
House Dems unveil transportation plan
Not that it will get very far, given the political realities, but House Democrats are weighing in with their own recommended course of action for dealing with the state’s transportation system.

Not that it will get very far, given the political realities, but House Democrats are weighing in with their own recommended course of action for dealing with the state’s transportation system.

As much attention with the Super Bowl is put on what goes on the TV screen during breaks in the action as what we see when the game is going on, and for good reason. The Super Bowl is by far the most-watched television show of the year, and advertisers go all out to get their messages out in front of the one audience a year that encompasses virtually every social and demographic subgroup.

State Sen. Mark Herring (Loudoun & Fairfax) issued the following statement after the vote of the Senate Courts of Justice Committee to advance his legislation to protect victims of domestic violence by creating a lethality assessment program for first responders:

Six more business, transportation and labor groups today joined the growing list of supporters of Gov. Bob McDonnell’s “Virginia’s Road to the Future” long-term transportation solution.

It is a common issue in Virginia and just about every other state: what to do to protect your farm from development or any other situation that would take it out of production. Sometimes this occurs because a farmer gets an offer he or she simply can’t refuse. Certainly no one would deny any farmer the right to make a nice profit, especially if it’s just before retirement. (Not that farmers every really retire.)

Gov. Bob McDonnell delivers the 2013 State of the Commonwealth Address to the Virgnia General Assembly.

With legislators and transportation leaders by his side, Gov. Bob McDonnell announced on Tuesday a plan that would provide more than $3.1 billion in transportation funding for the Commonwealth over the next five years, tying transportation funding to economic growth and replacing the state’s outdated gas tax revenue model with a 0.8 percent increase in the state’s sales tax dedicated to transportation.

It’s that time again. Virginia General Assembly time. Remember that little election way back in November 2011, the one when all 140 seats of the General Assembly were up for grabs? Now it is time for the winners to take their annual winter trek down the James. As for those the voters have excused from such chilly trips to Richmond, they are free to go elsewhere this winter, preferably to a more hospitable spot where “the weather better suits their souls.”

Sen.-elect Tim Kaine announced on Wednesday the addition of several key members of his Senate staff. Mary Naylor will serve as Legislative Director, Kathryn Wilmoth as Director of Administration, and Sherrie Harrington, as Executive Assistant to the Senator.

The cost of gasoline dropped 7.4 percent last month, the U. S. Labor Department reported on Friday. That’s the biggest drop in almost four years, government economists say.