http://hamptonroads.com/2008/03/tight-budget-shaped-assemblys-record-session
The Virginian-Pilot
© March 15, 2008
This winter's General Assembly session largely was about money and lessons learned from the Virginia Tech tragedy.
Cash was tight and lawmakers had to extend the session five days beyond their scheduled adjournment before they agreed on a two-year, $77 billion budget that will go into effect July 1.
Nobody got all they wanted. Teachers will receive a 2 percent raise in July 2009. State employees and college faculty members will get 2 percent boosts at the end of this year and next. Six hundred new community care openings will be created for the mentally disabled. The state will spend $22 million to expand prekindergarten programs for children from low-income families.
There was no money left to aid museums and cultural programs. Local governments will take a 5 percent cut in state funding.
Lawmakers are still searching for dollars to improve transportation in South Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia . The General Assembly, with many of its members unwilling to vote to raise taxes, is expected take up road funding in a special session this spring.
Thoughts never strayed far from Virginia Tech, where a gunman with a history of psychological problems killed 32 students and faculty members before committing suicide April 16. Lawmakers approved a $42 million revamping of the mental health system and broadened the threshold for involuntarily committing a people to institutions.
Still left to be done in special sessions to be held in late April will be attempts to find a compromise on how to pay for major transportation projects in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia . Legislators also hope to reach an agreement on judicial appointments.
Here are the fates of some of the bills that were considered by the General Assembly this year. Detailed information about each bill is available on the General Assembly's Web site: http://legis.state.va.us [1].
-IMMIGRATION-
PASSED
No bail. Presumption against bail for illegal immigrants charged with serious crimes (SB623, HB440).
In custody. Requires jail employees to inquire about inmates' citizenship (SB609, HB820). Signed by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.
Employer penalty. Terminates business license for one year if business hires illegal immigrants (HB926).
FAILED
Speaking English. Protects employers from discrimination lawsuits for firing people who can't or don't speak English on the job (HB1472).
Local role. Requires local law enforcement to help enforce federal immigration laws through federal 287(g) program (HB623).
Crime victims. Prohibits police from asking victims about immigration status (SB441).
Name changes. Applicants would have to prove U.S. citizenship to apply for a name change (HB151).
Higher education. Bars illegal immigrants from attending state colleges and universities (HB14). Denies in-state tuition to illegal immigrants (SB652).
-ENVIRONMENT-
PASSED
Computer recycling. Requires computer equipment manufacturers to collect, recycle and reuse computer equipment (HB344).
Energy and climate. Establishes the Virginia Commission on Energy and Climate Change as a legislative commission to promote conservation and alternative energy sources (SB464).
FAILED
Uranium mining study. Proposal to study whether uranium can be mined safely in Virginia (SB525).
Greenhouse gas. Requires state air pollution control board to adopt regulations requiring mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources (SB234).
Green building. Requires state agencies to design facilities to meet energy and environmental design criteria; phased in over three years based on square footage of project. Does not apply to public school districts (SB447).
CARRIED OVER TO 2009
Greenhouse gas. Requires statewide transportation plan to include quantifiable measures and achievable goals for greenhouse gas emissions (SB233).
-TAXES-
FAILED
Gas tax increase. Increase motor fuel by a penny a gallon each year for five years. The revenue is to pay for the upkeep of Virginia 's road network (SB713).
Energy-efficient homes. People who build and buy EarthCraft homes, noted for being energy-efficient and environmentally friendly, would get a one-time $500 tax credit (SB317).
CARRIED OVER TO 2009
Residential real estate tax exemption. Amends the state constitution to allow localities to adopt laws to exempt or defer up to 20 percent of real estate taxes on homes, known as the "homestead exemption." Voters would have to approve the amendment in November (HB11).
-PUBLIC SAFETY-
PASSED
Drunken driving. Requires the implementation of ignition interlock for a violation of the conditions of a DUI restricted license (HB1442).
New penalty for underage drinking. Provides "zero tolerance" for underage motorists with .02 blood-alcohol concentration, punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. Penalty rises from a six-month license forfeiture to one year, and the fine would be a mandatory minimum fine of $500 or 50 hours of community service (HB719).
Guns. Requires that a person seeking to purchase a firearm from a firearms dealer answer questions on the state background check consent form concerning whether the applicant has ever been acquitted by reason of insanity, been adjudicated legally incompetent or mentally incapacitated, or been involuntarily admitted to a facility or involuntarily ordered to outpatient mental health treatment (SB226).
Sex offenders. Prevents sex offenders from going into or being within 100 feet of a public recreation center unless they are picking up their own child (HB223).
No alcohol for gangs. Allows the state regulators to revoke an establishment license to sell alcohol if the location becomes a meeting place for a criminal street gang (HB1117). Signed by Kaine.
FAILED
Gun-show sales. Would have prevented private vendors from selling weapons at gun shows without background checks (HB745, SB109). The Virginia State Crime Commission is to study the issue.
Drunken driving. Sets minimum fine for DUI offense at $2,250 and fines for vehicle-related felonies at $2,500 to $3,000 (HB161).
Death penalty. Allows for people other than the "triggerman" who are an accomplice to a capital murder to be eligible for death penalty (HB933). Passed General Assembly but vetoed by Kaine.
-EDUCATION-
PASSED
Cell phones on school buses. Drivers would be prohibited from using mobile phones while operating school buses, except in an emergency, when the vehicle is parked or for dispatching purposes (HB1218). Signed by Kaine.
Felony drug crime or sexual abuse by school employees. Requires the court clerks to notify the Superintendent of Public Instruction when a person known to be licensed by the Board of Education is convicted of a felony drug crime or certain felony sex crimes involving a child victim. Local school systems would be required to create procedures to handle complaints of sexual abuse made by students against teachers or other school employees (HB1439).
