This year's session of the Virginia General Assembly is over and, like Joseph Heller's novel, Something Happened, but no one knows quite what.
"This was the least productive session I can remember for many years," said Delegate Marian Van Landingham (D-45) at the Alexandria City Council meeting on Feb. 25. "In the end analysis, the budget was just a shell game. We were able to save the Arlandria clinic's funding and Project Discovery only took a $50,000 hit statewide. That was, in large part, thanks to the Senate because the House had cut them. We just really did not accomplish much."
Senator Patricia S. "Patsy" Ticer (D-30) agreed. "This was a terrible year for women," she said. "In addition to the assault on choice, the Women's Commission is gone. For the past 10 years or so it hasn't been funded but it has still been a line item so there has been hope that when money because available we might get some money but now it is completely gone," she said.
Ticer also spoke about apartment inspections. "I fought really hard to keep them from changing this program so much that Alexandria would continue to be proactive about our inspections but did not succeed. The new law sets a minimum standard for the entire state and means that we are going to need to adjust our program to fit those new standards," she said.
Mayor Kerry J. Donley said he was concerned. "As usual, we are going to have to stop being proactive and accept a standard that might be right for another, more rural part of the state but which is not right for us," he said. "Also, those changes are going to cost us money."
Delegate Brian Moran (D-46) spoke about the revenue increases. Earlier, Van Landingham had outlined a number of increases in fees, such as an increase in the court cost portion of traffic tickets and an increase in the cost of obtaining a driver's license.
Moran said, "We have these increases but we don't have any new taxes. We are increasing the cost of alcohol by five percent but it's not a new tax. We are increasing the cost of getting a driver's license by $5, but that's not a tax. I hope none of you ever gets a ticket for a traffic violation or you are going to have to mortgage your house to pay the court costs associated with that ticket."
DONLEY ASKED MORAN WHAT Governor Mark Warner was going to do about restructuring the tax system.
"While there may be another tax commission, I am very skeptical of them," Moran said. "The last one only recommended decreasing taxes for about 400 individuals who are millionaires by about $141 million. If that's all a commission is going to come up with, they aren't very helpful."
Bernie Caton, the city's legislative director also gave a short report before Council. "We should look at a proposal to increase the regional gas tax to pay for transit-related projects again next year," he said. "It got a surprising amount of support from some Republicans that we were not expecting to support it. I guess what I would say is that not much happened and, in this climate, that's probably for the best," he said.
Neither Delegate Karin Darner (D-49) nor Senator Richard Saslaw (D-36) were able to be at City Council.
"We are sorry that Karin Darner has decided not to seek re-election," Donley said. "We will miss her leadership."
The General Assembly session ended on Feb. 22.