state politics | ARLnow.com

Published February 6, 2019 at 11:00AM

Embattled Gov. Ralph Northam has signed a bill to send up to $750 million in incentive cash to Amazon, quietly sealing the oft-discussed deal to bring a new headquarters to Arlington.

Northam put pen to paper on the legislation last night, a day before it was set to become law without his signature. An identical companion bill is still pending in the state Senate, but Northam’s approval and the General Assembly’s overwhelming support of both pieces of legislation likely means its passage is a mere formality.

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Legislation Allowing for New Regulation of Dockless Scooters, E-Bikes Gains Steam

By Alex Koma

Published February 6, 2019 at 9:00AM

New legislation working its way through the General Assembly could set new state standards around dockless scooters and e-bikes, giving localities like Arlington full authority to ban the vehicles on sidewalks and regulate where they’re parked.

A bill from Del. Todd Pillion (R-4th District) unanimously cleared the House of Delegates Monday (Feb. 4), setting the stage for state lawmakers to pass their first regulations governing the devices since they began popping up in Arlington and other urban communities around the state last summer.

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Arlington Democrats Join Near-Unanimous Calls for Northam to Resign, As Governor Presses to Stay

By Alex Koma

Published February 4, 2019 at 9:45AM

Gov. Ralph Northam continues to resist an overwhelming chorus of voices calling on him to resign his post today (Monday), including virtually all of Arlington’s Democratic leadership.

Northam, a Democrat, has experienced a dizzying reversal in his political fortunes since revelations late Friday that a photo of one man wearing a KKK uniform and another wearing blackface appeared on his medical school yearbook page.

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Lawmakers Overwhelmingly Support Incentive Bills to Bring New Amazon Headquarters to Arlington

By Alex Koma

Published January 28, 2019 at 3:30PM

State lawmakers have overwhelmingly approved an incentive package designed to lure Amazon to Arlington, sending legislation to Gov. Ralph Northam’s desk that will direct hundreds of millions of dollars in grant funds to the tech giant over the next 15 years.

Virginia’s House of Delegates passed a bill on the matter by an 83-16 margin today (Monday), after the state Senate signed off on the legislation with a 35-5 vote last week. Northam will ultimately have the final say on the issue, but considering that his administration helped broker the deal with Jeff Bezos’ firm in the first place, it now seems a sure bet that the company has the state’s support for a massive expansion in Pentagon City and Crystal City.

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Lawmakers Revive Push to Raise Taxes for Metro Funding, A Key Priority for Arlington Officials

By Alex Koma

Published January 23, 2019 at 10:45AM

A pair of state lawmakers are pushing to revive a proposal to raise some Northern Virginia tax rates to fund Metro, a key priority of Arlington and other localities around the region feeling a budget squeeze.

A bill now backed by Del. Vivian Watts (D-39th District) and Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-49th District) would bump up taxes slightly on real estate transactions and hotel stays in the jurisdictions that benefit from Metro service. The legislation is broadly similar to Gov. Ralph Northam’s push to raise those rates last year, as lawmakers squabbled over the best way to find a dedicated funding stream for the troubled transit service.

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New Bill Could Change Arlington’s Powers to Ticket Parked Cars, But Backers See Other Purpose

By Alex Koma

Published January 17, 2019 at 1:45PM | Updated January 18, 2019 at 12:48PM

(Updated Friday at 12:45 p.m.) New legislation working its way through the General Assembly could soon let Arlington, and other large Northern Virginia localities, start hiring private contractors to ticket parked cars for minor violations like expired license plates — but the lawmakers backing the bill say they introduced it for a slightly different purpose.

Currently, only county police can hand out such violations. But identical bills just introduced down in Richmond by state Sen. Dick Black (R-13th District) and Del. Karrie Delaney (D-67th District) could allow private parking enforcement staffers in large counties like Arlington to hand out those tickets too — if the localities opt in for the change.

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Amazon Breaks Out Its Checkbook, Sending Small Donations to All of Arlington’s State Lawmakers

By Alex Koma

Published January 16, 2019 at 4:45PM | Updated May 7, 2019 at 10:10AM

Amazon has now chipped in campaign cash to every one of Arlington’s representatives in Richmond, kicking in the relatively small total of $3,500 to the seven state lawmakers representing the future home of one of its new headquarters.

The tech company spread out the contributions over the course of last November and December, according to new campaign finance reports released yesterday (Tuesday), starting to wade into Virginia politics in the immediate aftermath of its big announcement that it would soon bring 25,000 workers to offices in Pentagon City and Crystal City.

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Arlington’s ‘Habitual Drunkards:’ Prosecutors Enforce a Controversial Law Impacting the Homeless

By Alex Koma

Published January 16, 2019 at 1:45PM | Updated February 22, 2019 at 10:45AM

Arlington jail cell in 2010

Over the last few years, Arlington police and prosecutors have embraced a controversial tactic to deal with people who are frequently drunk in public — but most county residents don’t even know it exists.

The unusual process, known as “interdiction,” allows county prosecutors to ask a judge to declare someone a “habitual drunkard” if they’ve committed several alcohol-related offenses. That designation means these “drunkards” can be charged with a misdemeanor and jailed for up to a year if they’re found so much as buying or drinking alcohol again.

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As Amazon Looms, Lopez Pushes for More State Money to Fund Affordable Housing Development

By Alex Koma

Published January 16, 2019 at 10:45AM | Updated January 16, 2019 at 3:00PM

(Updated at 3 p.m.) With Amazon gearing up to move into his neck of the woods, Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-49th District) is angling to substantially beef up state spending on affordable housing development.

Lopez, who represents a variety of South Arlington neighborhoods surrounding the tech company’s planned headquarters in Crystal City and Pentagon City, is eyeing a two-pronged approach to the issue in this year’s General Assembly session.

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Google Maps Now Displays Arlington Sections of Jefferson Davis Highway as ‘Richmond Highway’

By Alex Koma

Published January 15, 2019 at 1:45PM

Signs for Jefferson Davis Highway along Route 1 in Crystal City

Arlington officials remain stymied in their long push to rename the section of Jefferson Davis Highway running through the county — but you’d never know it by glancing at Google Maps.

The tech company’s virtual atlas now identifies Arlington’s section of Route 1 as “Richmond Highway,” dating back to at least Friday (Jan. 11). An ARLnow reader, who asked to remain anonymous, first noticed the switch.

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Lopez Refuses Campaign Cash from Amazon, As Company Prepares to Move into His District

By Alex Koma

Published January 14, 2019 at 4:45PM

Del. Alfonso Lopez

As Amazon moves into Arlington, it seems the company is ready to start spreading some of the wealth around to local lawmakers — but, so far, one has already turned down the tech giant’s cash.

Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-49th District) told ARLnow that Amazon sent him $1,000 in late October to back his re-election effort this year, just before announcing that it plans to set up a new headquarters in Pentagon City and Crystal City. In fact, Lopez’s South Arlington district covers some of the locations that the tech firm eventually plans to call home.