Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Virginia State Del. Barbara Comstock remains ahead in overall funds, but Murphy has raised more money in 2013.
The money race for 34th District in Virginia’s House of Delegates has begun, and Republican incumbent Barbara Comstock is ahead of Democratic challenger Kathleen Murphy. But Murphy raised more in the first quarter of 2013, according to campaign finance reports available through the Virginia Public Access Project. The two candidates have less than seven months left to campaign for the 34th District seat ahead of the Nov. 5 election, which also includes Virginia's governor and lieutenant governor races and all seats in the Virginia House of Delegates. The 34th District Great Falls and parts of Tysons, Vienna, McLean and Loudoun County. Murphy began the year with a balance of $0 and raised $127,256 through March 31 Comstock began the year …
Sunday, February 17, 2013
The bill that would make texting while driving a primary offense with a fine of $250 has received wide bipartisan support, and several other bills are under consideration.
The Virginia Legislature is vetting a number of bills that would implement harsher texting while driving laws. Last week, the house passed a bill (HB 1907) that increases the fine for the first texting-while-driving offense to $250 upon conviction, and $500 for each subsequent conviction. The current fine is $20. The bill passed the House in a 92-4 vote, and was unanimously supported by the Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday. Del. Barbara Comstock, who represents part of Vienna, is a patron. The bill is currently being vetted by the Senate Courts of Justice Committee. The legislation would make texting while driving a primary offense, which means police can stop someone just on the suspicion that a driver may be texting at the …
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Virginia telework tax credit would provide $250 to employees who work remotely for at least 20 hours a week.
A bill by Vienna-area Del. Barbara Comstock (R-34th) to provide a tax credit for some teleworkers could soon become a reality after it passed the Virginia House this week and moves on to the Senate. HB 1336, which was co-sponsored by Comstock and Del. David Ramadan (R-87th), would give residents who telework a minimum of 20 hours per week 45 weeks per year a $250 income tax credit. The bill passed the house Monday on a 59-38 vote. Vienna Del. Mark Keam was among those who supported the proposal. According to the bill, residents could apply for the credit through the Department of Taxation, which would issue the credits on a first-come, first-serve basis to employees who meet the requirements. The department would be limited to no more than…
Monday, February 4, 2013
House and Senate both consider bills to let Virginia schools open before Labor Day.
- GOVERNMENT
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Monday, February 4
By Kristen Smith, Capital News Service The House and Senate are headed in different directions when it comes to repealing Virginia’s “King’s Dominion law,” which generally prevents public schools from opening before Labor Day. On Monday, the House will consider approving a bill — a combination of a bill first introduced by Vienna-area Del. Barbara Comstock — that would make local school boards responsible for setting the school calendar and authorize them to start classes before Labor Day. However, a Senate committee last week defeated a Senate bill to eliminate the King’s Dominion law. The Senate Education and Health Committee voted 4-11 Thursday against Senate Bill 1099, which was sponsored by two senators from Roanoke – Republican Ralph…
Murphy, a McLean resident, plans to focus on human rights, transportation and education.
McLean Democrat Kathleen Murphy will challenge Virginia Del. Barbara Comstock (R-34th) in this November’s House of Delegates Election. Murphy, a veteran political consultant who kicked off her campaign earlier this week, says she's running because she believes her opponent has failed to represent the best interests of the 34th District, which includes Great Falls and parts of Vienna, Tysons McLean and Loudoun County. Stay up to date on all Vienna news with our daily email newsletter. “I don’t believe that our delegate in Richmond votes for us,” Murphy told Patch. “She doesn’t vote for our priorities or our values and I think we can do better.” Murphy, a Fairfax County resident for more than 20 years, said she plans focus on transportation…
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Vienna parent wants area residents to support Del. Barbara Comstock bill that would change how Fairfax County calculates class size average.
- OPINION
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Wednesday, January 23
To the editor: Our world-class schools are the number one reason businesses and families come to Fairfax County. But people will not move here once they see many of our overcrowded classes. We now have the distinction of having among the largest class sizes in the area and Virginia state law does almost nothing to protect our children. Current student to teacher ratios are calculated at the county level and afford administrators way too much leverage where they can place as many kids as they want in a classroom, just as long as divisionwide, they do not exceed the state ratios. Given that Virginia already has the highest caps in the country, we are headed down a very slippery slope. How are children expected to learn and teachers to …
Friday, January 18, 2013
Saturday gathering at McLean Community Center will highlight schools bills by Del. Barbara Comstock.
As enrollment in Fairfax County Public Schools sees rapid growth — a trend expected to continue for at least the next five years — so do class sizes, a sensitive issue with parents and educators sometimes dealing with upwards of 30 children in a single classroom. The issue is one Del. Barbara Comstock (R-34th) aims to address through a number of schools bills she's introducing this session, which she'll discuss with constituents at 9 a.m. Saturday in a town hall style meeting in McLean. HB 1556 would change state code so class size would be calculated on a schoolwide — not divisionwide — basis. The current law's maximum enrollment for classes with a single teacher to 24 students for kindergarten, 30 in grades 1 through 3, 35 in grades 4 …
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
A McLean resident sounds off on Virginia students being accepted into Virginia colleges and universities.
- GOVERNMENT
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Wednesday, January 9
Dear Editor, It’s January and with January brings the most common concern of high school seniors, that’s college acceptance! Are you in? Are you out? Where are you going? How will we pay? This is all high school seniors are thinking about right now, as I was right there with them last year applying to Virginia colleges. With many of my high school classmates having their eyes set on William & Mary as their first choice, I did a little research and found out how fortunate I was to have gotten into William & Mary. William & Mary provides 32 percent of our college spots to out of state students. That makes it very difficult for many of our best and brightest Virginia students, including my classmates, to get in. That is why I was pleased to…
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Legislators discussed priorities for Virginia's 2013 General Assembly in Wednesday town hall in McLean.
On Wednesday evening, when Virginia Sen. Janet Howell (D-32nd District) announced her plans to introduce legislation that would fix a loophole allowing Virginia residents to purchase firearms from some dealers at gun shows without undergoing background checks, more than 200 McLean residents showed their support with a round of applause. Similar legislation has been introduced during past legislative sessions, but has not passed, Howell said. "I’m hopeful that this year we’ve had tragedies of such magnitude that reason will prevail," she said. But reforming the Commonwealth's gun control laws is only one of many legislative priorities lawmakers representing McLean voiced Wednesday during a town hall meeting at the McLean Community Center. …
Thursday, August 30, 2012
State Delegate and Deputy Permanent Co-chair of the Republican National Convention speaks to high cost of living locally in Northern Virginia.
Is a quarter-million dollar salary enough to support a family of four in Northern Virginia? According to Virginia Del. Barbara Comstock, someone who earns $250,000 annually has to "work hard to make ends meet because we have such a high cost of living." She added, "That's not rich in our area." Patch sat down with Comstock at the Republican National Convention in Tampa this week. A longer version of the interview was published earlier Thursday afternoon. There's no denying that real estate in McLean, Tysons Corner and Vienna is some of the most expensive in the metro region. So do you agree with Comstock? Join the conversation, and tell us in the comments below.
Catherine
1:05 pm on Thursday, April 18, 2013
Delegate Comstock has a been a good friend to parents with children in our public schools - fighting to lower our ridiculously large class sizes in the McLean and Great Falls areas, and ensuring we received our share of LCI funding that then-Governor Kaine was trying to deny to Northern Virginia. I've heard more than one neighbor in McLean comment that as Ms. Murphy has been going door-to-door, … more ›