FAILED
Fatty foods. School superintendents would be required to develop guidelines to eliminate cooking ingredients and foods containing trans fat from public school cafeterias and vending machines (SB124).
-SOCIAL ISSUES-
PASSED
Animal fighting. Increases penalties for animal fighting, including dogfighting and cockfighting (HB656, SB592).
Lie detector. Prohibits asking victims of sex crimes to take a polygraph test as a condition for an investigation (SB164, HB1043).
FAILED
Abortion. Requires abortion clinics to meet same standards as outpatient surgery centers (HB894). Requires doctors performing abortions to offer ultrasound picture (HB1315). Requires doctors to offer woman anesthetic for fetus (HB1556). A woman who uses drugs or weapon to kill her unborn baby would be guilty of a Class 4 felony (HB1126).
Domestic partner health benefits. Would provide local governments the ability to extend employee health benefits to some domestic partnerships (SB51).
CARRIED OVER TO 2009
Abortion. Causing a miscarriage through reckless behavior would be a Class 5 felony (HB312).
-CONSUMER ISSUES-
PASSED
Payday loans. Bills in the House and Senate would place new regulations on payday lenders. The House version would require lenders to check an Internet database of clients before issuing loans; limit borrowers to one loan at a time and five within 180 days; place a 36 percent interest rate cap on loans; and extend the loan repayment period. Lender fees on loans would also increase to 20 percent of the loan amount, plus a $5 filing fee (HB12, SB588).
Identity theft protection. Businesses that operate in Virginia would be required to provide notice of a computer database breach to affected individuals and the appropriate authorities (SB307, HB1469).
Short reprieve on foreclosures. Requires lenders to notify delinquent borrowers 10 business days before starting foreclosure proceedings. Borrowers can request more time and lenders would have to wait 30 days before seeking payment (SB797).
-TRANSPORTATION-
PASSED
Bad driver fees. Repeals abusive driver fees that can be assessed against motorists convicted of certain driving offenses. Fees are as high as $3,000 in cases. Those charged the fees would get a refund of any fees already paid and would have any outstanding balances forgiven by courts (SB1, HB1243).
FAILED
Seat belts. Would make driving without a seat belt a primary offense, meaning police could stop a driver for failure to wear the safety restraint. It is currently a secondary offense (SB649).
CARRIED OVER TO 2009
Vehicle inspections. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine had proposed shifting car inspections from an annual requirement to one that must be done every other year (SB526).
-MILITARY-
PASSED
Military personnel. Deadlines for driver's license renewal, license plate registration, local vehicle registration, property tax, and other state and local tax filings extended until 90 days after return from deployment for military personnel (HB1024).
Virginia Military Parents Equal Protection Act. Limits a court's authority to permanently modify orders regarding the custody or visitation of a child because of a parent's deployment status (SB188).
Veteran-owned businesses. Aligns Virginia's eligibility requirements for participation in the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program with federal eligibility requirements (HB1386).
-HEALTH ISSUES-
FAILED
Smoking. Allows localities to adopt ordinances relating to smoking in restaurants that meet or exceed those established in the Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act (SB202). Prohibits smoking in all indoor restaurants and bar and lounge areas in the commonwealth (SB501). Prohibits smoking indoors in most buildings or enclosed areas frequented by the public (SB298). Provides that any locality within Hampton Roads may adopt an ordinance regulating smoking in restaurants (SB347).
HPV vaccine. Extends the effective date of the requirement for sixth-grade girls to receive the human papillomavirus vaccine from October 2008 to July 2010 (HB188).
PASSED
School donors. Would allow donors to state colleges and universities to be kept anonymous (HB407).
Secret work. Exempts from public disclosure all records related to "criminal intelligence" and "terrorism investigation" generated by the Virginia Fusion Intelligence Center , a State Police-run anti-terrorism division (HB1007).
CARRIED OVER TO 2009
Gun database. Bars public access to statewide list of concealed-gun-permit holders maintained by Virginia State Police (HB982).
-MENTAL HEALTH-
PASSED
Parental consent. Parents could admit minor child for inpatient treatment if the minor is incapable of giving consent (SB67). Signed by Kaine.
Petition for involuntary commitment of a minor should be served upon minor or a parent unless it's withdrawn or dismissed (SB68). Signed by Kaine.
Involuntary commitment. Person may be involuntarily committed or placed in temporary custody if substantial likelihood exists that mental illness will cause harm to self or others (SB246). Court should appoint lawyer and guardian for minors facing involuntary commitment hearings if minor is 14 or older and objects to inpatient treatment (SB247). Increases to 96 hours the time allowed to hold a hearing for involuntary commitment of a minor or emergency admission of a minor to inpatient treatment (SB276).
Outpatient treatment. Sets length of initial mandatory outpatient treatment at 90 days, and allows follow-up treatment orders of 180 days. Also requires community service board to report noncompliance with ordered treatment to the court (HB499).
Ending the use of "retardation." The term "mental retardation" would be replaced in the state laws and in the state code with the term "intellectual disability."
FAILED
Parental consent. Requires parent or guardian of a minor to be notified that their child has had mental health treatment within five days of the service, unless such information could cause substantial harm to the minor or another person (HB121).
- HAMPTON ROADS-
PASSED
State audit of SPSA finances. Requires an audit of the Southeastern Public Service Authority by the state auditor of public accounts. The report is due back next year (HJ89).
ABC stores. Would allow Sunday sales at some state liquor stores in Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Hampton and Newport News (HB908). Signed by Kaine.
FAILED
Craney Island study. Would have required study on the impact of increasing size and dredging around Craney Island (HJ117).
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