Virginia Delegate Harry J. Parrish spent part of the Easter holiday weekend defending to constituents his plan to increase taxes.
Mr. Parrish, Prince William Republican, has presented a plan that would raise the sales tax from 4.5 cents to 5 cents on the dollar but would cut other taxes, including on food purchases.
Antitax groups have targeted Mr. Parrish with telephone messages to his constituents. The groups want to pressure him and other delegates who favor the tax increases to vote against them.
Mr. Parrish said on Friday that the messages are “misleading” and reminded constituents that his plan would cut the income tax for every Virginia resident.
“Half-truths do no one any good,” Mr. Parrish said. “Every citizen of the commonwealth who pays an income tax will get at least one reduction. If you consider the whole bill, not just what someone has told you in attempting to sway your opinion, you will find that it has more good than bad for the average citizen.”
Mr. Parrish also said the plan, which is up for a vote this week by the full House of Delegates, who have been in a special session for three weeks, was presented as a “vehicle to compromise” in negotiations with the Senate.
• New caucus leader
For the first time in its 34-year history, the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus has a chairman from someplace other than Baltimore or Prince George’s County.
The 43-member caucus last week elected Delegate Rudolph C. Cane from the rural Eastern Shore to a two-year term. Mr. Cane defeated Delegate Clarence Davis of Baltimore by three votes.
For most of its history, the chairman has alternated between the state’s two urban jurisdictions, Baltimore and Prince George’s County. This is because for most of the past 30 years, the overwhelming majority of blacks elected to the legislature have come from there.
Mr. Cane, 69, became the first black lawmaker from the Eastern Shore when he was elected to the legislature in 1998.
“It’s definitely an icebreaker,” Mr. Cane said Friday. “There’ll be a different flavor. It’ll be a learning process for everyone — the rural folk will learn about urban issues, and urban folk will get a chance to learn about rural issues.”
A native of Marion, Md., Mr. Cane is a former director of administration for the State Highway Administration’s Eastern Regional Laboratory and an administrator of a community action agency.
• International plea
Helsinki, you say? D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton wants the Helsinki Commission to weigh in on congressional voting rights for the District.
Mrs. Norton, a Democrat, last week sent a letter to congressional representatives on the Helsinki Commission asking that they hold a hearing on a February report by an Organization of American States group on D.C. voting rights.
The OAS Inter-American Commission on Human Rights found that the United States is violating international human rights law by denying D.C. residents full voting rights.
Mrs. Norton, the city’s nonvoting congressional representative, sent the letter to Rep. Christopher H. Smith, New Jersey Republican, and Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Colorado Republican and co-chairman of the commission. The commission consists of members of Congress and representatives from the U.S. Departments of State and Commerce.
• Tongue-tied
Speaking with a forked tongue in Delaware could become more difficult if one state lawmaker has his way.
State Rep. John Van Sant, Wilmington Democrat, introduced a bill Tuesday that would impose restrictions on the practice of tongue splitting, which sometimes follows tattooing and piercing among hard-core body artists.
“It’s bad enough with the nose [piercing] and ears,” Mr. Van Sant said.
Under the bill, anyone other than a licensed physician or dentist who splits the tongue of another person would be guilty of first-degree tongue splitting, a misdemeanor.
Anyone performing the procedure on a person under the influence of drugs or alcohol or on a minor without parental consent would be guilty of second-degree tongue splitting, also a misdemeanor.
• Back behind bars
Former Richmond City Council member and convicted felon Henry W. “Chuck” Richardson has been arrested again and charged with heroin possession.
Richmond police arrested Richardson, 56, at his home Thursday night after the Firearm and Drug Enforcement Unit received a tip. His son, Karl Richardson, 34, also was arrested and was charged with possession of cocaine and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
The elder Richardson served on the Richmond City Council for 18 years, before stepping down in 1995 after being convicted of heroin distribution. He was released from prison in 1997, after serving 22 months.
Police said they seized drug paraphernalia and 45 marijuana plants from the home. Richardson told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the drug paraphernalia was “old stuff.” He said he planned to plead not guilty.
A new conviction would be a violation of the terms of his suspended sentence, and a judge could order him to serve the balance of his original 10-year term.
• Christina Bellantoni in Richmond contributed to this column, which is based in part on wire service reports.
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