He's just in his first full, General Assembly term as 40th District delegate, but Clifton's Tim Hugo (R) is already on the House Finance Committee — where all the tax bills will go.
"I look at it as an opportunity to review the governor's tax bill, closely scrutinize it and protect the citizens of Fairfax County," he said. "I'm concerned because I believe it'll particularly impact the 40th District and Fairfax County because of the income-tax rate change and because so many purchases come out of Fairfax County."
Besides that, said Hugo, "We have so many dual-income families here that will get a tax increase. We're shifting the wealth downstate; for every dollar the governor raises in new taxes, 75 cents goes downstate."
HE'S ALSO concerned that the governor's plan eliminates the senior citizen tax exemption. "We already worry about Fairfax County senior citizens getting kicked out of their homes because of rising tax assessments," he said. "This would compound their problems."
By the end of February, Hugo expects to receive some new figures about the state's economic growth. "I hope we'll see significant growth again for the first quarter of 2004," he said. "It'll give us a tremendous boost to protect K-12 education and our AAA bond rating and replenish the rainy-day fund without a tax increase."
Looking out for his constituents, he's proposing 23 bills, and the overwhelming majority affect the 40th District. One is a constitutional amendment to protect the Transportation Trust Fund so that gas-tax money is used only for transportation purposes.
Hugo's "Scarlet Letter" bill would require a special license plate for twice-convicted DUI offenders. "It's been endorsed by MADD and Drive Smart — a coalition of safety groups in Virginia," he said. Hugo and Del. Fenton Bland (D-63rd) are sponsoring this bill jointly.
And as a parent, himself, especially close to his heart is his bill raising the penalty from a misdemeanor to a felony for drivers who injure people while drag racing. He proposed it after learning what happened, a year ago, to Fairfax Station mother Tammy Karas and her children.
"She and her twins, Matt and Katie, now 10, were hit on the Fairfax County Parkway by a drag racer, and Katie was seriously injured," said Hugo. "She lost a kidney, was in Intensive Care for a long time and missed a whole semester of school. Her brother and mother were also hurt, and they still have ongoing medical problems because of this wreck. So we worked with state police and the DMV to craft a bill that would increase the penalty."
He's also proposing a bill, requested by Clifton Mayor Jim Chesley, to change Clifton's town charter so that the vice-mayor would chair Town Council meetings when the mayor's away. And Fairfax Station and Pleasant Valley have asked Hugo to have Fairfax Station and Pleasant Valley roads designated as scenic byways.
"We're working with VDOT to see what protection this will afford them," he said. "When the communities ask me to do something, I respond."
HUGO'S ALSO working on a bill for small nonprofit groups, such as Rotary, Lions Club, American Legion, etc. It would allow them to have a monthly dinner with alcohol without having to apply for an alcohol license every time. They could get a yearly pass, instead. It's just for small, community groups and wouldn't apply to festivals.
Another bill involves SSTP — the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, or Internet sales tax. "Right now, there's a big effort to apply taxes to the Internet," explained Hugo. "If a [business] has a physical plant in Virginia, you'd pay tax on something you ordered from it."
For example, he said, Lands End in Maine previously didn't charge tax for a shirt bought online. But when Sears bought the company, Lands End suddenly had a nexus in every state and had to charge tax.
"Because Northern Virginia and Fairfax County have such a high number of technology companies that rely on Internet sales — and we have so many technology-savvy citizens — we're going to ask the governor to delay the application of the SSTP," said Hugo. "It's going to come from the federal government, but the states have to help get everything into compliance."
However, he said, Virginia has more than 3,000 "power sellers" — people who sell more than $1,000/month over e-Bay — and many are "mom and pop" businesses. And he doesn't believe it would be fair to force these companies and their customers to pay Internet sales tax.
"It would be incredibly burdensome for a lot of these small-to-medium companies," said Hugo. "We've got to protect them. There are 12,000 taxing districts in the U.S. that they could come under. We're saying, 'Slow down and take a long look at what this is going to do to the businesses in Virginia and a lot of companies in Fairfax County.'
Instead of these companies developing and growing, he said, "They could shut down because they don't want to be liable for noncompliance with the SSTP. It would be very bad for business in Fairfax County."
He's proposing, as well, a bill prohibiting discrimination against Northern Virginia college students. "Colleges are trying to get geographic diversity from across the state," said Hugo. " "But it penalizes local, high-school kids [for living here] and doesn't allow them to go to colleges and universities in Northern Virginia because of a quota system. I want to put an end to it."
HUGO'S ALSO introducing some election-law bills. One would prevent voting machines from being removed from polling places before they close for the day. "It creates a wrong perception," said Hugo. "Both Republicans and Democrats should be nervous about that."
Another bill would allow party identification to be listed on the ballot for local races, such as supervisors. Currently, party affiliation is only listed for General Assembly and other statewide races. Said Hugo: "It provides people with information that they have a right to know."
He's also promoting a bill to have people register by political party, or as an independent, when they vote. Doing so would allow open primaries and wouldn't prohibit people from voting for candidates not in their own party. "It allows independents to vote in whatever primary they want," said Hugo.
Hugo said serving as 40th District delegate is "truly a great honor." But he didn't realize the full impact until he went to Richmond.
"When you first come here, there's an exuberance because you won,'" he said. "Then when you walk into the House chamber, you see statues of people like George Washington, and Patrick Henry's and Thomas Jefferson's names. And then you see your name up on a lighted board — and it really hits you that you've got an honor and a responsibility. I represent almost 70,000 people, and it was one of the most humbling experiences of my life."
This General Assembly session runs until March 13, and Hugo's missing his wife Paula, daughter Katie, 5, and son Christopher, 3. But he has no complaints about his job, itself.
"It's action-packed — from 7:30 a.m., sometimes 'til 11 at night — poring over bills for the next day," he said. From 1996-99 on Capitol Hill, Hugo was chief of staff to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman. In Congress, he said, "We'd dispose of 3,000 bills in a two-year cycle. Here, we dispose of 3,000 bills in two months. I tell people the Virginia General Assembly is like Congress on steroids."
Hugo may be reached at P.O. Box 406, Room 818, Richmond, VA 23218, at 804-698-1040 or at Del_Hugo@house.state.va.us.