on the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. "Time and time again we hear from citizens who are glad that we are working to defend their favorite outdoor places," said Sherman Bamford of Virginia Forest Watch. "Our national forests are full of natural treasures that should be safeguarded. Unfortunately, there are new threats everyday, like proposed logging in flood-prone Root Run watershed in Rockingham County, in the Toms Branch roadless area in Alleghany County, in the horse-riding country of Fry Hill in the Mt. Rogers National Recreation area, and in the upper reaches of Roaring Branch Virginia Mountain Treasure area in Lee County. With citizens working together, we are moving towards the day when we can say our national forests are truly protected." The Tenth Anniversary Celebration at Hollins University is open to the public. Local favorites Blue Mule will perform. Nature writers Chris Bolgiano and Fred First will share their passions for our forested landscapes. Items in the silent auction are listed on the web page. To RSVP and learn more about Virginia Forest Watch go to www.virginiaforestwatch.org or call 276-479-2176.

New Report available: Virginia Has Eight-Fold Increase in Voter Registration at Public Assistance Agencies after Reforming Procedures 10-20-08

Virginia has this year taken a number of steps to be in full compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, specifically its requirement that states provide voter registration services in public assistance agencies, according to a new report published this week by Demos, a national election reform and voting rights policy center.

Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) with two primary aims: increasing voter registration opportunities and ensuring the integrity of the voting process. Yet, while most states created effective programs for mail-in and Department of Motor Vehicles-based registration processes, many neglected the NVRA's Section 7 requirement that states offer voter registration in public assistance agencies.

The new study published this week, entitled Expanding Voter Registration for Low-Income Virginians: The Impact of the National Voter Registration Act, details how the state's public assistance voter registration services, as mandated by the NVRA, had lapsed in recent years. In April 2008 Demos, along with local groups Democracy South, the Virginia Organizing Project, and the Virginia Conference of the NAACP, notified the State Board of Elections and the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) of their declining registration numbers in public assistance offices. The state responded almost immediately to help bring the state into full compliance with the law by following a set of recommendations developed in collaboration with Demos and its partners.

For a press release about this study, go to: http://www.demos.org/page669.cfm

And here’s an online version of the report: http://www.demos.org/pubs/NVRA_VA.pdf

Many Virginia precincts at risk of long lines on Election Day 10-17-08

Virginia voting groups warn that new registrations, limited resources combine to leave some localities no room for error

A huge increase in voter registrations statewide, combined with a decision on the part of many localities to continue using only touchscreen voting machines, means voters in some areas should expect long lines this Election Day.

The number of registered voters in Virginia climbed by more than 300,000 this year, according to the State Board of Elections (SBE). This, coupled with the expected record turnout rate for this year's Presidential election, would have posed challenges for many jurisdictions under any circumstances.

However, the problem is likely to be greater in localities that still use direct record electronic voting machines (DREs) as their only method of voting on Election Day. Some localities have barely the statutory minimum number of DREs, currently one machine per 750 registered voters, and a few may not have even that many, once the last registrations have been processed. And some voter groups say that the legal minimum is not nearly great enough to serve all the voters expected to turn out for this election.

"We would prefer to see one DRE per no more than 500 voters," said Ivy Main, Policy Director of the election reform group New Era for Virginia." And even below 500 you might see problems if there are local races or bond issues that keep each voter standing at the machines for two minutes or more."

Joseph Waymack of the Southern Coalition for Secured Voting also expressed concern over Virginia's standard, noting that North Carolina uses one DRE for every 250 voters.

Dr. Alex Blakemore of Virginia Verified Voting analyzed the numbers of registered voters and the number of available DREs across the state, as reported to the SBE, to determine which localities were at greatest risk. His research showed that a number of jurisdictions are close to the minimum requirement, and many more fall into the 500-750 range. (Please see chart at http://virginia-organizing.org/voterg.pdf. Note that numbers are based on registrations posted as of September 30.)

Many of the jurisdictions at greatest risk have relatively small populations, but some are of special concern because they have multiple races on the ballot. Suffolk, for example, has mayoral, city council and school board races on the ballot in addition to the presidential and congressional races. With 670 voters per DRE, voters may face significant wait times. And Staunton would need just 12 more voters in one of its precincts to exceed the statutory minimum.

The largest jurisdiction of concern is Prince William County, with 392 DREs for 206,956 registered voters -- an average of 528 voters per machine.

"That ratio suggests we might see long lines at some Prince William precincts, though the short ballot this year will make up somewhat for the higher turnout," said Dr. Blakemore. "But the question you then have to ask is, what happens if the machines break down?"

Some DREs break down in almost every statewide election, he pointed out, so the local electoral board's backup plan is crucial to the election proceeding smoothly. With no surplus of machines to replace ones that are not quickly repaired and put back into operation, the ability to provide voters with paper ballots will be critical. However, the county has announced plans to provide only 300 paper ballots to each precinct, regardless of the number of voters registered for that location. "With some precincts having more than 4,000 registered voters, 300 ballots would not last long," Dr. Blakemore pointed out. "And then what?"

His group, as well as New Era for Virginia and other voter groups in the Verifiable Voting Coalition of Virginia (VVCV), believes the SBE should direct all the jurisdictions that use DREs to prepare a number of paper ballots equal to at least 25 percent of the number of registered voters, and to begin using them immediately if a machine breaks down.

Because the official ballots can't be just photocopied as needed on Election Day without a cumbersome authorization process, the groups say, it would be better to start out with too many ballots, and have to recycle the leftovers, than to start with too few, and risk losing the votes of those who can't wait.

It would have been even better, Dr. Blakemore added, if jurisdictions like Prince William County had followed the lead of counties like Fairfax and Arlington, which used DREs in past years but purchased optical scanning machines this year. With this system, voters mark paper ballots and feed them into a scanner, a system that can accommodate many more voters. The two counties will offer both voting methods this November in every precinct, and plan to have enough paper ballots for every registered voter.

Voters who prefer the touchscreen machines will be able to vote on them, but Dr. Blakemore encourages voters to choose paper ballots, which provide a paper trail and will be preserved for use in the case of a recount. And because the scanning process is so fast, wait times are minimal. "Fairfax County even plans to have clipboards available so that voters who don't want to wait for a privacy booth can vote using paper ballots as soon as they have been checked in," said Blakemore.

In addition to Fairfax and Arlington Counties, the cities of Williamsburg and Charlottesville purchased optical scanning machines this year. Suffolk purchased one such machine to serve its largest precinct, freeing up some DREs to use in other precincts.

For more information, contact:

* Dr. Alex Blakemore, Virginia Verified Voting, at 703-627-6569, alexblakemore@comcast.net.
* Ivy Main, New Era for VA, at 703-967-2876, ivymain@cox.net.
* Joseph Waymack, Southern Coalition for Secured Voting, at 804-926-0215, josephwaymack@yahoo.com.
______________________

The Verifiable Voting Coalition of Virginia formed in 2006 to advocate for legislation making the voting process more secure and reliable, and to provide voters with a voter-verifiable paper audit trail. Successful initiatives have included the ban on new DRE purchases, improved certification requirements for election machines, a ban on highly-insecure wireless communication in new voting machines, and improved procedures for election recounts. The VVCV includes Virginia Verified Voting, the League of Women Voters of Virginia, New Era for Virginia, Common Cause, the Southern Coalition for Secured Voting, and the Virginia Organizing Project, among others.

HEALTH CARE PREMIUMS ROSE MORE THAN FOUR TIMES FASTER THAN EARNINGS IN VIRGINIA FROM 2000 TO 2007 9-30-08

Virginia-Specific Report Finds that Premiums Rose by 82.5 Percent
While Earnings Rose by Only 20.2 Percent

Washington, D.C. -- Family health care premiums rose an estimated 4.1 times faster than earnings for Virginia's workers from 2000 to 2007, according to a report issued today by the consumer health organization Families USA. In that eight-year period, family health care premiums rose by 82.5 percent while median earnings rose by only 20.2 percent.

The Families USA report for Virginia updates its 2006 report, which was the first of its kind to document these changes on a state-specific basis. Among the key findings in the new report are:

* For family health coverage provided through the workplace in Virginia, annual health insurance premiums in the 2000-2007 period rose from $6,684 to $12,198 -- an increase of $5,514, or 82.5 percent.
* Between 2000 and 2007, the median earnings of Virginia's workers increased from $26,459 to $31,800 – an increase of $5,341, or 20.2 percent.

According to the report, the disproportionately high increases in insurance premiums occurred despite the provision of "thinner coverage" to workers -- coverage that offers fewer benefits and/or that comes with higher deductibles, copayments, and co-insurance. As a result, Virginia families are paying more but receiving less in health care coverage.

"This is a serious issue. Virginians are spending more and more for health insurance and getting less and less coverage," said Janice "Jay" Johnson, chairperson of the Virginia Organizing Project, a statewide grassroots organization that works on a variety of social justice issues.

