BLOG UPDATE

Check out the new and improve Dave Albo blog:

http://delegatedavealbo.wordpress.com/

"Traffic Alert"

The Virginia Department of Transportation has announced roadwork on I-95 in from the Fairfax County Parkway up to Lorton.  I-95 will be widened to four lanes between the Fairfax County Parkway and Route 123.  With progress there’s always a little pain and, unfortunately, there will be a lot of the “stop and go” traffic that we saw when the “Mixing Bowl” was built.  The project should be completed in the fall of 2011.  This fall there will be single lane closures during the weekday on both north and south I-95.  Here’s what else to look out for:

Monday, September 21 and Tuesday, September 22-

VDOT will be replacing overhead signs between Route 1 and Lorton Road.  Two out of the three lanes will be closed starting at 10:30 p.m.  Then at midnight, all lanes will be stopped for at least a half an hour.  This will happen again at 1 a.m. and 2:30 a.m.

Wednesday, September 23 and Thursday, September 24-

    
        Southbound I-95 will have major delays for bridge widening 
        at Accotink Creek from 9:30 p.m. to  5 a.m.

Monday, September 28 and Tuesday, September 29-

One or more lanes will be closed on I-95 northbound for a traffic shift at Lorton Road and Pohick Creek from 9:30 p.m. to 5 a.m.  Thirty minute delays are expected. 

Wednesday, September 30 and Thursday, October 1-

A traffic shift will occur on northbound I-95 to work on a retaining wall and road widening between Pohick Creek and Accotink Creek.   This will take place from 9:30 p.m. until 5 a.m.  The shift will stay for an estimated seven months.  Thirty minute delays are expected and one or more lanes will be closed.

The Schedule for Lane Widening on I-951:

Segment	Open
I-95 north, Route 1 to Fairfax County Parkway	December 2009
I-95 south, Fairfax County Parkway to Route 1	fall 2010
I-95 north and south, Route 1 to Route 123	fall 2011

For any questions or comments, please contact Delegate Dave Albo at (703) 451-3555 or visit www.davealbo.com.

 1.  http://www.vamegaprojects.com/tasks/sites/default/assets/File/pdf/95widen/2009_Complete_Closure_FL94_Work_on_I-95.pdf

               

“Delegate Dave Albo: School Funding”

School funding in the Commonwealth of Virginia is determined by the Local Composite Index, or LCI. The LCI is a result of a Supreme Court of Virginia ruling which stated that the Virginia Constitution requires all children to receive, to the extent practicable, and equivalent education. Thus, the Court ruled that some funding formula must be used to direct money to areas that can't afford to educate children. (The Court did not say what the formula has to be only that some redistribution must occur). Consequently, the purpose of the LCI is to ensure less affluent localities are able to provide for their students. The LCI is a figure that determines how much a school system must pay for its own basic education. ("Basic Education" is a set of minimum standards. For example, math must be taught, but band does not.) The LCI, has a cap of .8000 (a locality must pay 80% of its own basic education) but has no minimum. Only 27 out of 136 schools are required to pay more than 50% of their basic education (e.g. have above a .5000 LCI).

The LCI is calculated through a complicated formula. The formula attempts to determine which school systems can afford to may more of their own basic education, and which systems cannot afford to pay. In determining who can pay, a formula has been developed which considers a bunch of different variables.

It's complicated, but here it is: to calculate the LCI, fifty percent of the true value of real property, forty percent of the gross income, and ten percent of sales tax collections of each locality are totaled and then weighted two-thirds by average daily membership and one-third by population.


Average Daily Student Membership Component= 


 .5 [((Local True Property Value)/(Local ADM))/ ((Total Statewide True Property Values)/ (Statewide ADM))]



 +.4 [((Adjusted Gross Income)/ (Local ADM))/ ((Total Statewide AGI)/ (Statewide ADM))]



 +.1 [((Local Taxable Retail Sales)/ (Local ADM))/ ((Total Statewide Taxable Retail Sales)/ (Statewide ADM))]



Overall Local Population Component=

.5 [((Local True Property Values)/ (Local Population))/ ((Total Statewide True Property Values)/ (Statewide Population))]



+.4 [((Adjusted Gross Income)/ (Local Population))/ ((Total Statewide AGI)/ (Statewide Population))]



