Each week during the legislative session, the Mount Vernon Gazette publishes a column by Delegate Surovell.  He discusses his legislation and what's going on in the General Assembly.

3/4/10- Proposed Budget Cuts Hit Home

2/25/10- Working to Transform U.S. 1

2/18/10- State Budget Crisis Looms

2/13/10- Legislature's Pace Quickens

2/4/10- Working to Save Taxpayer Dollars

1/28/10- Fighting For Education Funding

1/21/10- Working on a Special Transportation District

Today, I attending our Pre-Session Public Hearing at the Fairfax County Government Center with most of the rest of the Northern Virginia Delegation. We heard from about 70 Northern Virginians over the course of about four hours.

Many of the people we heard from were physically or mentally disabled, their family members, or caretakers. Many people struggled through their conditions to simply speak or to relate what they go through on a daily basis, others asked us to sustain funding for Medicaid waivers just so they could have some semblance of a normal life. We heard from an eight-year old with ostogenesis imperfecta and a brain injury who spoke from her wheelchair and had the most incredible smile before, during and after her comments notwithstanding her daily struggle.