Tuesday was Last Day to Register to Vote for 2013 Gubernatorial Election; Administration Has Restored 1,577 Rights Since Governor Announced New Automatic, Individualized Process in July
McDonnell to Include Additional Funding in Upcoming Biennial Budget to Help Improve and Speed up Restoration Process
RICHMOND - Governor McDonnell announced today that the civil rights of 6,874 Virginians have been restored during the McDonnell administration, another new all-time high for a Virginia gubernatorial administration. Of those, 1,577 were granted since the Governor announced Virginia’s new automatic, individualized system of rights restoration for non-violentfelons on July 15, 2013. Governor McDonnell granted 1,114 in 2010,1,293 in 2011, and 1,879 rights in 2012.
While this number is representative of progress, the governor announced new resources for the restoration of rights process, noting, “I strongly believe in second chances and redemption. It is a fundamental part of the American way. Our efforts on prisoner re-entry and the restoration of rights are working. When an individual has done their time, and paid their fines, costs, and other obligations, they deserve the opportunity to rejoin our democracy in full. That is why we moved 90 days ago to put in place Virginia’s first-ever automatic, individualized, restoration of rights process. I want every individual who is qualified to participate in this process, and gain back one of their most sacred rights: the right to vote. I am pleased that we have made progress, and continue to restore more rights than any Virginia gubernatorial administration. But we can do better still. In the past few months we’ve added staff and resources to handle an increase in demand for rights restoration. We will work tirelessly during the next three months to restore more people fully back to citizenship, and I remain fully supportive of passage of a constitutional amendment to provide for the automatic restoration of rights for non-violent felons. Additionally, we will be putting new funding into this process in the next biennial budget that we will put forward in December. We will continue to take every step possible to help more Virginians get back one of their most treasured rights: the right to have an equal voice in our democracy through the ballot box.”
“We are pleased with the number of rights that were granted. However, there is more work to be done,” stated Secretary of the Commonwealth Janet Kelly. “Ninety days into the new system, with new procedures and new staff, we have a better idea of where to focus our resources so that non-violent felons who have paid their obligations and completed their time can have their civil rights restored. We thank the numerous stakeholder groups who helped us arrive at good procedures, and the feedback we have received from people utilizing the new process.”
“We are glad that Governor McDonnell’s administration has hired more staff and worked hard to restore the civil rights of Virginians at a faster pace than ever before,” said Advancement Project Co-Director Judith Browne Dianis. “We also commend the tremendous efforts of our community-based partners – including Holla Back & Restore Project, S.O.B.E.R. House, Bridging the Gap in Virginia, and Resource Information Help for the Disadvantaged, among many others – who have been reaching out to people all across Virginia, helping them regain their voting rights in time for next month’s election. While the outreach work of the past three months is paying off, we hope the administration will seek ways to further streamline the process to quickly approve more of the individuals who are still waiting to have their rights restored. The governor has shown great commitment to moving this issue forward, and we are confident that he will build on his progress so that even more citizens can participate in our democracy.”
The restoration of rights division now employs six staffers, four of whom were just hired in July to implement the new system. The Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office has worked diligently with the Clerks of Court, the Supreme Court, the State Police, the State Board of Elections, the Department of Corrections, and many other stakeholder groups to streamline and automate the system.
As the administration has studied this issue and moved forward under the governor’s new automatic, individualized system, it has become evident that the category of non-violent felons released in past years, for which the Commonwealth does not keep full records, represents the largest number of people who would benefit from the new automatic, individualized system. These individuals are also the hardest to identify and locate. Therefore, in order to expedite the process of bringing these individuals back onto the voter rolls, the governor has made the decision to seek additional funding for this process in his upcoming biennial budget.
English: The state seal of Virginia. Српски / Srpski: Застава америчке савезне државе Вирџиније. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I-66 and other projects approved by CTB
RICHMOND - Governor Bob McDonnell announced that the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) awarded $168 million worth of transportation projects during its meeting held earlier today. Construction will soon begin on projects to replace bridges and widen and improve roads in several areas of the state.
