Falwell, Abortion, DUI Bills Move Ahead

Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: February 3, 2008

Lynchburg-area members of the General Assembly enjoyed some successes last week in getting bills approved.
Sen. Steve Newman’s bill naming a section of U.S. 460 the Jerry Falwell Parkway passed 40-0 in the Senate.
Del. Kathy Byron, R-Campbell County, and Del. Ben Cline, R-Rockbridge, each had an abortion-related bill approved by the House of Delegates.
A bill originated by Del. Shannon Valentine, D-Lynchburg, to make a driver responsible for being under the influence of a narcotic passed as part of another legislator’s similar bill. Also, a Valentine bill supporting a study of autism services received a key approval in a subcommittee.
Del. Watkins Abbitt, I-Appomattox, won House approval on a bill that raised the minimum requirement on state construction projects that would require an environmental impact study. The new threshhold, if approved by the Senate, would apply to projects costing $500,000 and up. The previous limit was $100,000.

Del. Watkins Abbitt, I-Appomattox
House Bill 78: Increases the monthly health insurance credit for each year of service for retired constitutional officers, registrars, their employees, and local social service employees. Status: in Appropriations subcommittee.
HB 79: Special license plate for Virginia Citizens Defense League. Status: in Transportation
subcommittee.
HB 177: Appomattox town charter; establishes a new position of town manager and redefines mayor’s duties. Status: passed Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns on Friday with amendment, 22-0.
HB 1115: Forest protection; increases the amount a locality that contracts with the state forester pays for fire protection to 7 cents per acre, and, beginning July 2009, 9 cents per acre. Status: passed House on second reading Friday.
HB 1116: Requires an environmental impact report for any state construction project that will cost $500,000. The current threshold is $100,000. Status: passed House on Monday; in Senate committee.
HB 1445: Requires the Board of Nursing to develop guidelines for training employees to administer prescription drugs in private schools for students with disabilities. Status: passed House on Tuesday; in Senate committee.
HB 1529: Allows Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Committee to adjust amount of award. Status: in House Rules Committee.

Del. Kathy Byron, R-Campbell County
HB 112: Adds all county administrators to the list of local government officials who may retire at age 50 without reducing retirement allowance, if they are dismissed or not reappointed. Status: in House Appropriations subcommittee.
HB 924: Creates an income tax credit and sales tax exemption for wireless and broadband equipment purchased by telecommunications providers for use in rural areas. Status: in House Finance subcommittee.
HB 925: Conforms Virginia to federal law so the Virginia Employment Commission will provide job services according to the Workforce Investment Act. Status: passed House Jan. 23; in Senate committee.
HB 926: Allows a Virginia regulatory board to take action against an employer who is convicted of hiring persons who are not legally eligible to be employed in the United States. Status: in House Rules Committee.
HB 1311: Allows consumers to freeze their credit reports or credit scores so that a credit-reporting agency may not release the information unless the consumer expressly approves its release to a potential creditor. Status: passed House on second reading Friday.
HB 1312: Requires governor to create a plan for workforce development during first year of his administration. Status: in House Committee on Commerce and Labor.
HB 1313: Gives state-chartered credit unions the same flexibility as federally chartered ones regarding inactive account fees and interest. Status: passed House on second reading Friday.
HB 1314: Would transfer responsibility for collecting employment taxes from the Virginia Employment Commission to the Department of Taxation. Status: passed by
committee.
HB 1315: Before an abortion and as part of the informed-consent requirement, an ultrasound image of the fetus would be taken to determine gestational age. The woman would be given an opportunity to view the image. Status: passed House third reading on a 62-37 vote Friday and sent to Senate.
HB 1469: Database breach notification; requires anyone who owns or licenses computerized data to notify people whose personal information may have been acquired through a breach in system security. Status: in House Science and Technology subcommittee, along with several similar bills.
HB 1512: Declares that insurance laws, and state regulation, do not apply to a health care sharing ministry. Such a ministry is a health care cost-sharing arrangement among individuals of the same religion, administered by a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization. Status: approved Thursday by Commerce and Labor Committee 21-1.
HB 1513: Provides an income tax deduction for people who donate to tax-exempt, nonprofit health care sharing organizations. Status: in House Finance subcommittee.
HB 1514: Would allow corporations to choose whether to base their tax on sales or another formula. Status: in House Finance
subcommittee.
HB 1526: Would create the Virginia Career Readiness Certification Program to certify the workplace and college readiness skills of Virginians. Status: in Commerce and Labor Committee.
HJ 177: Would establish a committee to study the benefits of adopting a single sales factor to apportion the income of multistate corporations as their corporation income tax. Status: in Rules Committee.

