Callahan Digs In His Heels
House Appropriations Committee chair Del. Vincent F. Callahan Jr. (R-Fairfax) said that general sales and income tax increases will not be in the compromise budget, drawing a sharp line in the sand.
Callahan, as I’ve pointed out several times the past few weeks, is usually a reasonable guy. He needs to hear from everyone in the state, and especially his constituents and contributors to his campaigns.
Get his contact info here. For the names of his campaign donors and amounts given, click here.
Rally Draws Shills
Anti-taxers held a rally yesterday in Richmond. One hundred-fifty people were there, as opposed to 700-800 who attended a rally supporting the Governor’s budget earlier this Assembly session. Here’s what the Richmond Times-Dispatch wrote: “Filling out the crowd were aides to GOP legislators as well as lawyers from the office of Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore, the party’s likely candidate for governor next year. Kilgore again urged a referendum on higher taxes.”
Your tax dollars at work – getting staff to attend a supposedly grassroots rally.
A small group opposing the referendum idea was also at the rally, prompting a referendum supporter to say, “We were here first. They’re distracting. They’re trouble. Get out of here. Get away, go.”
“We were here first”? Some folks need to learn to play nice in the sandbox.
Poll Shows Support for Tax Increases
AARP claims a poll it conducted found 70% of Virginians “opposed reducing state spending in general and specifically opposed cuts to education and health care,” according to a Virginian Pilot story. “Three-fourths of respondents supported higher taxes on cigarettes and corporations, and more than half supported raising income and sales taxes.”
Local governments also seem to support higher state taxes. The Prince George County supervisors asked the General Assembly to “adjust” taxes to provide more funds for schools and other local needs. Two Republicans led the way. Other local governments chiming in: The Isle of Wight supervisors officially berated local legislators who signed a no-tax pledge. “The Isle of Wight School Board and the Isle of Wight, Smithfield and Windsor Chamber of Commerce joined the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, the Hampton Roads and Peninsula chambers and the Virginia Association of Counties in criticizing these lawmakers.” Frederick County passed a resolution “urging the General Assembly to rework its tax plan.”
Meanwhile, even conservative House negotiators have seemingly embraced the Governor’s budget amount. Speaking of the idea of eliminating some sales tax breaks for businesses, Del. Phillip A. Hamilton (R-Newport News), said, “This is a way to get us closer to what the governor had.”
This true?
Christina Bellantoni, writing for the Washington Times, states: “[Budget negotiators] must come up with a compromise between the House’s $58 billion budget that meets the state’s basic needs with no general tax increase and the Senate’s $61.5 billion budget that gives more funding to all state services by raising taxes.”
All state services are going to increase? All? I wonder if there are not some services that are going to be cut.
Cheaters Beware
The General Assembly has decided to leave Virginia’s anti-sodomy law as is, awaiting a certain challenge to its prohibition on private sodomy acts, a clause that could be used to prosecute homosexuals.
But the bill also leaves on the books the “anti-fornication” Class 3 misdemeanor that prohibits cohabitation and private “lewd and lascivious behavior between unmarried adults.”
Cohabitation and sex between unmarried adults? Yes, Virginia, there is a Virginia.
$2 Million for Advertising; How Much for Schools?
A bill sure to be signed by the Governor allows Fairfax County to raise its hotel tax 2%, raising almost $7 million. Two million dollars must go for tourism marketing. But don’t count on the other $5 million to go for other needs. The county supervisors are thinking of using the savings to reduce property taxes.