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May 9, 2008

Plum, Howell Discuss Session

By Leslie Perales Observer Staff Writer

Del. Ken Plum (D-36th) and Sen. Janet Howell (D-32nd) discussed mental healthcare, gun control and transportation during a meeting with local residents Tuesday. The two legislators held the community meeting at the Reston Community Center at Lake Anne to review actions taken during the recent session of the General Assembly.

Plum and Howell heard from residents who were concerned about the lack of mental health facilities, especially for seniors, in Northern Virginia. There are six prisons set to open in Virginia in the next six years, but there are no plans to add any new mental health facilities.

Plum said one way to improve Virginia's mental healthcare system involves changing the criminal justice system. He said many times criminals do not need to be in jail for as long as they are sentenced. If Virginia could reduce some of the sentences, the number of criminals in jails would be reduced and not as many prison facilities would be needed, he said. A lot of the money designated for new jails could then be used for mental health facilities, Plum said.

Howell said another solution is to provide better rehabilitation for people who are arrested for drug-related crimes. She said instead of "warehousing" them in jails, the Commonwealth needs to focus on finding better ways to get people off drugs. She said this could also help free up space in prisons and thereby send funding to other areas, such as mental health.

Howell and Plum both said they want better gun control in Virginia. "This was a depressingly discouraging year for gun control legislation," Howell said.

For example, Plum said, one bill would have allowed people to bring concealed weapons into restaurants as long as they did not consume any alcohol. Plum said the bill was passed by the House and the Senate, but Gov. Tim Kaine (D) vetoed the bill. "The gun control issue is out of control," Howell said.

Plum and Howell were also asked about transportation plans for the area, and Plum said Kaine is expected to release a plan next week. Earlier this year, Virginia lawmakers attempted to give the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority the power to tax residents to raise funds for roads; however a state Supreme Court ruling forced NVTA to stop collecting taxes on the basis that they are not elected officials and therefore have no tax authority, Plum said.

Plum said there are more roads in Virginia than there were last year and that has caused an increase in maintenance costs and created a shortfall in funding for new roads. Creating more new roads results in a cycle that keeps pumping money into maintenance, he said.