Fairfax largely rebuffed in legislature

House or Senate committees have effectively killed bills that would ban firearms in public buildings, study pollutants linked to transgender fish on the Potomac River, prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation, and allow police to pull over teen drivers who use cell phones.

All initiatives were introduced on behalf of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

While the board, composed mostly of Democrats, has seen some success this session, especially in persuading lawmakers to expand enforcement of overcrowding and zoning, it’s clear some of its perennial efforts won’t make it much further than in years

past.

“You have to play the long term here,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerry Connolly.

“You can’t put all your eggs in one session of the General

Assembly.”

After November’s elections, Democrats took a slim majority in the Senate and cut into the Republicans’ strength in the House of Delegates. But because the GOP still controls the House’s committee structure, the party can prevent many bills from reaching the floor.

The public-building gun ban and cell phone measures also were blocked in the Senate.

Supervisor Pat Herrity, a Republican, questioned why the board pushes each year for legislation that is certain not to

pass.

“We’ve spent a lot of the county’s money chasing stuff that has very little chance of success,” he said.

The county’s five lobbyists in Richmond have focused more on preventing the passage of

legislation deemed harmful to Fairfax.

“We played a lot of defense,” said Fairfax County Legislative Director Susan Mittereder, who said they have helped kill bills that would tinker with local assessments and taxes.

A major target is a bill that would replace the proffer system, in which homebuilders offset the impacts of their development, with a set of impact fees, which Northern Virginia governments say would dramatically lessen

how much developers contribute. It passed the Senate 21-19 Tuesday.

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