Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 6, 1990 TAG: 9003061732
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROB EURE POLITICAL WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The formal approval by the House of technical Senate amendments sends the measure to Gov. Douglas Wilder for his signature.
Del. Clifton Woodrum, D-Roanoke, said he expects the governor to approve the charter bill, which would only take effect if valley voters approve the proposed consolidated government this November.
The House approved a series of technical amendments from the Senate with only one dissenting vote. Del. Beasley Jones, D-Dinwiddie, has opposed the charter because it allows a tobacco tax in the portion of the new government that is now Roanoke County.
In other action Monday, a partisan fight between area delegates will leave motorists limited to 60 miles per hour on Interstate 64 from Clifton Forge to the West Virginia line.
Del. Malfourd "Bo" Trumbo, R-Botetourt, had slipped an amendment onto an unrelated measure to raise the speed limit to 65 on the stretch of road that has carried a lower posted speed limit since the legislature raised the limit two years ago.
Citing a claim by the Virginia Department of Transportation that the interstate is not engineered for higher speeds, Woodrum won House approval to remove Trumbo's amendment. He was joined by several other Democrats in warning that a speed limit above that assumed in the road design could threaten federal maintenance money for the section of highway.
Trumbo and Sen. Dudley "Buzz" Emick, D-Botetourt, favored the higher speed limit. Trumbo argued Monday that West Virginia easily dodged the threatened loss of federal maintenance money by posting signs on I-64 that some curves are tighter than is normal on interstates.
Some Republicans believe that speed on that section was restricted because Trumbo's predecessor, Democrat William Wilson, was an outspoken opponent of the higher speed limit.
Finally, Attorney General Mary Sue Terry won unanimous backing for her measure to tighten state controls over landfill operators and stronger penalties against operators who violate the law. The new law, sponsored by Emick, requires operators to make extensive background disclosures, makes operators keep records and take site tests and gives the director of the Department of Waste Management power to revoke a license even without evidence that the landfill is causing harm.
That bill returns to the Senate for technical amendment approval before heading to Wilder, who is backing the measure as well.
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