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Ayala, Guzmán Champion Equality, Representation in Lieutenant Governor Bids

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Recently, two different Latina members of the General Assembly, Hala Ayala and Elizabeth Guzmán, have announced their candidacies for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia; if either is elected, they would be the first Latina woman to hold the office.

Hala Ayala and Elizabeth Guzmán, two delegates who represent Prince William County, have formally announced a run for lieutenant governor. If either is successful, Ayala or Guzmán would become the first Latina to serve in the role. 

The delegates were among the first Latina representatives elected to the state legislature during the wave of Democratic victories in 2017. Ayala and Guzmán ran for office to provide diversity in state government in order to more accurately represent the population in Prince William County, where a quarter of residents are Latino; almost 25 percent are Black and nearly 10 percent are Asian, according to the U.S. Census. 

‘A bridge builder’ 

Ayala was born in Alexandria to a Salvadoran father and Irish-Lebanese mother. Before becoming a state delegate, she volunteered for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and founded the Prince William chapter of the National Organization for Women. She also was vice president of the organization at the state level. Ayala defeated eight-year incumbent Republican Rich Anderson to represent District 51 in Virginia’s House of Delegates.

Ayala said she first considered running for lieutenant governor in 2019 to be a bridge builder. She said she has seen the societal divide in America grow this year because of COVID-19, and knew she could do more. Before becoming involved in politics, Ayala worked in national security, where she said settling disagreements and being a bridge builder is part of the job.

A self-described politician and activist, Ayala said she has always championed for equality.

“My work with Prince William NOW was about bringing people together, which I’ve always tried to do,” Ayala said. “You may not like what I say, but at least you know you are seen, you are heard and you are welcomed.”

Ayala is also an advocate for improving Medicaid, which she credits with saving her son, who has autism.

“We need a healthcare system that is inclusive of our economy and works for every family, especially now, as Virginia deals with the pandemic,” she said.

In the upcoming General Assembly session, Ayala said she plans to introduce legislation providing hazard pay for essential workers, defining broadband as critical infrastructure, and improving schools.

Del. Ayala during her first session after clinching a victory in 2017. Photo via VCU-CNS.

‘A matter of representation’

Guzmán immigrated to the United States from Peru and settled in Northern Virginia. She worked three jobs to afford a one-bedroom apartment before earning a master’s degree in public administration and social work and becoming a social worker.

Guzmán defeated eight-term Republican incumbent Del. Scott Lingamfelter in 2017 for the 31st District seat. She ran on a platform of improving public education, raising the minimum wage, and expanding Medicaid.

Guzmán said her decision to run for state legislature was a matter of representation, and that Lingamfelter was not a good representation of the diverse constituents in Eastern Prince William. Guzman said that because of her background she was able to champion historic legislation this year.

 “It was because of the communities that I represent,” Guzmán said. “It was about the struggles that I had as a first generation immigrant.”

Guzmán was tapped to co-chair Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign in Virginia with fellow Prince William Del. Lee Carter. 

Guzmán said she’s passionate about investing more into the state’s public education, including more counselors in schools and more resources for special education and remote learning. Guzmán said she was surprised to discover education issues and legislation that would improve “quality of life” were seen as partisan in the chamber.

“It didn’t matter how well I could make my case or how prepared I would be with data and facts, it was all about party,” Guzmán said. “My intention was to serve all Virginians, not only those who voted for me.”

As a member of the Prince William-Manassas Regional Jail Board, Guzmán had a hand in getting Prince William County to end its agreement to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to pursue and detain immigrants who entered the country without legal permission. Guzmán said that Prince William was no safer statistically while they had the program than nearby localities without it, and ICE made the county’s immigrant community feel less safe and more hesitant to report a crime they were the victim of, such as a robbery or domestic violence, for fear of being deported.

“The vision for Virginia should be a place where diversity is embraced and not disrespected,” Guzmán said. “It should be a place where people feel safe, and feeling safe means that you should be comfortable calling the police when there is a crime, regardless of your immigration status.”

Guzmán said she has heard from constituents that health care and access to higher education are important issues.

“Your credit score or your eligibility for a loan should not define whether you should go to college,” Guzmán said. “If you have good grades, if you’re a good citizen, you should have the opportunity to go to college, and college affordability is definitely what young voters want.”

Written by Will Gonzalez, Capital News Service. Top Image: Hala Ayala and Elizabeth Guzmán; photos via Virginia General Assembly

Planning A Comeback For The Quarantine Pay Bill

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Del. Elizabeth Guzman hasn’t been able to get her bill mandating paid sick days for Virginia’s workers through the General Assembly. But she’s not going to stop trying.

