Buy, Sell, or Hold? State of the Commonwealth Edition ft. Sarah Taylor, Del. Alfonso Lopez, Del. Marcus Simon, and Sen. Scott Surovell
Everyone's favorite General Assembly game show is back as Michael sits down with Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, Delegate Alfonso Lopez, Delegate Marcus Simon, and Alexandria Assistant City Manager Sarah Taylor to get their takes Governor Youngkin's State of the Commonwealth Address, proposed taxes and tax cuts, the Potomac Yard arena deal, and the new General Assembly building.
Episode Transcript
Michael Pope
I'm Michael Pope. This is Pod Virginia, a podcast reviving everybody's favorite game show, Buy, Sell, or Hold. We're here with the Pod Virginia All-Stars Delegate Alfonso Lopez.
Alfonso Lopez
Hello, Michael Pope. Welcome to the new session.
Michael Pope
And Senator, now Majority Leader Scott Surovell.
Scott Surovell
What's happening, yo.
Michael Pope
Everybody's favorite contestant, Sarah Taylor.
Sarah Graham Taylor
No taxpayer dollars were used to fund this entertainment opportunity.
Michael Pope
And last but certainly not least, the winner of the last round of Buy, Sell or Hold Delegate Marcus Simon.
Marcus Simon
I am always a winner, never lose. Always glad to be on Pod Virginia with Michael Pope.
Michael Pope
All right, the Governor gave his State of the Commonwealth address. I've got a couple points on that. And the opening of the session that we want to get through. I'm going to mention a topic. You guys will either buy the idea, sell the idea, or hold the idea. But there's a social stigma for choosing to hold, so keep that in mind as we go through these. All right, I'm going to start with an oddball, but it made an impression on me. The Governor constantly refers to Virginia as a she; buy, sell, or hold on Virginia as a she. Governor in his speech, Virginia does this, Virginia does that, she does this, she does that, the Governor is constantly referring to Virginia as a she.
Alfonso Lopez
Pronouns like, they, we should refer to them. No, I have no opinion about that. Completely no opinion about what he chooses to do. If he chooses to call it a they or she or a he and him. That's up to the Governor and every individual in Virginia.
Michael Pope
That's even worse than not caring about it as a whole. All right. So, majority leader Scott Surovell, at one point in the Governor's speech, I heard him not just refer to Virginia as a she but then he also referred to her and us; yes, right exactly by seller hold on Virginia as a she?
Scott Surovell
Oh, well. If you look at the flag, it's definitely a she the symbol of Virtus, a Roman god or something, I think? Who's trampling on tyranny and authority. I think he's onto something: they're getting their gender of our State down like that.
Michael Pope
The only states deal with an exposed breast Sarah Taylor, buy, sell or hold on to the concept of Virginia as a she?
Sarah Graham Taylor
Well, I think cars are generally referred to as she, and boats are generally referred to as she, but I don't know about Commonwealths. So, I think I'm going to have to sell on the Commonwealth as she; I think it should be left to luxury goods and not to our chosen home of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Michael Pope
Who knew that we would be talking about pronouns in reference to the Governor and his diction in terms of how he talks about the Commonwealth of Virginia Marcus Simon, buy, sell, or hold on Virginia as a she?
Marcus Simon
So, my instinct is to be the opposite of the Governor and sell on anything that the Governor does. This is evidenced by our discussion of taxes, which Surovell and I were on the wrong side of, apparently, on your podcast a couple days ago. But in this case, I'm going to reluctantly agree that Virginia is a she; it's a girl's name. I know people named Virginia; sometimes, they go by Gini and other things. And so I actually think he's right, Virginia, if you're gonna use a pronoun, I would use her.
Michael Pope
Oh, starting on a note of bipartisan comity. All right, 2024 is off to a good start. All right, since you brought up the dispute over the sales tax, let's get into that: Leader Surovell, buy, sell, or hold on closing the tech tax loophole?
Scott Surovell
Well, you and I already talked about this. And I think that the tech tax loophole has some possibilities, but it's part of a much broader discussion. And I don't think, as I said earlier today, that if you buy software at Office Depot, it gets taxed any differently than if you download it online. Or if you download your movie, it's any different than if you go to a video store. Do they even rent cassettes or DVDs anymore? I don't know if you will buy your Blu-ray, or I don't know how to watch a movie anymore. But in any event. I think there are some possibilities there, but it's part of a broader discussion. We'll see how that goes.
Marcus Simon
That sounds a lot like a hold to me.
Scott Surovell
Hey, man, I get to speak for a whole caucus now. Like it's all different.
Michael Pope
Yeah, but you still got to play the game. Sarah Taylor, you've got a Spotify subscription. You've got a Netflix subscription. Do these people deserve a cut of your action?
Sarah Graham Taylor
So, I'm going to be a buy on closing the tech tax loophole. I kind of get the merit in saying this used to be something that you purchased at a big box store at your Blockbuster and that just because you do it differently, it shouldn't be taxed or that it should be taxed differently. It reminds me a lot of the whole question about the Wayfair decision, what you buy online versus what you buy at Target or Walmart, and whether those are taxed differently. So I'm going to be a buy. Although I may live to regret this with the number of streaming subscriptions, my children require me to have in my household.
