Greetings from Richmond and welcome to the first edition of Focus on Fairfax! Each week during Session I will write a brief article on major issues before the General Assembly and how they might affect our community. I hope that you will find this a useful way to be a part of the process and that you will use this as an opportunity to provide me with your feedback.

Session began on January 11th, and it has been
non-stop ever since. I have been assigned to the Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources and the Committee on General Laws. General Laws deals with everything that doesn?t fit in other committees as well as anything dealing with housing, alcoholic beverage control, gaming, administrative processes, and freedom of information.

I am pleased to announce that I will be holding two Town Hall meetings so that I can learn more about the issues that are important to you. The first will be held on January 28th at Fairfax City Hall from 9:30 ? 11:00 a.m. The second will be held on February 25th at Bonnie Brae Elementary at 9:00 a.m. and will feature Bill Leighty, Governor Kaine?s Chief of Staff. Mr. Leighty will talk about the proposed budget and the Governor?s priorities for the next four years.

In the next few weeks we will be dealing with a range of issues that I know are important to all of us. In particular, we will be addressing how to fund transportation and better coordinate growth and development. Please do not hesitate to contact me to share any concerns or ideas.

Thank you again for the opportunity to represent my home town in the General Assembly. I look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

P.S. Please take a few moments to submit my 2006 Constitutent Survey. I will use the results of the survey as I consider legislation coming before the General Assembly.