Virginia Delegate Elizabeth Guzman said she is no stranger to the struggles of low-paying jobs. She immigrated to the United States as a single mother and worked multiple minimum wage jobs just to be able to pay rent and care for her daughter.

Now, as the elected delegate for Virginia’s 31st District, she has a mission to secure better financial benefits for minimum wage workers. But it’s not going as planned.

Guzman plans to introduce a new bill to require Virginia businesses to offer paid sick days to employees during the next legislative session in January 2021. The most recent version of her bill, HB 5116, was just killed in a Senate committee after being passed by the House.

Guzman said she’s frustrated but she’s willing to keep trying.

“Most of the arguments that I heard was because businesses are hurting and it was not the right time,” Guzman said. “We hear a lot about businesses that we don’t hear about the working class, and who’s going to be fighting for them.”

Kim Bobo, the executive director for the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy (VICPP), said she is in favor of Guzman’s bill. Bobo said paid sick days, like getting paid a minimum wage, are basic standards employers should be able to provide for their employees without government assistance.

“We really don’t believe that public funds should be used to subsidize employers providing such a basic core standard as paid sick days,” Bobo said. “We will not include anything like that in a bill going forward.”

Being able to take paid time off can have a larger impact on the community because workers don’t have to choose between their families’ well-being and a paycheck, according to Bobo.

“They will stay home when their children are sick and they won’t send their kids to school sick, which is what happens right now,” Bobo said.

Over half of supporters of all major political parties in Virginia “strongly” or “somewhat” support mandated paid sick days. (YouGov)

Bobo isn’t the only supporter of Guzman’s bill. Eighty-three percent of Virginians support paid time off mandates, according to a September YouGov poll commissioned in part by the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. In the Democrat-majority Virginia Congress however, one of the few things the delegates and senators can agree on is that businesses are hurting.

Del. Chris Head, who represents Virginia’s 17th District, voiced his concerns during the legislative special session requested by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam.

“This bill is going to cause businesses who might hire people to think twice about it,” Head said. “It’s going to raise their expenses for hiring people and it’s going to end up hurting many of the very people that you’re trying to help with this legislation.”

Guzman said she isn’t deterred. After Gov. Northam and First Lady Pamela Northam announced they tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 25, Guzman said she needed to quarantine; Guzman had visited a school with the First Lady just a few days prior. The quarantine is just a reminder of what Guzman is fighting for.

“Listen, there are 1.2 million Virginians out there that, if they were in the same situation that we are today, they would continue to go to work, because they don’t have a dime,” Guzman said firmly. “Please pass the message to the Governor and the First Lady.”

The next regular session of the Virginia General Assembly is scheduled to start on Jan. 13, 2021.

Top Photo: Employees at the Kung Fu Tea on West Grace Street prepare drinks while wearing masks during the coronavirus pandemic. (Zachary Klosko/VCU)

Legislature Delays Minimum Wage Increase Amid Budget Concerns

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The delay will push the first statewide minimum wage increase back by four months, to May 2021; some lawmakers view this delay as the lesser of two evils.

Labor advocates and Virginia legislators worried the recently passed bill to increase minimum wage might die during the reconvened General Assembly session Wednesday.

Gov. Ralph Northam’s amendment deferred the start date of the original bill by four months in response to the economic blow dealt to the state from the coronavirus pandemic. The recommendation was one of many made to trim the $135 billion, two-year budget passed in the spring. Republican lawmakers wanted to reject the amendment in order to stall the passage of the bill and have the governor amend it further.

During the relocated Senate floor session held at the Science Museum of Virginia, Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Rockingham, argued that now is a risky time to consider raising the minimum wage given the COVID-19 crisis. He said the legislature should reject the governor’s recommendation and send the bill back for reconsideration.

“Voting ‘no’ on this amendment keeps this issue alive,” Obenshain said. “It sends it back to the governor, and the governor has one more chance to do what’s right, not just for businesses, but for workers.”

Lawmakers who oppose minimum wage increases argued that those working minimum wage jobs in Virginia are young people entering the workforce, not people trying to support families. Other legislators pointed to the essential workers now serving the public from the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak, many of whom make minimum wage. 

“Quite frankly I find it hard to believe we’ve got people in here who don’t think somebody working full time in any job should earn at least $19,600 a year,” said Senate majority leader Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax. “There’s no one in here … that would work for that kind of wage. No one.”

There were impassioned pleas from several House members to accept the recommendation instead of risking the bill being vetoed, though one delegate voiced resentment at having to make the choice. Del. Lee Carter, D-Manassas, said the COVID-19 crisis has spotlit “one of the most glaring contradictions in our economy” — that workers paid the least are often deemed most essential to society.

