Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-02-22
De|uge Of Bills
Seen Today at
Virginia Session
Gasoline Tex Rise
High on List as
Three Weeks Remain
BY the Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va, Feb. o.
Today was the last day that new
bills could be introduced into tho
Virginia Legislature without q
specific request from the Gov
ernor or unanimous consent Of
both houses.
A deluge was expected in both
the House and the Senate, as IL
the General Assembly did not
already have its work cut out.
Three weeks remain of the 1854
session, and much Of the contro-
versial work still lies ahead.
Gas Tax Measure.
The "gas tax bill" was high on
the agenda Of the Senate as it
got down to work. 1t was up for
debate but if the administration
forces still lacked the votes for
its passage. move to pass it by
again or send it back to COM
mittee was expected.
Another controversial measure
on the Senate calendar was the
Fenwick resolution to change the
constitution so that the Assembly
would meet annually instead Of
biennially. The present 60-day
sessions would be supplemented
by 30-day off-year sessions de-
voted to tax and appropriation
matters and emergency legisla.
ton. |a
While not on it's calendar, the
House was in receipt of two new
bills to change the Byrd tax re-
duction law. The Carter bill to
suspend the Byrd law was killed
in a Senate committee Friday,
but Saturday Armistead Boothe
of Alexandria and George Coch-
ran of Stanton each put in new
bills to compromise the tax
credit law.
AS the legislators came back
from their week end at home
one-day week end for the
House which was in session Sat-
urday-they could contemplate
some of the action of last week
and what it portends.
No Tax Cut Tampering.
The Senate Finance Commit
tee showed, for instance, by .
decisive 10 to S kill Of the Car
ter bill. that it wants no tam.
pering with the tax credit law.
BY an equally decisive vot this
same committee approved the
administrations gas tax in
crease. but when the bill reached
the floor of the Senate it ran
into a stone wall of trouble. It
came up for debate on the Sem
ate calendar Friday. but pro-
ponents could not muster a sure
81 votes needed for passage Of q
tax matter an dthey asked for
it to go by for the day.
The consensus at that time
was that prospects for the gas
tax bill were dim.
Sales Tax Proposals.
The Senate last week showed
itself amenable to local sales tax
referendums for counties, but
the House killed a local sales
tax bill.
A House committee bottled up
a resolution calling for repeal
of the poll tax as a prerequisite
for voting-the Page resolution
which passed the House in iden-
tical form in 1852 only to die in
a Senate committee. Many be-
lieved an effort would be made
this week to pry the Page re-
pealer out of the hands of the
privileges and elections commit
tee by a majority vote of the
House.
Still in the hands Of the Sem
ate and House Roads Commit
tees were most of the Mari
Commission bills to place a
weight-distance tax on trucks.
to permit higher maximum
weights and lengths for trucks.
and to deal with number Of
other trucking matters. Hot
words are in the offing on these
matters, which were discussed
last week at the largest public
hearing in the memory of capitol
observers