Clashes Looming On Immigration, Taxes, Lending

Senate, House Take Different Tacks

RICHMOND, Feb. 12 -- The Virginia House and Senate took sharply different paths Tuesday on immigration, tax increases and payday lending reform, setting up what could be a bitter fight over some of the year's most controversial issues.

Tuesday, the midpoint of the legislative session, was the deadline for each chamber to finish work on its own legislation, leading to action on a flurry of bills. The differences were evident as a committee in the Democratic-led Senate approved legislation to allow the state to sell $2.6 billion in construction bonds to build or improve dozens of colleges, parks and medical buildings. The Republican-led House passed a more modest version of the bond proposal that would allow the state to borrow closer to $1.8 billion.

Delegates and senators are likely to haggle over the legislation before it reaches Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), who has said approval of a large bond package is one of his priorities.

House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith (R-Salem) said Tuesday the House would consider the Senate bond plan closely.

"I would say they are probably going further than we would be willing to go,'' Griffith said. "But I don't want to say there is a line in the sand. If they've got some things responsibly planned out and it works, we may agree to some of it."

Earlier in the day, a Senate committee advanced a bill that would raise the state gasoline tax for the first time in more than two decades. Under the bill, proposed by Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax), the tax would go up by a nickel over five years to pump $250 million into a fund for road maintenance. House Republicans have already said they will not support a gas-tax increase.

Senate Democrats and several Republicans said it was necessary to take the politically risky position, especially because of the funding gap that will be left when the unpopular high fees for bad drivers are repealed.

The abusive-driver fees "simply didn't pan out," said Sen. R. Edward Houck (R-Spotsylvania). "I don't really want to vote for this bill, to be honest with you. Politically? No. But practically, heck, yeah."

Another showdown is likely over immigration. On Tuesday, the House passed a bill 70 to 29 that would protect employers who fire workers for speaking a language other than English at work. Del. Mark L. Cole (R-Fredericksburg), who sponsored the bill, said it was designed to protect employers from discrimination lawsuits and help small business owners.

But the Senate killed a similar bill in a committee last month, calling it and some other bills aimed at illegal immigrants mean-spirited. The Senate did approve a bill Tuesday that would prevent illegal immigrants arrested for certain crimes from being eligible for bail. The House passed a similar bill.

Payday lending reform is another potential battlefield. The Senate voted 37 to 2 Tuesday to further regulate payday lenders, but the bill differed from the version the House passed Monday.

The House proposal would limit the number of loans borrowers can obtain each year, extend the amount of time they would have to repay loans and cap the annual interest rate lenders could charge at 36 percent, although it would allow them to charge other fees.