Michael Pope
All right, Delegate Marcus Simon, buy, sell, or hold on closing the tech tax loophole.
Marcus Simon
Okay, so the smartest person on Pod Virginia, except for me, is Lauren Burke. And she and I agree. This is a big sell. These are subscription services. This is not easy; they have the analogy all wrong. It's not going and buying a DVD. It's like listening to the radio. Do we want to have an NPR tax? Are we're gonna have a WTOP tax? No, there's a Pod Virginia tax. Are we gonna tax Pod Virginia? Of course not, right? Look, we have run budget surpluses. These user taxes, the sales taxes, and this reliance on consumption taxes are regressive. They penalize people who spend every dollar they make consuming things and buying things and reward-rich people. What this is going to pay for is an across-the-board tax cut. So somebody that makes $2 million a year working for the Carlyle Group saves $10,000 a year, and you raise our sales taxes on everything. The net benefit is that the firefighter and the average working Joe lose money on this whole deal. Look, are there certain places where we might need to modernize the tax code? I could be open to some of that. But this is the wrong analogy. It's the wrong tax at the wrong time offered by the wrong guy.
Michael Pope
I do like the idea of the WTOP tax, though. I mean.
Marcus Simon
A competitor.
Michael Pope
This is tax powered by Ledo Pizza. Delegate Alfonso Lopez, buy, sell, or hold on closing the tech tax loophole.
Alfonso Lopez
I am a sell as well. We do have to actually sort of reform the Virginia Tech tax code. There are definitely different ways we can do things in that regard. At the same time, though, I reluctantly agree with Marcus Simon about the incorrect analogy. Even if there were some positive ways to be a buy on this, I don't know how you get it passed. I don't see how this passes the General Assembly right now. And, like, what Republican is going to put forward the Governor's initiative? I just don't see it. Have you guys seen someone offer this bill yet? I haven't, have you? So yeah, the Governor can say anything he wants to say in the State of the Commonwealth address. He can talk big about changing the tax code, but let's get it through the General Assembly and see who's willing to stand up and vote, aye.
Michael Pope
Okay. All right, because we're going to Sarah Taylor. Next, I'm going to bring up the topic of whether the General Assembly should create an authority so that Alexandria can have an arena and entertainment district. Sarah Taylor, buy, sell, or hold on to your General Assembly, creating a new authority?
Sarah Graham Taylor
Do you mean the Commonwealth has an entertainment district, two professional sports teams, a corporate headquarters, and a significant amount of organic development, which is catalyzed by this entertainment district? I would say yes. I feel like I'm probably a buy on this. I think the nice thing about being a buy on this is that there's no state cash buying this thing. No new taxes are buying this thing. This is all funded by revenue created by the site that would not exist but for the site and an investment by the private sector. So, I am both professionally and personally. A strong buy on the entertainment district in Potomac Yard. I would note that the yard is singular and the opportunity it'll bring for the city of Alexandria and the Commonwealth as a whole.
Scott Surovell
Is rule 36 and plan this podcast?
Michael Pope
I heard the economic development head for Alexandria say that the city-owned arts facility there would be a great place for a book reading. So, I'm a strong buy of book readings in general. Just a point of personal privilege. Delegate Marcus Simon, buy, sell, or hold on the General Assembly creating this new authority?
Marcus Simon
I just think it's hilarious that all you do is offer Mike an opportunity to read the Bryd Machine. Hey, you get a 180-degree turn on these things he sells cheap anyway. I am a buy because they are much more popular than I and Alfonso could ever be. Sarah Taylor went to Twitter to brag about how popular she is a buy. Look, I think this is something that we really need to be open to. I think that a lot of the conventional wisdom about these deals may not apply; I say I may not need to see the details. But what really impresses me about this is, as I understand it, Ted Leonsis, as one of your guests, kept saying it the wrong way. Ted Leonsis came to Virginia and said, Hey, can we work something out? This isn't. I was trying to poach a team or lure somebody away from somewhere else. Monumental wants to be in Virginia; I think you need to know that context to understand this isn't a giveaway; this isn't where we have to spend billions of dollars to lure somebody who wants to be somewhere else. And I say that to say once we look at the numbers, it may not be too good to be a true deal. I know that sometimes you see if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And I think the reason for that is because we aren't trying to draw them in; they want to be here. And so I think everybody really is looking for a win-win. Now, again, I need to see more numbers; the proof is in the pudding. But I am open to the idea that this might actually be something that works for everybody.
Michael Pope
So that's a buy?
Marcus Simon
That's a buy.
Michael Pope
Okay, to buy so far, Delegate Alfonso Lopez, buy, sell, or hold on creating a new authority for Monumental.