“We are saying to these people ‘you are not worth a pay raise come January,’” Carter said. “I’m not gonna fault anyone that votes ‘yes’ on this, for taking the sure thing four months later rather than taking the chance, but if that’s what we’re gonna do … I can’t be any part of it.” Carter did not cast a vote on the amendment.

Del. Elizabeth Guzman. Photo via Facebook

Del. Elizabeth Guzman, D-Prince William, said that some legislators’ notion that families don’t depend on minimum wage is a myth.

“I’m glad they acknowledge that there are people in Virginia who cannot live off minimum wage,” Guzman said. “Actually, what they do is they get a second job, or a third job in order to make ends meet.” Guzman immigrated to the U.S. from Peru at the age of 18 and worked three jobs to afford a one bedroom apartment.

The House of Delegates voted 49-45 to accept Northam’s amendment to their bill. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax made the tie-breaking Senate vote when its version ended in a 20-20 tie.

The identical bills, introduced by Sen. Saslaw and Del. Jeion Ward, D-Hampton, originally would have raised the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.50 per hour on Jan. 1, 2021. The governor’s amendment pushes the start to May 1, 2021.

The wage will then increase to $11 in 2022, $12 in 2023 and by another $1.50 in 2025 and 2026. Every subsequent year the bill is to be re-amended to adjust the minimum wage to reflect the consumer price index.

Virginia’s cost of living index is very close to the national average, but it ranks in the top four among states where the minimum wage equals the federal rate of $7.25, according to an analysis of data from the Missouri Economic Research and Development Center.

Anna Scholl, executive director of Progress Virginia, said now is not the time for Virginia to turn its back on low wage workers.

“We have been fighting for a decade to push for people who are working hard to make ends meet, to support their families and to be able to do so with dignity,” Scholl said. “That’s what raising the minimum wage is about.”

Written by Will Gonzalez, Capital News Service. Top Photo by Josh Appel on Unsplash

Richmond Feels The Bern At The Arthur Ashe Center

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Less than a week ahead of Virginia’s primary, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders energized a near-capacity crowd at the Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center on Thursday.

“In case you didn’t notice it, there are a lot of people in this room,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders to a crowd of thousands at the Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center. 

The city of Richmond welcomed presidential candidate, self-described democratic socialist, and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders on Thursday, less than a week before the Virginia primary. The event, which was originally planned for the 1500-capacity National, was moved earlier in the week to the Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center, in order to accomodate the expected crowds. According to the Washington Post, the Richmond fire marshall estimated 4,700 people in attendance. 

The crowd at the Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center. Photo via Bernie Sanders/Instagram

“Don’t complain about your student debt, don’t complain about climate change, don’t complain about racism or sexism or homophobia. Your complaints don’t mean anything,” said Sanders to the crowd. “What means something is standing up and fighting.”

Charlottesville City Council member Michael Payne, Virginia Director of CASA in Action Luis Aguilar, and the first Latina elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, Del. Elizabeth Guzman (D-Woodbridge), took the stage before Sanders to excite the crowd about the progressive campaign. 

“We believed in Bernie four years ago; he had a consistent message of progress, he had a base here in Virginia that believed in his message and voted for him, despite the establishment being against us,” said Guzman. “He has won Iowa, he has won New Hampshire, he has won Nevada, and we are getting ready to deliver Virginia to Bernie Sanders.”

Indie rock singer Lucy Dacus, who grew up in Richmond and is a member of the popular band Boygenius, performed a solo set before No BS! Brass Band also performed songs including “You Need To Vote.”

No BS! Brass Band performs for the crowd. Photo by Branden Wilson

The Independent Vermont Senator addressed several of his key campaign issues during the rally, including ending voter suppression, equal pay for women, providing universal child care, raising teacher’s salaries, implementing universal health care, making public colleges tuition-free, and legalizing marijuana. 

“There are some things a president can do through executive order, there are other things that need legislation. Turns out that one of the things you can do with executive order is legalize marijuana in every state,” said Sanders, to which the crowd reacted enthusiastically with “Bernie” chants.  

“I’ve been supporting Bernie since 2016 because he’s the only progressive Democrat that’s actually talking about the problems we have as a country, such as income inequality, or the fact that our political parties aren’t working for working class people,” said Blair Wilner, a current Ph.D student at the University of Virginia. 

Virginia will be one of 14 states who will hold their presidential primaries on March 3, known as Super Tuesday, when 33.8 percent of delegates are awarded to the candidates for the nominating convention. The South Carolina primary, which awards 63 delegates, will take place on Saturday, February 29. 

