Eighteen years ago, almost to the day, I was first appointed to the Fairfax County School Board. Since then, I have spent every day working for the people in our community.

I have loved every minute of it. (Well, perhaps when we were still in a School Board meeting or on the floor of the House of Delegates at 1 a.m., I loved it a little less.)  Working together, we’ve made enormous progress:

• Convincing the Virginia Department of Transportation to keep the speed limit on Route One at its current 45 mph
• Working with Governor Kaine to ensure that members of the National Guard will have their educational benefits guaranteed
• Providing additional protection to first responders who contract blood and airborne diseases on the job
• Pressuring the federal government to reopen an east-west route after the closing of Woodlawn Road
• Working with Governor Warner to establish a School Efficiency Audit program that has redirected millions of dollars from administrative offices to classrooms across Virginia
• Bringing the International Baccalaureate to Fairfax County.

The work has been enormously rewarding in every way but one.  Financially, it was always a sacrifice for me to serve.  But for most of these years, I have been able to put together enough freelance and consulting work to allow me to continue in public office.

All that changed with the recession.  Among the cutbacks that many businesses and organizations have made are the consulting services that provided the bulk of my income.

Campaigning is a full-time job.  So I have made the difficult decision not to run for re-election to the House of Delegates.  I will devote my remaining time in office to serving my constituents and to focusing on my business.
My situation is not unlike the situation of many other Virginia families.  I know they face choices much more challenging than mine.

In the near term, I’m pursuing several opportunities that will allow me to remain involved in the public policy issues I care about.  I also plan to devote more time to la BECA Women’s Scholarship Foundation, of which I am a co-founder, to provide scholarships for low-income young women in Central and South America.

Doing this work is my deep and abiding passion.  There may come a time when I may again consider running for public office.

But for now, I want to thank everyone who has supported me over the years for giving me the great privilege of representing you.  It has been the greatest honor of my life.

Sincerely,

Kristen Amundson

Virginians are hurting. This year, thousands of people have lost their jobs. They didn’t do anything wrong. But the economic tsunami has caused layoffs, plant closings, and the complete shut-down of Virginia employers.

So yesterday [April 8th], Governor Kaine proposed a solution that would provide $125 million in benefits for these jobless Virginians. The Governor’s amendments would have extended unemployment coverage to some part-time workers and to those who are training for high-demand jobs.

But, living up to their reputation as the Party of No, the Republicans in the House killed the measure. The ostensible reason: the extended coverage would drive up the unemployment premiums for employers.

And they were right. The proposed changes might increase premium costs.

By five dollars.

A year.

I don’t know a single worker who wouldn’t gladly pay that small amount to provide coverage for others who lose their jobs. But ideology trumped common sense. And Virginia left $125 million–which could have provided a lot of help for a lot of people who really need it–on the table.

SB 1495 Unemployment compensation; voluntarily leaving employment to accompany military spouse.
 
floor: 04/08/09  House: VOTE: — REJECTED (46-Y 53-N)

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YEAS–Alexander, Amundson, Armstrong, BaCote, Barlow, Bouchard, Bowling, Brink, Bulova, Caputo, Dance, Ebbin, Eisenberg, Englin, Hall, Herring, Howell, A.T., Hull, Joannou, Lewis, Marsden, Marshall, D.W., Mathieson, McClellan, McQuinn, Melvin, Merricks, Miller, P.J., Morrissey, Nichols, Phillips, Plum, Poisson, Pollard, Scott, J.M., Shannon, Shuler, Sickles, Spruill, Toscano, Tyler, Valentine, Vanderhye, Ward, Ware, O., Watts–46.

 

NAYS–Abbitt, Albo, Athey, Bell, Byron, Carrico, Cline, Cole, Cosgrove, Cox, Crockett-Stark, Fralin, Frederick, Gilbert, Griffith, Hamilton, Hargrove, Hogan, Hugo, Iaquinto, Ingram, Janis, Johnson, Jones, Kilgore, Knight, Landes, Lingamfelter, Lohr, Loupassi, Marshall, R.G., Massie, May, Miller, J.H., Morgan, Nixon, Nutter, O’Bannon, Oder, Orrock, Peace, Pogge, Poindexter, Purkey, Putney, Rust, Saxman, Scott, E.T., Sherwood, Tata, Ware, R.L., Wright, Mr. Speaker–53.

 

ABSTENTIONS–0.

 

NOT VOTING–Gear–1.