Alfonso Lopez
I'm on hold. And I'll tell you why. The traffic alone and the transit issues are considerable. I'd like to make sure that we have language on whatever deal goes through that says, if they pull out in the 40 years, they're on the hook for the money that they owe us. I also want to make sure that we have money for the Metro upfront. And so I want to see the details. I want to see all the numbers. I want to make sure that there's no sleeping cost for Virginia taxpayers. But I also believe in our region to a certain extent, and I care about what this means for downtown DC. And so let me just say right now, as Sarah Taylor screams at me silently. I want to make sure that we're not, basically, on the hook for what will be the largest public expenditure for a sports arena in American history. And then also the fact that I don't know what Ted Leonsis is really intending here. Is he playing us off of DC to eventually go back to DC? You know, let's see how this all plays out. But the devil is definitely in the details.
Marcus Simon
It's a good thing. There are no sharp objects here in Scott Surovell's new offense because I think Sarah is looking very stabby. Right now.
Sarah Graham Taylor
what I'm taking from this is that some members of the General Assembly need to be briefed more deeply on this project.
Michael Pope
It sounds like we need to do a couple more episodes about this, perhaps on Pod Virginia. Majority leader Scott Surovell already tried to rule 36. Are you a buy, sell, or hold-on creating the authority?
Scott Surovell
Rule 36 doesn't apply to me; I don't have a personal interest, or my employer has no personal interest in this that has to apply to somebody else in this room. But first of all, I'm all in favor of community basketball courts and recreational facilities. But the jury's still out on this. First of all, the Governor has not put a specific proposal in front of us that's not in a PowerPoint format. We need to see the bill text and exactly what the words say to be able to figure it out and evaluate the project. We don't have that yet. And my caucus here today has a lot of questions about it. And the risk, I think it'd be the first time we've used the Commonwealth general bond obligation authority to fund an economic development project in the history of the State. The Governor has currently proposed it, but he hasn't shown us the actual language yet for us to build and evaluate that. I know a lot of folks in my caucus also have questions about the wages and benefits of the people who construct the facility. How are they going to be paid? The people who work in the facilities are going to be paid, and the people who work in the ancillary spin-off development that is likely to result from this. Which I think will be very positive for Northern Virginia, although just note, there's definitely a sort of small group of sorts of unhappy people; they might lose their Target, although I've been assured that the Target actually gonna be rebuilt bigger and better. Kinda I like the Mosaic Target in a much more dense format, with escalators and things. So you will still have your Target there and be able to park and all that. But no, the last thing I'll say is that Delegate Lopez correctly points out that transportation is the biggest variable I hear about from my constituents. And I would just note that when they dropped the Verizon Center where they did in 1995 or '96, they didn't build a single road improvement that did it. But it's also served by three or four metro lines; this one has two. And it has a VRE line next to it with no station, which needs to be part of the dialogue. And a lot of us are trying to figure out exactly what transportation improvements are being proposed and who's going to pay for them. So there's a lot of questions about it. It's something to discuss; it's a big opportunity. If it plays out the way they project, it would generate a lot of net tax revenue for our State, which could fund schools and lots of other things for Alexandria. Yeah, right for Alexandria, not for Fairfax, not for Prince Willian or Loudoun. It's an Alexandria project, and the State and Alexandria benefit from it. But we need to see the details and understand the level of risk before we figure it out. And so I'm a big, big, big hold on this.
Michael Pope
Sarah, anything that you wanted to add?
Sarah Graham Taylor
No, I appreciate the dialogue; I look forward to speaking with all of them. And yes, for the listeners, I do have a professional stake in this. My job is, to some degree, to convince all these folks that this is something that is a benefit to the Commonwealth, it is something that is beneficial to Alexandria, it is something that has ancillary benefit to the region around us. And that this is the idea of creating this, which is good for everyone. And that's my job, and I look forward to doing it.
Michael Pope
All right, the next topic is about this new building that we're in, which has the only municipally owned pizza oven. In Virginia, maybe in the country, Delegate Marcus Simon buy, sells, or holds on to the concept of a municipally owned pizza oven.
Marcus Simon
So, I am all for the State owning the means of production. I don't know if that makes me political. I've probably been called worse, right? If we own the means of production for the pizza. I'm a buy on that. I'm a big fan of the food here in the new building; the food is very good. The system for ordering the food. And this is so inside baseball. But I am a big sell on that because this whole system where you have to go to put stuff in a kiosk in order, and it's very confusing. I just wanna go to the counter and order my food. But I am a buy on a municipally owned pizza oven. Although I'm cutting down my carbs, I just stripped the toppings off, I guess.
Michael Pope
Yes, we all own it together in commune with each other. Delegate Alfonso Lopez, buy, sell, or hold on to the concept of a municipally owned pizza oven.
Alfonso Lopez
I am much more of a public-private partnership for pizza ovens. No, I think that, first off, Marcus Simon is incredibly wrong about the ordering system, which is very cutting edge and ahead of the game, especially with regard to the coffee, which is actually quite good. But yeah, this is a very, very well-made building, and I'm excited about what it's going to accomplish and how good it is. $500 million will get you a great building. So honestly, I am a buy on this pizza oven idea.
