ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 22, 1997 TAG: 9701220063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: general assembly notebook
DATELINE: RICHMOND
MEMO: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.
A Chesapeake senator's bill to make killing a fetus by means other than a legal abortion the equivalent to murder came one step away from passing Tuesday before being sent back for further study.
Democrats prevailed in a 53-46 party-line vote that sent Republican Sen. Mark Earley's bill back to the House Courts of Justice Committee, which had amended the measure to change its focus from the fetus to the pregnant woman.
Del. Robert Marshall, R-Manassas and a professional anti-abortion lobbyist, called the committee ``a burying ground for bills dealing with ... the rights of the preborn.''
ButHouse Majority Leader Richard Cranwell of Vinton said he still hopes a compromise can be reached, and so does Earley.
In its original form, the bill would have alloweed a murder charge when an assault on a pregnant woman resulted in the death of a ``viable'' fetus. The Senate passed the bill last year, but the House carried it over to this session.
The courts committee amended the bill to remove the murder provision and simply allow tougher punishment of anyone convicted of attacking a pregnant woman.
Del. Randy Forbes, R-Chesapeake, tried Tuesday to restore the bill's original intent. He said prosecutors have been frustrated by their inability to pursue murder charges when a man beats a pregnant woman with the clear intent of killing the fetus.
Also Tuesday
A senator's attempt to make a crime out of doctoring campaign photographs is such a good idea that the Senate should go even further and make it apply to all campaign materials, a legislative committee decided Tuesday.
But not until senators have had a while to think it over.
Sen. Henry Marsh, D-Richmond, wanted to make it a felony to knowingly alter a photograph to misrepresent a candidate for political office.
The bill was a less-than-subtle jab at U.S. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., whose campaign faked a photograph last year of opponent Mark Warner shaking Bill Clinton's hand.
Members of the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee mostly agreed Tuesday that there is room in the law to tighten control of campaign advertisements. But Marsh's bill seemed vague.
"Would this apply to me when I take some of the lines out of my face? Or make a nice smile? Put my tooth back in?" asked Sen. Madison Marye, D-Shawsville.
The committee voted to name a special subcommittee to study the bill and any other truth-in-campaigning proposals.
Efforts to make investigations of complaints about judges more accessible to the public advanced Tuesday, clearing the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee, 11-4.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, would amend the state constitution so it no longer requires all Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission proceedings to be private.
Despite the bill's relatively easy passage, several supporters said they think the idea needs further study and voted for the bill knowing it will have to be approved again next year. All constitutional amendments must pass the General Assembly twice and be approved by a statewide referendum.
A bill that would end the personal property tax localities charge on cars and boats appears headed for defeat in the Senate.
Sen. Charles Colgan, D-Manassas, has proposed that revenues from the levy be replaced by increasing the state sales tax from 4.5 to 6 percent.
At a public hearing in the morning, Colgan and several supporters argued that abolition of the tax would spur the economy by encouraging people to purchase cars, boats and other machinery subject to the levy. With sticker prices rising, several people complained that their annual taxes on new upscale cars were approaching $1,000.
The personal property tax pumps $1.1 billion annually into local coffers - about 14 percent of all revenues to counties and cities. Each local government sets its own rate for assessing the tax. Municipal officials from across the state urged defeat of the bill.
Judges will be legally expected to consider joint custody if a bill that passed the House, 93-3, becomes law.
The bill differed dramatically from the original bill that was sponsored last year by Earley. That version would have required judges to presume that joint legal and physical custody is the best option in custody cases, and was supported by fathers' rights groups across the state.
Supporters of the original idea hoped to help dissolve a bias in the courts toward mothers and sole custody.
But opponents of making joint custody a presumption argued that judges should first consider what is in the best interests of the child, rather than presuming joint custody is the best option.
The bill now requires judges to consider joint custody when deciding what is in the child's best interest, rather than presuming that joint custody is the best arrangement.
Fathers' rights activists, who thought the watered-down version did nothing to change judges' treatment of custody cases, oppose the bill.
Quote of the day
``This is too big a rat for the snake to swallow.''
Political observer Larry Sabato, on the future of Cranwell's proposal to publicly finance campaigns - a complex measure that even Cranwell admits will be difficult to pass this year.
What's next
Speaker of the House Thomas Moss warned members they'll be working through the weekend. Committee work Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon is "the only way we can possibly give the bills fair attention."
"We are the masters of our own fate," Moss dryly observed, noting that some lawmakers submitted up to 35 bills to meet this week's deadline.
HOW THEY VOTED
On a bill to make the murder of an unborn child a crime. A yes vote is vote to return the bill to committee, effectively killing it; a no vote is a vote to keep the bill alive on the House floor. By a vote of 53 yes, 46 no, the bill was returned to committee.
Ward Armstrong, D-Henry County-Yes
Tommy Baker, R-Pulaski County-No
Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton-Yes
Barnie Day, D-Patrick County-Yes
Creigh Deeds, D-Warm Springs-Yes
Allen Dudley, R-Rocky Mount-No
Morgan Griffith, R-Salem-No
Tom Jackson, D-Hillsville-Yes
Lacey Putney, I-Bedford-Not voting
Jim Shuler, D-Blacksburg-Yes
Vic Thomas, D-Roanoke-No
Clifton "Chip" Woodrum, D-Roanoke-Yes
On a bill to require motorists to turn on their headlights while drivin in rain. A yes vote is a vote in favor. The bill passed 70-30, and goes to the Senate.
Armstrong-Yes
Baker-Yes
Cranwell-Yes
Day-No
Deeds-Yes
Dudley-No
Griffith-Yes
Jackson-No
Putney-Yes
Shuler-Yes
Thomas-Yes
Woodrum-Yes
LENGTH: Long : 171 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997by CNB