“The Commonwealth is advancing critically needed transportation projects that will ease congestion and improve safety,” said Governor McDonnell. “Projects awarded today range from I-66 improvements in Northern Virginia to a bridge replacement on Route 340/522 in Warren County. These and numerous other projects will move traffic and commerce more efficiently, while also supporting jobs and benefiting the economy statewide.”
CTB Chairman and Secretary of TransportationSean T. Connaughton added, “The board is investing transportation dollars to rehabilitate Virginia’s aging highways and bridges and increase capacity for traffic so you can get to your destination quicker.”
Below is a summary of the projects awarded by the CTB this month.
Northern Virginia
Improvements to I-66 in Fairfax and Arlington counties - This $23 million project, awarded to The Lane Construction Corporation, will improve safety and operations on the I-66 corridor in southern Fairfax and Arlington counties. The project will convert the existing westbound shoulder into an auxiliary lane between the on-ramp from Washington Boulevard and the off ramp to the Dulles Airport Access Road. Expected project completion is summer 2015.
New truck climbing lane on Route 7 in Loudoun County - The $28 million project, awarded to Shirley Contracting Company, LLC, consists of constructing a westbound truck climbing lane on Route 7 between the West Market Street and Route 9 interchanges, new roundabouts and ramp improvements at the Route 7/Route 9 interchange. The project is being built to improve safety and operations for trucks climbing the steep grade. Expected project completion is fall 2015.
Southeastern Virginia
Lynnhaven Parkway widening in Virginia Beach - The $19 million project, awarded to American Infrastructure Virginia, Inc., will improve traffic flow by building an additional lane in each direction of Lynnhaven Parkway and create a connection between Chesapeake and Virginia Beach. This will be done by bridging a canal located between Centerville Turnpike and Indian River Road. This project is located in Virginia Beach. After construction, Lynnhaven Parkway will be a continuous four-lane divided roadway. Expected project completion is fall 2016.
Bridge replacement on Route 35 over the Nottoway River in Southhampton County - The $9 million project, awarded to Waterfront Marine Construction Inc., will replace an aging bridge on Route 35 over the Nottoway River with a new two lane bridge. The bridge is located in Southhampton County. Expected project completion is fall 2015.
Central Virginia and Shenandoah Valley
Bridge replacement on Route 340/522 over the South Fork of the Shenandoah River in Warren County - The $48 million project, awarded to G.A. & F.C. Wagman, Inc., addresses the severe traffic congestion in the bridge corridor and consists of replacing the bridge structure on Route 340/522 over the South Fork of the Shenandoah River and the Norfolk and Southern Railroad in Warren County. Additionally, the project will reconfigure the intersection of Route 340/522 and Route 55. Expected project completion is winter 2017.
Route 3 widening in Culpeper County - This $24 million project, awarded to Branch Highways Inc., will widen Route 3 from a two lane undivided highway to a four lane divided highway in Culpeper County. This is the final section of the Route 3 Corridor to be widened to four lanes. Expected project completion is spring 2017.
Pavement overlay on I-85 in Mecklenburg and Brunswick Counties – The $17 million project, awarded to Branscome Inc., will restore existing pavement on I-85 northbound and southbound in Mecklenburg and Brunswick counties. Expected project completion is summer 2016.
Appointed by the governor, the 17-member Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) establishes the administrative policies for Virginia's transportation system. The CTB allocates highway funding to specific projects, locates routes and provides funding for airports, seaports and public transportation. The Board meets monthly. For specific meeting, times and locations, go to the meeting schedule.
More than 1,500 Revolutionary War reenactors, 30 horses and multiple period boats will descend on the Inn at Warner Hall in Gloucester Oct. 19 and 20 for what’s billed as the largest Revolutionary War reenactment in the country this year.
