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2013
15
It’s time to bring
gift disclosure
into the digital age
By Delegate Robert Krupicka
The investigation into Governor
McDonnell’s receipt of gifts has drawn
attention to the drastic need for ethics
reform in our state’s political system. Like
my colleagues, I have heard about the need
for reform from hundreds of citizens and
more each day through my web site
www.
VAEthicsReformNow.com
. Regardless of
what the investigation concludes, it is clear
as elected officials we are losing the trust
of the people we are supposed to represent.
On both sides of the aisle, politicians
have come forward to call for ethics reform. It is encouraging to
see Republicans and Democrats come together on this important
issue. We cannot allow this opportunity to pass without making
meaningful reforms to our political system. We have the support,
it is time to move past generalities and begin discussing specific
reform measures.
While there are many aspects of ethics reform that should be
addressed, one of the most critical is adding more transparency
to our financial and gift disclosure system by bringing it into the
electronic age and allowing online reporting and monitoring. We
need a system that allows for easier and more consistent reporting
of gifts. We should also make it easy for Virginians to access
politician’s financial and gift reports. The Virginia Public Access
Project (VPAP) has worked for years to make financial records
easily available for the public to view. It is time for the General
Assembly to bring similar transparency to our financial and gift
reporting system. All financial reports regarding politicians,
candidates, and political committees should be easily available
online for the public. Requiring politicians to file electronically is
the natural evolution of our system as we now file our campaign
reports online. Instead of locking away financial and gift reports in
file cabinets around the Commonwealth, I’d like to work with my
colleagues to bring these reports into the modern technology era.
Of course there are further discussions to have about what
information should be reported, what format it should take and the
frequency of reports. It is becoming increasingly obvious that the
current requirements leave too much space for ambiguity. I believe
the State Board of Elections, with their experience with online
campaign reports, could be the logical entity to host and manage
this updated financial and gift reporting system. Providing easy
online access to all financial reports creates a connection between
politicians and the people we are elected to represent. It encourages
honest and ethical behavior and will help us all reestablish the
public’s trust. We cannot effectively serve our state as officials if we
do not hold the trust and respect of the citizens of Virginia. Online
access to financial reports should be a part of a comprehensive
approach to ethics reform in Virginia politics.
Robert Krupicka is a Democratic delegate representing the 45th
district of Virginia.
The Importance
of Medicaid Expansion
By David DeBiasi
The 2013 General Assembly passed
legislation that would expand Medicaid
once specific reforms are put into place.
Why is Medicaid expansion—which would
extend Medicaid health coverage to people
who earn about $15,000 a year (138% of
the federal poverty level)—so important?
Here are the top 5 reasons:
1. 50- to 64-year olds:
Medicaid ex-
pansion will provide health care cover-
age to 62,000 hard-working Virginians
between the ages of 50 and 64. These individuals are more likely
to face the onset of health conditions that, if left untreated, could
inevitably increase their need for health and long term care. Many
of these citizens have lost their jobs or are struggling in jobs without
health benefits but don’t qualify for Medicaid health coverage and
won’t be eligible for Medicare, the federal health insurance pro-
gram for older Americans, until they turn 65. How many of us know
someone in this situation?
2. Adults without children (or with adult children):
Medicaid
expansion will provide health coverage for adults who don’t have
children—or whose children are 19 years of age or older. Currently,
in Virginia, Medicaid only provides coverage for children age 18 or
younger and adults with children.
3. Preventive care:
Medicaid expansion will give many more
Americans access to critical, life-saving (not to mention, less
expensive) preventive care—and treatment for chronic diseases like
diabetes, cancer, heart disease and stroke.
4. ER care:
Medicaid expansion will ease the emergency room
overcrowding that threatens us all, because up to 400,000Virginians
will no longer need to use the ER as their only point of access to
health care.
5. The economy:
Medicaid expansion will pump money into
Virginia’s economy, create jobs, increase tax revenue and help
hospitals keep their doors open without losing the doctors and nurses
we all depend on—at minimal cost to the state. The Department of
Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) which oversees Virginia’s
Medicaid program has estimated that over the next 9 years Virginia
would receive $20 billion dollars and spend just $137 million. That
means for every $1 we put in there would be $146 gained. Where
can you we find an investment like that?
Medicaid expansion gives access to health care coverage for up
to 400,000 Virginians who desperately need it and infuse Virginia’s
economy with billions of dollars. AARP Virginia is encouraged
by DMAS’s work with ongoing implementation of reforms to
Medicaid as required by 2013 legislation. AARP Virginia urges the
Medicaid Innovation and Reform Commission to do its work with a
focus on what is right for the health of Virginia’s residents and for
the state budget.
David DeBiasi is the Director of Advocacy for AARP Virginia. He
was previously the Director of Advocacy for the American Lung
Association in Virginia.
to policy-makers and others to offer hope to those who see little
reason to feel hopeful?What more can we do together to appreciate
and help uplift Virginia’s citizens and those of other states and
other nations who struggle with
their
history-making? How can we
respond more effectively to a wounded planet in desperate need of
healing? Ultimately, hope rests in the promise and possibility of
students in our schools whose lives we will touch mainly through
the teaching skills and the compassion of our candidates and those
who support them.
Phil Wishon is the Dean of the College of Education at James
Madison University and President Emeritus of the Virginia
Association of Colleges of Teacher Education.
Consideration of Ethics
from page 10
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