Michael Pope
Leader Surovell, you have members who are going to be looking for a place to have lunch because they can no longer eat in the backroom of the Senate, buy, sell, or hold on to the concept of a municipally owned pizza oven.
Scott Surovell
First, I must say I agree with my comrade Marcus Simon. But I would just say, first of all, I'm happy that the end of the Capitol Square food desert is gone. It has been a disaster for food up here for the last six years since the General Assembly restaurant shut down, and we tore down the last building that was here. But I will say I would not believe the amount of unhappiness there was on the floor of the Senate today because the food buffet we paid for by the way it was removed. And then we can only get food anymore if we order it from the restaurant, which will enhance our interactions with the pages immensely, I think. But there were no pages in the Senate, so nobody got to eat for three hours. Anyway, we're all very excited about the quality of the food and that we get to choose our meals. We have a lot more vegans and vegetarians in the Senate now that more House members have invaded. And it's going to be a much better-fed session. I think with all the new choices we have over there.
Michael Pope
Day number one of the Surovell era is a bunch of cranky senators who had their sandwiches grabbed out of their hands. Sarah Taylor, buy, sell, or hold on to the concept of a municipally owned pizza.
Sarah Graham Taylor
Anything that has to do with municipalities owning things I am a strong buy on. I'm also super excited that I will be eating fewer meals at 7/11. That was generally my go-to during the session. So the breakfast sandwich slashes Mountain Dew meal might drop off a little bit, and I might find something that I can eat out of the municipally-owned pizza oven. So, strong buy on the municipally owned pizza oven.
Michael Pope
All right, moving on to the governor State of the Commonwealth address, he wants tax cuts, he wants to cut your income tax, he wants to cut your income tax, he wants everybody to get an income tax cut, Delegate Alfonso Lopez buy, sell or hold on cutting the income tax.
Alfonso Lopez
Sell on the Governor's sort of empty tax plan. The devil is also in the details. And I just think that what's going on here is incredibly regressive in terms of who the impact is. Wealthy people versus working Joe's and working folks who are just trying to make a living with their families. And so I think the wealthy make out really well. And this whole budget he's got, but I don't think we have to rewrite the whole thing before the end of the session.
Michael Pope
The top 1% would get a disproportionate tax cut. However, all four of the tax brackets would get a cut under the proposal, right? Leader Surovell, buy, sell, or hold on cutting your income taxes?
Scott Surovell
Well, if my only salary was a State Senator, I'd be looking pretty good under his proposal with my $18,000 salary. But I didn't hear him talking about income; I heard him talking about how there's this, like, magic money tree on Capitol Square. And that we can have everything we want. And all we got to do was go outside and shake the tree for a little bit, and money would fly to the sky and pay for everything. So, I'm all in favor of the magic money tree that he says he can grow. That seems to be how the government wanted to pay for all of its policy ideas today. And that certainly isn't going to work. But if what he was really proposing was an income tax cut and a raise in the sales tax on everybody, that's not gonna fly. And I would not be buying that.
Michael Pope
Sarah Taylor, buy, sell, or hold on cutting the income tax.
Sarah Graham Taylor
I would say that I am a buy on tax reform, and especially tax reform that provides for additional flexibility and revenue authority for localities. To allow localities to be less reliant on property taxes. Take the significant fact that our budgets are almost entirely funded through property taxes; that is the only well that we keep having to go back to as localities. Tax reform, in general, is something that is desperately needed here in the Commonwealth. I look forward to a robust conversation here during the session about what the Governor has proposed versus what the majority here has an appetite for. And whether there is an opportunity for holistic tax reform that would include additional revenue, flexibility, and authority for localities.
Michael Pope
Holistic tax reform is putting a bunch of stuff into the gumbo pot. But pulling one of those pieces out the income tax, Delegate Marcus Simon buy, sell or hold on cutting the income tax.
Marcus Simon
I am selling this at a steep discount. Look, the problem with this. And the Governor is really good at using language to be deceptive. So, when you talk about across-the-board tax cuts. That sounds fair, right? Oh, it's across the board. Everybody gets the same thing. Well, no, that's not how it works. Everybody gets a tax cut. But the tax cut doesn't come out to the same dollars for everyone. So if you make, say, between $97,000 and $162,000, right, you save $278 a year on the Governor's tax plan. If you are like the Governor and work for the Carlyle Group and make more than... you have to make a lot. Like a lot of people think they're in the top 1% and they're not. Unless you're making $763,000 a year or more, you're not in the top 1%. Those making $763,000 a year are going to save $9,640 versus that sort of middle-class tax cut of $278. So it's across the more tax cut, which sounds fair, but it's really unfair. It gives a huge discount to the ultra-rich, and why we would subsidize this big discount to the ultra-rich by making regular people buy things and spend 100% of their paycheck. Buying things to support their families makes no sense to me. This is a really regressive and bad idea. And you hear about this flat tax and this fair tax across the board; it's always Republicans speak. It's a way of disguising something that is going to totally disproportionately help the ultra-rich at the expense of normal working Virginians. And so I'm a big sell, can't sell it fast enough. It is a dead-on-arrival kind of proposal. And it doesn't mean we don't need to work on our income tax and how we bracket and collect it. But this plan is a disaster. I'm selling it for super cheap. Make an offer, and it's yours. Come get it; it's on the curb.