"The foundation of our health care system is that people normally get insurance through their jobs. That foundation is weakening in Virginia," said John McInerney, health policy director of The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis. "The latest Census data shows a substantial decline in the number and percentage of Virginians getting their health insurance through their employer. And, for those lucky enough to get coverage through their jobs, their costs are going up. For individual coverage, Virginia workers now pay the highest percentage of the premium costs of any other state in the country."

The Families USA report concludes that the confluence of higher health costs and slow wage growth is causing a growing number of Virginia families to join the ranks of the uninsured and underinsured. The number of non-elderly uninsured people in Virginia is approximately 1.05 million, which is 15.6 percent of the non-elderly population.

"Skyrocketing health care costs were a problem in Virginia before the current economic downturn, and slow wage growth or job losses now only make matters worse," said Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA. "As health care becomes less and less affordable, Virginians face difficult choices in trying to provide health coverage for themselves and their families. A bad situation is clearly growing worse."

The key findings in the report provide data concerning premiums for family health coverage as well as individual coverage. They also break out the premium costs paid by employers and those paid by employees. The key findings include:

* For family health coverage in Virginia, the employer's portion of annual premiums in the 2000-2007 period rose from $4,619 to $8,380--an increase of $3,762, or 81.4 percent.
* For family health coverage, the worker's portion of annual premiums rose from $2,065 to $3,818 -- an increase of $1,753, or 84.9 percent.
* For individual health coverage, the employer's portion of annual premiums rose from $2,051 to $3,299 -- an increase of $1,247, or 60.8 percent.
* For individual health coverage, the worker's portion of annual premiums rose from $523 to $1,042 -- an increase of $519, or 99.4 percent.

According to the report, these fast-rising health care costs are causing increasing numbers of people to go into debt. The report cites a study that found that more than half of bankruptcies are now due, at least in part, to problems with medical costs.

"If this troubling trend continues, the health care affordability crisis will get much worse and many more Virginians will become uninsured and underinsured," said Pollack. "If earnings continue to lag behind fast-rising health care costs, Virginians will face diminishing economic and health security.

"In their daily efforts to make ends meet -- particularly in these difficult economic times – families in Virginia know that health care is one of the top issues facing our nation. This is just one more reason why health care is going to be one of the top issues on the minds of voters when they go to the polls in November."

The Families USA report is based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

A copy of this report and the methodology are available at http://www.familiesusa.org/assets/pdfs/premiums-vs-paychecks-2008/virginia.pdf.

Denise Smith picked as a Virginia spokesperson for national campaign 9-9-08

Rocky Gap resident Denise Smith has been chosen as a Virginia spokesperson for the Campaign for Community Values, a national coalition of more than 300 grassroots community organizations that is changing public policy to make America work for everyone.
Smith has been on the State Governing Board of the Virginia Organizing Project since 1995. The Virginia Organizing Project is a statewide social justice group that is working with the Center for Community Change on the campaign.

"I am really honored to help raise my voice so that we can all work for the common good," said Denise Smith. "No matter what political affiliation we are, we need to make sure that everyone has adequate health care, a good education, access to good jobs and enjoy the freedoms that make this country great."

Tammi Nichols of Prince George County and Karen Waters of Charlottesville were also selected as Virginia spokespeople.

"We are so excited to have Denise Smith, Tammi Nichols and Karen Waters representing the Campaign for Community Values as Virginia spokespeople," said Gabe Gonzalez, national campaign director. "Their voices, their stories, help us define the American experience. As a spokespeople for the campaign, they will help lead our efforts for real change for real people."

Immigrants Deserve Recognition for their Contribution to our Military 8-27-08

In anticipation of today's speech by Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia, Sandra Cook, vice chairperson of the Virginia Organizing Project, made the following statement:

"We applaud the Democratic National Convention for setting aside time to recognize the brave men and women in our military. But as Sen. Jim Webb talks about the sacrifices made, we hope he will take time to acknowledge that many of the people fighting on our behalf are waging another battle stateside – the right to a be a citizen.

"It is not reflective of our American values that we’ll readily allow immigrants to fight in our battles, but are so reluctant to recognize their contributions by granting them citizenship that some have died before receiving it. Immigrants fight for this country because they share our values, share our prosperity, and share our sacrifices. They recognize that our country is at its best when we all work together, when we recognize everyone’s inherent value. Immigrants are part of our community, part of our military, part of America.

"So when Sen. Webb takes the podium tonight to pay tribute to our armed forces, we hope he will reserve a line or two for the immigrants fighting for our country. That would go a long way in honoring and thanking them for their sacrifice, and helping build a path to citizenship for the immigrants who have helped build our nation’s path to freedom."

The Virginia Organizing Project (VOP) is a statewide grassroots organization dedicated to challenging injustice by empowering people in local communities to address issues that affect the quality of their lives. VOP especially encourages the participation of those who have traditionally had little or no voice in our society. By building relationships with individuals and groups throughout the state, VOP strives to get them to work together, democratically and non-violently, for change.

Virginia Health Care for America Now challenges Anthem 7-25-08

Virginia Organizing Project releases report highlighting profits
for Virginia health insurance companies at Anthem headquarters

Richmond, VA -- Today, the Virginia Organizing Project (VOP) and other allies, under the banner of the national Health Care for America Now campaign, staged a demonstration in front of the corporate headquarters of the health insurance company Anthem. Demonstrators came to Anthem's Virginia offices to expose how high premiums and excess profits by health insurers put affordable health care out of reach for millions of insured and uninsured people.
The event was part of the Health Care for America Now (HCAN) campaign which is holding similar events in 45 states in the next few months to highlight the need for quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

"In 2009, we will either have a guarantee of quality, affordable health care we all can count on or we will continue to be at the mercy of the private health insurance industry that is charging us more, giving us less and putting company profits before our health," said Sandra Cook, vice-chairperson of the Virginia Organizing Project. "Companies like Anthem that are reaping huge profits -- while consumers struggle with cost, access and quality -- need to decide whether they want to continue to be part of the problem or whether they are sincere about solutions."

"Thousands of Virginians are dealing with a lack of access to quality affordable health care EVERY SINGLE DAY," Cook said. "We believe that this is a very complex problem with complicated solutions, and we feel that the insurance industry must play a role in those solutions. That is why we are here today in front of Anthem, releasing the report, 'Insuring Health or Ensuring Profit? -- A Snapshot of the Health Insurance Industry in the United States,' which was compiled by another Health Care for America Now partner, the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations."

The report looks at recent financial trends for major national health insurance companies, as well as subsidiaries of national and regional companies and independent insurers in 26 states, including Virginia. Among its findings:

* The annual profits of Anthem Health Plans (the state's Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee and a WellPoint subsidiary), rose by 22.7 percent between 2004 and 2007.
* While profits grew during this three-year period, the company's membership remained steady at 0.9 percent growth.
* Anthem's Per Member Per Month (PMPM) profit grew by 21.7 percent between 2004 and 2007, hitting $27.43 in 2006 and $25.83 in 2007.

"The health care crisis isn't just about the 47 million uninsured people in this country. Millions more -- in fact, the vast majority -- are insured people who are struggling with cost and access despite the fact that they are paying their premiums and actually have coverage. We need a national solution to guarantee quality, affordable health care for all, not more rhetoric from the health insurance industry which claims to be part of the solution, but which we all know is really the problem," said Shamerine Barber, a college student from Wise, Virginia. "I think that the well-being of everyone is necessary for the future of our nation."

Two weeks ago, Health Care for America Now campaign launched with events in 52 cities (including 38 state capitals) across the country. Between now and election day, the group plans to spend $25 million in paid media and have 100 organizers in 45 states. In the coming months, the Virginia Organizing Project and other HCAN partners in Virginia are planning a series of public forums across the state to educate the public about insurance profits and bad practices in the industry that maximize profits over people's health.

$40 Million Health Care Campaign Launched in Virginia and Nationwide 7-8-08

Media Contact: Ben Greenberg, Legislative Director, Virginia Organizing Project (804) 467-8212

$40 Million Health Care Campaign Launched in Virginia and Nationwide

Community Leaders in Virginia Join Together to Push for Quality, Affordable Health Care for Every American

Today, in Richmond and in 52 other cities across the country, including 37 state capitals, a new national campaign is bringing together millions of Americans to demand quality, affordable health care for all. Health Care for America Now (HCAN) is being launched by 95 national and local groups that represent labor, community organizations, doctors, nurses, women, small businesses, faith-based organizations, people of color, netroots activists, and think tanks. Health Care for America Now is organizing to assure that the first order of business of the next President and Congress is to pass legislation in 2009 that guarantees quality, affordable health care for all.

