Marty Martinez holds press conference on Civil Remedial Fees

Marty Martinez, Democratic challenger for the 33rd House District, held a press conference today to highlight his opponent’s support of the Civil Remedial Fees. Delegate Joe May (R-33rd District) has voted for the fees in committee or in the House of Delegates a total of 12 times and was a co sponsor of HB 3202. By contrast, Mr. Martinez has agreed to repeal the fees if elected to the House. He is very intelligent and has ideas that should appeal to Virgina’s voters in a bipartisan manner.

For more information, visit the Marty for Delegate campaign site.

I participated in the press conference and I’m attaching a copy of my statement to this post. I will also link to the resulting articles when they are available.

Republicans losing conservative support over Civil Remedial Fees

Virginia state Sen. Ken Cuccinelli II (R) is one example of a Republican who is losing support over the Civil Remedial Fees.

“I’m a little conflicted here because Ken is a friend,” said Phil Rodokanakis, president of the Virginia Club for Growth, a vocal anti-tax organization that has pledged not to support any lawmaker who voted for the transportation bill. “But his vote on House Bill 3202 went against what this organization stands for.”

Read the Rest of the article.

To be fair, Virginia Club for Growth’s objections to House Bill 3202 go beyond the Civil Remedial Fees, but it’s a great example of lawmakers paying the price for this poorly conceived piece of legislation. Unfortunately, VCB’s legal arguments challenging the constitutionality were struck down in VA court. Apparently, taxation without representation is constitutional in the Commonwealth according to the Virginia Circuit Court. An appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court is in the works.