Could Surovell's New Committee Assignment Have Political Impact?

I pointed out a few days ago that Mark Keam picked up an additional committee assignment in the House of Delegates (the Education Committee). It looks like he’s not the only House Democrat who has gained a committee assignment as Delegate Scott Surovell picked up a third committee and will now be serving on the Committee on Militia, Police, and Public Safety.

Scott said that he looks forward to the assignment because it means he can put more of his professional experience to good use while he’s in Richmond. “I’m in Traffic Court and Criminal Court several times per week,” said Delegate Surovell, “I also look forward to focusing on reforms to our prison system such as solitary confinement and prisoner re-entry programs.”

I think it’s great to see that we now have another progressive serving on that committee as we really do need to make some reforms to the prison system. As Scott hinted at in his statement, after all, we need to make sure that prisoners receive the skills necessary to succeed once they are released from prison. That not only would allow for a moral victory in keeping the prisoners away from a life of crime after being released, but would also save tax payers money. (If we don’t have to lock people up for a second or third time, we don’t have to pay for their second or third incarceration).

Being assigned to that committee, however, also sometimes has some political consequences. The Republicans like to introduce controversial gun laws in order to force potentially vulnerable Democrats to cast a vote on the issue. This is one way to get the NRA or other anti-gun control activists to help fund potential opponents for relatively junior members of the legislature.

Now Scott was able to win re-election last November with almost 60% of the vote, but that was against an opponent who only raised $228,000 (almost $100,000 of which was in-kind donations). If he draws an opponent who’s able to get the NRA to fund attack ads, the race will be a whole lot closer. And when you consider how there’s a growing debate regarding guns on college campuses in Virginia, that is a very real possibility considering Scott’s new committee assignment.

In the end, this move means that Democrats will have a solid progressive voice on the Committee on Militia, Police, and Public Safety. This will prove to be beneficial as the general assembly is considering laws, but it will also mean that we’ll likely have to work a little harder in 2013 to make sure Scott Surovell is elected to a third term in the House of Delegates.