Health Care for America Now is an unprecedented coalition including ACORN, AFSCME, American Academy of Pediatricians, American Nurses Association, Americans United for Change, Campaign for America's Future, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Center for Community Change, MoveOn, National Alliance on Mental Illness, National Education Association, National Women's Law Center, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, SEIU, United Food and Commercial Workers, and USAction.

"In 2009, we will either have a guarantee of quality, affordable health care we all can count on or we will continue to be at the mercy of the private health insurance industry that is charging us more, giving us less and putting company profits before our health," said Ladelle McWhorter, secretary of the Virginia Organizing Project. "Here in Virginia and in communities all across the country, we're asking one question, 'Which side are you on?' Are you on the side of quality, affordable health care? Or are you on the side of being left alone to fend for yourself in a complicated, bureaucratic insurance market?"

Starting today, the campaign is spending an initial $1.5 million on national television, print, and online advertising and is sending out e-mails to more than 5 million people. Over the next five months, Health Care for America Now plans to spend $25 million in paid media and have 100 organizers in 45 states.

According to Jill Hanken, staff attorney at the Virginia Poverty Law Center, "This national problem is very apparent in Virginia, where there are one million uninsured people and an extremely restrictive Medicaid program that fails to cover thousands of very poor adults whose families live on less than $10,000 a year."

Hanken added, "People with health insurance are also affected by escalating premiums and larger co-pays that are now piling on top of higher food and gas prices. There are 25 million adults in the U.S. who can't afford their health care costs even though they have insurance. A national solution is critical."

"America has a proud tradition of individual responsibility and hard work, but we also have a proud tradition of coming together to overcome common challenges," said Ali Faruk, policy analyst with the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. "Caring for the sick and needy is God’s work and health care for all is just the kind of challenge that can and will bring out the best in Americans when we unite for it."

Health Care for America Now started with a financial commitment of at least $500,000 from each of the 13 steering committee members and a $10 million grant from NY-based Atlantic Philanthropies.

Health Care for America Now ("HCAN"), a section 501(c)(4) issue advocacy organization, is a broad coalition of nonprofit and political organizations that are working to promote quality, affordable health care for all Americans. HCAN and each of its members conduct and fund only activities appropriate to its tax and election law status.

Health Care For America Now 7-7-08

CONTACT: Ben Greenberg, VOP Legislative Director (804) 467-8212

WHO: Leaders of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, Virginia Poverty Law Center, Virginia Organizing Project

WHAT: Launch of the $40 million Health Care for America Now campaign

WHEN: Tuesday, July 8, 2008 -- 11:00 a.m.

WHERE: House Briefing Room, First Floor, General Assembly Building, Richmond, Virginia

$40 Million Health Care Campaign to Launch in Virginia and Nationwide

Community Leaders Push for Quality, Affordable Health Care for Every American

Health Care for America Now, an unprecedented coalition of major organizations including labor unions, large community-based membership groups, women's groups, doctors, nurses, small businesses, and leading netroots activists, will launch a new $40 million campaign to push for quality, affordable health care for every American.

The coalition will hold a media conference on Tuesday, July 8 at 11:00 a.m. in the House Briefing Room, First Floor of the General Assembly Building in Richmond to outline the mission of the campaign and how it will affect people here in Virginia.

Along with the event in Richmond, the campaign will be hosting launch events in 52 cities (including 37 state capitals) across the country. Between now and election day, the group plans to spend $25 million in paid media and have 100 organizers in 45 states.

The campaign's national coalition includes ACORN, AFSCME, American Academy of Pediatricians, American Nurses Association, Americans United for Change, Campaign for America’s Future, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Center for Community Change, MoveOn, National Alliance on Mental Illness, NEA, National Women's Law Center, Planned Parenthood, SEIU, UFCW, and USAction.

VOP Releases Issue Brief on 2008 Transportation Funding Proposal 6-20-08

CONTACT: Joe Szakos, Executive Director 434-984-4655 x222
Ben Greenberg, VOP Legislative Director (804) 467-8212

The following memo and issue brief were sent to all Virginia state Delegates and state Senators today regarding proposals for funding transportation needs in the upcoming special session of the General Assembly.

The Virginia Organizing Project (VOP) recognizes the critical role of transportation to the economic well-being of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As the upcoming transportation special session of the General Assembly approaches, VOP shares an increasing concern of many organizations and individuals that the different approaches being discussed to address state funding needs will not be resolved by the deliberations beginning on June 23. Having studied the tax structure of Virginia for the past decade, VOP is also concerned that many of the proposals being discussed focus on alternatives and solutions that are regressive in nature; that is, they rely disproportionately upon tax increases with greater impact upon citizens who are least equipped financially to absorb such increases.

The special legislative session is a critical opportunity for the Commonwealth to find a solution that will meet its transportation needs in a responsible manner. Toward that end, the Virginia Organizing Project has developed two alternative proposals for consideration by Governor Tim Kaine and the public policy makers in the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate. These proposals, found in the Issue Brief below, present two major alternatives to the transportation funding plans under consideration, plans that rely far too heavily upon the expansion of regressive taxes. Instead of using these taxes to fund transportation needs, the Virginia Organizing Project proposes more fiscally sound funding primarily from revenue or general obligation bonds and an income tax surcharge.

We think you will find the Issue Brief to be informative and timely. Now is the time to consider more creative and fiscally sound approaches to address the transportation needs of the state. This is our chance to look toward more progressive funding methods that will not unfairly rely on contributions from Virginia's less fortunate citizens. It is time to address this problem in such a manner that we will not be facing this same crisis again in the near future.

VIRGINIA ORGANIZING PROJECT ISSUE BRIEF
2008 TRANSPORTATION FUNDING PROPOSAL

The Virginia Organizing Project urges Governor Tim Kaine and the Virginia General Assembly to push forward on plans to address the state's ongoing transportation funding deficit. The organization recognizes, however, that the present Virginia tax structure (a relatively flat income tax, a regressive sales tax, and regressive local sales and property taxes) already falls too heavily upon those with a lesser ability to pay. We strongly recommend, therefore, that the Governor and the General Assembly not fund an expanded state transportation program with additional regressive taxes.

While we concur with the twenty-five business groups, cited in a recent letter from House Speaker William Howell to Governor Kaine, who declared that "the most appropriate solution is a package of revenue generators that are simple, sustainable, and sufficient and accrue from broad-based revenue options," we categorically oppose their call to consider an increase in the general sales tax, and generally oppose large increases in gasoline excise taxes. We also reject the idea that sound transportation funding must rely upon regressive user fees or targeted sales taxes. A remnant of the period in which gasoline excise taxes were introduced (1910s and 1920s) and in which less than half of all families owned automobiles, this idea no longer makes as much sense as it once did.

As a much more suitable alternative, we propose that an approximately $1.0 billion expansion in state transportation funding (representing a $400 million infusion to avoid ongoing maintenance fund deficits and an additional $600 million to replace the now eliminated Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads revenue sources) be raised in one of the following ways:

1st Proposal

* Introduce a 5% income tax surcharge*, which would raise approximately $450 million.
* Dedicate $400 million of this total to close the anticipated annual maintenance deficit.
* Dedicate $50 million to finance approximately $600 million in revenue or general obligation bonds, the proceeds of which would go toward the funding of proposed roadway construction and mass transit projects. (Since the $1.525 billion in general obligation bonds funded in the current budget require approximately $42 million in debt service, this funding stream would be an adequate and equitable means of funding these bonds.)
* Dedicate in future years any funds earmarked for bond financing, not required by that year’s financing, to a debt reduction fund, out of which the state would make additional payments on the loan principal.

2nd Proposal

* Introduce a 4% income tax surcharge*, which would raise approximately $360 million.
* Introduce a modest 2¢ increase in the state gasoline excise tax, which would raise an additional $100 million.
* Dedicate 400 million of this total to close the anticipated annual maintenance deficit.
* Dedicate $60 million to finance approximately $600 million in revenue or general obligation bonds, the proceeds of which would go toward the funding of proposed roadway construction and mass transit projects.
* Dedicate in future years any funds earmarked for bond financing, not required by that year’s financing, to a debt reduction fund, out of which the state would make additional payments on the loan principal.

*Such surcharge proposals represent not a 5 or 4% increase in the state income tax rate, but a 5 or 4% surcharge on the amount of current tax liability. (Example: if one had a current annual tax liability of $800, a 5% surcharge on this amount would equal an additional tax of $40).

