Tag Archives: 2019 General Assembly Session

Proffers: They’re Baaaaack!

Posted on March 7, 2019 by | 17 comments

Gentlemen may prefer blondes but localities prefer proffers.  A proffer is an arrangement between a locality and a land developer whereby the developer offers something of value in order to get a rezoning request approved.  Why do developers want land rezoned?  For residential development they want to build more homes on the land than the land’s current zoning allows.  Why would localities object to these rezoning requests?  Theoretically, the locality’s strategic and financial plans are based on providing services at an overall population density dictated by the current zoning.  Adding more density increases the locality’s costs for services like public schools.  Localities are understandably worried about the unfunded mandates that up-zoning can cause.  How do proffers help?  Items of value (money, land, astroturf, etc) are given to the locality by the developer in order to fully or partly cover the additional costs to the locality of development at higher density than was planned.  These proffers reduce the developer’s profit margin on the project at hand so they are not popular with the development community. Continue reading →

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Posted in Business and Economy, Government Finance, Housing, Land use & Development, Money in politics, Uncategorized

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Altria rumored to be in talks to buy Canadian cannabis company Cronos Group

Posted on December 4, 2018 by | 4 comments

High in Henrico.  Henrico County based Altria, makers of Marlboro cigarettes among other products, is rumored to be interested in buying Canadian cannabis company Cronos Group.  Altria is refusing comment while Cronos said it “confirmed that it is engaged in discussions concerning a potential investment by Altria Group … in Cronos Group.”  Cronos went on to say that no agreement had been reached and there is no assurance that the discussions will lead to a deal.

Is that really a maple leaf on the flag?  Canada legalized possession of marijuana nationally effective October 17, 2018.  Under the national law provinces have some latitude regarding specific cannabis regulation.   In Quebec and Alberta, the legal age is 18; it’s 19 in the remainder of the country for example.  However, unlike the United States, there is no dichotomy between national and provincial (state) law.  There can be no doubt that this legal clarity is encouraging companies like Altria to consider entering the Canadian marijuana market while sitting on the sidelines of American states which have legalized grass.

Implications for Virginia.  Pot legislation and the business of selling pot is moving quickly in North America.  In November Michigan became the tenth US state to legalize possession of marijuana.  There is legislation pending for the 2019 General Assembly session to decriminalize marijuana in the Old Dominion.  Now an iconic and politically connected Virginia-based company apparently sees no moral or ethical issue with participating in Canada’s legal marijuana market.  Given that Altria’s board includes Virginia luminaries such as Thomas F Farrell, CEO of Dominion and John T Casteen, former President of UVA one wonders if Altria’s plans might lend respectability to marijuana reform in Virginia.

I smell refund.  In 2018 a bill to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana (SB 111) was defeated along party lines in the Courts of Justice.  Nine Republican state senators voted against the bill.  Over the years all nine have received campaign contributions from Altria.  Given that these nine politicians see marijuana possession as a serious crime one would hope they will return these campaign contributions given that Altria is trying to engage in marijuana production, distribution and sale.  After all, is it moral to keep money contributed by a company engaging in practices you think should be illegal?  Here are the amounts (per VPAP):

Obenshain – $44,250
Norment – $128,433
McDougle – $58,000
Stuart – $8,500
Stanley – $9,500
Reeves – $28,265
Chafin – $1,500
Sturtevant – $8,000
Peake – $500

— Don Rippert

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Posted in Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections and Law Enforcement, General Assembly, Money in politics, Regulations and Government Oversight

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Marijuana arrests and racism in Virginia (especially Arlington County)

Posted on December 3, 2018 by | 14 comments

Reefer madness.  The upcoming debate in the Virginia General Assembly over decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana may have racial overtones.  VCU Capital News Service studied the data for marijuana arrests in Virginia from 2010 through 2016.  African Americans were 3.2 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana crimes than whites.  At the same time separate research shows almost no difference in marijuana use between white and black Americans.  Across America it’s even worse.  Nationally, a black person is 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for a marijuana crime than a white person.

