On Saturday, June 28, Congressman Don Beyer and Virginia Delegate Marcus Simon were among the panelists for a Town Hall hosted by the NAACP branches in Fairfax, Arlington, and Alexandria. The event, which was held at Roberts Memorial United Methodist Church in Alexandria, included Arlington County Board member Julius “JD” Spain and Alexandria City Councilman John Taylor Chapman. The Town Hall was created to foster dialogue between residents and their elected officials, with a goal of providing a meaningful opportunity to align leadership with the voices of the people.
Congressman Beyer opened with a litany of problems with the bill currently being considered by Congress, which Beyer referred to as “the Big Ugly Bill.” Among the many problems that Beyer listed, the projected increase in the federal debt, and the loss of Medicaid funding, were on the top of his list. Beyer also referred to the many problems with the way ICE is conducting its operations.
Delegate Simon noted the many challenges to the rule of law, and he was especially disappointed with the recent forced resignation of University of Virginia President James Ryan. Simon seemed equally disappointed in the failure of the Youngkin administration to support President Ryan.
All four panelists spent a good amount of their time talking about the housing crisis, highlighting the critical role of housing supply and of housing affordability. Alexandria Councilman Taylor emphasized the need for goal setting, referring to Alexandria’s Housing 2040 Master Plan. The need to provide affordable housing for public servants (such as teachers and police officers) was a theme which was stressed by several of the panelists. Both Congressman Beyer and Delegate Simon highlighted their efforts to support housing measures with Low-Income Housing Tax Credit legislation on the federal and state level
Congressman Beyer stated he will be working to protect the Consumer Federal Protection Bureau (CFPB) in the ongoing budget deliberations. The CFPB is the federal agency that has returned more than $21 billion directly to families cheated by financial scams, and has helped prevent the kind of abusive fraud that has affected millions of Americans. Congressman Beyer also will continue to work to pass The Keeping All Students Safe Act, introduced by him and others in 2023. The Act would prohibit any school receiving federal funds from secluding a child or using dangerous restraint practices. The bill would also provide desperately needed oversight over incidences of restraining students.
Delegate Simon addressed the issue of police accountability with his response that “we ask the police to do too much.” Delegate Simon said that resources of a diverse nature are required to address the wide range of problems that police officers encounter.
County Board member JD Spain said that “this is our civil rights moment,” emphasizing the need for effective communication as a key to success. Spain used a “raise your hands” approach to make an interesting point about what was missing from the Town Hall. When he asked the audience the question, “how many of you are over 40 years old?” a large majority of people raised their hand.
