Where Was Doug? Where was Bill?
Jim Nolan
July 22, 2008 4:35 PM
Conspicuously absent from Monday’s historic dedication of the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial was one of the Commonwealth’s—and the country’s—most significant political figures:
L. Douglas Wilder.
Wilder, the current mayor of Richmond, home to our state capitol, was also the nation’s first black governor, elected in 1989. He was a card-playing friend of noted civil rights attorney Oliver W. Hill Sr., who represented Moton High School student Barbara Johns, whose walkout on April 23, 1951 is immortalized in the memorial unveiled Monday.
So where was Doug?
“He wanted to be there but there was no way he could change his schedule ,” said mayoral spokesman Linwood Norman. “He had a previous longstanding commitment.”
When asked whether the commitment was on city business or personal, Norman said he did not know.
There was no such mystery surrounding the absence of Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling. Bolling sent his regrets through Senate Minority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr., R-James City, who spoke at the ceremony in Bolling’s absence. Bolling was attending the annual conference/junket of the National Association of Lieutenant Governors in captivating Buffalo, N.Y.
Kaine Body Man Hits The Road For Obama
Jim Nolan
July 18, 2008 11:28 AM
Jeff Tiller, Deputy Press Secretary for Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, is leaving the governor’s side to work for the campaign of presumptive democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
The indefatiguable Tiller has been at Kaine’s side for most of the Governor’s appearances throughout the state since Kaine took office in 2006, wielding Blackberry and cell phone will equal aplomb. Kaine is a national co-chair for Obama and oft-mentioned, albeit dark-horse candidate, to be the Illinois senator’s running mate.
The twentysomething Tiller, who lives in Richmond’s Fan District, will be working on Obama’s advance team, helping to organize public appearances across the country for the candidate. He heads to Obamalot after in a week.
-- Jim Nolan
Fairfax Republicans Try to Punish Their Own
Andrew Cain
July 16, 2008 6:01 PM
Neil H. Simon of Media General’s Washington bureau reports that in an effort to minimize the growing number of Republicans defecting to support Democrat Mark Warner’s Senate bid, Northern Virginia GOP activists wagged their finger Tuesday night at Republicans who have already strayed from the fold.
The Fairfax County Republican Committee passed a resolution at their monthly meeting stating “its disapproval of Republicans publicly supporting Mark Warner,” and encouraging “those that have already done so to discontinue their active support.”
The resolution passed by voice vote among the roughly 200 members present, committee chairman Jim Hyland said.
Earlier Tuesday Republicans had considered voting on other measures to punish Republicans who support Warner. One idea would have amounted to a censure of recently retired State Delegate Vincent F. Callahan (R-McLean), who has backed Warner.
The final resolution did not name any Warner-backing Republicans, but did acknowledge the lack of enthusiasm some Republicans have for their own Senate nominee, Jim Gilmore.
“We know that any one Republican, at any time, may be dissatisfied with the nominee,” the resolution read, “but that dissatisfaction is best reflected in the privacy of the voting booth.”
Fairfax County Republican Committee chairman Jim Hyland said, “People had wanted something stronger. We have a lot of people who are upset about this series of Republicans endorsing Mark Warner.”
“We ended up with more of a consensus resolution,” Hyland said.
Gilmore’s and Warner’s campaigns did not immediately return calls Wednesday.
The state of our schools
Olympia Meola
July 15, 2008 12:48 PM
Northern Virginia residents can expect to see a new TV spot targeting the state of education in the United States.
Addressing what they call America’s “sub-par education system,” Strong American Schools launched an advertising campaign this week that will run in Colorado, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, New Mexico, Virginia and Wisconsin.
SAS says it’s spending more than $5 million on the “One Nation Left Behind” campaign.
The actress Jamie Lee Curtis narrates the 30-second spot, which shows a forlorn-looking boy running the flags of other countries up a pole before adding the American flag at the end. Curtis says in the ad that schools in the other countries are outperforming ours and that “America is only as strong as her schools.”
You can view the TV spot at http://www.strongamericanschools.org.
SAS is a nonpartisan advocacy effort “aimed at elevating discussion amongst America’s leaders about the need for education reform.” The group is supported by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“Strong American Schools’ new ad, One Nation Left Behind, underscores the harsh reality that America has slipped to the middle of the pack,” Marc Lampkin, executive director of Strong American Schools, said in a statement. “Currently American students are being left behind when compared to their international peers. Recent tests show that, out of 30 industrialized nations, 24 countries outperformed American students in math and 20 outperformed American students in science.”
Saslaw’s bill a no go
Olympia Meola
July 09, 2008 4:02 PM
The House just voted 39-59 against Sen. Saslaw’s amended gas tax increase bill.
Senators wait while House jousts
Andrew Cain
July 09, 2008 3:39 PM
Jim Nolan reports that with little to legislate while House lawmakers across the hall engage in partisan parliamentary jousting over transportation funding proposals, state senators are spending the afternoon waiting, like the rest of Virginia.