Bernie speaks. Photo by Branden Wilson

According to Five Thirty Eight, a poll analysis website founded by Nate Silver, Sanders leads in Virginia with a 24.8 percent polling average, while Joe Biden is closely behind at 19.8 percent. 

“We won the Nevada caucus, and that is getting the establishment very nervous,” said Sanders. “They are staying up days and nights trying to figure out how they can stop us, and when they see a turnout like this, they get even more nervous.”

The Vermont senator remains the Democratic front runner after three primaries and caucuses have been held. With 45 pledged delegates, Sanders holds a lead over other contenders Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Mike Bloomberg, Tom Steyer, Tulsi Gabbard, and Amy Klobuchar. 

Donald Trump is running for reelection in 2020 against whoever the Democratic nominee will be. As of Feb. 26, Realclearpolitics.com has Senator Sanders with a 4.7 point national lead over President Trump, according to an average of numerous polls conducted. The general election will take place Tuesday, November 3. 

Photo via Bernie Sanders/Instagram

“It gives me no pleasure to tell you this,” Sanders told the audience. “The sad truth is that we have a president today who is a racist, who is a sexist, who is a homophobe, who is a xenophobe, who is a religious bigot. And no matter what your political views may be, you understand that is not somebody who deserves reelection.”

Virginia’s primary election will take place on Tuesday, November 3. Virginia has open primaries, so you do not have to be registered as a member of a party to vote in its primary. You can find your polling station at elections.virginia.gov/citizen-portal/

Top Photo: Bernie takes the stage. Photo by Branden Wilson

Op-Ed: Virginia Needs The Green New Deal

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The Commonwealth can’t afford to prioritize corporate profit over environmental protections, writes Silvia Serrano.

Nobody is happy with the Green New Deal. Both conservatives and progressives have criticized it for being unrealistic, or not specific enough. But one thing is clear: people are finally talking about climate change. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey said it is necessary to mobilize the country the same way we did during World War II. The reality is that there is no planet B. So the question is: How much are we willing to fight to save the only planet we have?  

“If there is any national emergency in the country it is not immigration, it is climate change,” Zachary Brown, state senate candidate for the 10th district of Virginia, told me in an interview. He is not the only person in Virginia who supports the Green New Deal. In fact, many politicians and economic, environmental, and social groups came together last December to introduce Green New Deal Virginia. Del. Elizabeth Guzman, who represents Virginia’s 31st House of Delegates district, and Sam Rasoul are the founders of this project.

Guzman told me that she believes the Green New Deal makes it possible to achieve 100 percent renewable energy in Virginia by 2035. She said that the technology exists, and other countries like Iceland or even Costa Rica, a third world country, have already made this transition. That goal is even more ambitious than the GND, which aims to transition to 100 percent clean, renewable and zero-emission energy by 2050.

Delegate Elizabeth Guzman (via Facebook)

Dominion Energy is the largest provider of electricity in Virginia. On their website, they advertise themselves as a clean, reliable, sustainable energy. Nevertheless, their goal is to achieve only 15% renewable energy in Virginia by 2025. Because, Guzman told me, it is not their priority. She said Dominion is making more money with fossil fuel energy than offering renewable energy. According to Guzman, Dominion Energy is overcharging customers by hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

Renewable energy requires an investment, but it is cheaper in the long term. So, is it because there is not enough money that companies are not investing in clean energy? That is difficult to believe when the President and Chief Executive Officer at Dominion Energy is making more than $14 million a year.

Money is the only reason for politicians not to support a transition to 100 percent renewable energy, according to Brown. He explained that people who have an interest in financially maintaining the current energy system, those who work for the fossil fuel industry, are giving large campaign contributions to political parties. In 2018, Dominion Energy donated more than $5 million to the Democrats and more than $6 million to the Republicans, according to the nonprofit, nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. Brown believes that every candidate who is serious about combating climate change needs to pledge not to take any campaign contributions from people like Dominion Energy.

The Green New Deal is not the first climate-change-related proposal from the Democratic Party, but so far, it is the biggest step forward in the fight against climate change. The proposal is a start. It has put climate change discussion on the table. What we need to do now is make sure that we are implementing specific policy proposals from this broad idea.

The Green New Deal is bold, because the situation requires us to be bold. Climate change is not a joke. It is going to require a lot of money, energy, and resources to save our planet — our only planet.

Note: Op-Eds are contributions from guest writers and do not reflect RVA Magazine editorial policy.

Top Photo by Shenandoah National Park — Timber Hollow Overlook. Public Domain, via Wikimedia