Oppenhagen Column: Campaign finance; county woes

A few weeks ago, a Supreme Court decision in Washington struck fear into the hearts of political campaign finance reform supporters. In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations enjoy the same First Amendment free speech rights as individuals. Reform supporters fear the end to even the remotest indication of fairness in elections. Reform opponents say elections will still be competitive and maintain that corporations will not be engaged in buying elections.

Years ago, I was a candidate for the House of Delegates. I learned, many times over, of the critical importance of fundraising to the success of any political campaign. I learned also that incumbents in Virginia have a huge advantage when it comes to fundraising because they have a voting record for businesses to support or oppose. Businesses and interest groups in Virginia play a large role in the politics of the Virginia General Assembly. I learned further that a large shadow is cast in the General Assembly by one company in particular, a company whose support very rarely goes to challengers, a company whose support is sought by many incumbents -- King's Dominion.

(Writer's note: no, I did not receive funding from King's Dominion for either of my runs for the General Assembly. Would it have helped? Maybe. Am I bitter? Absolutely not.)

I am a campaign finance reform supporter who fears that the Supreme Court's decision last month in Citizens United bodes ill for future national political campaigns. It is my humble opinion that a look at King's Dominion's influence in Virginia politics will serve as a case study of the bad that can happen when corporations are permitted unfettered access to political campaigns and thus our elected leaders.

While I could go on about this issue, there is another, even more critical, issue that needs to be mentioned. But first, before I change the subject, contact your delegate in Richmond (especially those of you who are represented by Del. Lingamfelter who is on the Education Committee) and urge them to fight back against King's Dominion and allow us to start school before Labor Day.

On to the second subject:

Wednesday night, Dr. Walts presented his budget proposal for the upcoming school year. You could tell he was not eager to share his struggle. It is not a pretty picture. Stories and comments will be forthcoming in the next weeks, but I want to take this opportunity to reinforce what two of our School Board members pleaded for at the end of the session.

First, YOU -- not me, not your neighbor, not someone else -- YOU must contact your county supervisor. As Mr. Lattin explained, this last year the Board of Supervisors did not pay for the additional students that entered our school system. This lack of funding means that our classrooms are larger and more crowded, and our resources are stretched past their limit.

Second, YOU -- not me, not your neighbor, not someone else -- YOU must contact your delegate and state senator. You must contact them today. In the past, we have complained loudly about sending our money to other parts of the state because we were doing well financially and they were not. Governor Kaine froze a change in the index that basically gives us more money. As Dr. Walts stated, and Mr. Richardson reinforced, making that change will give us an additional 20 million dollars -- fully one-fourth of the budget deficit. We must make our voice heard on this issue and get the freeze overturned by Gov. McDonnell.

Finally, this is a tough budget. School Board members want and need our input on the tough decisions that are being made. But, as Mr. Richardson gently but firmly pointed out, this is not the year to fight to restore proposed cuts. If you want something restored, then YOU need to suggest another place to cut. Be involved, but be positively involved. The proposed budget cuts are large in number and in impact. I personally will be impacted on several levels -- as a teacher in the classroom, as an employee of the school system, as a parent of a child in a specialty program who will take AP and IB tests, as a taxpayer and as a homeowner. And I know what I will be doing while the snow barricades me inside my house -- writing to the General Assembly.

And you should, too.

Denise Oppenhagen is a longtime resident of Prince William County and can be reached at DenOp1@comcast.net.