GLOUCESTER, VA – The British are coming back, along with the French and Americans, too.
And the Return to the Hook steering committee would love to see the media follow suit.
On Oct. 19 and 20, the Allies will engage the British Legion and other Crown forces in a reenactment of the 1781 Battle of the Hook at the Inn at Warner Hall in Gloucester, Va.
The historic battle took place in 1781 in Gloucester and choked off the British supply line to the British troops in Yorktown, helping pave the way for American Independence.
The reenactment, one of the largest recreations of a Revolutionary War battle, will bring together more than 1,500 infantry, cavalry, artillery and maritime landing reenactors from across the country to the home of President George Washington’s ancestors.
Labeled a national event, the reenactment is sponsored by the Continental Line, British Brigade, and Brigade of the American Revolution, as well as regional and statewide businesses and Gloucester County.
Throughout the Battle of the Hook reenactment weekend, in addition to the battle and military scenes, daylong activities for visitors include a live field archeology dig and demonstration display of actual artifacts from the Battle of the Hook, period music by civilian and military performers, 18th century farm setting with live animals, colonial tavern demonstration, camp life by the British, American and French forces, and period merchants and craftsmen demonstrating their skills and selling their wares.
Media are encouraged to cover this visual and dynamic living history event.
The Inn at Warner Hall is located at 4750 Warner Hall Road in Gloucester, Va.
Journalists are asked to RSVP to Battle of the Hook Steering Committee Member Stephanie Heinatz at sheinatz@cox.net or 757.713.2199.
Preferred media parking is located in the field on the left hand side of Warner Hall Road as you approach the Inn. Please show identification from your media outlet to access the preferred parking. Parking conditions are expected to be muddy due to all the rain. In the event that the parking field is closed due to weather conditions – shuttles will be running from Gloucester High School throughout the day.
Following arrival to Warner Hall, media representatives should check in at the registration tent to receive a media badge, which is good throughout the entire weekend.
Media representatives with their badge will have access a media headquarters, special viewing areas on the battlefield and video and still imagery being shot on the battlefield itself by the event’s official media crews (Eastriver Marketing and Sara Harris Photography).
Videographers and photographers on the battlefield will be limited to the event’s official media crews both for safety and to help keep the event as authentic as possible. Media crews on the battlefield will be in period clothing. Several reenactors will be equipped with video cameras on their bodies (GoPro). That licensed footage is available for your use.
Return to the Hook Schedule of Events:
Saturday, October 19
The Inn at Warner Hall
9 a.m.
Site opens to the public
9:30 to 10 a.m.
Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Warner/Lewis Cemetery – Warner Hall Cemetery
9:30 to 10:30 a.m.
Battalion Drill – All Armies, Respective Drill Areas
10 to 10:30 a.m.
Artillery demonstration, Main Battlefield
11 to 11:30 a.m.
French Boat Landing and Skirmish with Crown Troops - Boat Landing Battlefield
11:30 to noon
Colonial Ladies Program and Tea – Manor House Front Porch
11:45 a.m.
A Revolutionary Drama – “James and Elizabeth” – Manor House Stage (creek side)
1:30 to 2 p.m.
Cavalry Demonstration, Crown and Allied Forces - Main Battlefield
2 to 2:15 p.m.
Encounter with Mrs. Whiting – Main Battlefield
2:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Battle of the Hook - Main Battlefield
4 to 4:30 p.m.
British Public Court Martial – British Camp
4:30 p.m.
Site Close to Public
6:15 to 6:30 p.m.
Dusk Artillery Demonstration - Main Battlefield
6:30 to 7 p.m.
Storming of Redoubt – Main Battlefield
Sunday, October 20
10 a.m.
Site opens to the public
10 to 10:30 a.m.
Period Church Service – Arts and Education Tent
11 to 11:30 a.m.
British Boat Landing, and Skirmish with Allied Troops - Boat Landing Battlefield
12:15 p.m.
