Thursday, January 17, 2008

Senate Democrats Block Immediate Repeal of The Abusive Driver Fees

The Democrats have been in control of the State Senate for less than a fortnight and already they are talking about raising the state's 17.5-cent-a-gallon gas, raising the car sales tax, and states sales tax. Gee it didn't take them long to violate their campaign promises.

And yesterday in the Courts and Justice Committee the Democratic majority voted against an emergency clause in SB 1 which would have made the repeal of the abusive driver’s fees effective upon the Governors signature instead of waiting until January 1, 2009, which is when legislation without clause becomes active.

The emergency clause was sponsored by Spotsylvania Democrat Edward Houck. He described the abusive driver fees as “The largest mistake I've made in my 25 years in the legislature.".

To make amends he sponsored the emergency clause to repeal the abusive driver’s fee immediately, sadly he couldn’t persuade his fellow Democrats on the committee to back his idea.

Democrats who voted against the clause include Senators Marsh, Howell, Lucas, Edwards, Reynolds, Puller and Deeds.

The seven Republicans on the Courts of Justice Committee all voted for the emergency clause. They include Senators Stolle, Quayle, Norment, Cuccinelli, Obenshain, McDougle and Hurt.

Senator Houck should be praised for taking leadership on this issue, and working to fix the General Assembly's mistake. The seven Republicans who voted yes on the immediate repeal should be credited as well.

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