by Bud Vye
Have not had a chance to talk with Del. Ebbin about the action on the House floor today (will try to do so tomorrow), but from the Legislative website it appears that the bill was defeated by a 47-48 vote (although who voted for and against is not listed), after several amendments.
If my interpretation is correct, we are left with Senate Bill 644, which is identical, and which now crosses over to the House Transportation committee, since it was passed by the full Senate.
It’s unusual to have identical bills coming from both sides, and today’s vote gives us a preview of where the Delegates stand on this issue. Obviously, a change of one or two votes will put the Senate bill over the top, when it hits the House floor.
But before then we’ve got to get through House Transportation, where all 9 Democrats voted for 1270, along with two Republicans (Chairman Joe May from Loudon and Ed Scott from Culpeper) to make the vote 11 to 8. But don’t overlook the fact that three more R’s weren’t there for that vote, and my guess is that had they been, they would have voted against.
Bottom line, this will be very close. Assuming that all of the D’s will continue to vote For, if anyone on the list has one of the R’s for their delegate, please contact them, Thanking Chairman May and Ed Scott fortheir support, and urging the following to support the bill the next time around — Saxman (Staunton), Carrico (way out west on the Carolina border), Cosgrove (Chesapeake), Gear (Hampton), Oder(Newport News), Fralin (Roanoke), Frederick (Woodbridge), Loupassi (west end Richmond & BonAir). Also, the 3 R’s who didn’t vote the first time — Rust (Herndon), Hugo (Centreville), and Tata (Virginia Beach)
If anyone on the list is a constituent of any of the Republican committee members, please let me know if you need their office number or the name of their legislative assistant. This is the closest this bill has gotten to passage in a number of years of trying, and we have a shot at going all the way, so please make that call if you are a constituent of the above listed members, and don’t be afraid to get some others in your area to call, also.
For more on this, please see the BikeWalk Virginia website. If you might be in one of the above districts, find your delegate and make a special effort to contact them. Track the progress of bills in the Virginia General Assembly at the Richmond Sunlight website.
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