VIRGINIA BRIEFING
Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) has recommended changes to legislation passed by the General Assembly that environmentalists had feared would cripple a popular land conservation program.</br></br>The bill was part of a compromise between the House of Delegates and the Senate, which concluded months of feuding and passed a state budget last month. As passed by the General Assembly, the measure repealed Virginia's estate tax and paid for the tax break by imposing a cap of $50 million in 2007 and $75 million in 2008 on tax credits given to landowners who agreed to preserve open space.</br></br>Senators had argued that the popular tax credit program needed the caps because it was costing the state many millions more than predicted. House leaders and conservationists countered that the program's popularity was proof that it was helping Virginia to save acreage from development.</br></br>The amendments would impose a $100 million cap and allow the cap to rise over time with inflation. Kaine also would remove a provision to give preferential treatment to landowners in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.</br></br>Christopher G. Miller, president of the Piedmont Environmental Council, called the governor's amendments "a substantial improvement."