Project Vote Smart – Virginia Election Ballot Measures
The proposed amendment would delete the provision found to be unconstitutional.
There are three measures on the Virginia ballot this year. One of them is the ridiculously far-reaching gay marriage ban that I’ve mentioned. I can’t imagine anyone who reads past the “ban gay marriage” part will vote for it. If your knee-jerk reaction is “I must vote against gay marriage”, you might support it, but you’d be making a mistake. I’m not going to argue why I support gay marriage, I will just say that this particular ban is similar to destroying a thirty story office building because you didn’t like the color of the eighth-floor bathroom. Measure two simply removes a section that has been found unconstitutional. It changes no law – the law has already been changed. Why we have to vote on this, I don’t know. Measure three would expand permissible tax relief for “new structures and improvements located in a conservation, redevelopment, or rehabilitation area”. I’m not sure I like that. On one hand, it seems to allow tax breaks for someone who might want to rehabilitate an old house, or perhaps put in a new retaining wall to protect a stream. These things seem fine with me. But wouldn’t this also open the door for tax breaks if someone wants to buy a little house in an old neighborhood and tear it down to put up a McMansion? It seems like it, again, is too broad. I might be missing the point, but my initial reaction is that the potential benefits are less than the potential abuse. If someone wants to correct me, please do.