Location, location, location.  VCU Capital News Service breaks down the data by locality.  You can find the numbers here.  The only jurisdictions where the per capita arrest rate for whites is higher than blacks are those counties where the population is so low that a single arrest can make a statistical difference.  Highland County, for example, averaged 13 African American residents over the study’s time period and none of the 13 were arrested for marijuana crimes.  Two white people (out of about 2,200) were arrested for marijuana crimes in Highland County.  In all of Virginia’s populous localities the African American arrest rate was notably higher than the corresponding rate for white people.  In Hanover County for example, blacks were arrested at a frequency 6.3 times that of whites.

Libtopia.  Anybody who has ever been to Arlington County knows that safe spaces are mandated by the building codes, snowflakes can be seen in July and rainbow colored unicorns prance in the bike lanes.  It’s a progressive paradise.  So it probably comes as a surprise that African Americans were more than eight times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana crimes in Arlington from 2010 – 2016.  Arlington County’s Board has five Democrats, no Republicans and no independents.  The lone independent (John Vihstadt) was defeated in November.  How is it possible for the Lions of Libtopia to turn a blind eye to rampant racism occurring in their social justice warrior wonderland?

The Hook is dope.  If you do want to posses marijuana you ought to consider residing in the City of Charlottesville (25 total arrests per 100,000 residents) rather than the City of Emporia (1,595 total arrests per 100,000 residents).  You are 64 times more likely to get a reefer bust in Emporia than in Charlottesville.  Does anybody think that the people of Emporia use marijuana 64 times more often than the people in Charlottesville?  In fairness, I95 comprises about 1/2 of the border of Emporia so many of the arrests may be people using that highway.  However, Falls Church (51) vs Fairfax City (589) makes one wonder.

Unfair at any speed.  As the General Assembly considers decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana it should also consider the fairness of the present system.  Vast differences are observable in the enforcement of marijuana laws across race and location.  In locality after locality you are more likely to be arrested for marijuana if you are black vs white.  The City of Charlottesville (pop 45k) made 11 marijuana related arrests from 2010 through 2016, fewer than 2 per year.  The City of Danville (pop 43k) made 354 arrests over the same period, over 50 per year.

— Don Rippert

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Posted in Courts and law, Crime, Corrections and Law Enforcement, General Assembly, Politics, Race and Race Relations

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2019 General Assembly Session – Amending the State Constitution

Posted on November 29, 2018 by | 12 comments

Lucky number seven.  Virginia has rewritten its original constitution (1776) six times thus making our current constitution (1971) the seventh state constitution.  While there is no serious movement afoot to get to the eighth constitution there are plenty of carry over, first reference and first resolution bills that propose to modify our present constitution.

Right to vote.  HJ578, Keam D-Vienna (first reference).  Provides there is a right to vote and requires the Commonwealth to provide all resources necessary to assist qualified voters in the exercise of their right to vote.

Redistricting Commission.  HJ 582, Heretick, D-Portsmouth (first reference).  Establishes a 13 member Virginia Redistricting Commission.

Governor’s term of office.  HJ584, Keam D-Vienna (first reference).  Permits governor to succeed himself or herself in office.  Permits two terms, either in succession or not.  Prohibits a third term.

Joint election of Governor and Lt Governor.  HJ585, Keam D-Vienna (first reference).  Joint election of Governor and Lt Governor.  Both candidates to appear jointly on the ballot similar to the US president and Vice President.

Reapportionment after redistricting.  HJ591, Cole – R-Fredricksburg (first reference).  Reapportionment of legislative electoral districts following census-based redistricting.  Limited to getting districts to coincide with voting precincts.

Definition of marriage.  SJ1, Ebbin – D – Alexandria (carry over).  Repeals language defining marriage as”only a union between one man and one woman” based on ruling oif US Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015).  Legislation refiled as first reference under SJ251.