Michael Pope
All right. Well, one of the quirks of our Governor is how he likes to brand everything. He's branded the budget an unleashing opportunity budget from his perspective; I guess you gotta label it something, right? Buy, sell, or hold on to the concept of unleashing opportunity as the narrative around which the Governor has built the budget.
Sarah Graham Taylor
So I'm gonna be a sell on the term unleashing opportunity, but I'm going to be a buy on the idea of naming things, with a caveat. I think if you name something, you put a fancy name on your bill, or you put a header on your proposal, it has to create a memorable and preferably funny acronym. So if it's going to be the unleashing opportunity in Virginia proposal, like UOIV, that doesn't do it for me. You got to come up with something that has a good acronym. And so I'm a buy on creative naming of proposals and bills and policy and things like that.
Michael Pope
You know, in Washington, they name all of their bills, and in Virginia, it rarely happens that they've come up with names for the bills. Delegate Marcus Simon unleashed opportunity as the narrative around which the Governor has designed his budget.
Marcus Simon
I am a big sell because it implies that it was somehow leashed before. And then it was unleashed, and we were somehow holding it back? So it's a silly name. It's not a good name. And I just want to remind folks before Governor Youngkin, Virginia was the number one state for business two years in a row. Two years in a row. If anybody has caused problems with Virginia and limited opportunities, it's the government and its regressive social policies. And so we need an "oops, I was wrong" kind of budget or something like that. He calls it his halftime budget. Now, I'm a Democrat, I don't know, but an unleashing opportunity, malapropism, it doesn't fit, and it's a bad name. And I was briefly in charge of having to tell people that we aren't allowed to name their bills because it is an unwritten rule in Virginia. You said it doesn't happen a lot, and that is because it's one of those unwritten rules that we don't name the bills. I am a sell again.
Michael Pope
That is very interesting. Okay, Delegate Alfonso Lopez, buy, sell, or hold on to the unleashing opportunity budget.
Alfonso Lopez
The Governor is branding things like that. It harkens back to the days when Republicans in Congress used to say well, we're gonna have the Clear Skies Act, which actually allowed people to pollute more. Or the Healthy Trees Act, which allows you to cut down forests more effectively and easily. I just find it fascinating that the branding being used is never truly indicative of the truth of the matter or what's actually going on in the Commonwealth. So yeah, I'm a big sell.
Michael Pope
Leader Surovell, buy, sell, or hold on to the unleashing opportunity budget?
Scott Surovell
I'm a sell on the branding, which is very a not Virginia thing, that's a very DC thing, and we ain't a DC kind of place around here. We get things done and pass budgets. But the other reason I'm a sell is what I don't get is this administration's fascination with the word opportunity; it's almost a fetish. I'd just like to remind everybody that three of the four of us here on your show voted to create something called the State's Diversion Equity and Inclusion officer, the State's DEI officer, and the Governor turned it into our DOI officer. He replaced equity with opportunity, and I almost feel like this budget name is somehow a troll on what the Democratic caucuses have stood for a while because opportunity has been the conservative substitute for equity for the last four years.
Alfonso Lopez
It's like like the misappropriation of the flag as a Republican thing or army, God, and country, and that Republicans believe in those things and the other people don't. The idea of sort of appropriating the name opportunity as somehow a partisan thing is absurd, especially considering the fact how effective Democratic governors like Mark Warner and Tim Kaine were in actually creating opportunity and jobs and creating a completely strong economy. This is the point where we were named the best State in America for business.
Michael Pope
The idea that he was trolling the Democrats is actually really interesting because he also had this line about our migration when he trolled abortion as part of, you shouldn't just choose life, you should choose life in Virginia.
Scott Surovell
All the people who have left the State when they've called me back and told me they left the State because our income tax rate was 5.7% instead of 5.2%. It didn't have anything to do with housing costs; it was all our tax rate and that extra $1,000 bucks.
Alfonso Lopez
It had nothing to do with the underfunding of school systems, the demonizing of teachers, teacher tip lines, or the banning of books. Or the fact that there was now demonization of women and their rights, right to choose an abortion if they need to.
Michael Pope
Alright, our next topic is a weighty topic that probably will involve lots of debate. Revising the SOQ, the Standard of Quality, is it broken? Does it need to be fixed? Delegate Marcus Simon, buy, sell, or hold on revising the Standards of Quality?