+.1 [((Local Taxable Retail Sales)/ (Local Population))/ ((Total Statewide Taxable Retail Sales)/ (Statewide Population))]



Every two years the LCI is recalculated as all of the information can change. The LCI for Fairfax County Public School for 2008-2010 is .7657. This means that Fairfax County must pay 76.57% of its own basic education. Or, in other words, out of every $100 in public education costs, Fairfax County pays $76.57 while the state pays $23.43 for public education. There are 136 localities and out of all of those only 10 have an LCI higher than Fairfax County. These ten are Arlington (.8000), Bath (.8000), Goochland (.8000), Rappahannock (.8000), Alexandria (.8000), Falls Church (.8000), Fredericksburg (.7943), Williamsburg (.8000), Fairfax City (.8000), and Lancaster (.7824). On the other end, Lee county has an LCI of .1552 (only has to pay 15.52% of its own basic education), Sussex County has an LCI of .2799 (only has to pay 27.99% of its own basic education), Danville has an LCI of .2394 (paying 23.94% of its own basic education.         



The total LCI list for 2008-2010 can be found at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Finance/Budget/composite.html. To see a map of all localities and the range of Local Composite Indexes, check out http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Finance/Budget/2008-2010CompositeMap.pdf.

Press Release: Del. Albo Outraged over College's Actions

For Immediate Release
Contact: Dave Albo
(703) 451-3555


Delegate is Outraged over College’s Actions

SPRINGFIELD – In the latest effort by Delegate Dave Albo to encourage more instate slots to Virginia’s universities and colleges, Delegate Albo has expressed his outrage on the recent addition to the College of William and Mary’s staff.

The college created a new position of the Assistant President of Diversity to continue the spread of diversity on the campus. While it should be applauded that the school is reaching out to all of its students and making sure every voice is heard, it is extremely disappointing when this money could have been used for our in-state students. Delegate Albo has estimated that the cost of this new position is $200,000 once salary and benefits are added into the equation. This number is same as 10 in-state slots for students.

During the 2009 session, Delegate Albo introduced House Bill 1696, to increase the number of Virginia slots. The original bill asked for a ratio of 80 percent in-state and 20 percent out-of-state. In the end, Delegate Albo agreed to a compromise of 75 percent to 25 percent. However, William and Mary came forward and stated they did not have enough money to operate by lowering their out-of-state students and admitted out-of-state students pay $20,000 more to attend.

This story is an example of how public higher education institutions are not helping out students. Creating such a position as the Assistant President of Diversity continues to perpetuate the problem our students are facing.

Some of Delegate Albo’s constituents are feeling the strain. A recent high school graduate received the cum laude honor and yet must attend college outside of Virginia as the student was not accepted to any public colleges or universities in the Commonwealth.

“I have an election in November and if I win, this will be the first bill I will pre-file,” stated Delegate Albo, in reference to increasing in-state slots. “It isn’t right that our colleges are stating they can’t afford in-state spots but, meanwhile, they are creating positions within the school.”

The delegate has repeatedly mentioned that his issue is not just with high ranking colleges and universities like William and Mary and his alma mater, the University of Virginia. “Unfortunately, students now have to get above a 4.0 to get into either of these schools and those who get 3.8 GPAs go to Virginia Tech and JMU. What happens to those kids who did well in school but only got 3.3 GPAs? Where do they go? There has to be a way to keep the high reputation of our schools and yet, also allow for our bright students to attend.”

To find out more information about this, visit www.davealbo.com. The article on William and Mary’s Assistant President of Diversity can be located at http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local_wmdiversity_0828aug28,0,5370685.story
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"Transportation in Delegate Albo's District"

August 17, 2009


Dear Virginia Department of Transportation,

It has been brought to my attention that the repaving along Route 123 has been causing some problems for my constituents. The road’s current condition is more “rough” than I have seen in other paving jobs. Also, the sides were done with what looks like a different pavement type. Was this done on purpose? However, the main reason I wrote this is because Route 123 does not have the safety lines drawn. I live on Ox Road and these lines are needed to show drivers where the travel lines are located. Getting my mail is scary!

I am asking for your assistance in addressing this issue. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

David B. Albo

We received a response from VDOT and the pavement markings should have already been added. If you have any questions or comments, please contact Delegate Dave Albo at (703) 451-3555.