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‘Clean cars’ bill clears major hurdle in Virginia Senate

By The Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A bill that aims to reduce carbon pollution in part by getting more zero-emissions vehicles on the road has cleared a key hurdle in the Virginia Senate.

The measure is a top priority this year for environmental advocates. It would require that starting in 2024 a certain percentage of new passenger vehicles sold by manufacturers be electric or hybrid electric.

The bill is advancing along with several related pieces of legislation, including a measure that would spend public money on rebates for electric vehicle purchasers.

The measure now goes back to the House, which must approve changes the Senate made before it can go to Gov. Ralph Northam.

US House campaigns are underway. Yet a redistricting battle triggered by Trump rages in some states

By The Associated Press
Candidates are campaigning and voting is underway in some primaries. Yet a national battle to redraw U.S. House districts for partisan advantage is still raging in some states ahead of the November midterm elections. Voters in Texas and North Carolina already have cast ballots in primary elections for U.S. House districts redrawn at President Donald Trump's urging. But the final boundaries for voting districts remain uncertain in Missouri, even though candidates already are filing for office. And they also are unclear in Virginia, where new congressional districts could hinge both on a voter referendum and court rulings. Voting districts typically are redrawn once a decade, after each census. But Trump triggered an unusual round of mid-decade redistricting when he urged Texas Republicans last summer to redraw House districts to give the GOP an edge in the midterm elections. California Democrats reciprocated, and a tit-for-tat redistricting clash soon spread. So far, Republicans believe they could win nine additional seats in states where they have redrawn congressional districts, while Democrats think they could gain six seats elsewhere because of redistricting. But that presumes past voting patterns hold in November. And that's uncertain, especially since the party in power typically loses seats in the midterms and Trump faces negative approval ratings in polls.
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