Why the VOP proposal makes sense for the Commonwealth of Virginia:

* It avoids the reliance (or over-reliance) on regressive taxes (sales taxes, excise taxes, fees, etc.), taxes not based on the first principle of sound taxation (the ability-to-pay) and which fall, as a result, much more heavily upon the state's least wealthy citizens.
* Regressive taxes, by definition, produce much less future revenue growth than moderately progressive alternatives. It is only by basing this transportation funding proposal on a moderately progressive tax change that Virginia can steer clear of recurring funding shortfalls. With annual increases in roadway maintenance costs expected to be approximately 4%, for at least the foreseeable future, moderately progressive financing is likely to be the only way to avoid either the reemergence of a funding crisis or the necessity of future rate increases. With our more progressive source of funding, future revenue growth might even make possible a future reduction in the surcharge rate.
* Because of its moderately progressive nature, VOP proposal #1 would fund the projected transportation funding needs with the lowest possible tax increase for the most Virginia taxpayers. Any shift to the more regressive taxes under consideration would unquestionably move us further away from this ideal.
* Any regressive change in the state tax structure would also impose a greater dampening affect on economic activity and development than a more progressive alternative. Funding expanded transportation investments with sales and excise taxes negatively impact future economic activity and the growth of state general revenue. This is the case even if it were offset by the new construction activity and transportation efficiency tied to the expanded transportation funding. Given the opportunity, Virginia should always choose the alternative likely to be most beneficial to the state's overall economy.

New Report Gives Virginia a Failing Grade in Providing Consumer Protections in the Individual Health Insurance Market 6-11-08

(Richmond, Virginia) -- Insurance companies can deny health coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, refuse to pay for services needed to treat common ailments, and yank policies and deny payments when a consumer faces a rash of medical bills, and Virginia has little authority to protect consumers from such abuses, Janice "Jay" Johnson, chairperson of the Virginia Organizing Project, said.

The Virginia Organizing Project, a statewide grassroots social justice group, based their comments on a study published by Families USA, the national organization for health care consumers. Titled "Failing Grades," the study reviews whether key protections are provided to consumers to prevent insurance company abuses in Virginia, as well as each of the other 49 states and the District of Columbia.

The findings in the Families USA report show that consumers in most states are unprotected from many of these abuses.

* Only five states prohibit all insurance companies from “cherry-picking” the healthiest consumers and excluding everyone else.
* In 35 states (including Virginia) and the District of Columbia, there are no limits on how much insurers can increase premiums based on an individual’s health status. An additional six states have limits that still allow dramatic variations in premiums.
* In 44 states (including Virginia) and the District of Columbia, insurers can revoke an individual’s health insurance policy without advance review by the state.

Based on those and other criteria in the Families USA report, Virginia earns a failing grade, Johnson said.

"This Families USA report makes some things very clear," said Johnson. "First of all, Virginia and the other states are doing very little to provide basic protections for health care consumers. As a result, many consumers are denied coverage or are charged unaffordable premiums, or they have their health claims wrongfully denied.

"Second, it's clear that the federal government should set some basic protections so that insurers don't 'game' the system," Johnson said.

The report comes at a time when the Virginia Organizing Project is conducting a door-to-door canvass across the state with ten organizers, fifty interns and hundreds of volunteers, distributing 300,000 non-partisan voter education guides and asking residents to contact their legislators about their concerns with health care issues.

"We are not telling people what to say, but we are encouraging them to raise their voices about the need for real change in our health care system," Johnson said. "This Families USA report shows a tremendous need to fix our broken health care system."

VOP Launches Major Door-to-Door Civic Engagement Project 5-20-08

The Virginia Organizing Project announced plan today to knock on 300,000 doors across the state this summer in a major civic engagement project.

"We will be asking people throughout the Commonwealth what issues are important to them," said Janice "Jay" Johnson, chairperson of the Virginia Organizing Project (VOP). "We will also ask them how important health care reform is to them, encouraging all the people we meet to contact their state Delegate and state Senator with their ideas on how to reform our broken health care system."

In addition to VOP's ten regional organizers, the canvass will also involve 50 summer interns and hundreds of VOP volunteers.

"We're excited about getting more young people involved and knowing that they're going to learn important democratic skills," Johnson said. "Youth are key to solving problems in our communities. They bring lots of energy to the process."

Canvassers will distribute a Voter Guide to the 2008 general election in Virginia. The Voter Guide contains information about how to register to vote, how to regain voting rights after a felony conviction, and how to cast an absentee ballot. The Voter Guide also includes a summary of a dozen important public policy issues, ranging from climate change to racial profiling to redistricting.

The Virginia Organizing Project is working cooperatively with the Center for Community Change's Community Voting Project on the summer canvass, set for May 19 through July 25. The Center for Community Change, a national organization based in Washington, D.C., is encouraging non-partisan voter registration and voter education throughout the country.

"We are real people, dealing with real problems, working for real solutions," Johnson said. "It's important for all of us to work for the common good, knowing that in the end run, we are all dependent on each other for the success of our communities."

The Virginia Organizing Project is a statewide non-partisan grassroots organization that works on a variety of social justice issues.

VOP Applauds Governor's Transportation Plan, Asks For Some Tax Revisions 5-12-08

In response to Governor Tim Kaine's announcement of his comprehensive plan to address Virginia's transportation needs, the Virginia Organizing Project applauds the Governor's commitment to action in order to fund the varied needs of our state's transportation system. The Governor has recommended a group of tax increases that would raise a total of one billion dollars to address our transportation woes.

"The Governor has responded aggressively to the statewide and regional transportation needs known all too well by Virginians," said Janice "Jay" Johnson, chairperson of the Virginia Organizing Project, a statewide grassroots social justice organization. "On behalf of our members across the state, the Virginia Organizing Project is pleased with this action over inaction and recognition of the responsibility of the Commonwealth to tackle the transportation woes in the state."

The Virginia Organizing Project is also pleased that funds would be committed to construction, maintenance and innovative transportation projects.

The Virginia Organizing Project is particularly encouraged that the package of taxes included in the Governor's recommendations is less regressive than many other packages proposed and considered. With no gasoline tax increase included and a one cent sales tax increase only for the regions of Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, low-income Virginians will not be as disproportionately affected as they might have been had statewide sales and gasoline tax increases been included in the proposal.

"Nevertheless, any increase in a sales tax, even only for specified regions of the Commonwealth, really hurts low-income families in those areas," Johnson said.

Johnson also said, "The Virginia Organizing Project is disappointed that the actions announced by the Governor do not include our recommended use of an income tax surcharge as well as revenue or general obligation bonds, more progressive approaches that would raise the necessary funds in a more economically sound and equitable manner. We think this would be fairer to low-income Virginians."

The Virginia Organizing Project looks forward to the opportunity of the residents of Virginia to contribute to the public debate at the upcoming Town Hall meetings announced by Governor Kaine, as well as the special session of the General Assembly scheduled for June 23.

Berryville Revises Demonstration Ordinance 4-15-08

Berryville, VA -- Less than a month after the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia and the Virginia Organizing Project threatened to file a lawsuit, the Town Council of Berryville has repealed its old demonstration and parade ordinance and passed a new one.

VOP scuttled plans for a demonstration in Berryville earlier this year after organizers were told they must first comply with Berryville’s onerous permit process. The ACLU of Virginia agreed to represent VOP in mounting a court challenge to the ordinance, but first asked Berryville to voluntarily bring the ordinance into compliance with the First Amendment.

"We are glad the Town of Berryville has acted quickly to correct the major problems with this ordinance," said Janice "Jay" Johnson, Chairperson of the Virginia Organizing Project.

"Berryville town officials are to be lauded for moving swiftly and decisively to rid themselves of their blatantly unconstitutional demonstration ordinance," said ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Kent Willis. "We’re still looking at the fine points of the new ordinance to make certain it passes constitutional muster, but there is no doubt it is greatly improved."

"The Virginia Organizing Project works hard to empower Virginians who are excluded and disrespected," Johnson said. "We were organizing for the needs of low-income tenants in Berryville when we ran into difficulty trying to do a public candlelight vigil. But whatever the issue, we know that when government limits free speech and assembly, it hits those with fewest resources the hardest. The Virginia ACLU has once again shown itself to be a priceless resource for Virginians who are using their constitutional rights to improve their lives."

Below are some comparisons between the old and new Berryville ordinances:

* The original ordinance required a permit for any demonstration by 3 or more persons. A permit under the new ordinance is triggered by demonstrations of 10 or more.
* A permit under the original ordinance was $300. There is now no cost for a permit.
* The original ordinance allowed only two demonstrations per year by the same group in the same place. There is now no limit on demonstrations in a year.
* The original ordinance allowed permits to be denied when a demonstration might be "detrimental to the public convenience." This phrase has been removed altogether.
* The original ordinance required liability insurance in any amount decided by the town council. There is now no insurance requirement.
* The original ordinance allowed weekday demonstrations only between 10 a.m. and noon, and 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. There are now no set time restrictions.

According to town officials the ordinance was passed in 1991 after a KKK demonstration created a significant disturbance.

"This is why elected officials should never pass laws in reaction to a particular incident, especially one to which there was a strong emotional response," said Willis. "Any high school student could have told them the ordinance violated the First Amendment’s prohibition against restricting free speech and the right to assemble in public places."

