Advocacy Statement to Prince William-Area State Legislators on January 4, 2020

Statement to the Prince William Delegation to the Virginia General Assembly January 4, 2020, by Allen Muchnick, Manassas Resident

I’m Allen Muchnick, a City of Manassas resident. I’ve been a board member of the Virginia Bicycling Federation since 1994 and helped found Active Prince William four years ago.

Both organizations seek safer and more pleasant walking and bicycling and improved justice for pedestrians and bicyclists injured by negligent motorists.  We support requiring motorists to stop--not merely yield--to persons in crosswalks; establishing a traffic infraction for motorists who fail to exercise due care to prevent a collision with a pedestrian or bicyclist; increased penalties for law-breaking motorists who severely injure pedestrians (HB 247); introducing speed cameras near schools; and lessening contributory negligence limitations for injured pedestrians and bicyclists.

To reduce the current epidemic of distracted driving, please ban all use of handheld electronic communication devices while driving a motor vehicle (SB 136, SB 160).

Please ensure that state-funded Potomac River crossing expansions at the American Legion Bridge and at the Long Bridge include substantial bicycle and pedestrian elements and that standalone bicycling and walking improvements are fully eligible for all relevant state and regional transportation funding programs.   Also, do not remove land-use considerations from the CTB’s SMART SCALE project evaluation process or restrict the use of congestion-priced tolls on limited-access highways, an effective congestion-reduction tool and valuable new funding source for multimodal transportation projects and services.

The following remarks are my own and should not be attributed to any specific organization:

Congratulations on your recent election.  The 2020 Legislative Session should allow many important but long-delayed progressive changes to finally become law: increasing the minimum wage, ratifying the ERA, common-sense gun controls, expanded and easier voting, redistricting and campaign-finance reforms, banning discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, reversing anti-abortion restrictions and delays, decriminalizing marijuana possession, curtailing plastic bags and Styrofoam, and increasing the affordable housing supply.  

However, effectively addressing our looming climate crisis is paramount.  Please support the Green New Deal Act (HB 77), the Virginia Alternative Energy and Coastal Protection Act (HB 20), and the Virginia Energy Plan (SB 94), abolish the 1% cap on solar net metering by Virginia electric utilities, and expand opportunities for community solar projects.

Thank you for your service and best wishes for a productive legislative session.