Bad Bills in Richmond
Connection
Newspapers, February 18, 2005
7913 Westpark Drive, McLean, Va. 22102
By Patricia S. Ticer, State Senator (D-30)
All bills were completed on the
Senate floor last week and sent over to the House, for referral to committee
and consideration on the floor. By the same token, all bills from the House
are on our side for consideration. When I received multiple e-mails last week
about the infamous droopy drawers legislation, I wrote back that I agreed the
bill was inappropriate, but that it was not the worst of the bad bills we will
be acting on. I was pleased that the Senate Courts of Justice Committee held a
special meeting to take up the droopy drawers bill, and quickly put it to
sleep so that Virginia would get out of the international spotlight of
ridicule.
Last week I said I would tell you
the final outcome of two bad bills sponsored by Senator [William] Mims of
Loudoun County. The first was a bill prohibiting the local governments of
Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax and Albemarle County to ask for
or receive contributions of affordable housing as part of a zoning or special
use permit process. We lost in our attempt to make the bill more friendly to
our long-accepted processes in these localities. Hopefully, the Governor will
be willing to help before the session is over. The other bill is Senate Bill
1305 which was universally opposed by every denomination it affected. These
included Episcopalian, Presbyterian, United Methodist, Lutheran, AME Zion and
Orthodox. The bill would have interjected state law in the polity of the
church and the way hierarchical churches hold property. It would have given
congregations that break away from their denomination leverage to retain
control of church property when long-standing church law has vested ownership
in the "mother church"—in the Episcopal denomination it is the
diocese. This would effectively change the structure from hierarchical to
congregational in one act. After a great deal of lobbying by the churches
enough votes were accrued to kill the bill, but when the patron suggested
sending it back to the committee which was not meeting again, the Senate
agreed. One way or the other, it is now off the table for 2005. I have no
illusions however that it is gone forever.
BEFORE WE FINISHED our Senate business, I tried to have
an illegal law taken out of state code. Adultery is punishable in Virginia
with a $250 fine. For some acts you could receive a 10-year prison sentence.
Though rarely enforced, state laws involving sex in private have remained on
the books for 300 years. In a ruling Jan. 14 Virginia's highest court ruled
that the law which carries a fine of $500 for offenders who have sex outside
of marriage is unconstitutional. In June 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court decided
in Lawrence v. Texas that laws governing non-commercial, private sexual
activity between consenting adults are an unconstitutional invasion of
privacy. Even Justice Clarence Thomas stated that sodomy laws are
"uncommonly silly." The Court stated that private acts of sodomy
"are a form of Liberty protected by the Due Process Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment and the protection by this clause extends to intimate
choices by unmarried as well as married persons." A violation of
Virginia's Sodomy Law is a Class 6 felony, punishable by up to five years.
While it is seldom enforced, it is used to justify discrimination against gay
and lesbian Virginians—i.e. if you are gay or lesbian you engage in sodomy,
therefore you are a felon. Because it is a subject that makes legislators
uncomfortable, they handle it by killing attempts to handle it in committee.
Not everyone agrees that the state's
laws are antiquated. Victoria Cobb, executive director of the Family
Foundation, a conservative advocacy group based in Richmond, said the laws
help reaffirm the values of marriage. My bill died in committee and never made
it to the floor of the Senate.
TWO WEEKS AGO the coalition of Asian and Pacific
Americans was in Richmond to host a reception and to familiarize the
legislature with their issues. The day marked the coalition's first
legislative day, which organizers hope to make an annual event. The day's
events built on the recent work of the Virginia Asian Advisory Board, created
in 2001 but not re-activated until 2003. The state's ability to deliver
services to the Asian community is made difficult by the wide range of
languages and cultures that are considered Asian. The 17-member advisory board
was seeking $200,000 to fund outreach to Asian communities. They are also
seeking the establishment of an office for Asian-American affairs. I had
budget amendments in to secure the money and the office, but they were not
included in the Senate Budget.
The House budget has yet another attempt to fully phase out the 30 percent
left of the car tax—they have no specifics on how to make this happen
without totally ruining the carefully honed compromise of last year. The
recently regained financial stability which allowed Virginia to redeem its
Triple A bond rating would be jeopardized by diverting more than $1 billion
annually from vital services, such as education and law enforcement, to a
program with ever-escalating costs. This is all about political maneuvering to
set up issues for the upcoming elections. It has always been driven by
politics, in my opinion, regardless of fiscal realities, and some think it is
the height of cynicism. There will be more about this subject as the budget
compromise moves forward.
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