Despite the improvements, the ACLU is concerned that the new ordinance gives town officials too much discretion to turn down permits for parades and assemblies that may interfere with traffic or that may divert fire and police personnel. According to the ACLU, parades and large assemblies, by their very nature, require traffic patterns to be altered and for fire and police personnel to be placed on alert. The ACLU of Virginia legal team will conduct a thorough review of the new ordinance and share any concerns they have with town officials.

VOP Disappointed in Governor’s Inaction on Payday Loan Legislation 4-14-08

Background: Governor Tim Kaine has recommended amendments to the Virginia General Assembly on two payday lending bills (House Bill 12 and Senate Bill 588). The amendments are minor and clarifying; they just reflect legislative intent. The last amendment is the only one not recommended by the State Corporation Commission. It makes it clear that the two options on the fifth loan are the option of the borrower, not the lender. It was feared that the language would have let the lender only offer one of the two options.

These amendments are found on the legislative information system for House Bill 12 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?081+amd+HB12AG) and Senate Bill 588 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?081+amd+SB588AG).

Statement from Janice "Jay" Johnson, Chairperson of the Virginia Organizing Project

The Virginia Organizing Project recognizes that Governor Tim Kaine was put in a difficult position by the General Assembly with respect to House Bill 12 and Senate Bill 588 amending the Payday Loan Act.

A number of legislators worked diligently to develop a bill that truly broke the cycle of debt and protected Virginia consumers from predatory payday lenders. Unfortunately, legislative negotiations resulted in bills sent to the Governor that only accomplished limited improvements while maintaining extremely high fees for borrowers.

The Virginia Organizing Project had great hopes that Governor Kaine would respond to the overwhelming public support for significant amendments to the bills to protect Virginians. In response to legislative expectations and agreements made, however, it appears that Governor Kaine considered his hands to be tied and he could only offer clarifying amendments. Therefore, he has sent House Bill 12 and Senate Bill 588 back to the General Assembly with only minor amendments to be considered. The Virginia Organizing Project deeply regrets this decision and the lack of success by the 2008 General Assembly session in enacting dramatic changes to the Payday Loan Act.

The changes sought by the Virginia Organizing Project, many other organizations and an overwhelming majority of Virginians would have prevented hundreds of thousands of our citizens from being trapped each year through the unconscionable business practices of this predatory industry. As a result, even with legislative approval of these amendments, payday lending will continue to be the subject of annual legislative debate until our elected officials respond to the urgent and critical needs of our citizens.

It is our intention to continue to work on this issue and we hope even more Virginians will join us in this effort.

ACLU, VOP Demand Repeal of Berryville Ordinance 3-21-08

Town officials told to remove restrictions on demonstrations or face legal challenge

Berryville, VA -- The ACLU of Virginia today told government officials in the Town of Berryville to repeal an ordinance that makes it unreasonably difficult to hold public demonstrations, or to face a court challenge to the ordinance’s constitutionality. The ACLU represents the Virginia Organizing Project, which was recently dissuaded from holding a demonstration in Berryville after being made aware of the ordinance.

"Demonstrations are an important way we bring our message to the public," said Janice "Jay" Johnson, Chairperson of the Virginia Organizing Project. "The obstacles thrown in our way by the Berryville ordinance make it impossible for us to make people aware of important public issues."

"For more than 10 years, the Virginia Organizing Project has been holding public demonstrations with local people in communities across the state on a wide range of issues, and this is the first time that we have been blocked from having a public action," Johnson said. "We wanted to hold a candlelight vigil about the need for affordable housing. I just don’t understand why we couldn’t do that, especially when we are trying to address a critical need identified by local people."

"It's hard to imagine any greater affront to American citizens than having government officials tell us we can't freely gather in public places to express our views," said ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Kent Willis. "In more than 20 years of dealing with local ordinances that regulate demonstrations in Virginia, I've never seen a more restrictive one. The Berryville ordinance can be used to prohibit practically all public gatherings."

Some of the provisions of the Berryville demonstration ordinance follow:

* A permit is required for any demonstration by three or more persons.
* The cost for a permit is $300.
* Only two demonstrations per year by the same group in the same place are allowed.
* Demonstrations can be denied because they are "detrimental to the public convenience."
* Liability insurance may be required in any amount approved by the town council.
* On weekdays, demonstrations are allowed only between 10 a.m. and noon, and 1:00 p.m and 3:00 p.m.

The demands from the ACLU and VOP are outlined in a letter faxed earlier today from ACLU of Virginia Legal Director Rebecca K. Glenberg to the Town Manager and Mayor of Berryville. Glenberg asks for written assurances by April 4 that enforcement of the ordinance has ceased and that steps are being taken to repeal it. A copy of Glenberg's letter follows.

ACLU of Virginia
530 E. Main Street, Suite 310 * Richmond, VA 23219 * (804) 644-8022

Via Facsimile (540-955-4524) and U.S. Mail

Keith Dalton, Town Manager
Richard G. Sponseller, Mayor
Town of Berryville
23 East Main Street
Berryville, VA 22611

Dear Mayor Sponseller and Mr. Dalton:

I am writing on behalf of the Virginia Organizing Project (VOP), a nonprofit, nonpartisan social justice organization that recently tried to hold a demonstration in Berryville, but was discouraged from doing so because of Berryville's excessively restrictive permit ordinance. (Town Code §§ 20.1 et seq.) This ordinance is unconstitutional and should be repealed at once.

The United States Supreme Court has long recognized that public streets, sidewalks, and parks "have immemorially been held in trust for the use of the public and, time out of mind, have been used for purposes of assembly, communicating thoughts between citizens, and discussing public questions." Hague v. Committee for Indus. Organization, 307 U.S. 496, 515 (1939).

The First Amendment therefore limits government’s authority to restrict speech in such public forums. Specifically, any restrictions "must not be based on the content of the message, must be narrowly tailored to serve a significant governmental interest, and must leave open ample alternatives for communication." Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement, 505 U.S. 123, 130 (1992). Moreover, government officials may not be granted undue discretion to grant, deny, or impose conditions on speech in public places. "A municipality may not empower its licensing officials to roam essentially at will, dispensing or withholding permission to speak, assemble, picket, or parade according to their own opinions regarding the potential effect of the activity in question on the 'welfare,' 'decency,' or 'morals' of the community." Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham, 394 U.S. 147, 153 (1969).

The Berryville ordinance contains a multitude of provisions that breach these fundamental First Amendment constraints. For example:

* It requires a permit for any demonstration by three or more persons.
* It prohibits any person or organization from obtaining a permit for the same location twice in a one-year period.
* It allows the town manager to deny any permit if, "in the exercise of sound discretion," he "considers that the holding of such . . .demonstration would be detrimental to the public convenience."
* It allows the town manager to impose any conditions upon a demonstration permit "as he may consider appropriate . . to safeguard the public convenience . . ."
* It allows the town manager, in his sole discretion, to require demonstrators to provide liability insurance, in any amount approved by the town council.
* It does not allow any protests "prior to 10:00 a.m. or after 3:00 p.m.; nor from the hours of 12 noon to 1:00 p.m. on any" weekday.
* It prohibits demonstrators from displaying "the flag of or emblem of any foreign state, political party or other group which is engaged in hostilities against the armed forces of the United States of America."
* It prohibits demonstrators from carrying "any sign, pennant, sticker or other device which contains any scurrilous or obscene words, language or illustrations calculated to arouse public hatred or anger."

Accordingly, I ask that you provide immediate written assurances that you will cease all enforcement of the permit ordinance, and that you will take prompt steps to repeal it. If such action is not forthcoming, we will not hesitate to take appropriate legal action on behalf of VOP and others similarly affected by the ordinance.

Please respond by April 4, 2008. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at (804) 644-8080. Thank you for your assistance in this matter.

Sincerely,

Rebecca K. Glenberg
Legal Director

New Report Shows How Many People Are Likely to Die in Virginia Due to Lack of Health Coverage 3-19-08

Report Reveals Why Insurance Matters As a Life-And-Death Issue

Washington, D.C. -- More than 10 people die each week in Virginia because they don't have health insurance, says a new report by Families USA, the national organization for health care consumers.

The Families USA report, the first-ever state-specific report of this type, is based on a ground-breaking national study by the Institute of Medicine, which in 2002 forged the direct link between a lack of health coverage and deaths from health-related causes.

"Our report highlights how our inadequate system of health coverage condemns a great number of Virginians to an early death, simply because they don't have the same access to health care as their insured neighbors," Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA, said today. "The conclusions are sadly clear – a lack of health coverage is a matter of life and death for many Virginians.

"Health insurance really matters in how people make their health care decisions," Pollack said. "We know that people without insurance often forgo checkups, screenings and other preventive care."

