Entrepreneurs rip 'death tax'

Washington Times

RICHMOND John Nicholson opened a flower shop a few years ago with hopes of leaving it to his children. He said yesterday the dream will not come true unless Virginia repeals its estate tax.

"I think it's important for all small businesses to continue to grow and not worry about some arbitrary ceiling," said Mr. Nicholson, owner of Company Flowers and Gifts in Arlington, which employs 20 persons.

John Cox came to Richmond to tell lawmakers the same.

"Why should my two daughters be faced with liquidation or closure at the time of my death, just to pay this tax?" said Mr. Cox, who employs more than 200 workers at the Ashland transportation hauling company he started 21 years ago.

Mr. Nicholson and Mr. Cox were joined by other small-business owners yesterday at the state capital to ask lawmakers to repeal what critics call the "death tax."

With Virginia facing a $2.1 billion deficit, legislators have said they will not support tax increases to help balance the budget.

But repeal of the estate tax has gained momentum in the opening days of the General Assembly.

Yesterday, Delegate Robert F. McDonnell and state Sen. Thomas K. Norment Jr. introduced such legislation that would apply to people who die after Dec. 31.

Virginia now can take as much as 16 percent of the value of an estate.

"We should not have the tax man at the door asking for 16 percent on the day of the funeral," said Mr. McDonnell, Newport News Republican.

The U.S. Congress passed similar legislation in 2001.

Virginia lawmakers also took the first step toward stopping a repeat of the sexual-abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic Church.

The Senate Courts of Justice passed 11-1 legislation that would add members of the clergy to the list of professions required to report charges of sexual abuse. Members of the clergy would be exempt only if they learned about a reputed crime in the confines of church doctrine, for example the sacrament of confession in the Catholic Church.

The bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Janet Howell, Fairfax Democrat, and James O'Brien, Fairfax Republican. Sen. Nick Rerras, Norfolk Republican, voted against the proposal.

"Please make it happen any way you can make it happen," the Rev. Pasquale J. Apuzzo of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond told the committee. "We've never asked for this exception in the first place."

Jack Knapp, executive director of the Virginia Assembly of Independent Baptists, said he was concerned that the legislation would hurt Protestant ministers and others without doctrines similar to the Catholics'.

"You are going at this problem with an atomic bomb when maybe a fly swatter would do," Mr. Knapp said. "This was a problem of criminal activity by pastors and priests in the Catholic Church. They have addressed it and taken care of it, so we don't need this."

Sens. William C. Mims, Leesburg Republican, and Kenneth T. Cuccinelli Jr., Fairfax Republican, submitted amendments to ensure other faith-based meetings would be covered. However, administrative meetings between clergy and their supervisors are specifically not covered in the legislation.

Thirty-one other states have either passed or are considering similar legislation. The bill now goes before the entire House for a full vote later in the session.