For Sen. Jay O'Brien (R-39), the recent legislative session ended on a bright note, with the passage of a transportation plan that will provide additional money for Northern Virginia roads.
"There was a lot of drama to it because the vote was on the last day," said O'Brien. "Out of the 23 Republicans in the Senate, we got the 21 votes we needed to pass it, and it wasn't until the vote was cast that we knew what would happen."
Calling the measure a great success for Northern Virginia, O'Brien is confident the bill will provide the funding necessary to solve problems across the region.
"The package accounts for about half a billion a year in transportation funding, including $420 million for Northern Virginia, $8 million of which comes from the state," he said. "It's a long overdue proposition for us which I think was brought about by the election year."
O'Brien said the plan was put forth and supported by the Republicans, without the support of a single Democrat.
"If it becomes law, none of the senate Democrats can claim ownership," he said. "The measure was very bipartisan in the House of Delegates, but not in the Senate at all."
The bill still has to be approved by the governor during an April 4 session, and O'Brien said he's not sure it will be passed.
"The governor is trying to say it's a bad measure, but I think his concerns are all politically motivated," he said. "He made this his big issue when he was first elected to office and if he vetoes this bill, he won't have a transportation plan to speak of."
O'BRIEN WAS also successful in helping to pass legislation that prohibits new drivers under the age of 18 from using cell phones while driving.
"Hopefully, that will take effect on July 1, if the governor passes it," he said. "I think that, because of the interest in this issue and parents paying attention to it, it'll make everyone involved pay a lot more attention to the seriousness of teen driving."
Many of the bills O'Brien worked on focused on teen driving and risky behavior, he said, including how many passengers new drivers can have in a car and how late at night they're able to drive.
"There's all this talk of money and road building, but the other component is safety on the roads and particularly for our young people," he said.
O'Brien was also able to establish funding for families of Virginia National Guardsmen killed or seriously injured in Iraq that would provide college educations for their children at public colleges and universities in Virginia.
"A total of $3 million in the state budget was set aside for this purpose, which is very exciting," he said. "I heard there are some girls that are getting national publicity for trying to establish a charity that does the same thing, so I'm hoping this will be a successful and worthwhile program."
One of the few disappointments for O'Brien was the General Assembly's inability to pass a transportation trust fund amendment, which would prohibit the use of general fund money for transportation projects. The measure would have protected any transportation money from being used for projects other than road construction and maintenance.
"The Senate wants a double-lock box, so no money from the transportation trust fund could be spent on anything else but neither can money from other places be used to support the trust fund," O'Brien said. "Some of us think if there's a surplus from the general fund, why not use it for transportation? I was very disappointed that we still haven't come to grips with that."
Within the next few weeks, O'Brien said he will formally begin his re-election campaign. He will be running against Democratic challengers Greg Galligan and George Barker.