As a result, he said, uninsured adults are more likely to be diagnosed with a disease – such as cancer – in an advanced stage, which greatly reduces their chance of survival. The Institute of Medicine found uninsured adults are 25 percent more likely to die prematurely than adults with private health insurance.

Another recent academic study found that uninsured adults between the ages of 55 and 64 are even more likely to die prematurely. For this group, a lack of health insurance is the third leading cause of death, following heart disease and cancer.

The Families USA report for Virginia makes three specific points about uninsured adults:

* Families USA estimates that more than 10 working-age Virginians die each week due to lack of health insurance (approximately 550 people in 2006).
* Between 2000 and 2006, the estimated number of adults between the ages of 25 and 64 years old in Virginia who died because they did not have health insurance was more than 3,200.
* Across the United States, in 2006, twice as many people in that same age category died from a lack of health insurance as died from homicide.

In its 2002 report, the Institute of Medicine estimated that 18,000 adults nationwide died in 2000 because they did not have health insurance. That estimate was later updated by the Urban Institute, which reported that at least 22,000 adults died in 2006 due to a lack of health insurance.

"It's critical for Virginia legislators to start looking at options for better health care for our residents," said Janice "Jay" Johnson, Chairperson of the Virginia Organizing Project, a statewide organization that works on social justice issues. "As the economy declines, even more people will find themselves without health insurance."

"There is something shameful about the fact that for folks who are approaching retirement, being uninsured is the third leading case of death -- behind heart disease and cancer," Johnson said.

Jill Hanken, an attorney with the Virginia Poverty Law Center, said that, "Sixty percent of Virginia's uninsured are low-income people. They are working at jobs where health insurance is not offered or it is just too expensive."

"A related problem is that Virginia's Medicaid eligibility is more limited than most other states," Hanken said. "For example, parents can't get Medicaid in Virginia unless their family income is under $6,000 a year (for a family of four). That's less than one-third of the federal poverty line, which is lower than Medicaid eligibility for parents in 44 other states."

1201 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 1100 * Washington, DC 20005 * 202-628-3030 * Fax: 202-347-2417
E-mail: info@familiesusa.org * Web site: www.familiesusa.org

National, State and Regional Citizens Groups Join Suit To Block Massive I-81 Widening 2-15-08

Contact:
Megan Gallagher, Shenandoah Valley Network, 540-253-5162
Stewart Schwartz, Coalition for Smarter Growth, 703-599-6437
Virgil McDill, National Trust for Historic Preservation, 202-588-6218
Leighton Powell, Scenic Virginia, 804-363-9453
Elizabeth Kostelny, APVA/Preservation Virginia, 804-648-1889, x 306
Joe Szakos, Virginia Organizing Project, 434-984-4655, x222
Roger Diedrich, Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, 703-352-2410
John Eckman, Valley Conservation Council, 540-810-2258
Barbara Walsh, Rockbridge Area Conservation Council, 540-463-2330

National, State and Regional Citizens Groups Join Suit To Block Massive I-81 Widening

Seven citizens' organizations -- National Trust for Historic Preservation, Scenic Virginia, APVA Preservation Virginia, Virginia Organizing Project, Valley Conservation Council, Rockbridge Area Conservation Council and Sierra Club -- Thursday joined a federal lawsuit to block plans to widen I-81 to eight or more lanes throughout most of western Virginia.

The new parties to the lawsuit join Larry Allamong, a Shenandoah County farmer, the Shenandoah Valley Network and the Coalition for Smarter Growth in a legal action lodged on December 17, 2007 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Charlottesville. The 10 plaintiffs are asking the court to prevent the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) from allowing the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to move forward with the I-81 expansion project until the agencies have corrected the plan's fundamental flaws.

"Expanding I-81 would bury some of the nation's most important historic and cultural resources -- including some 1,238 acres of Civil War battlefields -- under a sheet of asphalt, and would also lead to dramatically increased heavy truck traffic through the pristine landscape of the Shenandoah Valley," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "The National Trust for Historic Preservation encourages the Virginia Department of Transportation to reopen its planning process and take a closer look at less costly, less destructive alternatives to massive widening," he said.

The plaintiffs object to the plan's emphasis on widening the highway to the exclusion of less costly and more efficient alternatives that have been endorsed by local governments and citizens groups throughout the corridor. VDOT's plan would widen I-81 to eight to 12 lanes through most of the state, a project that would cost Shenandoah Valley residents, businesses and American taxpayers an estimated $11.4 billion. VDOT plans to use tolls to pay for the project.

"We believe that the tiered planning process for improving I-81 has been deeply flawed," stated Elizabeth Kostelny, Executive Director of APVA Preservation Virginia. "By refusing to examine all of the impacts now, as required by federal law, the plan limits improvement options and forecloses on alternatives that would be less destructive to the region's unique historic and cultural resources," she said. In 2006, APVA Preservation Virginia named the I-81 corridor one of Virginia's Most Endangered Sites.

The lawsuit asserts that the plan's concept for I-81 "will result in significant, irreversible, adverse effects on natural, scenic, cultural, historic and ecological resources, communities and property owners." It notes that VDOT's plan for I-81 would destroy 7,400 acres of developed land; 1,062 acres of prime farmland; between 1,600 and 2,400 residences; 662 businesses; 1,238 acres of Civil War battlefields; 33 acres of wetlands; 361 acres of floodplains; 23 miles of streams; and 13 threatened or endangered species.

"The I-81 corridor contains acres and acres of our Commonwealth's most beautiful vistas and viewsheds," said Scenic Virginia Executive Director Leighton Powell. "We oppose the sacrifice of these valuable scenic resources for a road plan based on incomplete information that fails to consider rail options and other thoughtful alternatives. The last thing Virginians need or want is a tolled highway on the scale of the New Jersey Turnpike roaring through the cities, towns and countryside of the Shenandoah Valley and southwest Virginia."

The I-81 expansion plan remains very much alive, despite VDOT's announcement in January that it had broken off contract negotiations with Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), the primary contractor behind the $13 billion "STAR Solutions" proposal to build a tolled truckway on the corridor.

VDOT filed a "Toll Pilot Application" with the FHWA in 2006 that is now pending. If approved, it would make I-81 the only existing interstate in the country built with tax dollars that was later subject to tolls for routine maintenance and improvements. The threat of unreasonably high I-81 tolls led state lawmakers to approve legislation this month to prohibit any tolls on the corridor without express approval from the General Assembly.

Virginia Organizing Project Chairperson Janice "Jay" Johnson said, "Opposition to the wasteful plan for I-81 is diverse and broad-based. Shenandoah Valley legislators, local governments, business and farm groups, conservation and community groups all reject the $11 billion widening project as much too large, costly and destructive to the region's economy and environment."

At the Valley Conservation Council, "the I-81 plan represents the largest land use issue of our time in the Shenandoah Valley," said Executive Director John Eckman. "It impacts everything we care about, our communities, farms, forests, open space, battlefields and other cultural resources," he said.

Plan Forecloses on Less Costly, More Efficient Alternatives

A series of low-cost, low-impact alternatives for improving I-81, dubbed "Reasonable Solutions," was endorsed in 2006 by localities and civic organizations throughout the region, including Augusta, Rockingham, Shenandoah, Clarke and Albemarle counties, the city of Roanoke, the towns of Front Royal, Toms Brook, New Market, Edinburg and Mt. Jackson, and 22 civic groups. Reasonable Solutions advocates a balanced mix of improvements to I-81, including spot safety improvements for the roadway's trouble areas and greater freight diversion from trucks to rail.

In July, Norfolk Southern announced plans for a $2 billion rail upgrade along the Crescent Corridor from New York to Texas that will divert one million trucks from I-81, including 750,000 trucks in Virginia, up to 25 percent of the current total in the state. A state study of the potential for diverting up to 60 percent of I-81 through truck freight to rail, mandated by the General Assembly, is due this spring.

