Category: Politics

DMV to collect titling fee

According to The Virginian Pilot, HB649 passed the Senate yesterday on a 39-0 vote. The bill would shift the burden of collecting the new 1% car titling tax fee, imposed by the last year's transportation bill, from the car dealers to the DMV. The change required by HB649 would increase collection costs for the DMV … Continue reading DMV to collect titling fee →

45

Congratulations to Al Pollard, who won the special election held today in the 99th House district. With this win, the Democrats now have 45 seats. From the DPVA: "Albert's win tonight is just one more sign that Virginians are looking for the kind of commonsense leadership our Democratic candidates are offering," said DPVA Executive Director, … Continue reading 45 →

Oh, no they didn’t!

Last Friday, the House P&E committee killed HB38, the bipartisan redistricting bill. I understood that Del. Jim Scott planned to try to revive the bill this coming Friday at the next regularly scheduled meeting. Rather than wait until Friday, I'm told that the committee called a meeting Monday afternoon with 15 minutes notice to hear … Continue reading Oh, no they didn’t! →

A Rotten Way to Pick a President

The Washington Post had article in the Sunday edition with the above title. In it, the authors give a bit of history on how we came to choose presidential nominees by the system of caucuses and primaries: The old ways [of allowing party bosses to chose the nominees] were unfair and autocratic, of course. But … Continue reading A Rotten Way to Pick a President →

Survey says: only one Norfolk council member gets passing grade

The Norfolk Tea Party 2 provided the results of its recent survey at Saturday morning's meeting, according to this article by the Virginian Pilot. The group sent out 10,000 surveys (the survey form is here (doc)) and approximately 1,000 of them were returned. Seems the only person the respondents felt was doing a good job … Continue reading Survey says: only one Norfolk council member gets passing grade →

Bill highlight: SJ23 – celebrating the life of Herbert M. Collins Sr.

WHEREAS, Herbert M. Collins, Sr., of Norfolk, revered citizen, former city council member, and noted voting rights activist who helped bring about the ward system in Norfolk, died on June 17, 2007; and WHEREAS, a lifelong resident of Norfolk, Herbert Collins grew up in the city, attended Norfolk Public Schools, and was a graduate of … Continue reading Bill highlight: SJ23 – celebrating the life of Herbert M. Collins Sr. →

Proposed budget amendments presented

The House and Senate presented their proposed amendments to the governor's biennial budget on Sunday. The remarks of House Appropriations Committee Chairman Lacey Putney can be viewed here (pdf) and those of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Colgan can be viewed here (pdf). I had a chance to chat with House conference committee member Johnny … Continue reading Proposed budget amendments presented →

Norfolk strong mayor? Um, no

Saturday's Virginian Pilot had an article floating the idea of a strong mayor form of government for the city. Currently, Norfolk utilizes the city manager form of government. According to Wikipedia, this type of government "is used in the majority of American cities with populations over 12,000." In the council-manager form of government, an elected … Continue reading Norfolk strong mayor? Um, no →

OTR 2/17/08: Illegal immigration

This Sunday's On the Record continues the conversation on illegal immigration and will feature a lobbyist, a Mexican American and representatives of a major local landscaping company who say this country needs temporary workers and ought to be doing all it can to accommodate them for the sake of the economy. Host Joel Rubin will … Continue reading OTR 2/17/08: Illegal immigration →

NTP2 meeting Saturday, 9am

The Norfolk Tea Party 2 is having a meeting Saturday morning (2/16) at 9am at The Banque at 1849 E. Little Creek Road. The results of the recent survey will be presented along with an update on the homestead exemption by Del. Paula Miller and Sen. Ralph Northam. Doors open at 8:30.