Marcus Simon
So I am a buy on revising and modernizing the standards of quality; I am a sell on letting this Governor anywhere near it. He is not the right person for this. Look, it's a dodge; the JLARC came out and said, Listen, the way you fund education in Virginia, on this per-pupil basis, is the wrong way to do it. At any rate, it's a diversion, right? His budget takes hundreds of millions of dollars away from public education. He underfunds education; this is all a sleight of hand for him. So, does the SOQ need to be looked at? Do we need to modernize them? Do we have to study them? Yes, but this Governor forgot to put Martin Luther King in the curriculum. Who forgot all these essentials of history to be the one to do it; no, I'd rather wait till he's out of office to touch this stuff. And in the meantime, let's fund education properly. Let's take some of the existing JLARC recommendations and implement them.
Michael Pope
Delegate Alfonso Lopez, buy, sell, or hold on revising the standards of quality?
Alfonso Lopez
To be very clear, he cut K-12 funding by $300 million, and the Governor did. And so what we're talking about here is, yes, do we need to change how we fund schools and K-12 education across the State? Is it unfair that some communities get considerably more money and have much more money to build schools, pay their teachers, and pay for amazing gifted programs and workforce training programs? Yes, because some of the poor communities in the State are really hurting. They're not trying to make sure they have the best gifted and AP programs and International Baccalaureate programs. They're just trying to fix the holes in the roof and make sure they're in a building that was not built in the 1930s for their kids. And so, yes, do we need to change how we fund education in the State? Yes, we have to do that. But the way this Governor is trying to approach it through the SOQ, there is no way he is that no way he passes that.
Michael Pope
Leader Surovell, buy, sell, or hold on revising the Standards of Quality?
Scott Surovell
You're going deep down the rabbit hole getting into these policy acronyms; I'll give you that, Michael, most people don't want to get this deep.
Michael Pope
SOQ it to me.
Scott Surovell
Yeah, clever, Michael. This education funding in Virginia does not make a lot of sense because it's the product of about 50 years of political compromises. And the SOQ is sort of one pillar of the three-pillar broken stool. And it definitely needs to be looked at. But getting to a conclusion on that is not only going to require revising every single aspect of how we fund schools, but it's also going to require a lot of new revenue. Because I think accomplishing the political compromises necessary to fix the formula is going to require a lot more cash. And with this Governor, I don't see any scenario where he's willing to throw the kind of cash at the system to make up the $7 billion a year. JLARC says we're not putting into K-12 that we need to. Do we need to look at SOQs? That's definitely a buy. But is this Governor going to be able to come up with a solution to solve it? That's a sell because as long as he keeps squaring off, putting more money into K-12, real money into K-12. It's just politically impossible to reach those kinds of compromises with everybody around the State. This isn't a partisan issue; it's actually a regional and an economic issue. And I'm concerned whether he's really seriously approaching it or just trying to make some headlines; we'll see; the proof is in the pudding.
Michael Pope
Sarah Taylor, buy, sell, or hold on revising the Standards of Quality.
Sarah Graham Taylor
I am a by on revising the standards of quality. And I agree with all these august gentlemen here when they talk about the problem of needing more money for education in K-12 here in the Commonwealth. It's a great way to create more revenue for the Commonwealth. I don't know, like $12 billion. I mean, I might have some ideas. I might have some ideas about how to raise $12 billion of revenue for the Commonwealth.
Michael Pope
All right, on to our next topic. Alfonso Lopez, I saw you sneaking a peek at my list over there. Okay, all right, well, if you did read my list, you saw the next topic. I'm going to ask about next, is paid sick days. Requiring all employers despite how large the company is, no exemptions require all employers to offer five paid sick days, buy, sell, or hold.
Alfonso Lopez
Buy.
Michael Pope
Would you like to elaborate?
Alfonso Lopez
No. I mean, I actually have not seen this bill. Whose bill is this?
Scott Surovell
The chairman of Labor and Commerce.
Alfonso Lopez
In the Senate?
Scott Surovell
No, in the House.
Michael Pope
That's the House version. The Senate version has been introduced by this guy right here, leader Surovell: buy, sell, or hold on to your bill?
Scott Surovell
Not my bill.
Michael Pope
Oh, well, that's what Kim Bobo said on our podcast.
Marcus Simon
The first thing that they got wrong on PodVA.
Michael Pope
Oh ouch! Well, please elaborate on your bill.
Scott Surovell
No, the bill, the bill that I introduced, either yesterday or today, I'm not sure if it's up online yet, is the same bill that I introduced last year. The bill that passed the Senate last year was five days of paid sick leave if you worked in health care or a grocery store. So, if you're a frontline essential worker, the people that were out there on the frontlines in the pandemic felt like they had to come to work every day. They were creating the possibility of spreading sickness because they had to be out commuting and seeing other people on a daily basis. That was what my bill was focused on, and that's the bill I've introduced in this session. That's the bill I've committed to carry.
Michael Pope
So, are there exemptions for a business? That's fewer than five people? For example?
Scott Surovell
I don't remember right now.
Michael Pope
But it's not all businesses; you have to be a certain size.
Scott Surovell
If you work in healthcare or a grocery store, there might be a certain size.
Michael Pope
Oh, it's industry-specific, okay, alright.
Scott Surovell
Yeah.
Michael Pope
So you're obviously a buy on your own bill. Obviously, Sarah Taylor, buy, sell or hold on requiring some businesses to offer five paid sick days.
Sarah Graham Taylor
I think I'm a buy on paid sick days. Working in industry, for lack of a better word, that is, in person, serving our community. Part of what we all need to be able to do is stay home when we're really sick and not spread disease and infection and germs to each other. So we can all do the good work of what we do. And I think that goes for anyone out in the workforce. The ability to stay home when you're legitimately sick. When you say it out loud, it seems like a reasonable thing. And I understand that the variable here is paid versus not paid. But it seems to me that five paid sick days don't seem like a massive burden on most businesses, and I'm sure there are small businesses where that could be a challenge. But I'm also certain that there are ways to help support those businesses.
Michael Pope
Well, you know, who does think it's a big burden is the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the Chamber of Commerce and the business groups, and they're not into this. Delegate Marcus Simon, buy, sell, or hold on, requiring some employers to offer five paid sick days.
Marcus Simon
So I'm a big buy on this. And this is a bill that has a chance, which is interesting because of the makeup of the Senate. So, although their majority hasn't grown quantitatively, it has become a more progressive group qualitatively. I actually was on the conference committee for this bill. Three years ago, we had a paid sick leave bill before the pandemic. And we got it through both chambers. We had a conference committee, and we actually passed our conference report. We twisted some arms of those Chamber of Commerce Democrats to get them to vote for it. And then one Chap Peterson killed it in the Virginia State Senate. And I learned a valuable lesson, which is we never put any of our conference reports up until they actually pass in the Senate. Make our people vote before the Senate because the Senate gets squishy sometimes. But I do think this is something that's got a chance, and really, we should have done it three or four years ago. I think, because we have a more progressive Senate Majority, we'll be able to actually get through this time around. But you don't want people to have to choose between a paycheck and masking their symptoms and coming to work sick. We had this happen in Northern Virginia at a Chipotle store where somebody made a big outbreak because somebody came to work with the flu. After all, if they didn't, they weren't gonna get paid that day. So, it benefits everyone to have paid sick days; we have to have them. It's an easy buy.
Alfonso Lopez
Republican states and deep red states have this. Why can't Virginia? Let me just be very clear: during the height of COVID when, frontline workers were mostly new Americans and Latinos who had to work and were at risk of getting sick. And because they were living hand to mouth, they needed to be at the job, but it was a dangerous situation all around. So, this is a baby step in the right direction.
Michael Pope
All right, one more serious topic. And one more fun topic. So, we're coming to the end of our episode for today. Leader Surovell. This is the topic preventing law enforcement from having access to menstrual data; there are all these apps that have all this data on them. Law enforcement officials want access to this stuff with search warrants. Should law enforcement be prohibited from acquiring this menstrual data with a search warrant?
Scott Surovell
I'm 100% buy on that. I actually put in a bill last year. You're very focused on Barbara Favola's bill, which has to do with search warrants. My bill had to do with creating a civil cause of action to be able to sue any company that sells information that can be used to reverse engineer your location history. For example, I was on a trip to a country in South America. Right after I ate dinner at a restaurant, the next day, I got a thing from TripAdvisor asking me to talk about the restaurant. Which I hadn't told them about. And suppose they know what restaurant I was eating in. In that case, somebody can figure out whether I was in and out of an abortion clinic or Planned Parenthood clinic getting contraception or a doctor's office and how long I was there. And using a computer to figure out what I was doing there. And what that means is the Attorney General of Alabama, who has pledged to persecute people from outside of his State to help folks get access to care or visit places, is happy to try to extradite people from Virginia and Alabama so he can get some good PR stunts out of it. And that's why we need to restrict these corporations who have no business knowing where you're getting your healthcare or what you are doing there. The private sector knows way more about us than the cops do. And we need to lock all that data down so it can't be used to target Virginia women, so I was happy to try to do something better last year. I'm hoping we'll do better this year. But I'm not sure that the Governor is willing to help us with his signature once we get it done. But we'll see.
Michael Pope
Maybe he could brand it the way that he wants to brand it. Sarah Taylor buy, sell or hold on locking down access to menstrual data.
Sarah Graham Taylor
That just freaks me out and creeps me out, like I gotta say, as someone who had fertility issues and tracked all my data for years to try and have kids. Yeah, it's really creepy that there's a possibility that somebody's using that data or selling that data or using it to market things to me or to you prosecute me for something or to find out things about me. The TripAdvisor thing, like, yeah, yeah, but then the menstrual data that's kind of creepy and freaky. So yeah, I'm a sell on law enforcement using it. A buy on locking it down. I think that's where we just wound up.
Michael Pope
That is where we just wound up. I initially asked about search warrants, but I think that the leader broadened our discussion a bit. Delegate Marcus Simon buy, sell, or hold on preventing access from law enforcement or the private sector in terms of them getting their hands on menstrual data?
