Town governments across Virginia would receive a new source of cash flow if legislation cutting them in on plastic-bag revenue makes it through the General Assembly.
Freshman Del. Marty Martinez (D-Leesburg) has patroned legislation giving towns located within counties that have adopted a tax on single-use plastic bags a share of the proceeds.
Fairfax County has three towns – Vienna, Herndon and Clifton – that would benefit if the measure became law.
As is the case with counties and cities, towns would be required to use funding for recycling and litter-prevention efforts as enunciated in the Code of Virginia.
The General Assembly in 2020 gave cities and counties the power to impose 5-cents-per-bag taxes on single-use bags starting in 2021. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors enacted the necessary ordinance with the tax going into effect Jan. 1, 2022.
Martinez spent 20 years on the Leesburg Town Council before being elected to the General Assembly in November.
New Legislator’s First Bill Focuses on Education: Whether it makes it into law is another matter, but legislators never forget their first bills.
And new-for-2024 state Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim (D-Vienna-Fairfax-Falls Church) saw his first bill dropped into the legislative hopper in early December.
The bill – SB21 – would require public institutions of higher education across the commonwealth to establish a “transparent and explicit process” for determining eligibility for students with disabilities. It also requires institutions to disseminate information about the process for determination to students, faculty and parents of students.
The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Education and Health in anticipation of the start of the legislative session the second week of January.
Salim last June defeated incumbent state Sen. Chap Petersen in the Democratic primary for the redrawn 37th Senate District, and went on to defeat Republican Ken Reid in the general election.
Simon Wants Suicide Removed as a Crime: A local member of the House of Delegates is aiming to remove provisions in the Code of Virginia making suicide a crime.
State law in the commonwealth long has viewed the act of taking one’s own life a common-law crime, although (perhaps understandably) there is no specific criminal penalty associated with the successful completion of the task.
Del. Marcus Simon (D-Falls Church-McLean) has introduced legislation to remove suicide as a crime from Virginia law.
Legislator Wants Towing Costs Cut Significantly: Those who park illegally and find themselves towed would not have to dig quite as deep to find the cash to get their vehicles back, under a bill introduced by a downstate legislator.
Legislation patroned by state Sen. Mark Peake (R-Lynchburg) would cut the existing maximum hookup and initial towing fee from $150 to $50 statewide, and would prohibit local-government bodies from imposing higher amounts.
The measure, which was referred to the Senate Committee on Transportation, also would eliminate minimum towing fees currently imposed by state law for localities in Northern Virginia and the Fredericksburg area.
Legislator Wants Va. to Go Permanently to Daylight-Saving Time: A state legislator wants Virginia to move to year-round observance of Eastern Daylight Time, if Congress gives the go-ahead to make the switch.
Del. Joseph McNamara (R-Roanoke) has introduced legislation to eliminate the switching of clocks forward one hour in springtime and then reversing the process in the fall. His measure, if implemented, would put all of Virginia one hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time year-round.
The state of Florida and Canadian province of Ontario also have been seeking to make such a change (the latter needing approval from the Canadian, not U.S., federal government).
Daylight-saving time on a national scale came into effect via Congress’s Uniform Time Act of 1966, and has been tinkered with on several occasions. Prior to its adoption, individual states determined when – and where, and even if – daylight-saving time would go into effect.
The 1966 federal law and its amendments have never required states to observe daylight-saving time for part of the year, but those that don’t are required to observe standard time throughout the year.
Legislation currently being considered in Congress would allow states to enact daylight-saving time year-round. Sponsored by U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), its lone co-sponsors are two of Norman’s Republican colleagues in the South Carolina delegation.
Another bill along the same lines, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), also sits somewhat forlornly in committee.
Previous bills on the topic have been introduced in earlier sessions of Congress, but never made it far.
First-Year Legislator Co-Sponsors Measure: She hadn’t, as of Dec. 31, formally introduced any proposed legislation of her own, but Arlington’s lone freshman General Assembly legislator has attached her name to a piece of legislation.
Del. Adele McClure (D-Arlington) has signed on as chief co-sponsor of a measure that would promote placement of children with relatives as an alternative to the foster-care system.
The measure is being patroned by Del. Katrina Callsen (D-Charlottesville), like McClure a new arrival in the General Assembly for 2024.
McClure was unopposed on Nov. 7 for election to a House of Delegates district that includes much of the easternmost and central areas of Arlington. She joins a five-member county delegation that includes re-elected incumbent Sens. Adam Ebbin and Barbara Favola and Dels. Patrick Hope and Alfonso Lopez.
All legislators have until Jan. 12 to have all their proposed pieces of legislation introduced. During a work session between the Arlington County Board and the county’s legislative delegation, McClure said she planned to keep her bills limited and focused on issues that are high-priority to her.
