Publisher's Note:
This is the last daily edition of 'On The Lege.' VCU's Legislative
Reporting course, whose students produce the site, is only a one-credit
course; it officially ends Feb. 18.
The students still are
working on individual stories and a group project. These articles
will be posted soon. So check back – or give
us your e-mail address and we'll alert you about updates.
After 'crossover,' Legislature
rests
A record number of bills
at the General Assembly this session made for a frantic "crossover"
– the deadline when the Senate and House each must make decisions
on legislation introduced by its members.
Now senators and delegates
are taking a breather before tackling the bills that have been handed
over from the other chamber.
Senate honors '2 fallen
heroes'
The Senate Wednesday honored
two slain police officers from the Winchester area, the Richmond
Times-Dispatch reported.
"We have honored many notable,
brave and courageous heroes over the years in the Senate," said Sen.
H. Russell Potts Jr., R-Winchester.
"I have deep and mixed
emotions ... of sorrow and heartbreak, and also a sense of humble
privilege to be able to honor two fallen heroes, police officers Ricky
Lee Timbrook and Daniel Lee Williams."
Timbrook was shot and killed
while chasing a drug suspect Oct. 29. Williams died Dec. 12 of injuries
suffered in a crash during a high-speed chase Dec. 10.
Budget, roads are high
on agenda
By Sunday, the budget committees
of the House and Senate will release proposed amendments to Gov. Jim
Gilmore's budget. Transportation and road construction plans are next
on the agenda for both chambers, which have until March 11 to finish
with all of this session's legislation.
Colonial Downs eyes legislative
reprieve
A Senate committee yesterday
backed a measure that would grant the struggling Colonial Downs horse
track some lenience in meeting its required number of racing days
in the next two years.
The state presently mandates
that the track run 150 live racing days by 2002, but Colonial Downs,
which saw losses of more than $6 million in the last two years, says
meeting its racing quota simply isn't possible.
The track ran a total of
55 days of harness and thoroughbred racing last year. The Senate Committee
on General Laws approved a bill that would give the Virginia Racing
Commission the authority to continue setting the number of Colonial
Downs races until 2007, The
Virginian-Pilot reported. The bill has already passed the House.
The New Kent County track
has attempted to halt live harness racing in the past and Virginia
harness horsemen say the state's 150-day requirement acts as insurance
against those attempts.
