City Attorney Collins Owens Jr. noted Newport News once had an ordinance restricting panhandling. However, City Council got rid of it a few years ago after federal courts ruled that panhandling is a form of free speech.
Mayor McKinley Price championed the proposed amendment to the city charter to give voters an avenue to recall council members. But no other council members supported it.
The Newport News City Council voted Tuesday night to align its local anti-discrimination ordinances with the state code, a change that many cities in Northern Virginia have already done.
The Newport News City Council passed a series of ordinances that make short-term rentals legal but require the rental space to be part of the property owner's primary residence.