With a billion-dollar surplus, we really should have been able to do better on transportation. . . . The reason we didn't is because we didn't have executive leadership. The bill, which Gilmore intends to sign, will make sending spam a crime and give e-mail providers the right to sue offenders for damages. Loudoun in particular fought for tools to restrict new homes in areas without the roads or schools to support them. Those bills died early in the session even as a bill repealing a growth-control tool used by Fauquier County passed.
Many lawmakers expect growth control to return with stronger support next year.
The General Assembly created a committee to study that issue. It takes time to adopt new approaches. Backers of major league baseball in Northern Virginia also failed in their efforts to get a promise from the General Assembly to bankroll a stadium, despite Callahan's support for the idea. He did win a promise to consider state financing if a team decides to move to the area. But on matters involving money, the region's lawmakers called the session the best in memory.