A Capital Idea
Share this article
ADVERTISEMENT
(comments below)
Comments
Comments
29 responses to “A Capital Idea”
-
It’s a hundred, maybe two hundred yards from the steps of the old General Assembly Building to the side door into the Capitol off the traffic circle, and on to the ground floor rooms where they caucused. In my gumshoe lobbying days (SAS. Wouldn’t be caught dead in Gucci’s.) I’d make that walk back and forth up to six times before session with some legislator getting my pitch or being wheedling into a vote commitment. They want the tunnel to escape from the lobbyists and the general public. You watch, only legislators and state staff will be allowed…..
-
I had thought about it being used to avoid lobbyists. The comments of the Capitol Police chief and Barker imply that the public would be allowed–you know, to allow free movement without constant security checks. After all, members and staff are not subject to security checks now. But, I would not be surprised if it is restricted to members and staff only.
-
-
What did we do before Internet search engines…
https://www.baconsrebellion.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Capitol-Tunnels.jpg
-
Wow! That diagram of the existing steam tunnels is still available. Have you ever been down in those things? I went down a couple of times–gloomy and dank, sort of spooky. There are stories that Woody Holton would use them for skateboarding. They got closed off to the public after 9/11.
-
Oh, so you were one of the problems… well, so long as you weren’t passing out checks a’la Boehner.
-
Moi? 😉 Hey, I always said if you can buy ’em in Janurary you can buy ’em in June. Kidding. Kinda…
-
How very Will Rogerian… if not also true.
-
Absolutely the nicest thing anybody has ever written about me on this blog! One of my idols (him and Don Rickles.)
-
-
-
-
-
Many have wondered and worried about how hard news would fare if the newspapers die and here we have in Dick’s articles an answer. I doubt seriously there is any newspaper in the Old Dominion that provides this level of detail about Va Government and legislation and I can only hope he will continue. Others like Steve with a different but also informative perspective.
Thank you.In my ignorance, I do not know what percent of the total budget the Capital budget is nor what is recommended and perhaps what criteria underlies how much of the budget should be capital.
One could argue, perhaps wrongly, that in times of financial calamity, that capital projects be put off to respond to lowered revenue projections, that’s what Spotsylvania did, but on the other hand, during the 2008 recession, TARP was all about stimulus spending a lot on capital projects and we’ve heard since then, arguments that “infrastructure” spending is a good thing to keep the economy humming – so once again, there is probably ying and yang political philosophies on the pros and cons.
I think the tunnel is a good thing… especially if it is used to shed those shoo-fly lobby types! 😉
The very first thing – the local water projects, at 125 million is surprising. Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania have to close an older wastewater plant and renovate and expand an existing one and the price tag if not mistaken is 65 million. I would have thought CSO projects would be ungodly expensive and not only does Alexandria have one but so does Richmond who is on DEQs “do something” list.
Thanks again, BR and Virginia benefit greatly by having folks who actually do or did work in government “explain” the actual facts of it to us folks who like to opine about it fact-free! 😉
-
Unlike counties, the state finances most of its capital budget with tax-supported debt. Therefore, it does not make much sense to look at the percentage of the total budget that is devoted to capital. Debt service is financed through the general fund and it is fair to ask what percentage of the budget is used for debt service. The Commonwealth has chosen to limit the issuance of tax-supported debt for capital projects so that debt service is no more than 5 percent of the general fund revenue, calculated as an average over a ten-year period.
-
Let’s be honest, Messrs. Hall-Sizemore and Haner along with the Virginia Mercury completely and totally dominated the General Assembly’s news cycle in 2020. The RTD is an absolute joke compared to them. And there really isn’t any other newspaper making a serious attempt to cover the General Assembly. This is the end of the newspaper. If Coronavirus lasts through the middle of May, I suspect we will see at least 15 newspapers (a mix of weekly, alternative, and daily) fold.
-
-
During session Secretary Layne and the committees actively reviewed projects to move them from debt to cash. That was then, this is now. Watch that reverse in the amendments.
-
There was not much moving from debt to cash. The biggest was $65 million in maintenance reserve in the first year. Like you, I expect that GF appropriation to be converted to debt. That is there for the picking.
