Gov. Gilmore optimistic
about car-tax cut
Gov. James S. Gilmore is
optimistic that the General Assembly will continue funding his rollback
of the car tax.
In a press conference,
Gilmore sought to allay fears surrounding Secretary of Finance Ronald
L. Tillet’s announcement that the commonwealth’s revenue performance
was the worst in a decade. [Full story by
Kevin Crossett]
Hager outlines his agenda
for the Senate
Lt. Gov. John H. Hager
has outlined his legislative agenda for this General Assembly session.
He pledged to complete
Gov. Jim Gilmore’s car-tax cut and push for graduated licenses for
teen drivers and changes to Virginia's death penalty statute. [Full
story by Ty Bowers]
Criminal background checks
for judges?
After
much debate, the House of Delegates Courts of Justice Committee on
Thursday endorsed a bill that would require judgeship candidates to
undergo an FBI criminal background check, the Lynchburg News
& Advance reported.
Delegate Kathy Byron, R-Lynchburg,
sponsored the bill. She said legislators should ensure that judicial
appointees have not committed a major crime. "It's
not anything particular against attorneys," she said. "We're all human
beings."
Legislators could debate
the bill on the House floor as early as Monday.
Future looks dim for seat-belt
advocates
To the disappointment of
seat-belt advocates, the House referred to its Militia and Police
Committee a bill allowing police officers to ticket drivers not wearing
seat belts, according to an Associate Press in the Fredericksburg
Free
Lance-Star.
Although the Courts of
Justice Committee usually handles such bills, House Speaker S. Vance
Wilkins Jr., R-Amherst, said he sent the legislation to Militia and
Police to equalize committees' work.
Seat-belt advocates view
the conservative committee as hostile to their cause and predict that
the panel will kill the legislation, sponsored by Delegate Jerrauld
C. Jones, D-Newport News.
Gay-bashing not a hate
crime, committee says
On a 9-6 vote, the Senate
Courts of Justice Committee killed a bill that would have included
sexual orientation in hate crime legislation, the Richmond
Times-Dispatch reported.
Sponsored by Sen. Patricia
S. Ticer, D-Alexandria, the bill had the support of Richmond Mayor
Timothy M. Kaine, the Catholic Diocese of Richmond and the Virginia
Interfaith Center for Public Policy.
In terms of frequency,
crimes against gays rank third behind racial and religious crimes,
according to FBI statistics cited by Stephen Collechi, a representative
of the Richmond diocese.
But committee Chairman
Kenneth W. Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, said the bill places the rights
of victims above the rights of defendants, which he said violates
fundamental precepts.
