On the concerns of Working Families

Welcome to our April newsletter, Rapp Up! readers.  In this issue we offer a wide-ranging conversation we had with Virginia Delegate Sam Rasoul (Democrat, Roanoke), with whom we caught up at the end of the general assembly’s legislative session.  At a time when many pundits and politicians want us to believe that Americans are highly divided (and stoke those divisions themselves), Rasoul is different.  He thinks deeply and creatively about what Virginian families really need – and is convinced we can still have conversations across the political aisle.  As he says, “Virginians want their representatives to focus on Virginia, not the world.  And we can respectfully understand where we disagree and still rally around what we do have common ground on.”

We covered a lot of topics in this conversation, so we will divide it into two separate newsletters.  So enjoy!  And please pass along to your friends or encourage them to subscribe or follow us on Facebook.

Supporting Women

“The best way to help families is to economically empower women”, says Rasoul.  Because the truth is that “women are so far behind in the pay gap” that they can never catch up unless there are smarter policies for maternal health and child care.  And if wives and mothers are held back, families suffer too.

”Therefore, “we miss the boat” Rasoul continued, “when we frame this issue simply in a women’s rights context.”  Nor need this be a partisan issue, Rasoul continued, “I was having dinner with folks last night – all Republicans. The women in the room were especially pushing hard for maternity care and child care, like they have in all these other countries.  It is simply needed for a functioning society.”   So “there is a clear opening there to talk to women – and parents in general – who care deeply about childcare and early childhood development.” 

What needs to be done?  On Childcare, Rasoul said that there had been good legislative progress under Governor Northam on promoting childcare, but that the current legislature did not fund enough slots.  And not just for more pre-schools – Rasoul insisted that childcare should incorporate many different components – it needs, for example, to include after-school care for parents who are working 2nd and 3rd shifts.   Unfortunately, the recent legislative session passed a Republican-sponsored bill (HB 1423) that only studies the problem rather than taking meaningful action.  

On maternal health care, Rasoul also sees an opening for bipartisan bridging.  For example, he has proposed a bill to allow midwives to have access to drugs that can help with their care for women.  Even Republicans who would still like to ban abortions, he notes, can understand that women cannot be forced to be pregnant and have a baby without some kind of support.

Utilities put Profits over Service

“The largest [de facto] tax increase in Virginia history has been the increase in the amount that people pay their utilities in the past decade!”  Rasoul gets really indignant on the topic of price-gouging by utilities.  “I would ask somebody to prove me wrong but natural gas just shot up, cell phone, broadband, and of course the basics, electricity, water…. Maybe the wealthy don’t feel the pinch but, boy, (for the rest of us) it has been quite an increase over the past decade”.

What’s going on?  The problem, says Rasoul, is that “we continue to allow legalized theft from the monopolies – in some cases de facto monopolies where we’ve created rules where they are the only provider in an area.”  These utility monopolies were created so they can achieve economies of scale. But the tradeoff is supposed to be that the State Corporation Commission (SCC) is supposed to oversee the amount of profit they can make. 

“Unfortunately, the SCC is at the mercy of the statutes that we pass in the general assembly – but those very monopolies have helped change the laws that oversee what the SCC can do. And they are pumping millions of dollars into campaigns to get what they want. Clearly, we have more work to do with regard to the utilities’ influence on our energy policy.”

A Solar Policy that puts Rural Communities First

Del. Rasoul mentioned how important it was “not to dismiss out-of-hand very legitimate objections folks may have to large industrial-scale rural solar farms that could ruin their view shed. To sideline their concerns because you may be a vigorous proponent of global warming mitigation and green energy just hardens their position.” 

We discussed the potential for a “distributed solar” approach that would allow rural landowners who have a bit of land to make extra money producing solar power on a small scale. Asked whether the utilities have been lobbying hard to limit this approach, Del. Rasoul responded that, “They certainly have wanted to ensure that they have full control over what happens. They have put in a variety of impediments to make sure that they maximize their profits first. And where the math makes sense [for them], they then allow folks to have a little bit of latitude.” 

Coming soon: Part 2 of this interview where Rasoul talks about education, infrastructure versus tax cuts and what to think about the November election campaign.

New to The Rapp Up!? Subscribe below or follow us on Facebook at New Rural Virginia!