Virginia's Senate Caucus leader, Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple (D-Arlington) introduced an amendment to SB1021, (the Setoff Debt Collection Act) which "allows local governments, with the Department of Taxation's assistance, to collect past due local taxes from federal income tax returns. The provisions of the act will take effect on the effective date of federal legislation enacted by the United States Congress allowing such debt to be offset against federal income tax refunds." Sounds clear to me, and I am not even a tax professional. I found out that between $65 and $70 million is owed to local governments by delinquent taxpayers. That's a lot of money, especially for small places around Virginia.
So, the amendment to SB1021 passed the Senate, and when it reached the House of Delegates' Finance Subcommittee, several government tax people testified. They described how this legislation, which is supported by Virginia Congressmen Jim Moran and Tom Davis, would be implemented on an experimental basis.
Believe it or not, the bill was tabled by a Democrat! What's worse, the bill was tabled by Sen. Whipple's own constituent, none other than Del. Robert Hull! Yes, the same Del. Hull who last year introduced the anti youth soccer bill. If that bill had passed, my kids would have been without soccer for a large part of each summer.
First Del. Hull was against youth soccer, now he is against good government. Does Del. Hull have something to hide? Maybe it's time for him to retire. Any Democrat out there who wants to challenge Del. Hull?