*******

Plaintiff Organizations:

The Shenandoah Valley Network links citizens groups in seven counties working on land use, land protection and transportation issues. (www.shenandoahvalleynetwork.org)

The Coalition for Smarter Growth works to ensure that transportation and development decisions accommodate growth while revitalizing communities, providing more housing and travel choices, and conserving our natural and historic areas. (www.smartergrowth.net)

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, with headquarters in Washington, DC, nine regional and field offices, 29 historic sites, including Belle Grove Plantation in Frederick County, and partner organizations in all 50 states, provides leadership, education, advocacy and resources to a national network of people, organizations and local communities committed to saving places, connecting us to our history and collectively shaping the future of America's stories. (www.nationaltrust.org)

Scenic Virginia is the sole statewide organization working to preserve, protect and enhance the scenic beauty and community character of the Commonwealth. (www.scenicvirginia.org)

APVA Preservation Virginia is dedicated to preserving and promoting the state's irreplaceable historic structures, landscapes, collections, communities and archaeological sites, ensuring the vitality of Virginia's distinctive heritage, resulting in cultural, economic and educational benefits for the public by providing leadership, expertise, influence, policy, programs and services to the public and special audiences. (www.apva.org)

The Virginia Organizing Project, a statewide social justice organization, has three offices and more than 1,500 members on the I-81 corridor. VOP works to empower local people to challenge injustice and improve the quality of their lives. (www.virginia-organizing.org)

The Valley Conservation Council, based in Staunton, serves 11 counties along the I-81 corridor and works to promotes land use that sustains the farms, forests, open spaces, and cultural heritage of the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia. (www.valleyconservation.org)

The Sierra Club is the oldest conservation organization in the U.S. The Virginia Chapter has approximately 17,000 members throughout Virginia working to build healthy, livable communities, and to conserve and restore our natural environment. (virginia.sierraclub.org)

Rockbridge Area Conservation Council promotes wise stewardship of natural and cultural resources through education, advocacy, and action in order to protect and enhance the quality of life for present and future inhabitants of Rockbridge County. (http://organizations.rockbridge.net/racc/)

Also on the web:
Reasonable Solutions: A Six Point Plan for the Future of I-81: www.shenandoahvalleynetwork.org/images/i81/reasonablesolutions.html
Virginia Department of Transportation I-81 website: www.i-81.org

###

Sustaining Virginia's Forests through Forest Certification 1-30-08

Feeling the pressure, landowners seek new markets
New report identifies benefits, barriers

Statement of the
Forest Issues Working Group
Virginia Conservation Network
(http://www.vcnva.org/)

Forests contribute, perhaps now more than ever, to the Commonwealth by moderating climate, cleaning and storing water, creating jobs and economy, and providing both scenery and solace. Yet our forests are changing in ways that have profound and long-term impacts:

* urbanization consumes tens of thousands of acres a year
* profits from timber management rarely match profits from development
* large vertically integrated forest products corporations have sold most forest holdings
* state agencies trying to service the increasing number of forest landowners are under pressure to trim budgets
* forest health is threatened by climate change, invasive species, and spreading impervious surfaces

In the face of these trends, Virginia Conservation Network (VCN) embarked on efforts to sustain forests, the goods and services that flow from them, and the people and communities that depend upon them. One strategy is forest certification.

Certification of forests and forest products is touted as a strategy for sustaining forests and the life support services they provide. Rather than remain mired in win-lose debates over whether trees should be harvested, certification asks win-win questions about how, when, and where to harvest trees in ways that sustain forests. It is a big-tent issue that engages diverse stakeholders in productive discussions about how Virginia can sustain forests and forestry. On Friday, September 21, 2007, an invited group of 36 stakeholders gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia to spend the day discussing certification and its impact on sustainability. The full report of this Roundtable is titled: The Future of Forest Certification in Virginia: A Roundtable Discussion by Forest Stakeholders.

Some of the major findings include:

* Certification is a strategy that works in a variety markets for a variety of products. Well known certification systems include "organic" for vegetables, "dolphin safe" for tuna, "energy star" for appliances, and "no animal testing" for cosmetics.

* Certification strategies for forests and forest products strive to inform consumers that forests were managed and products processed in ways that sustain forest health, minimize energy wastes, follow local laws, and respect people's rights.

* Multiple forest certification strategies exist and are competing for acceptance. Confusion and misunderstanding among affected parties are rife, while the general public is largely unaware.

* Verification by a respected third-party is critical. It adds credibility for consumers and purchasing agents too busy to investigate further. Third-party verification minimizes the risk of "green washing," which is a ploy to exploit consumer good intentions with deceitful marketing tactics that harm all sincere efforts to build a green economy.

* Relatively few forested acres are certified in Virginia, and supplies of certified forest products are scarce.

* Demand for certified product is increasing, with growing pressure from big-box retailers to "green" their supply chain, with a thriving European market, and with interest from environmentally aware architects and developers. Little awareness in certified forest product has been evidenced by retail home-improvement consumers or by purchasing agents that affect the supplies used to run state and local agencies.

* Currently, forest landowners seeking certification must bear the expense of becoming certified, which is discouraging participation. The cost can be particularly onerous on owners of small acreage, who do not enjoy the economies of scale that allow them to distribute expenses over large areas and multiple projects.

* Certification may have the perverse affect of discouraging forest ownership if it financially penalizes ownership,

* Certification may have the perverse affect of decreasing Virginia's important forest economy if it raises costs without compensation.

* Virginia should focus on certification strategies that support Virginia's forest economy and Virginia forest landowners. "Virginia grown" may be as important as "sustainable."

* Great opportunities exist for leadership by state natural resource agencies and state purchasing agents to help negotiate and motivate a thriving market of certified forest products that achieves the goal of sustaining Virginia's forests.

* Better integration is needed among green building certification standards that reward use of certified forest product and the competing forest certification systems that supply these products.

* There are tremendous opportunities to integrate forest certification with "smart growth" development strategies that promote sustainability of Virginia's forests and their life support services that sustain the Commonwealth.

The complete report can be found at:
www.vcnva.org/reports/CertificationRoundtableSummary.pdf

Senator Herring Introduces Bill for Verified Voting in Virginia 1-24-08

Last November, voters in Ashland, Virginia went to the polls to choose their county supervisor. Unfortunately, due to the limitations in Virginia's election laws, we will never know with certainty which candidate the voters actually selected.

The voting machines rejected nineteen paper ballots. The margin between the candidates was only fifteen votes. Nonetheless, the court overseeing the recount declared that officials could not even examine the rejected nineteen ballots. Rather than verifying the accuracy of the election, the recount simply restated the original results.

Now Senator Mark Herring (D-Loudoun) has introduced legislation into the General Assembly that would prevent a replay of the Ashland case. Senate Bill 292 would safeguard the integrity of Virginia's voting systems by requiring meaningful, well-controlled recounts.

The bill directs election officials to compare the electronic counts of a sample set of machines with the results of hand counts of paper ballots. This ensures that the machines were properly programmed and calibrated, rather than simply assuming no errors occurred.

Secondly, the bill provides a clear rule specifying that uncounted ballots must be examined in those cases where the machine-rejected ballots could change the election outcome (as in the Ashland election). In the absence of such a rule from the General Assembly, courts have been reluctant to use their discretion to allow those ballots to be examined.

Finally, the bill would also give election officials a means to investigate tabulating machines they have reason to believe may have malfunctioned on election day, an option not available under current law.

"It is critically important in a democracy that voters have confidence in the outcome of an election," said Senator Herring. "They need to know their votes have been counted correctly. In a tight race, even a small computer error could lead to a false outcome -- and you won't know it if no one's checking. That's not fair to the candidates, and it's not fair to the voters."

The legislation would only apply to voting systems that use paper ballots fed into optical scan tabulators. The electronic touchscreen machines known as DREs that are still in use in many parts of Virginia do not produce a paper record, making recounts and audits impossible. Last year the legislature banned future purchases of the touchscreen machines in response to serious security and reliability concerns. Jurisdictions that use them are expected to transition to paper ballots and optical scanners over the next several years.

Senator Herring worked with computer experts, lawyers, and voter advocates from the Verifiable Voting Coalition of Virginia (VVCV) to develop the recount and audit procedures. The group was instrumental in lobbying for last year's DRE ban, and the passage of SB 292 is their top priority this year.

"Optical scanning is the most reliable and secure technology being used in the U.S. today," said Alex Blakemore, a computer scientist who is one of the coalition's leaders. "Besides it simplicity and low-cost, it lets you compare the machine results against the paper ballots filled out by the voters. But a paper trail guarantees the accuracy of the count only if someone's checking the paper. Right now, there's no provision in Virginia law to look at the paper ballots, even in those jurisdictions that use them."

Sharon Henderson, a lawyer who works with the coalition, agreed. "It's almost impossible to detect any errors that occurred during the administration of an election as the result of a recount conducted under current law. For the most part what is called a recount consists of having a computer spit out the same results it gave you the first time."

Dr. Blakemore cited a number of incidents where election machines have malfunctioned in recent years to produce suspect results, including documented cases in North Carolina, Indiana, Ohio and other states.

He said one telling case occurred in Wayne County, North Carolina in a 2002 state election. As in the Ashland case, it was a close election using optical scan tabulators. But unlike the Virginia recount, North Carolina officials checked the paper ballots and found that a programming error in the tabulator had altered the outcome of the election. That case had a happy ending: the error was caught and fixed, and the candidate the voters had chosen was sent to the state capital.

If a similar mistake were to occur in Virginia -- and perhaps it has, notes Blakemore -- there would be no way to detect it despite the appearance of a recount. In that case, voters might continue to use the machine in future elections, not knowing a problem existed. Senator Herring's bill, SB 292, is designed to make sure this doesn't happen.

