Wednesday, February 10, 2010
General Assembly notebook: Privatized liquor? Not this time
General Assembly 2011
Among the major issues: The state's continuing efforts to provide services with fewer dollars and Gov. McDonnell's plan to privatize liquor stores. Session ends Feb. 26.
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RICHMOND -- Legislation that would privatize Virginia's state-run liquor stores won't pass during this General Assembly session, but the bill's sponsor and Gov. Bob McDonnell remain committed to a concept that is critical to the new governor's transportation funding strategy.
Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, on Tuesday asked the Senate Finance Committee to shelve his bill, which calls for the divestiture of the state's liquor stores and the auctioning of a limited number of "package store" licenses. Obenshain said his legislation is unlikely to resurface in this legislative session, which ends March 13, but should become part of a broad government reform effort undertaken by McDonnell's administration. The issue could resurface in a special session later this year.
"We will be back, and we'll be back soon -- and able to present a proposal that will show how we will do this in a way that is going to put additional money in transportation and avoid the commonwealth suffering a financial loss," Obenshain said.
McDonnell called during the campaign for privatizing the state's liquor operations and using proceeds to help fund the state's cash-strapped transportation program. McDonnell spokeswoman Stacey Johnson said the issue will be part of a government reform and restructuring effort that McDonnell launched by executive order when he took office last month.
The executive order calls for the creation of a commission that, among other things, will examine "potential privatization of government operations where appropriate, and restore focus on core mission oriented service."
Obenshain said he wants to get the state out of the liquor retail business in a way that generates revenue and is "socially responsible."
Virginia operates more than 300 liquor stores and is one of 18 states that prohibit private retail sales of liquor.
-- Michael Sluss
Guns-in-bars legislation is back, and has support
The perennial "guns in bars" bill is on the march again, and this year it has a friend in the Governor's Mansion.
Del. Todd Gilbert's bill, HB505, would let Virginians carry concealed weapons into restaurants and clubs that sell alcohol. It was approved Tuesday by the House Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee and now advances to the House floor. If passed there, it will go to the Senate.
A similar measure was passed by the General Assembly last year but vetoed by then-Gov. Tim Kaine. Gov. Bob McDonnell has expressed support for the idea.
Gilbert, R-Shenandoah County, amended the bill this year to prohibit gun-toting bar patrons from consuming alcohol on the premises.
-- The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot
Bill to place fee on plastic bags is bagged
Everyone agrees they're a problem, but the General Assembly doesn't seem to be ready to impose a fee to discourage the use of disposable grocery bags.
Del. Adam Ebbin's bill, HB1115, would have required retailers to charge 5 cents per bag, paper or plastic. The store could keep 1 cent, or 2 cents if it has a customer bag credit program, and the rest of the revenue raised would go into the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund. Ebbin, D-Arlington, estimated the measure would raise $47.9 million the first year.
The bill was tabled Tuesday by a subcommittee of the House Finance Committee, meaning it's unlikely to progress any further.
-- The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot
Bills encouraging use of biofuels fizzle out
Two bills that would have lifted a cap on the credits utility companies can get from burning biofuels died in the past week.
Senate Bill 39, introduced by Sen. Richard Stuart, R-Westmoreland County, was passed by indefinitely in an Agriculture, Conservation and Natural resources Committee on Monday. A House Commerce and Labor subcommittee didn't complete a motion to vote on the same bill, House Bill 1380, introduced by Del. Albert Pollard, D-Lancaster County, on Thursday, in its last meeting before the midsession deadline to act on bills.
The current cap, which allows utilities to use 1.5 million tons of forest products toward "renewable portfolio standard" credits, limits incentive to build wood-product burning power plants in Virginia, Stuart said in December.
Stuart's and Pollard's bills were supported by sawmills and loggers looking to diversify their business with biofuels, and opposed by Virginia paper mills, which buy much of Virginia's forest products. With more potential demand for logs, the mills faced the prospect of paying higher prices for raw materials.
-- Katelyn Polantz
Bill to protect gay workers dies in House
A bill that would have protected gay and lesbian state workers from discrimination died in a House subcommittee Tuesday, a day after the state Senate passed a similar bill for the first time.
Del. Adam Ebbin's bill would define a state nondiscrimination employment policy that includes the category of sexual orientation, along with race, religion, gender, disabilities and other classifications.
But the definition of sexual orientation, which includes real or perceived heterosexuality, bisexuality, homosexuality or gender identity or expression, "goes way too far," said Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah County, before voting it down. Opponents also said those speaking in favor of the bills hadn't shown there was any discrimination currently taking place.
The Senate passed a similar measure on Monday on a near party-line vote, with only Sen. Frederick Quayle, R-Chesapeake, voting with Democrats in favor of the bill.
The subcommittee also voted down a measure on Tuesday that would have banned discrimination against all Virginians based on sexual orientation, not just state employees.
-- The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot
Legislators appear ready to pass ethics reform
Prompted by a scandal that felled one of its most senior members last year, the General Assembly appears poised to adopt a bipartisan package of ethical reforms.
A special House ethics subcommittee agreed Tuesday on a series of measures tailored to address what critics saw as loopholes in the legislature's self-policing process as it dealt with conflict-of-interest allegations against former Del. Phil Hamilton.
Hamilton, a Newport News Republican who had held office since 1988, was defeated in November after revelations that he had negotiated a $40,000-a-year job for himself at Old Dominion University while he was securing funding for the position in the legislature.
Although Hamilton remains under investigation by a federal grand jury, an internal legislative inquiry into his conduct was halted abruptly for lack of jurisdiction when he resigned his seat two weeks after the election.
Under the package of reforms approved Tuesday, a legislative ethics investigation would continue notwithstanding a lawmaker's resignation.
The reforms also address concerns that the process is too shrouded in secrecy. Under existing law, proceedings of General Assembly ethics panels are opened to the public only if the lawmaker being investigated requests it.
-- The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot
