The county’s Human Rights Commission says it probably is not the correct venue for proponents of a single-payer healthcare system to make their pitch.
However, the panel’s chair said at a meeting last month that he would look into whether it had the authority to recommend that the County Board consider the matter.
Scott Gruber, who has been active with the D.C.-area chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, used the commission’s Sept. 10 meeting to press for a resolution in support of County Board members weighing in on the topic.
“There’s quite a number of people [in Arlington] who are still uninsured, a lot of people underinsured, a lot of people struggling with health care, to afford the cost,” Gruber told the six-member commission.
While chair Jimmy McBirney was sympathetic, he told Gruber that his commission had no authority to grant the request.
“It’s not within our power,” McBirney said.
As for Gruber’s backup request — for the commission to send a recommendation to the County Board asking for a resolution of support — McBirney said the panel would seek a legal opinion into whether that was within its power.
“We will look at it, we will explore if there’s anything we can do with it,” said McBirney. “It just may be something that is beyond the purview of this particular commission.”
McBirney told Gruber he personally was “a fan” of the Medicare-for-all concept but wasn’t speaking on behalf of the panel or the county.
None of the other commission members in attendance had comments on the topic, which may be brought back up at the commission’s October meeting. At that meeting, commission members will meet with County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti and Board member Julius “J.D.” Spain, Sr., to discuss a variety of topics.
In 2024, County Board members fired members of the existing Human Rights Commission after a year of skirmishes between the bodies. The panel then was reconstituted with mostly new members and a revised charter that explicitly narrowed the commission’s autonomy.
Gruber was among activists who, in March 2024, convinced the Alexandria City Council to adopt a resolution in support of a Medicare-for-all initiative. The City Council became the first governing body of a Virginia locality to take a stand on the subject.
Photo via National Cancer Institute/Unsplash