Qualifications for Governor.  SJ2, Chase – R – Midlothian (carry over).  Increases from five to eight years the time a person must be a resident of Virginia before becoming eligible to be governor.  Legislation refiled as first reference under SJ252 and as a first resolution under SR82.

General Assembly term limits.  SJ3, Chase – R – Midlothian (carry over).  Limits members of the Senate to three full terms and members of the House of Delegates to six full terms.  Legislation refiled as first reference under SJ253 and as a first resolution under SR83.

Restoration of right to vote for non-violent felons.  SJ5, Lucas – D – Portsmouth (first reference).  Allows the General Assembly to enact a law automatically restoring the right to vote for non-violent felons who have completed their sentences.

Governor’s term of office (see also HJ584).  SJ8, Ebbin – D- Alexandria (carry over).  Permits governor to succeed himself or herself in office.  Permits two terms, either in succession or not.  Prohibits a third term.  Legislation refiled as first reference under SJ250.

Qualifications to vote.  SJ9, Locke – D – Hampton (carry over).  Removes restrictions on the right to vote from those convicted of a felony or adjudicated to be mentally incompetent.

Qualifications to vote.  SJ12, Lucas – D – Portsmouth (carry over).  See SJ9 (above).

Virginia Redistricting Commission.  SJ25, Hanger – R – Augusta (carry over).  Established seven member redistricting commission.  Establishes standards to remain in compliance with state constitution requirements for districts.

Restoration of right to vote for felons.  SJ27, Hanger – R – Augusta (carry over). Allows General Assembly to legislate automatic restoration of right to vote for felons who have completed their sentences other than in cases of “barrier crimes” (to be defined by the General Assembly).

Virginia Redistricting Commission.  SJ34, Barker – D – Alexandria (carry over).  Establishes an eight member redistricting commission.

Seized drug assets used to promote law enforcement.  SJ39, Reeves – R – Fredericksburg (carry over).  Proceeds from the sale of forfeited property for drug offenses be paid into the state treasury and distributed for the purpose of promoting law enforcement, the purpose of promoting law enforcement shall be as defined by general law.

Virginia Redistricting Commission.  SJ51, Deeds – D – Bath (first resolution).  See HJ582 (above).

Criteria for electoral districts.  SJ68, Vogel – R – Warrenton (first reference).  Provides criteria for drawing electoral districts including “contiguous and compact” territory.

Political reform.  SJ258, Chase – R – Midlothian (first reference).  Prohibits the establishment of electoral districts that intentionally or unduly favor or disfavor any political party and requires the General Assembly to regulate the role of money in elections and governance to ensure transparency, to prevent corruption, and to protect against the buying of access to or influence over elected officials.

— Don Rippert.

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Posted in Courts and law, General Assembly

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2019 General Assembly Session – Sports Betting Legislation Prefiled

Posted on November 27, 2018 by | 4 comments

Republican General Assembly Member

I’ll take the Giants by 2.  Sports betting was made illegal in the United States through the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA). The legislation was signed into law by George H.W. Bush.

I’ll bet the Supreme Court overturns PASPA. Had you made that bet you would have won. In May, 2018 the US Supreme Court ruled PASPA unconstitutional. The high court decided that individual states should be able to decide for themselves whether to allow sports betting.

What’s the line on the Virginia game? Del Mark Sickles, D-Fairfax County, has pre-filed HB1638 to make sports betting legal in Virginia. However, the line on Virginia would not be applicable since all Virginia collegiate and professional teams would excluded from legalized sports betting. Sickles legislation would only authorize online betting and would allow for a maximum of five licensees with a revenue tax of 15%.

Party Boy Petersen. On the Senate side Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, has publicly stated that he will also introduce legislation making sports betting legal in Virginia. Petersen’s promised 2019 sports betting legislation would add public places as legal betting sites in addition to Sickle’s online venues.  As Petersen told the Virginia Mercury, “I’m not interested in people sitting in their parents’ basement with their pajamas on betting on a ‘Monday Night Football’ game, I want this to be part of a social entertainment package where people get out and spend money.” Party on, Chap!

