Evening star., 1948-01-15
Assembly TO- Get
Time
Bill in Virginia
Measure Would Let
Metropolitan Area
Change With District
By a stoff corre,pond.nt Of The stor

Ohunge With District
BY Stuff Correspondent Of The stor
II RICHMOND, Va, Jan. 15.-Legis-
lation to permit Washington's Met
ropolitan Area to operate officially
on daylight saving time, whenever
the District changes its clocks, is
to be introduced in the General
Assembly.
State Senator Andrew w. Clarke
Of Fairfax and Prince william Coun-
ties and Alexandria, who advanced
the plan, said he also expects to
introduce a bill to withhold the
State tax on incomes similar to the
Federal method-instead of making
payments in one lump sum.
The daylight saving time measure
would be permissive only. Localities
could change their clocks If local
governing bodies adopt appropriate
resolutions.
1916 Time Law Recalled.
Senator Clarke recalled that the
1916 session of the Legislature
passed an act to bring the entire
State within the Eastern standard
time zone. Formerly the extreme
Southwest portion of the State was
in the Central time belt.
Passage of this act, Senator
Clarke recalled, unintentionally
bound the entire State to observe
standard time because it declared
that system to be the official time
Of the State. 1t was the purpose of
the sponsor, Senator Lloyd M. Rob-
inette of Jonesville, only to abolish
central time for the Southwest,
without affecting the time of the
rest of the State, Senator Clarke
said.
Senator Clarke said he would con-
fer with Senator Robinette to work
out an amendment to the 1916 law.
Although Arlington and parts of
Fairfax Counties and Alexandria
observed daylight saving time un-
officially when Washington changed
its clocks last summer, the Virginia
areas were powerless to make the
change legal.
To Confer on Tax Plan.
Senator Clarke admitted his bill
would make little practical change
in his home area except that official
Government functions, such as the
courts, could operate under sum-
mertime schedule. Thus, he said,
considerable amount of confusion
and misunderstanding would be re-
moved.
The Alexandria Senator esti-
mated his Withholding tax plan
would result in almost double the
collections on incomes. He said he
would confer with State Tax Com
missioner c. H. Morrisett in work.
ing out the details.
Senator Clarke visualized a State
system which would result in no
appreciable increase in the burden
to employers because, he said, they
already are required to keep records
OF salary payments and withhold
taxes for the Federal Government.
This same information, he ex-
planned, can be supplied on forms
and at rates prescribed by State law.
System Seen Popular.
Such a system would be popular
with persons who could keep up on
their payments with each weekly
paycheck, he said. Instead of hav-
ing the total payment fall due
shortly before Christmas, as is the
present practice.
The General Assembly devoted
most of its opening session yester-
day to routine business of getting
organized and ready to receive the
Governors message.
Among the business transacted
was adoption of a resolution asking
Congress to remove income tax dis
elimination in favor of II States
having community property laws to
permit division of income between
husband and wife.
Also, in duplicate actions, both
Houses set in motion machinery for
registration of lobbyists and re-
ferred to appropriate committees
resolutions to ratify a proposed
constitutional amendment which
would limit the Office of the Pres
idency of the United States to two
terms.
The proposal to ratify the pro-
posed constitutional amendment
was the first piece of legislation
sponsored by State Senator Harry
Flood Byrd jr., of Winchester, whose
father is Senator Byrd, Democrat,
of Virginia.
The General Assembly accepted
an invitation of John D. Rockefeller
jr., for the Board of Trustees of
Colonial Williamsburg, to hold
legislative session in the restored
colonial Capitol February Z.