Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 14, 1991 TAG: 9102140466
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The General Laws Committee also sent to the Senate floor bills naming the tiger swallowtail butterfly the official state insect and barring leases that prohibit public housing residents from owning guns.
The General Laws Committee voted 7-3 to send the horse race simulcasting bill to the full Senate. Del. Lewis Parker, D-South Hill, said simulcasting would encourage investors to build a horse track in Virginia.
Voters in a 1988 referendum approved pari-mutuel wagering, but no investors have committed to building a track in the state.
"I've been told that if simulcasting is available, it will help make a track a reality in Virginia," Parker told the committee.
John Shenefield, chairman of the Virginia Racing Commission, added that simulcasting also would help ensure that Virginia's first horse track is a financial success.
Linnea Petty of Virginians for Integrity in Government said the bill "will bring Virginia one step closer to off-track betting." She said neither simulcasting nor off-track betting parlors were part of the issue presented to voters in 1988.
"I can assure the committee that the Virginia Racing Commission will not be back in the foreseeable future leading the charge for off-track betting," Shenefield said.
The committee by voice vote endorsed the public housing gun bill after voting 7-5 to remove a "sunset clause" that would have kept the measure in effect for only one year.
The expiration date had been added in the House of Delegates to encourage a compromise between Richmond city officials and public housing tenants, who were irked by a no-gun clause that was added to their lease. The clause was upheld in court, prompting Del. Vance Wilkins, R-Amherst, to seek a legislative remedy.
Wilkins said the sunset clause was added over his objections.
The no-guns clause was intended to address a serious crime problem in Richmond public housing, but tenants said they should be allowed to have guns to protect themselves.
On a lighter note, the committee by voice vote approved the tiger swallowtail butterfly as the official state insect after exterminating a challenger: the praying mantis.
Del. George Grayson, D-Williamsburg, said the Virginia Federation of Garden Clubs sought the honor for the butterfly.
Michael Kosztarab, an entomology professor at Virginia Tech, also endorsed the swallowtail. He said eight species of butterflies already are on the state's endangered species list, and recognizing the swallowtail "would remind citizens of our fragile natural environment."
Sen. Emilie Miller, D-Fairfax, asked the committee instead to designate the praying mantis as the state insect.
Kosztarab argued against the mantis, saying it is "an ugly insect."
"Not everyone in the Senate is beautiful, either, but we're still valuable to the Senate," Miller said.
But being ugly is only one reason to reject the mantis, Kosztarab said. "The mantis is cannibalistic," he said. "They eat their own spouses after the honeymoon."
Said Miller: "I think the praying mantis reflects the General Assembly very well."
Miller's motion to make the praying mantis the state insect was not seconded.
The Senate Courts of Justice Committee voted 9-4 to endorse a bill that would require adults convicted of a drug offense to lose their driver's license for six months.
Del. William Moore, D-Portsmouth and the bill's sponsor, said Congress has ordered states to pass the measure or lose highway funds.
"We hope it's going to deter the occasional drug user," he said.
But some committee members said people should not lose their driver's license for offenses that have nothing to do with driving.
"Why don't we take driver's licenses for every criminal offense?" asked Sen. Moody Stallings, D-Virginia Beach.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
by CNB