[iceskater]

Richmond ping.

Why haven't the tax-hawks talked about this? This is the first time I've heard of this issue. The Stupid Party strikes again.

[Mudboy Slim]

"By law the Governor must submit a balanced budget to the Virginia General Assembly. However, this year the Governor's budget unlawfully intertwined appropriations and new taxes within the same bill. Combining taxes and appropriations in one bill violates the single-object rule, which is a foundational tenet of Virginia constitutional law. The single-object rule is designed to prevent "logrolling," where multiple objects are rolled into one measure until enough votes are accumulated to enact laws that could not stand on their own merits. Clearly, taxes were incorporated into the budget bill for just that reason. New taxes could not pass on their own merits."

This could be huge, thanks fer posting it...MUD

[gieriscm]

I suspect that the tax-hawks were kept in the dark until the solid "No Tax Hike" Republicans could thoroughly research the Constitutional issues to see whether such a ploy would have a real chance of working. It looks like they've decided that they're on firm footing Constitutionally, so thus they're making their attack on tax hikes from a position of strength.