8th District delegate Greg Habeeb, who covers Salem, parts of Roanoke County, Montgomery County and Craig County headed back to Richmond this week as the General Assembly convened for the 60-day session. Habeeb, a Republican, was sent to the General Assembly via a special election in 2011 to replace current Congressman Morgan Griffith. Habeeb got a feel for what his constituents were looking for via town hall meetings – live and online – and a web-based survey.
“[It helps] to stay plugged in to what folks want. People tend to disappear in the Richmond bubble,” said Habeeb, an attorney by trade. “I don’t want that to happen.”
The number one issue has always been job creation and the economy. The single most talked about issue at his town hall meetings recently however, has been the possible expansion of Medicaid, something opposed by the McDonnell administration and not approved by the General Assembly. “Almost universally the feedback we are getting is negative.”
Expanding Medicaid would allow more lower income people to be eligible for health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act passed by the U.S. Congress – “Obamacare.” The federal government would fund that expansion fully for the first three years but McDonnell worried that Virginia would be on the hook for big bills after that – funding it couldn’t afford. “Folks are telling us they do not want to see Virginia expand Medicaid,” said Habeeb
Opinions are mixed when Habeeb asks if the government should be incentivizing job creation, as opposed to leaving it up to the private sector entirely. “It doesn’t break down on party lines,” he said. The majority liked tax credits to foster job creation but some are concerned that the money wouldn’t be well spent and wanted sufficient oversight, with the businesses receiving government help “held accountable . . . That’s sort of across party lines.”
Education is another priority for Habeeb – his brother is a principal in Salem, his mother is a teacher and his wife used to teach. His three children are in public schools. “Number one for me is always K-12 education, both on the funding side and on the reform side.” A member of the Courts Committee in Richmond, criminal justice issues also rank highly for Habeeb. Mental health, transportation funding and ethics reform, in light of the Star Scientific-McDonnell gifts scandal will probably have high visibility as well.
Having been elected shortly before he went to Richmond in 2011, Habeeb said he was in a “good position” to help the winner of the Sam Rasoul-Octavia Johnson election for the 11th District seat. (A special election won by Rasoul on January 7) “Just sort of get their feet wet, understand the processes in Richmond. The Roanoke Valley has a great history of people working together across party lines. I think we’ll have a good team.”
That teamwork starts this week. The plan is to end the session in early March but Habeeb added that, “We’ll work as long as we need to, to get the people’s business done.” Budgets are always one hang-up but Habeeb is hopeful: “Hopefully the McAuliffe administration will be interested in working with us and getting it wrapped up on time.”
Republicans hold the majority in the House as well as the Senate for now – although two special elections being held this month to fill the seats held by the two Attorney General candidates could make the Senate Democratic again.
By Gene Marrano
