Del. Gary Reese (R-67) does not often get up to speak against a bill on the floor of the House of Delegates. But, he told Speaker William Howell (R-28) and his colleagues, "This one I feel very strongly about."
Reese was talking about a bill sponsored by Loudoun County Del. Dick Black (R-32) that was up for its second reading in the House last Monday. The bill would have stopped court clerks from giving information about birth defects, HIV, AIDS and contraception to couples applying for marriage licenses.
Black said the practice, which is currently in place, was not producing any result. It was, he said, "an inadequate way of reaching young couples."
But Reese objected, saying it was important to give as much information as possible to people considering starting a family.
"We have, in this chamber, cast too many votes for ignorance," he said, as his colleagues jeered or clapped.
Several lawmakers said Black, a conservative Republican from Loudoun County, was targeting the clerks' brochures because they contained information about contraception.
The bill died by fewer than 10 votes.
<b>LEGISLATORS PREDICT</b> that the second half of this year's six-week session will be even more intense than the first, as both houses debate their proposed budget for the next two years.
On Sunday, the two houses of the General Assembly released their respective plans which showed how far apart the two bodies are philosophically. While the Senate version would generate $3.7 billion in new tax revenue to fund programs, the House limits the increase to $520 million, mostly garnered from new corporate taxes. Because Virginia faces a $1.2 billion deficit this biennium, the House version would require $700 million in state cuts.
The Senate version includes increases in income taxes, sales taxes and levies on cigarettes and tobacco, all of which House Republicans have vowed to defeat.
At their meeting on Saturday, County Board members asked legislative liaison Sally Bakko for an update on the cigarette tax bills introduced at the beginning of this legislative session.
The cigarette tax bill passed by the Senate last week, a bill sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem John Chichester (R-28), would increase state cigarette taxes, at the expense of county increases, Bakko said. Chichester’s bill increases the state cigarette tax to 20 cents a pack this year, and 35 cents a pack in 2005.
But a proposal giving counties the ability to levy local cigarette taxes of 55 cents a pack was eliminated during negotiations in the Senate, Bakko said. “The bad news for counties is that we still don’t have cigarette taxing authority.”
That means county budget negotiations will not hinge on Assembly decisions, said Board member Jay Fisette (D). “There’s nothing alive that has a tangible financial impact on Arlington.”
<b>ONCE BOTH VERSIONS</b> of the budget have been released, negotiators from the House and the Senate will meet in conference to hammer out a budget proposal to send to Gov. Mark Warner (D).
The House tax plan, advanced by the Republican leadership, would abolish many business and corporate tax exemptions. The GOP plan split Democrats, putting some in the position of defending corporate tax breaks.
"It can potentially have a lot of ramifications for jobs and our economic health," said. Del. Brian Moran (D-46). Doing away with the tax exemptions would prompt companies to leave Virginia, he added. "US Airways has already distributed a letter [saying] that they're operating by their fingernails now and they'd have to go bankrupt."
<b>US AIRWAYS</b> is being courted by Pennsylvania, Warner said, where the tax exemptions the House proposes to eliminate are firmly in place.
But Del. Chap Petersen (D-37) said he was willing to entertain the idea of cutting back on some corporate tax breaks. "I'm not saying it's a solution in and of itself. But I think it's a bold idea."
The bill passed by a vote of 63 to 34 with two abstentions. Petersen and Jim Scott (53) broke ranks with the party and supported it.
Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites (R-34) who served in the House before winning her Senate election last year, said the House GOP's action was aimed to strike back at the business community, which has supported Warner's tax plan.
"I think in the House's mind, they felt, 'if the business community wants us to increase taxes so badly let's let them share in the burden of the tax increase,'" she said.
Warner (D), whose $1 billion tax restructuring plan was killed in the House Finance Committee earlier this month, said he was heartened that the House was looking more favorably on tax increase.
But he added that "the House proposal only partially meets our needs. … "It has also not been subject to any review of its impact on jobs and our economy," he said in a release.
With the Republicans in full control of both chambers, the political battles this year have not pitted Republicans and Democrats but rather the moderate wing of the GOP against its conservative side. And that, said Petersen, makes the Democrats tiebreakers.
"I've got a front row seat," he said. "As Democrats we're kind of looking to make the difference on the final couple votes."
<b>MEANWHILE, REPUBLICANS</b> in this Assembly session have been split in the middle, with the conservative wing of the GOP clashing against the party's more moderate members.
Reese's reaction to Black’s Bill also underscores the frustration many lawmakers are feeling at the amount of social legislation put forward in this year's General Assembly. Dozens of bills targeting abortion, contraception and same-sex relationships have been introduced this year by members of both parties.
With crucial questions on taxes and funding still unresolved as the session reaches its halfway mark, some lawmakers said the social bills are distracting them from this year's main goal: balancing the state's budget.
"I find it depressing," said Petersen.
"Legislation that targets people and stigmatizes people and seeks to divide, especially legislation that's gratuitous, I didn't get into this business to give that."
Marjorie Signer, an Arlington resident who follows state legislation for the Virginia chapter of the National Organization for Women, said this year's social legislation is distracting lawmakers from more urgent budget questions.
<b>"WE HAVE VERY,</b> very serious issues that we need to be dealing with," she said. "About having fiscal responsibility and having enough tax income so we can have good schools and transportation. These are all family issues. These are women's issues."
"That's just a whiny canard thrown out by people who don't like the bills," countered Sen. Ken Cuccinelli (R-37), who sponsored legislation condemning gay marriage.
"Clearly what's going on in other states looms as a growing threat to the institution of marriage as Virginia has always understood it and of course as mankind has understood it since time immemorial," he said referring to the same-sex marriages that took place in San Francisco last week. "I don't just put this stuff in for fun. There really is no alternative."
Erica Smock, a legislative analyst who tracks social legislation in state capitols nationwide for the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, said Virginia lawmakers do not sponsor more social legislation than those in other states but that Virginia gets a lot of attention because its legislative sessions are short and intense.
"Every year it's like we all get worried about Virginia because there are always a lot of really bad bills and everything gets resolved early on."
<i>(Additional reporting by Jim Silver)</i>