The Senate side of the reconvened special session has been punctuated by repeated recesses as House Democrats and Republicans jockey for position on who will take the blame for not passing a plan.
A handful of Democratic senators are huddling around a laptop computer carrying a live broadcast of House proceedings. Some Republicans, meanwhile, amiably chatted about baseball and other topics on the other side of the aisle, welcoming into their conversation bouquet Sen. Dick Saslaw, the Democratic majority leader, whose gas-tax bill was still waiting to be considered and amended in the House.
Sen. Ralph S. Northam, D-Norfolk, used one of the many breaks in the action to run over to the Library of Virginia parking lot to put air in a leaky tire. Meanwhile, Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple, D-Arlington, lamented the extra $300 she had to fork over to change her flight plans to attend her grandson’s wedding in Denver this weekend.
Upstairs at the governor’s suite in the Capitol, Gov. Tim Kaine could be seen pacing from his office with a cell phone glued to his ear, reading glasses propped on his forehead. Administration officials were not optimistic a day of delays and debate would yield a plan to fix Virginia’s roads. But whether they agree or not on how to fix the problem, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle know that it isn’t going away, especially during tough economic times and skyrocketing gas prices.
Sen. Richard H. Stuart, R-Westmoreland, said he turned in his wife’s large SUV for a minivan. His pickup truck has been replaced with a mid-sized Toyota sedan.
-- Jim Nolan
Talking taxes
Olympia Meola
July 09, 2008 3:34 PM
The House just voted 95-1 to strip the gas tax increase out of Sen. Saslaw’s bill and members are now debating the plan. Conversation is focused on sales tax hikes included in the bill.
A vote … in theory
Olympia Meola
July 09, 2008 3:00 PM
The House Republicans got the House Democrats to vote on Kaine’s bill—at least in theory.
Del. Clifford Athey tried to substitute Kaine’s transportation bill for Sen. Saslaw’s gas tax increase plan. In the midst of lengthy and often heated partisan back-and-forth, both the House Republican leader and the House Democratic leader urged a no vote. It failed 98-0.
Del. Ward L. Armstrong, D-Henry, said he thought lawmakers on the other side of the aisle want to embarass Kaine and the Democrats by making them vote against the bill. He said it wasn’t a vote against Kaine’s bill, it was a vote against the procedure. He followed that up with saying the House Democrats prefer Sen. Richard L. Saslaw’s bill with the gas tax increase taken out.
“There is a relative consensus that we’ve found,” Armstrong said. “The Saslaw bill is the way to go.”
Saslaw’s gas tax increase plan remains alive and is being discussed now on the House floor.
-- Olympia Meola and Tyler Whitley
In limbo again
Olympia Meola
July 09, 2008 1:43 PM
House Democrats did not agree to a parliamentary procedure that would allow a vote today on Kaine’s bill on the House floor. On a largely party line vote, Democrats declined to waive constitutional readings of the bill necessary before a vote. They, in effect, thwarted the GOP’s attempt to force a vote on Kaine’s bill.
That leaves the bill again, in limbo.
A refresher course on Kaine’s plan, while it lasts
Andrew Cain
July 09, 2008 1:10 PM
As Olympia Meola reports, Gov. Timothy M. Kaines’ transportation proposal has new life, however short. While Democrats and Republicans ponder their strategy at the state Capitol, here’s a refresher course on Kaines’ plan. You’ll note that it includes no increase in gasoline taxes.
Highlights of governor’s transportation proposal
The proposal would raise $727.9 million in new transportation funding in fiscal 2009. That figure would rise to $1.08 billion in fiscal 2014.
Motor vehicle titling tax
Increase the state’s motor vehicle titling tax to 4 percent from 3 percent of the sale price. The increase would be phased in, with half a percentage point in January 2009 and the other half implemented in July 2009. The increase would raise $39.2 million in fiscal 2009 and rise to $212 million in fiscal 2014.
Vehicle registration fee
Increase the state’s annual vehicle registration fee to $49 from $39. The additional $10 would raise $72.5 million in fiscal 2009 and rise to $77.4 million in fiscal 2014.
Regional sales tax
Increase the sales tax in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads to 6 percent from 5 percent on items other than food or medicine. In Northern Virginia, the extra 1 percent would raise $306.3 million in fiscal 2009 and $414.3 million in fiscal 2014. In Hampton Roads, it would raise $167.9 million in fiscal 2009 and $227.1 million in fiscal 2014.
Grantor’s tax
Increase the statewide grantor’s tax, paid by the seller of property, to 35 cents per $100 of the sale price from 10 cents per $100. The 25-cent increase would raise $142 million in fiscal 2009 for transit, rail and options such as teleworking and ridesharing, rising to $155 million by fiscal 2014.
RSS 2.0