DUMFRIES — Some hotel owners are celebrating after Dumfries officials voted to lower the town’s tax on hotel rooms.
The Dumfries Town Council on June 5 voted to lower the transient occupancy tax, also known as the tax on hotel rooms. One hotel praised the council.
Michelle Davis-Younger was the top vote winner at a firehouse primary in Manassas.
Democrats held the vote at Central Library on Saturday to find out who will be their candidates for three open seats on the Manassas City Council. An election will be held November 6.
Voters will head to the polls on June 12 for a dual Primary Election where Republicans and Democrats may vote candidates to compete in Fall 2018 elections.
MANASSAS — November elections can be a game changer for government at any level, and Manassas City was no different.
STAFFORD – A state legislator who represents Stafford County said she agrees with activists who unsuccessfully urged county officials on Tuesday to order the removal of an 80-foot-high Confederate flag flying along Interstate 95.
Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, D-Prince William, said she is against flying the flag towering next to I-95 north of Fredericksburg because she believes it sends the wrong message about the area.
RICHMOND – As the General Assembly enters the second half of its 2018 session, state legislators representing Prince William County can see light at the end of the tunnel: 29 percent of the bills they filed are still alive.
But that average masks a disparity: The county’s senators have fared far better this session than the state delegates.
The fifth week of session brought a furious pace to legislating including some of the most contentious bills of the session as we approached “crossover” – the day the Senate and House are required to complete action on legislation originating in each chamber. It was mostly a successful week for me. Twenty-one of my bills are now set to pass the Senate to be considered by the House of Delegates.
First, Governor Northam announced an agreement to raise Virginia’s threshold between misdemeanors and felonies from $200 to $500. Once enacted, Virginia’s threshold will still be the second lowest in the United States. I have introduced this legislation every year for nine sessions I was pleased it is finally going to be enacted into law.
From a press release:
Delegate Tim Hugo and Senator Ryan McDougle have introduced companion legislation that will allow an individual to petition for expungement of convictions for marijuana possession, underage alcohol possession, and using a false ID to obtain alcohol when the offense occurred prior to the person’s twenty-first birthday and after a 5 year period. Individuals petitioning for expungement would first have to demonstrate that all terms of their original sentence have been satisfied.
The General Assembly has reorganized, added nearly twenty new members, and we inaugurated a new Governor on Saturday. The 36th District now overlaps with five new state delegates including four new women. I am looking forward to the new ideas and energy they bring.
This year brings a long session and a new two-year budget. The biggest news in Governor McAuliffe’s proposed budget was about $500 million of new education monies, a proposed funding solution for Metro, and $170,000 to finally clean up a derelict barge in Belmont Bay.
FREDERICKSBURG — With Virginia’s General Assembly now in session, the Democrats, who nearly clinched a majority in the House of Delegates, rallied Sunday in Fredericksburg calling for a change to the state’s voter laws.
Joshua Cole, who nearly beat Republican Bob Thomas in a recount election for the 28th District in Fredericksburg and Stafford County, spoke at the rally where organizers called for more funding to audit the State Board of Elections to find out why 86 voters in the 28th district were mistakenly given ballots for the neighboring 88th District.
