The Virginia State Bar says Gov. Bob McDonnell’s proposed $5 million raid on its cash reserves is an unprecedented, and perhaps illegal, tax on the state’s lawyers.
The state bar is urging Virginia legislators to reject McDonnell’s plan to transfer the money to the state’s general fund to help balance the budget. Legislative money committees will announce their recommendations on this and other budget matters Sunday.
The Virginia State Bar is an agency created by the General Assembly in 1938 to regulate the practice of law in Virginia. It is funded by mandatory dues and fees paid by Virginia attorneys to maintain their law licenses and gets no taxpayer support.
According to the bar, Virginia law says the State Bar Fund can be used only for the agency’s operations and activities and cannot be tapped by the governor to pay for other state budget priorities. The governor’s office says, however, that shifting excess funds is allowed under the appropriations act. More.