VA. Dems. Gain Senate In Election with NoVa Legislators Poised to Head Many Major Committees

VA. Dems. Gain Senate In Election with NoVa Legislators Poised to Head Many Major Committees

This weekês elections in Virginia resulted in control of the State Senate moving from Republicans to Democrats, who will take charge of the 40 member upper chamber 21 to 19. Whatês more, six important Senate Committees will be chaired by Northern Virginian Democrats, with Sen. Dick Saslaw (D-Fairfax) moving ahead as Senate Majority Leader. While the Democrats picked up seats in the House of Delegates, Republicans still are in charge of the 100 member chamber, 54 to 44 and 2 (independents).

The politics of the Senate are expected to be moderate under the Democrats for the next two years, which is much the same as it was under the Republicans. The Republican controlled House, correspondingly, should remain more conservative as has been the case particularly on tax matters.

Gov. Tim Kaine (D) certainly gets a midterm lift with fellow Democrats in charge of the Senate, which heêll likely use to leverage his push for improvements in early childhood education.

The regional tax initiatives from last year to fund transportation improvements in Northern Virginia are slated to move forward, to include the applicability of sales tax to repair labor for the first time and a one percent surcharge on vehicle purchases over and above the existing three percent title tax.

Secretary of Transportation Pierce R. Homer has appointed a citizens advisory committee to work through the regulatory regime that will be assembled to implement the transportation tax initiatives.