Another interesting use of GF cash was $10 million for a road project in Virginia Beach to improve the evacuation route for Sandbridge residents. I wondered why transportation funds were not earmarked for that. I expect that the GF will be switched out for transportation money now.
-
-
I can see legislators and state staffers wanting to avoid despicable lobbyists.
-
If legislators want to confirm every Virginian’s worst suspicions about the political class, then there are few better ways than to spend $25 million to build what amounts to a private tunnel that allows them to avoid those pesky citizens and demonstrators.
-
Isn’t that how Congress controls access also?
Sorry, I just do not think we live in a world any longer where any citizen can just walk up to any legislator and engage them.
I’m sure some will disagree.
-
No. Congress controls access using a badge and pass system. Pin a blank check to your lapel and you’re in.
-
Isn’t access to Congress by ordinary citizens pretty restricted?
You just can’t show up and walk to an office to “lobby” your rep, much less catch him/her in the halls and walk along and talk with, no?
-
Humor Larry, humor. Best government money can buy.
-
-
-
-
30 years ago, sure, I’d agree with you.
But in the age of constant activism from the right and left, I couldn’t care less that they wish to avoid it. If I were a legislator, I would as well. I think legislators of both parties have come to realize that there are about 500 people who can “mobilize” at the drop of a hat on any controversial issue.
Decades ago before the internet, that wasn’t the case. When someone showed up in Richmond, legislators from both parties were willing to sit down because “Jim from Roanoke” or “Barbara from Martinsville” drove all the way out here to Richmond. But in the age of the professional internet-mobilized demonstrator, they understand that the “citizens” out there are simply organized activists.
It’s a shame, b/c the legislators really should hear from their constituents. But, as I stated, I can’t blame them for wanting to avoid the same 500 people who show up on X issue year after year and portray themselves as completely representative of a state of over 8 million people.
-
re: ” I can’t blame them for wanting to avoid the same 500 people who show up on X issue year after year and portray themselves as completely representative of a state of over 8 million people.”
Yep.
There is a difference between “meeting” with your representative to share your view as an individual and showing up as a crowd to intimidate and harass.
I’m not happy with the way that citizens do not have access to the same information that lobby folks and other insiders have – in part, because they have paid staff professionals to go through the legislation to understand it and then participate. Citizens are on the outside looking in and the legislative process itself is such that citizens do not even know the votes being taken and who until after the fact… and we are told the reason is that there is “not enough staff” to do it – however, those companies and interest groups who have paid staff, do have “enough” to track legislation AND participate in it.
something is not right about that process and if newspapers are going to go away, we better find a way to compensate or else government is going to be even further removed from citizens.
-
-
-
I would love to see a list of higher-ed projects in the capital outlay list and what justification the institutions offer for them. I’d love to see a side-by-side analysis of (a) the impact on ongoing facilities maintenance, and (b) institution-wide space utilization rates. Too bad no journalistic entity has the resources to devote the time.
-
I’m not sure what the answer is to your complaint. Should we have EVER relied on journalists to be a substitute for citizens understanding these issues especially now that many simply believe that a lot of news is biased?
Some have opined that they’re glad that newspapers are going away and that they can get their “news” from those they “trust”.
Not sure what the answer is or is not, but clearly with Dick and Steve on board, they have confirmed some of our worst fears and how the Generally Assembly and Govt “really”… “work”! 😉
-
-
Forty-five years ago, I worked for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources tracking legislation. I was ahead on my B.A. degree and was taking a night course and writing a major paper so I could work fulltime. One of my tasks was to go to the Capitol and other state agencies to get information on legislation. Until spring finally came, I walked through the tunnel system that connected the Capitol and all the other major state office buildings.
-
In Minnesota, I am sure you needed that tunnel system.
-
Until April 1, you are most certainly correct. Most April snows didn’t last too long.
-
-
-
I suspect that there will be a way for lobbyists to get access to the tunnel, just as they have for years been able to avoid the long public lines into buildings. The tunnel seems to be a lot of cost for what we get and it’s only a certain group that will be allowed to use it – for security reasons. There are too many ways that certain entities have access to decision makers and too few for the rest of us.
-
It’s a safe bet this tunnel will end up costing at least twice what the G.A. claims it will cost.
-
Geeze, I didn’t see that they’re having Dominion Power do it! ;-(
-
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.