British Brigade Sending for the Colours Ceremony
12:30 p.m.
Massed Military Music – Manor House Stage area – (creek side of house)
12:30 p.m.
British Artillery Drill – Main Battlefield
1 p.m.
Fashions of the Revolution – Manor House front porch
1:30 to 2:30 p.m.
Attack on the Gloucester Redoubts – Main Battlefield, all troops
3 p.m.
Event closes
The Battle of the Hook in American History
The events leading up to the Revolutionary War’s Yorktown Campaign and the subsequent victory of the Allies that insured the independence of the United States are well known. Less well known is the Battle of the Hook – the battle that took place across the York River from Yorktown 16 days before the British capitulation. Although rather brief, it included the largest cavalry engagement of the war, with more than 500 horsemen involved.
When British Gen. Charles Cornwallis occupied Yorktown in August 1781, he dispatched a portion of his troops to occupy and fortify Gloucester Town (now Gloucester Point), across the river from Yorktown. These forces would, he hoped, be able to secure the British Army's flank, protect a possible escape route, and forage for food, livestock and supplies in the fertile farmland of Gloucester County.
Then American Gen. Washington and his French allies recognized the importance of this area to the siege at Yorktown and sent a force to join the Virginia militia to block the British in Gloucester.
On October 19, 1781, the last surrender of British forces in America occurred — not at Yorktown, as is widely believed, but an hour later, outside the works at Gloucester, where some 1,100 Englishmen, Scotsmen, Welshmen, Germans and American loyalists, and 300 horses, were surrendered to 100 French and 200 American militiamen. American independence was assured, thanks largely to the victory in Gloucester.
The “Hook” battlefield is now an empty field, hallowed ground with little to note its significance day to day except a small roadside marker and a deteriorating concrete monument.
Its significance, however, will be celebrated with the reenactment at the Inn at Warner Hall in October.
The rapid growth of the high-cost consumer credit industry has attracted considerable investment despite criticism of the huge interest rates charged by many companies.
The Bureau’s investigation into the sector, which includes many payday loan companies, reveals that Britain’s high street banks have put millions of pounds into the industry. US companies, some banned by law from issuing payday loans in the American states where they are based, are also investing in the UK’s less regulated market. Many have bought up UK companies, paying the UK founders millions of pounds for their shareholdings.
Criticism of the industry has focused on the level of interest charged, with some loans costing up to 4,474% in interest. The government has rejected calls to cap the interest rates the firms can charge, claiming it would force people to turn to illegal loan sharks.
Instead the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is attempting to crack down on the industry, threatening to remove firms’ licences if they fail to check whether customers can afford the loans or use aggressive debt collection tactics. The OFT has already removed three licences.
Buying in Despite this new attempt at regulation, international businessmen including some from eastern Europe, a South African mining company president and US venture capitalist Don Valentine – who made his name funding Apple, Google and YouTube – have bought into the industry.
Many of the companies in the Bureau’s research offer payday loans, a term referring to a short-term, high-cost loan, regardless of whether the payment is linked to a borrower’s payday. These companies charge over 4,000% interest rates. Other companies provide loans, some more long-term, with interest rates above 50% – considerably higher than conventional mortgages, overdraft facilities and even credit cards.
Among those who have invested is the Arbuthnot Bank Group run by chief executive Henry Angest, a Swiss-born millionaire, and a major Conservative Party donor.
Angest now controls Everyday Loans Limited, which offers the ‘financial freedom’ of unsecured loans of between £500 and £10,000 at 74.8%. This is not a short term payday loan company, but has rates of interest higher than other more traditional consumer loans such as credit cards.
US companies, some banned by law from issuing payday loans in the American States where they are based, are also investing in the UK’s less regulated market.
A former Conservative party treasurer, Angest has contributed £7m to the party in loans and donations.
Last year Everyday Loans was purchased by an Arbuthnot group subsidiary, Secure Trust Bank, which is investing millions of pounds to fund new lending.
