Governor Tim Kaine had a busy beginning to the last week of March, as he unleashed a flurry of revisions to the bills presented to him by the state legislature only a few weeks prior. Although his amendments to the transportation bill have received the most focus, he also vetoed a wide range of bills, including five that would have expanded the crimes punishable by death in Virginia.
 Busy beaver Governor Tim Kaine amended and vetoed a slew of bills. Now the Republican-controlled General Assembly gets another crack at them. |
Kaine overturned bills that would have automatically made capital crimes of killing judges or witnesses to influence a judicial outcome, arranging murder-for-hire, or for those who plan or arrange for others to carry out a killing. “We need to secure two votes in the Senate to sustain the triggerman veto,” says Jack Payden-Travers, director of the Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. He estimates that it will take between four and five more votes in the legislature to secure the rest.
Amendments were plentiful, the most notable his changes to the massive transportation legislation. Kaine said his compromise plan, which funnels about $1.1 billion to transportation annually, is not ideal. “It wasn’t perfect when I got it, and it’s still not perfect,” he told The Washington Post. “But it is a deal that I can very sincerely say is significantly improved.” Of local interest, a Kaine amendment allows for growing localities to charge impact fees for by-right development.
Kaine altered a bill that would restrict the government’s power to take private property through eminent domain. According to a press release, the amendments will “improve local redevelopment authorities’ ability to act to rebuild and revitalize blighted areas.” Delegate Rob Bell, who sponsored the original piece of legislation, says he will vote for the change.
Apart from the transportation bill, Sean T. O’Brien of UVA’s Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership holds out the governor’s amendments to the Dominion Virginia Power “re-regulation” bill. Consumer advocates urged the governor to veto a bill largely drawn up by the power company itself. Instead, Kaine offered amendments that include new incentives for constructing renewable sources of power generation such as solar, wind or hydro power plants and for facilities to capture carbon emitted by fossil-fuel burning plants.
“If we had stuck with deregulation of the electric industry,” says O’Brien, “…the consumers in Virginia would have been hit much harder than they’re going to be hit by this bill.”
Other notable amendments include a smoking ban in all Virginia restaurants and a change to the HPV vaccine bill to allow parents an easier time opting out.
The Assembly returns on April 5 to consider the hundreds of amendments and vetoes Kaine proposed.
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