Marcus Simon
I am a buy because I believe in freedom. Okay, no, seriously, we don't want a big state. We don't want a nanny state. We don't want a big tech state and the government getting involved in our business. I believe we have to be free to track that kind of information on our phones, collect that kind of data, and use it as we want to without having to worry about Big Brother getting into it. So, I am a big buy on women's reproductive freedom and keeping the government out of their business.
Michael Pope
Delegate Alfonso Lopez, buy, sell, or hold on preventing access to menstrual data?
Alfonso Lopez
Buy I can't improve upon what Sarah, Marcus, and Scott said.
Michael Pope
Okay, well, on that note, our final topic of the day. Here we are in the new General Assembly building, your office; buy, sell, or hold onto your space in the General Assembly Building. Now we've got three members who have their own offices. I don't know what your situation is, Sarah. Buy, sell, or hold on to your space and the new general assembly building?
Sarah Graham Taylor
I am a buy on my space in the General Assembly building. It's on the first floor, on the right-hand side when you first walk in, next to the constituent area. It has large tables, it has places to plug your phone in, and it's a quiet place to take a call or do a Zoom. I am a buy on me as a resident, as a constituent, as an advocate, and as a lobbyist. My space here is in the General Assembly Building; the chairs along the hallway are very comfortable. Lots of places to plug my phone in; it's quite lovely. I would say we need more trash cans along the halls and recycling bins. But as far as my space around the General Assembly building as a resident, citizen, and user of the building, I am a big buy; well done.
Michael Pope
I will say that my cubicle and the press room have their own trash can. Delegate Marcus Simon, buy, sell, or hold on to your space in the new General Assembly Building?
Marcus Simon
Now we know where all the trash cans are. Well, I was gonna make a joke about Michael's copy and how it probably belongs there. But I'm going to avoid that. So I'm a big buy on my space. Now, I will say initially, I was not thrilled because Alfonso and I both had our eyes on the same office. And because of his slight advantage and seniority, he was able to snag that ahead of me. But I have a very excellent corner office with an amazing view of Richmond and two windows. I'm up on the 11th floor. And many people think the hallway ends before they get to my office. And so it's almost like a little secret nook. I challenge your listeners to try and find it when you're here. You're gonna think that it's kind of like that little extra floor in Being John Malkovich that you slid into when you're actually inside his head. So that's sort of where my office is. So I'm a big buy. I'm enjoying it very much. And coming from the Pocahontas building, it's hard to be unhappy.
Michael Pope
Delegate Alfonso Lopez, your office was invoked. Buy, sell, or hold on to your space and the new General Assembly Building?
Alfonso Lopez
I really do like the view. I think that the space is amazing. I think one of the things that Marcus is excited about the office is their three offices on the House of Delegates floors that have their own conference room and also a corner office. And so that's the one thing it's great to be able to bring in constituents and have larger meetings in the conference room, as well as having a great view of the Capitol and the Attorney General's Office. Man, it's got great lights, and it's really lovely. But one thing I'll say about the building, though, is they kept the sort of decor and the feel of a Capital Square, but then it's incredibly technologically advanced. And so, like walls become computer screens. And the whole building is really, really amazing.
Michael Pope
I haven't seen the walls become a computer screen. This is new to me.
Sarah Graham Taylor
I need to know, though, if y'all all buy, sell, or hold on to the motion sensor and electric plugs.
Scott Surovell
I have not seen those.
Alfonso Lopez
I didn't know.
Sarah Graham Taylor
Oh, they're in your office. Get excited about it.
Michael Pope
So, we are recording this episode in the office of Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell. Thank you for opening up your office. Talk about walking down a hall and not noticing that it's there. Actually, getting to this office took some wear with all. Senator Scott Surovell, buy, sell, or hold on to your new space in the General Assembly building?
Scott Surovell
I'm not a fan of the Fort Knox effect on the 14th floor. I mean, I think we ought to be a little more accessible than they are. But I am happy I finally have a desk to sit at. My old office was so small I had to have a stand-up desk because I couldn't fit in places for people to sit and take pictures and all that, but I've at least space for a desk now. But I also just want to say I'm happy to have a building with ventilation and taller ceilings.
Alfonso Lopez
No asbestos.
Scott Surovell
No asbestos is a good thing. It's a much healthier building. I'm not as worried about catching an illness just walking down the hallway anymore. So I'm a big buy on the new digs. It's much more comfortable. It's much better for our constituents to come to visit us. We have spaced to meet. It's just more comfortable for everybody involved, which I think is a good thing for us making policy. Hence, we're not cranky all the time.
Michael Pope
You're on the crank half the time.
Alfonso Lopez
Let's establish right now that I've known Scott Surovell for nearly three decades.
Michael Pope
And he's been cranky for two of the decade.
Alfonso Lopez
He's been cranky all of those times, all three decades.
Scott Surovell
Let me tell you something.
Michael Pope
All right, you have been listening to the Pod Virginia all-stars!