Arbuthnot Latham, a private bank, in which Angest owns a majority stake, and which is also part of the Arbuthnot group, has offered a £5m loan to the Conservative Party at 3.5% interest. The loan is listed on the official Electoral Commission register but a Conservative Party spokesman described it as a ‘credit facility’ which the Party had not drawn upon.
A spokesman for Everyday Loans claimed the company was a responsible lender. He said the firm does not provide ‘payday loans’ nor is it a ‘short-term lender’.
He said customers had to borrow over a minimum of 13 months and added: ‘Everyday Loans provides loans to customers who are underserved by the high street banks. If Everyday Loans did not provide this service those looking for loans would have to approach payday loan companies, pawnbrokers or home collected credit companies where interest rates would be very much higher.’
He said: ‘We are not engaged or plan to engage in payday lending. The interest rate charged on [our] loans reflects the risks involved in lending to the individual borrowers. The rates we charge are typically 3 times less than the representative rates of lenders like the home collected credit companies and 20 times less than payday lenders.’
Asked whether the firm or its chairman and chief executive Henry Angest had discussed the company’s business with the prime minster or the government, the spokesman added: ‘We can confirm that we have not discussed the business of Everyday Loans Limited with either the Conservative Party, the current Government or Civil Servants.’
Angest is the second leading Conservative donor with a connection to a high-risk lending company. Adrian Beecroft runs Dawn Capital Investments, a private investors fund, which has a major stake in Wonga, one of Britain’s best-known and fastest growing payday lenders.
Beecroft, who is also a government adviser, has given almost £800,000 to the Conservatives since 2006, most recently contributing more than £100,000 last December. Wonga’s turnover has trebled to almost £185m the last year.
Research by the Bureau also shows that these high-cost lending companies are often heavily reliant on the leading high street banks for funding and set up costs.
Despite widespread criticism that the major banks are reluctant to lend to small businesses and entrepreneurs planning start-ups, payday lenders have found them willing partners.
One major payday firm, US-based Lending Stream, describes Barclays Bank, which currently lends to businesses at 5.1% APR, as a major ‘strategic partner’.
3,378% interest rate The firm, owned by Delaware-registered Global Analytics Holdings Inc, had a £32.7m turnover in 2011 with 142,000 British customers borrowing £31.2m. Its customers pay 3,378% APR to borrow from it.
The firm’s Californian-based boss Krishna Gopinathan claims he founded the firm to ‘give back’ and to ‘empower’ people with low access to credit.
How much Barclays lends the firm is not disclosed, but it has a fixed charge over the company’s deposits providing, according to Lending Stream, ‘integrated banking solutions … lending, risk management, trade, cash and liquidity management, and specialist asset and sales financing’.
Barclays, which at one stage sought a taxpayer-funded government bail out before instead reaching a deal with Middle East investors, is also involved with several other high-cost lenders.
Barclays Capital, its investment arm, lent £75m to Everyday Loans Limited according to its filings to Companies House to provide ‘funding for the provision of consumer finance lending to customers’, until this was paid off when the firm was bought out last year.
According to documents filed at Companies House the bank also has a charge over credit balances facility for TxTLoan Limited, a firm offering 4,474% interest loans through mobile text messaging.
Barclays confirmed it had previously been involved with firms in the industry. But a spokeswoman for Barclays Bank said this was no longer the case. ’We do not lend to any of these companies,’ she said.
Other major banks are also involved in funding the industry. HSBC provided seed capital for Money in Advance Limited, a firm registered in the British Virgin Islands, the offshore tax haven, which explains, for example, that it will loan customers £250 for 22 days and collect £305 – an interest rate of 3,697% APR.
Taxpayer-owned Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which was bailed out after the financial collapse in 2008 with £45bn from the government, is another that has invested in the high-cost credit sector.