The Verifiable Voting Coalition of VA includes: Virginia Verified Voting, the New Electoral Reform Alliance for Virginia (New Era), the Virginia Libertarian Party, the League of Women Voters of Virginia, Common Cause, the Southern Coalition for Secured Voting, and the Virginia Organizing Project.

ViOP and Other Groups Hold Media Conference to Support an Increase in the Minimum Wage 2-9-07

Virginia Organizing Project and other groups to hold media
conference to support an increase in the minimum wage

WHEN: Monday, February 12, 10:00 a.m.

WHERE: Quality Community Council, rear of 327 West Main Street
(434) 977-3045

Over the past year, the Virginia Organizing Project and other organizations throughout Virginia have collected more than 36,000 signatures on petitions and garnered more than 180 endorsements from businesses and organizations to encourage state legislators to increase the minimum wage.

Low-wage workers will join with representatives of the Virginia Organizing Project, Quality Community Council, and the Monticello Area Community Action Agency to make a presentation on why an increase in the minimum wage is needed on Monday, February 12, at 10:00 a.m. at the offices of the Quality Community Council.

Senate Bill 1327, sponsored by Senator Charles Colgan, passed the Virginia Senate 31-8 on February 5, 2007, and will be heard by the House of Delegates Commerce and Labor Committee next week. Senate Bill 1327 increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $5.15 per hour to $6.50 per hour effective July 1, 2007, unless a higher minimum wage is required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

For more information about the minimum wage issue in Virginia, please see www/vafairwage.org.

The Virginia Organizing Project is a multi-issue organization committed to engaging grassroots Virginians to work on social justice issues.

VOP Announces Legislative Agenda 1-4-07

The Virginia Organizing Project announced its 2007 legislative agenda today in Richmond. The statewide citizens group also introduced Ben Greenberg as its new Legislative Director.

"We are real people, dealing with real problems, working for real solutions," VOP Chairperson Janice "Jay" Johnson said.

"During the past year, we have had constituent meetings with 60 of our state legislators across the Commonwealth," Johnson said. "We talked to them about racial profiling, fair tax reform, predatory lending and increasing the minimum wage."

The Virginia Organizing Project is focusing on four major legislative efforts:

Increase the minimum wage to $6.15 an hour in 2007 and $7.25 an hour in 2008.

Fund training for law enforcement personnel to prevent biased policing.

Make the state tax system fair for low- and middle-income Virginians.

Repeal the Payday Loan Act and prevent interest rates higher than 36 percent.

"Every working person needs to make more than $5.15 an hour," said Rudy Washington, a student at Virginia State University. Reflecting on the growing number of bills to deal with an increase in the minimum wage, Washington said, "It's really exciting to hear these legislators are working to change this situation."

"The Virginia Organizing Project supports Senator Ken Stolle's proposed budget language that would provide Virginia's law enforcement academies with the funding they need to provide adequate bias-based policing training," said Rev. Millard Boone III of Suffolk.

"Virginia's tax system is regressive and outdated," David Jarman of Williamsburg said. "The Virginia Organizing Project strongly endorses and supports passage of Governor Tim Kaine's proposal to raise the filing threshold for low-income Virginians. This action would remove more than 300,000 low-income Virginians from the state's income tax rolls."

Retired military veteran Kimberly Davis said, "As a Command Sergeant Major, I spent many valuable hours helping soldiers out of the debt trap set by predatory lenders. I hope Virginia will make the state off limits to these lenders, just like the post commander did while I was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina."

Introducing Greenberg as the new Legislative Director for the Virginia Organizing Project, Johnson said, "Ben joined VOP last October to help us make an even greater commitment to advocating for fair and equitable public policies for all Virginians. He has more than 25 years experience lobbying with the Virginia General Assembly on behalf of public and non-profit agencies and organizations."

"I am so proud to be part of the Virginia Organizing Project and its work on behalf of such important issues for hundreds of thousands of Virginians," Greenberg said. "I believe it is time for the leaders of Virginia to renew their commitment to address the needs of all Virginians, including those who traditionally have had too little voice at the Capitol. It is time to recognize all Virginians who contribute to the well-being of the Commonwealth."

Resources

VOP in the Media

Current Campaigns

Local Woman, Debby Smith, Asked By The White House to Attend President Obama’s Town Hall Meeting on Health Care Reform Today at 1pm in Annandale, VA 7-1-09

VOP ASKS LOCAL RESIDENTS TO SHARE THEIR HEALTH CARE STORIES ON VIDEO SATURDAY IN HOPEWELL 6-26-09

Community Groups Call for Naming of Former Warren County High School After Local Civil Rights Leader 6-23-09

Health Care Reform Leaders to Unveil New Report on the Crippling Costs of Care in Virginia 6-22-09

VOP Provides Application Assistance for Rights Restoration 6-20-09

Hundreds of Virginia Health Care Advocates Attend Lobby Day in DC on Thursday June 25 6-17-09

Virginia Health Care Delegation Takes “Health Care Can’t Wait!” Message to Washington 6-17-09

VOP response to the Sunday New York Times op-ed on poverty written by Barbara Ehrenreich 6-15-09

Virginia Organizing Project Moving Forward On Health Care, Drug Courts and Rights Restoration 6-2-09

VOP Along With Civic and Religious Groups to Host Forum at Union Train Station on Restoring Civil Rights to Former Felons

VOP Holds Forum to Support Drug Courts As An Effective, Cost-Saving Approach To Drug Abuse Treatment and Probation

VOP Calls Attention to Anti-Competitive State Health Insurance Market

Virginia Organizing Project Kicks off Grassroots Summer Outreach Program 5-19-09

Virginia Organizing Project Kicks off Grassroots Summer Outreach Program 5-14-09

Thanks to Stimulus Bill and the Virginia General Assembly, Virginia’s Unemployed Have Increased Access to COBRA Benefits 5-7-09

Virginia Organizing Project and Health Care for America Now Thank Senator Webb for Supporting the Choice of Public Health Insurance Plan 4-30-09

State Groups Mark Equal Pay Day by Urging Senators to Support the Paycheck Fairness Act 4-28-09

More Than 1.6 Million People in Virginia are in Families Spending More Than 10 Percent of Pre-Tax Income On Health Care — And 84 Percent of Them Have Insurance! 4-28-09

Groups Ask Federal Judge to Order Reevaluation of I-81 Plan 4-6-09

Rebuild and Renew America Now! 3-25-09

Virginia Health Care for America Now Issues New Report: To Fix Virginia’s Economy, We Need To Fix Health Care Now 2-23-09

MILLIONS OF WORKERS WHO LOST THEIR JOBS ARE WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE 2-6-09

Civic Organizations Urge Assembly Not to Reverse Progress on Verified Voting 2-2-09

REPORT: State Health Safety Nets, Economies Stand to Gain from Recovery Package 1-28-09

Recommended Blueprint for Virginia's Response to the 2008-2010 Revenue Shortfall 12-12-08

The Virginia Organizing Project is active in getting people to vote 11-3-08

Virginia Forest Watch Celebrates Ten Years, Hires New Director 10-28-08

New Report available: Virginia Has Eight-Fold Increase in Voter Registration at Public Assistance Agencies after Reforming Procedures 10-20-08

Many Virginia precincts at risk of long lines on Election Day 10-17-08

HEALTH CARE PREMIUMS ROSE MORE THAN FOUR TIMES FASTER THAN EARNINGS IN VIRGINIA FROM 2000 TO 2007 9-30-08

Denise Smith picked as a Virginia spokesperson for national campaign 9-9-08

Immigrants Deserve Recognition for their Contribution to our Military 8-27-08

Virginia Health Care for America Now challenges Anthem 7-25-08

$40 Million Health Care Campaign Launched in Virginia and Nationwide 7-8-08

Health Care For America Now 7-7-08

VOP Releases Issue Brief on 2008 Transportation Funding Proposal 6-20-08

New Report Gives Virginia a Failing Grade in Providing Consumer Protections in the Individual Health Insurance Market 6-11-08

VOP Launches Major Door-to-Door Civic Engagement Project 5-20-08

VOP Applauds Governor's Transportation Plan, Asks For Some Tax Revisions 5-12-08

Berryville Revises Demonstration Ordinance 4-15-08

VOP Disappointed in Governor’s Inaction on Payday Loan Legislation 4-14-08

ACLU, VOP Demand Repeal of Berryville Ordinance 3-21-08

New Report Shows How Many People Are Likely to Die in Virginia Due to Lack of Health Coverage 3-19-08

National, State and Regional Citizens Groups Join Suit To Block Massive I-81 Widening 2-15-08

Sustaining Virginia's Forests through Forest Certification 1-30-08

Senator Herring Introduces Bill for Verified Voting in Virginia 1-24-08

ViOP and Other Groups Hold Media Conference to Support an Increase in the Minimum Wage 2-9-07

VOP Announces Legislative Agenda 1-4-07