It’s been more than 80 years since a Major Leaguer hit .400. But new Del. Holly Seibold did it her first year in Virginia’s political big leagues.
Seibold (D-Vienna-Oakton) managed to get two of her five bills through the Republican-led House of Delegates and into the friendlier confines of the state Senate during her first weeks in office.
Seibold in early January won a special election to succeed Mark Keam, who resigned to take a job in the Biden administration. As a result, she had little time to prepare a full slate of legislation for the brisk (46-day) session.
The two bills that have made it halfway through the legislative meat-grinder each passed on 100-0 votes. They include:
• HB2492, which adds a member of Virginia Department of Health to the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities, and changes existing references in law from “mentally impairing development disabilities” to “cognitive developmental disabilities.”
• HB2424, which allows judges to authorize an interpreter for those who are deaf or hard of hearing when the state government cannot provide one to assist a party in a civil proceeding.
Seibold also came oh so close to taking a third bill over to the state Senate. HB2416, which would have provided a sales-tax exemption for child-restraint devices, was reported from the House Committee on Finance with a head of steam (a 20-2 vote) but then was referred to the Committee on Appropriations, which on an 11-10 vote decided to table its consideration this year.
Senator Gets 22 Votes, But It Wasn’t Enough: Legislation directing the Virginia State Crime Commission to study the issue of juveniles being ordered to pay court-ordered restitution won a majority in the state Senate, but won’t be moving over to the House of Delegates.
State Sen. Barbara Favola (D-Arlington-McLean-Loudoun) patroned the resolution – SJ229 – which would have required state officials to report back by the end of the year.
The measure received 22 votes (with 17 against), but required 26 “aye” votes for passage.
Favola had better luck with SB807, which would authorize localities and park authorities to establish networks of walking trails, and would give property owners who provide easements for such trails a degree of immunity from liability issues.
The measure passed the state Senate 37-3 and was sent to the House of Delegates, where it was referred to the Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns.
Bill to Augment Historic-Preservation Tax Credits Dies: Efforts by a local legislator to put more state moolah into a fund for historic preservation died on a split-down-the-middle subcommittee vote.
Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-Arlington-Fairfax) patroned legislation to double the current $5 million annual limit on the state’s historic-preservation tax credit.
Tax benefits play “an essential role in the preservation of historic properties,” Lopez told a subcommittee of the House of Delegates Committee on Finance. Those projects, in turn, are an important economic tool, particularly in rural areas of the commonwealth, he said.
By doubling the ceiling on tax credits, “we can do so much more good in areas of the commonwealth that really need it,” he said.
The existing measure allows property owners to take a credit of 25 percent on allowable conservation expenses. The work must be certified by the state’s Department of Historic Resources and meet federal standards.
The tax credit has been available since 1996; the $5 million limit was put in place in 2017. Over a billion dollars in credits have cumulatively aided in property restoration, Lopez said, with a return of $3.50 in economic development for every dollar in credit.
No one turned up to either support or oppose the bill in committee.
Lopez did manage to pick up the support of one Republican – Del. Robert Orrock Sr. of Thornburg – but the other four delegates on the committee voted against it. The resulting 4-4 tie (with Orrock plus three Democrats in favor) killed the measure for the session.
A similar bill, patroned by Del. Danny Marshall (R-Danville) on the same topic didn’t fare any better than the Lopez bill, being left behind in committee. Another one on the topic, fom state Sen. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) appeared likely to make it out of the state Senate this week, but its prospects in the House of Delegates appeared dim.