RBS funds Amigo Loans Limited, owned by entrepreneur James Benamor, who is paid £890,000 a year. His firm, which says it has now stopped doing payday loans, was, until recently lending at 199% APR. The Bureau has included the company in its data as the financial records cover the period when it was still operating as a payday lender.
Before the bail out the bank, though subsidiary NatWest, helped Nottingham city jeweller Henry Hallam build up his Money Shop business before he sold out to US-giant Dollar Finance in a deal in 1999.
Its website advertised: ‘Borrow £400 for 31 days, pay £400 interest’.
Taxpayer-owned Royal Bank of Scotland, which was bailed out after the financial collapse in 2008 with £45bn from the government, is another that has invested heavily in the payday business.
At the end of last year it replaced these with new longer term ‘guarantor loans… Based on how much your friends trust you, NOT your credit score’, it says. These loans charge 49.9% APR in interest.
Lloyds TSB, which took £5.5bn from the taxpayer to save it from collapse, is another high-street name involved in funding the payday market.
The bank helped fund Instant Cash Loans Limited, owners of the Money Shop.
Investment in the industry is flowing in from the US too. The Bureau’s research highlights the growing involvement of US firms in the British payday industry at a time when such companies are facing tighter regulation of their activities at home.
Rapid growth Dollar Finance has overseen the massive growth of the Money Shop taking it from a company with 34 staff and a turnover of £2.9m in 1998 to one with 2,300 staff and an income of £172.3m today.
The success of its Money Shop stores has made Dollar Finance, which is owned by Philadelphia-based DFC Global Corporation, keen to expand.
In 2009 it acquired Express Finance (Bromley) from Michael Thorpe, who, before the buy out, had employed his 25-year-old son and his wife to help run the business, for almost £5m. In the three years after the takeover the company’s revenues increased tenfold to £51.7m and it is making profits of almost £17m a year.
In April 2011 Dollar Finance expanded further, buying internet loans business MEM Consumer Finance, which trades as PaydayUK and issued £30m worth of loans last year.
Expansion of the payday loans industry in the US has been curtailed by a growing clampdown on high interest rates by state governments. Some states have even banned payday loans.
In 13 states the loans are either illegal or, while not explicitly banned, prohibited by strict usury limits – hard interest rate caps on the annual percentage rate.
Since 2007 a federal law has also capped lending to military personnel at a maximum of 36%.
Dollar Finance is based in Pennsylvania, where state laws cap interest rates on short term loans at 30% compared to the 2,949% APR offered on its PayDayUK website this week.
In 13 states the loans are either illegal or, while not explicitly banned, prohibited by strict usury limits – hard interest rate caps on the annual percentage rate.
Cash Choice UK Limited is another firm owned in a US state where its interest rates, advertised on its website as 3,491% APR, would be outlawed.
The firm is owned by US citizen David Vickers, president of Cash Choice Inc, based in Atlanta, Georgia, where payday loans have been banned for more than 100 years.
A statement on the Georgia governor’s website says: ‘Payday loans have become a multibillion dollar industry in recent years. Nevertheless, it is illegal in Georgia to make a payday loan.
‘(The) law authorizes felony and racketeering charges against violators, as well as fines of up to $25,000 per violation and a possible jail sentence of 25 years.’
The risks of similar legislation in Britain is reflected in the annual report of Texas-based Cash America International Inc, owners of one of the biggest UK payday lending firms. CashEuroNetUK, which trades as QuickQuid and Pounds To Pocket, and advertises interest rates of 1,734% APR.
In Texas the state senate has been pushing for new laws that would put limits on payday and short-term loan firms charging interest rates of 1,000%.
The latest proposal would limit customers to one payday loan at a time. The size of the loans would also be limited by their monthly income and the loan could only be renewed four times.
With the UK operation generating revenues of £198m, Cash America warned its shareholders: ‘If prescriptive regulations are adopted (in the UK) the Company’s compliance costs will be significantly increased’.
RBS and Lloyds did not respond to the Bureau’s questions.
