The Senate Courts of Justice Committee yesterday rejected a House version of a bill that would have expanded those eligible for the death penalty to include accomplices and accessories to the murder of a law-enforcement officer. But it approved an expansion of the death penalty for the murder of fire marshals and auxiliary police officers.

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has advised public colleges and universities that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation to rescind their policies because they lack legislative authority to do so. On Tuesday Virginia Commonwealth University will hold four forums at which faculty, staff and students can discuss the attorney general’s opinion.

A parliamentary maneuver today in the House of Delegates will prevent the General Laws Committee from reconsidering a bill to include gays in the state’s anti-discrimination policy. The maneuver follows an opinion issued last week in which Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said the state’s public colleges and universities did not have the authority to bar discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation because the General Assembly had not authorized them to do so.

Judy G. Hample, the outgoing president of the University of Mary Washington, is stepping down early. Beginning April 1, Hample will begin an academic sabbatical that will continue until June 30, her previously scheduled departure date. “I offered to step down early so that the acting president can begin his or her term earlier, and so that the university can continue to move forward without the distractions inherent in a prolonged period of transition,“ Hample said in a statement released by the school.

The Senate Courts of Justice Committee today rejected a House of Delegates version of a bill that would have expand those eligible for the death penalty to include accomplices and accessories to the murder of a law enforcement officer. But the panel approved an expansion of the death penalty for the murder of fire marshals and auxiliary police officers.

Call it a late-morning tea party. On the grounds of the state Capitol today, cheering, sign-waving opponents of higher taxes and big government rallied against Virginia’s work-in-progress budget. About 300 people, turned out by Americans for Prosperity, were urged by the organization’s Virginia director, Ben Marchi, to keep the pressure on the General Assembly.

Don Hall is regarded as of the Capitol’s most powerful lobbyists. One expert says his group has made Virginia one of the friendliest states for automobile dealers.

Thousands of state and local government employees face layoffs because of the severe budget cuts. Just how many jobs will be lost should become clearer by this weekend.

to double digits, from 10 percent in Bristol to 20.3 percent in Martinsville. Many of these people are diligently seeking work and, in the meantime, are struggling to pay their daily expenses. This increased unemployment has put a significant strain on our current unemployment compensation system. Indeed, this demand has depleted Virginia’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund to levels requiring a loan from the federal government. As we struggle to continue benefit payments and to repay the federal loan and interest, employers will have to pay higher unemployment taxes to replenish the fund.

Balancing the state’s budget without a tax or fee increase—and thus with structural expense reductions, including some within the Virginia Retirement System (VRS)—will be a great help in stimulating the economy and creating jobs. This jobs-creating objective has been the House of Delegates’ first priority during this 2010 General Assembly session. We General Assembly members are committed also to keeping and improving upon Virginia’s status as the best state in which to do business and create jobs, the best state in which to raise a child, and the best-managed state.

Because of a cranky economy and cantankerous electorate, Bob McDonnell probably can’t expect much of a honeymoon. But barely 50 days into his term, the state’s first Republican governor in nearly a decade may be losing a bit of his luster. Among the reasons: McDonnell is becoming part of the dailiness of political life, the routine that is accelerated, and segmented, by Twitter and twaddle. Unanticipated events notwithstanding, a Virginia governor—the last in the nation prohibited from seeking a second consecutive term—begins the fade to black upon completing his oath of office.

For several years in a row, representatives of the executive branch failed to provide members of the legislature with accurate revenue data. Not knowing how much money there is to spend is a severe handicap when cobbling together a balanced budget. The state Constitution requires a balanced budget. Specifically, the Constitution, to which we swore an oath, states in Article X, Section 7 that the governor shall ensure that no expenses of the commonwealth be incurred that exceed total revenues on hand and anticipated during a period not to exceed the two years and six months period established by this section of the Constitution.

Anti-tax sentiments in the General Assembly have collided with fiscal reality. The result: much hair-splitting about the difference between taxes and fees, and some proposed levies that fall into the gray area in between. Example: A sharp hike in the E-911 tax, originally proposed by Gov. Tim Kaine, the proceeds of which would benefit the survivors of various agencies, from police and fire departments to the Department of Conservation and Recreation. Good cause—but is this the right vehicle? What does the ABC Department have to do with emergency calls to 911?

A divided House Privileges and Elections Committee voted yesterday to ban everyone, including themselves, from having access to lists of who votes. The 11-10 vote came despite pleas from some legislators that a lack of voter history would drive up the costs of electioneering and prevent some prospective candidates from running. The committee ignored the recommendations of a subcommittee, which wanted to allow nonprofit organizations to be able to buy the lists.

The Virginia Petroleum Council and the Virginia Manufacturers Association are sponsoring a Virginia energy summit, called Virginia’s Energy Future, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday at The Jefferson Hotel at 101 W. Franklin St. The invitation-only event will include statewide business, political and community leaders discussing the state’s energy future, as well as remarks from Gov. Bob McDonnell, said Michael Ward, executive director of the Virginia Petroleum Council.