Back on July 13th, Delegate Scott Lingamfelter had this to say about the then-brewing controversy over Virginia’s abusive driver fees:
[T]he abusive driver fees were part of a larger transportation agreement that passed the General Assembly and was signed by the Governor including, a robust $3 billion bonding package, land-use reform to better empower localities to deal with growth and VDOT reform to make them more efficient. Was this bill perfect? No compromise is. But the time to deal with transportation was long over due. The bottom line is if you are a safe driver with only minor infractions, you have nothing to fear from this law. But real abusers — those who have a chronic record of dangerous driving or who have taken the lives of others — will and should pay for their reckless behavior.
Less than two weeks later, he’s really changed his tune:
Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Dale City, has joined the cry to repeal the civil fines that are now being imposed on bad drivers who live in Virginia.
Lingamfelter, once a supporter of the fines, has made an about face after listening to residents in his district.
“With respect to abuser fees, we made a mistake. It was a complex bill and there are likely other mistakes. We’re going to go back to Richmond and we’re going to fix them,” Lingamfelter said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
He said he’s calling for a repeal of the fines “as soon as we can.”
And what changed Lingamfelter’s mind ? Apparently, he actually talked to his constituents:
Lingamfelter said he’s received feedback on the fines as he knocks on doors in the 31st House of Delegates district, where he’s seeking reelection.
All 100 delegates and 40 senators in the Virginia legislature are up for reelection Nov. 6.
“I think real leadership is when you listen and you learn and you act,” Lingamfelter said. “When talking to people door to door who really appreciated my explanation of the bill … they said I wish you guys had taken another approach.”
I guess the only question I have for Delegate Lingamfelter, is why neither he nor any of the other supporters of this scheme thought of this back in January when the bill was being debated. Switching sides now, after nearly a month of bad press and public outcry over the fees, strikes me as political desperation.
While it is good to see Lingamfelter on the right side of this issue, more praise is due to those who were on the right side from the beginning:
[Prince William County Republican Delegate Bob] Marshall, who voted against the bill, said that when the bill’s patrons explained the abusive driver fines, they painted them as only affecting the “worst of the worst.”
“I have been to three traffic attorneys and the state police in Richmond and I got answers that were very different than the ones I heard on the floor of the House of Delegates,” Marshall said.
Marshall has been leading the fight against the fees from the start, and he deserves credit for being right all along.
