Summary

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About

Elected in November 2011, Geary M. Higgins represents the Catoctin District on the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors. He serves as Chair of the Board’s Transportation and Land Use Committee and is a member of the Joint Board of Supervisors-School Board Committee, having previously served as co-chair of that committee. He is one of two of the Board’s representatives on the Northern Virginia Regional Commission and serves as the Board’s representative on the Loudoun County Agricultural District Advisory Committee.

As the Catoctin District School Board Member from 2000-2004, Geary served as the Chairman of the Personnel Services Committee and on the Legislative Policy and Discipline Committees. He worked extensively on formulating the LCPS budgets and initiated the concept for the Academy of Sciences. Since 1998, Geary has been a Board Member and officer for the Loudoun Museum where he has served as the Vice President, Treasurer, and Chairman of the Education Committee.

Experience

Work Experience

• Vice President
  Labor Relations for the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA)
• Member
  NECA’s executive committee
• Treasurer
  Council on Industrial Relations
• Executive Committee Member & Treasurer
  Electrical Training Alliance

  Electrical Training Alliance is the committee responsible for the training of all union journeymen and apprentices in the electrical construction industry.

Volunteer Experience

Geary serves as a trustee for the for the NECA-IBEW Family Medical Health Care Plan. He is a fellow of The Academy of Electrical Contracting.

Education

• Business Administration
  Clarion University, Pennsylvania

  Double major in Management and Marketing.

Web

Facebook, Twitter, Campaign Site

Politics

Source: none

Issues

Civil Rights

Second Amendment

Second Amendment –  I believe strongly in protecting our 2nd amendment rights.  Every year, more legislation is introduced that takes away our constitutional rights.  As a proven, committed conservative, you wont have to worry how I will vote on these important issues.

Education

Education – Commitment to Students, Teachers, Families and Innovation

I am the only candidate with proven experience supporting excellence, efficiency and accountability in our schools having served as a Loudoun County School Board member and Co-Chairman of the Loudoun Joint School Board and Board of Supervisors Committee.  As Supervisor, we increased the Loudoun County School budget each year to meet our growing demands for schools, increased starting teacher and mid-career teacher pay in Loudoun, and funded the Academy of Loudoun, which I initiated as a school board member, that seeks to empower students to explore, research, collaborate, innovate, and to make meaningful contributions to the world in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

As your Senator, I will fight for state resources to adequately fund the needs of the Loudoun and Prince William public school systems. It is critical that we continue to invest in our students and our K-12 education system. Additionally, adequately investing on our K-12 education system reduces the financial burden on local jurisdictions.  When school budgets are not adequately funded, local tax money is reallocated from other important resources like public safety or worse taxes are raised on residents to pay for school funding. Choice for our students is also important and I will support school choice initiatives and equal access measures that support our home school communities so parents and families can make the best education decisions for their family.

Health Care

HealthCare – Access and Affordability

Access to quality health care for Virginians in the Commonwealth is as important as ever.  Families are balancing day-to-day demands on their budgets; housing costs, taxes, day care, education, and commuting costs.  Health care costs are no different. Governor Northam’s veto of common-sense legislation passed by the house and senate last year that would have given Virginians the option of purchasing lower-cost catastrophic healthcare compliant with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is an example of the Governor’s view that government knows better than individuals themselves.  I will work with my Senate colleagues to provide reasonable and affordable healthcare to all Virginians.

Pro Life

I am 100% committed to protecting the life of the unborn.  Recent attempts by the Governor and some members of the general assembly to pass legislation allowing for the aborting of children…after they are born, must be stopped.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Congested roadways and long commutes steal time away from our families, are unsafe, and negatively impact our quality of life.  When I was elected to the Board of Supervisors we immediately started to focus on transportation.

• Beginning in my 2012 term we dedicated two cents of our tax rate specifically to roads.
• We also added over $150 million each year for road construction and successfully funded critical road improvements such as Route 15 North of Leesburg Corridor, the Route 7 Overpasses at Belmont Ridge Road, the Route 7 overpass at Ashburn Village Boulevard, the Route 7 Climbing Lane West of Leesburg, Waxpool Road, Northstar Boulevard, Braddock Road Widening and many more. We have also focused on improving our western corridors with roundabouts and safety studies; Route 9, Route 15, Route 7, Evergreen Mill Road, Woods Road, and Route 287.
• In 2013, I along with my colleagues on the Board at that time sued the Greenway for high tolls that “materially discouraged the use of the Greenway.” We were hearing from residents who avoided the Greenway due to the high tolls and the additional burden it placed on our commuting residents. Because of this we were faced with congestion spilling over on alternate roads such as Route 7, Waxpool Road, and Route 50. The buildout of Gloucester Parkway to Route 28 was in most part due to congestion on Waxpool Road from drivers avoiding the Greenway.
• The Route 15 Corridor North of Leesburg is the project of which I am most proud. On any given day, Route 15 is full of traffic, shut downs and accidents.  I took on this politically charged project to give the residents piece of mind. In less than one-years’ time my office working with our Transportation Department established a stakeholder working group, conducted extensive public outreach, presented and analyzed various corridor solutions, and secured vital funding for Route 15 improvements.  Most of the funding for the project ($54 MILLION) was secured in an unprecedented six months. The project is now in the design phase with construction scheduled to begin in FY2022.

As your Senator,

• I will continue my work as Supervisor to eliminate oppressive tolls on residents.
• Secure fair share of transportation revenue for Northern Virginia Road Projects
• Protect Transportation Trust Funds. Roads should be our top funding priority through the Trust Fund and not raided for other initiatives.
• Work to implement Metro reforms and accountability
• Increase funding for Rural Road Maintenance
• Increase VDOT funding for road paving

Loudoun County State Park

After seven years of hard work with the Board of Supervisors and the General Assembly, I was finally able to bring what will now be an 880-acre State Park to Loudoun. After two unsuccessful years of trying to obtain funding from the General Assembly, I was able to identify funding from the County’s Land Acquisition Fund to purchase the property.  This is a game changer for Loudoun, our rural economy and the region. The Loudoun State Park will be an important contributor to Loudoun’s $1.7 billion tourism industry. Park visitors will be able to experience and explore our surrounding history, equine industry, farms, wineries, breweries and bed and breakfasts and other great experiences like our Artisan Trail, Wine Country Passport and the LoCo Ale trail. The park will also provide an important connection to Harper’s Ferry National Park, the Appalachian Trail and the Potomac Heritage Trail. Future expansion will also preserve a considerable piece of history as this land includes the route Mosby’s Rangers took to attack the federal camp of Cole’s Cavalry almost one-hundred and fifty five years ago on that cold and snowy day – January 10, 1864.