Letters to the Editor: July 26 – August 1, 2018

Rt. 28, Medicaid Expansion & Raising Teacher Pay

Editor,

In response to Bob Martin’s letter to the editor last week about my record in the Virginia House of Delegates, you can view the bills I introduced as the chief patron this year at lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+mbr+H303C.

Martin asked, “Has she done any work towards her campaign platform regarding easing traffic on Route 28?”

The answer is yes. I introduced HJ 68, which would allow the Virginia Department of Transportation to study alternative intersection designs along the Route 28 corridor in the Yorkshire portion of Prince William County. That is designed to allow VDOT’s engineers to determine what options other than timed signals will allow commuters to drive safely and quickly through intersections where red lights currently halt traffic. Even though the bill died on a party-line vote, I presented it to VDOT and we are now working on an administrative solution.

My biggest accomplishment for the people of the 13th District this year came from voting in favor of Medicaid expansion, which will make quality, affordable health insurance accessible for 3,800 of my uninsured constituents who earn up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.

That same vote also authorized a 3 percent pay raise for teachers throughout the commonwealth and a 2 percent pay raise for state employees while providing more money for mental health services, opioid addiction prevention and treatment and coverage for autism-related health care for people aged 2-18 who have a state health insurance plan.

I was also proud to be the chief co-patron for Del. Patrick Hope’s HB 50 that will prevent school officials for shaming students who carry school lunch debts, and I co-patroned Del. Karrie Delaney’s HB 1419, which will allow localities to count recess as instructional time for elementary school students so they can have more than 15-20 minutes of recess time that we often see.

I’ve now been in office for a little less than six and a half months and I’m proud to see us make progress on the top three issues I campaigned on last year.

Del. Danica Roem (D-13th)

Manassas

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