PETERSBURG, Va. — The political partnership of a white Republican from coal country and a black Democrat from this troubled city was an unexpected symbol of unity in this year’s General Assembly session.
Brought together by the economic desperation of their home districts, Del. James W. “Will” Morefield (R-Tazewell) and Del. Lashrecse D. Aird (D-Petersburg) came up with a seemingly radical idea to give tax breaks to the employees of companies that create jobs in distressed localities.
But the bill that Gov. Ralph Northam (D) ceremonially signed twice on Friday — once in the hollowed-out mountain town of Tazewell, and again in Petersburg’s struggling commercial district — was significantly different from the original idea.
It lacked the personal tax break that had been the measure’s centerpiece, an idea that drew warm speeches and won approval from both the House of Delegates and the state Senate earlier this year. That is because once legislators got away from the limelight and into a conference committee, they watered down the plan’s boldest aspects.
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Which makes the bill a symbol of more than just unity: it also shows how lawmakers from rural and distressed parts of Virginia struggle to wield political clout.
“I actually am just at this point grateful that it was enacted, because even once it got to the governor’s desk there was discussion about making additional tweaks and changes,” Aird said Friday after the ceremony at Petersburg’s main library. “I think that in the end everyone came together with the understanding that we need this and we need it right now.”
The event itself was unusual — a delegation of business and local leaders from the far Southwest region sat with officials from Petersburg, a majority-black city just south of Richmond. It was the first time Morefield had been to the city, despite working closely with Aird during the legislative session.
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One thing reminded him of home. “I did see some closed buildings, closed shops,” he said.
Aird had been out in Tazewell earlier in the day for the governor’s ceremonial signing there — also her first visit to the little town in coal country. She, too, found a sad familiarity.
“When you look at access to food, number one, access to grocery stores — few and far between,” she said. “Dilapidated housing. Closed-down businesses. Abandoned areas, really. They looked like past industry had been there and that’s the same thing I see in Petersburg.”
The original idea of the bill was to offer tax breaks to not only companies that locate in certain distressed parts of the state but also employees. Morefield thought that giving a 10-year exemption from personal income tax was such an unusual inducement that it would draw attention to parts of the state that feel forgotten as businesses flock to wealthy areas such as Northern Virginia and the Richmond suburbs.
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Aird was an enthusiastic partner after she and Morefield realized that their home districts, which looked so different on the surface, shared many economic similarities.
“It just goes to show you sitting down with people, explaining your challenges and what you’re trying to accomplish, how far that will go,” Morefield said. “In today’s world of partisan politics, I think that’s something that we need to see more of.”
The bipartisan effort reflected a new spirit of cooperation in the Virginia House this year, which saw the balance of power nearly change after last year’s elections for all 100 seats. Democrats wiped out a two-to-one advantage Republicans had enjoyed in the House, narrowing the GOP majority to 51-49.
Although both Morefield, 34, and Aird, 31, were incumbents last year, they identified with the new crop of young delegates who came in wanting to shake up the status quo. They signed up support for their measure from both parties and all regions of the state.
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The bill containing the personal income tax exemption passed the House 87 to 12. The Senate version passed that body 29 to 11. There were slight differences between the two, however. The Senate version contained a different list of troubled areas that were eligible to participate. To reconcile, the measures went to a conference committee.
That is where the bill changed.
In the House, several powerful Republicans had questioned key aspects, including whether it was constitutional to carve out this kind of status for a list of 30-plus specific localities. The bill that emerged from conference, and that Northam signed, eliminated the personal income tax exemption. Instead, it allowed the governor to make a grant of up to $2,000 per employee to any qualifying company, and the company has to pass along at least half of that to its workers.
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The measure also changed the period of benefit to seven years from 10.
Northam said Friday that he could not comment on the original version of the bill, he was just pleased with the one he had signed.
“I think it’s fair to say when you all introduced this piece of legislation, people said it would never happen,” Northam told the group assembled for the signing in Petersburg. But Aird and Morefield succeeded, he said, “through perseverance, through educating people, through letting people know that there are pockets of Virginia that need help and in order to help them we’ve got to think outside the box.”
Afterward, Morefield said he was not disappointed that his original idea failed to survive.
“We feel like [it] won’t fully replace the attractiveness of a personal exemption but it will still provide a significant incentive,” he said. “Even the bill that was signed into law, there were several colleagues that were skeptical. In fact, there were comments made to me that it was too extreme for Virginia to be supporting.”
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And anyway, Morefield was on to his next idea. His delegation from coal country was about to go sit down with officials from Petersburg and nearby Dinwiddie County to talk about setting up an unusual revenue-sharing agreement. The goal would be to help each other woo businesses and then split the benefits regardless of where the jobs actually locate.
Adjacent counties and cities sometimes cut such deals, such as when Bland and Wythe counties reached a revenue-sharing agreement to land a Pepsi bottling plant.
But Morefield and Aird want to see whether they could stretch the concept across the state.
“Anything is possible,” Morefield said.
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