What’s the vig? Oxford Economics estimates an annual $5.2 billion betting handle with $380 million in net revenue.  The state’s 15% would come to $60 million per year. Since the Virginia State Lottery would administer the sports betting, the lotto gang would also take a cut of the action. The rest would go to research projects at state universities under the Sickles approach but would become aid to Virginia community colleges under the Petersen plan.

The odds of passage  I’m going to go with 3-1 against passage of this legislation in 2019. I predict that the usual gang of ossified, conservative, downstate Republican legislators who wax poetic about the importance of liberty will block Virginians from having the liberty to make sports bets.

— Don Rippert.

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Posted in Business and Economy, Courts and law, General Assembly, Regulations and Government Oversight

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Va 2019 General Assembly session – prefiled House of Delegates bills

Posted on November 20, 2018 by | 22 comments

Click here to see the 9 weird laws

Much ado about nothing.  As of this morning there were 83 prefiled bills for the House of Delegates and 225 prefiled bills for the State Senate.  With a few exceptions the House prefiles are pretty “ho hum”.  I will examine the Senate prefiles in a subsequent column.

One from column A and two from column B.  I use a somewhat arbitrary approach to categorizing the prefiled bills.  By my analysis … governmental process (17), education (12), crime and courts (10), election reform (8), finance and taxes (7), health care (6), nonsense (6), environment (6), transportation (4), campaign reform (4) and energy (2).

Governmental process.  These are the day to day clarifications, corrections and amplifications needed to make existing legislation more effective.  For example, HB246 clarifies the role of the code commission in preparing legislation at the direction of the General Assembly.  One of these bills will further depress Jim Bacon’s journalistic sensibilities.  HB1629 eliminates the requirement that Virginia procurement contracts be reported in newspapers.  Mixed in with the proposed routine legislation are some zingers.  For example, there are three separate bills to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (HJ577, HJ579, HJ583).  There are also four bills proposing changes  to the Virginia Constitution.  HJ578 would add a right to vote to the state constitution, HJ582 would establish a redistricting committee, HJ584 would allow the governor to run for a second consecutive term and HJ585 has the governor and lieutenant governor running as a single ticket instead of separate offices.

Education.  The only theme in the education prefiles is an attempt to provide financial incentives for localities to rebuild the physical plant of their schools.  One of the more interesting bills would allow commercial advertising on school buses (HB809) while another would guarantee that our children’s God given right to wear unscented sun block not be abridged (HB330).

Crime and courts.  Bail bondsmen and bondswomen are forbidden from having sex with their clients (HB525) and shooting a police dog, or even showing a gun to a police dog,  becomes a more serious crime (HB1616).  Other than that, pretty mundane stuff.

Finance and taxes.  Way too many people and too many companies are paying taxes (HB966) and veterinarians really need a break from those pesky sales taxes (HB747).

Potpourri.  The remaining categories contain a few interesting ideas.  Del Rasoul wants to ban the use of fossil fuels in electricity generation (HB1635), Del Cole wants to give I95 some love (HJ580, HJ581) and he also has the radical idea that campaign contributions should not be for personal use (HB1617).  In fact, Del Cole’s proposed legislation is putting him perilously close to making my very short list of competent Virginia legislators.

Closer to home.  My delegate, Kathleen Murphy, continues to propose jaw dropping, eye popping examples of legislative uselessness.  She proposes to let her pals skirt Virginia traffic laws by displaying a special sticker on their cars (HB295) and offers some odd rules on distance learning reciprocity (HB659).  I guess issues like mass transportation don’t cross her mind these days.

— Don Rippert.

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Posted in Corruption and Scandals, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections and Law Enforcement, Education (K-12), Elections, General Assembly, Health Care, Money in politics, Taxes

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