Del. Ben Cline, R-Rockbridge County
HB 1357: Would return money to taxpayers if the so-called “rainy day fund” ever reaches its legal capacity. Status: combined with HB1318; in House Finance subcommittee.
HB 1358: Would require each state agency to list goods and services that competed with the private sector, and whether they should continue to be performed by the state agency. Status: in General Laws subcommittee.
HB 1359: Would require the Department of Planning and Budget to analyze state agency budget requests for changes since the previous year. Status: in Appropriations subcommittee.
HB 1360: Would require Virginia to put the state budget on a Web site with a searchable database where people could search and compile information by state agency or vendor. Status: continued to 2009, along with several similar bills.
HB1361: Would require the director of Game and Inland Fisheries to submit a quarterly accounting of the expenses he controls. Status: in House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources.
HB 1362: Would say that embezzlement of public funds can result from the misuse or misappropriation of public assets. Status: in House Appropriations committee after being approved in Courts of Justice committee.
HB 1363: Expands the law protecting trademarks to potential felony status and increases the penalty for counterfeit trademarks. Status: Approved in two House committees and now before House Appropriations Committee with amendment.
HB 1364: Allows National Guard and Reserve personnel to make a subtraction from their state income tax when serving outside the United States. Status: in House Finance subcommittee.
HB 1365: Would allow a tax credit to individuals who adopt animals from pounds or nonprofit shelters. Status: in House Finance subcommittee.
HB 1366: Probationers required to waive Fourth Amendment rights so their vehicle or home could be searched without a warrant on suspicion that they are involved in activity similar to that for which they were convicted. Status: in House Courts of Justice subcommittee.
HB 1555: Names the Virginia 620 bridge over Interstate 81 at Steeles Tavern as the “Lance Corporal Daniel Todd Morris Bridge.” Morris was killed while serving in Iraq. Status: passed House on Tuesday; in Senate
committee.
HB 1556: Requires doctors to offer to anesthetize a fetus prior to abortion and to tell the woman that a fetus at 20 gestational weeks may feel pain. Status: passed House 68-31 on Friday and sent to Senate.
HB 1557: Eliminates the $50 cap on fines for operating a moped faster than 35 mph, and makes moped operators subject to same requirements as motorcyclists at speeds above 35 mph. Status: had first reading in House on Friday.
HB 1558: Requires public contractors and subcontractors to participate in a federal Electronic Work Verification Program to determine that their employees are legally eligible for employment in the United States. Status: in House Rules Committee.

Del. Shannon Valentine, D-Lynchburg
HB 556: Intended to identify companies included in the Virginia Retirement System that are complicit in the Darfur genocide. Status: to be heard in Appropriations Committee on Thursday.
HB 557: Corrects an inconsistency between two statutes concerning requirements for witnesses’ attendance in both civil and criminal cases, when original law was intended to apply to civil cases only. Status: approved by House; sent to Senate.
HB 558: Provides that persons may be convicted of driving while intoxicated if they know they are under the influence of an intoxicant or drug. Status: combined with HB 224 by Del. John Cosgrove, R-Chesapeake, approved by House.
HB 688: Claims Bill for Anthony Fields, who was incarcerated one year beyond sentence because of an administrative error. Would provide him a payment of $32,544. Status: in House Appropriations subcommittee. 
HB 689: Combined sewer overflow; was changed to a budget amendment that would allow for $40 million from the Virginia Public Bonding Authority to be divided between Lynchburg and Richmond. Status: in House Appropriations Committee.
HB 1065: Makes non-use of safety belts a primary offense. Current law allows a citation only with a simultaneous offense. Combined with bill by Del. Kristen Amundsen, D-Mount Vernon. Status: in Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee.
HB 1192: Establishes a $1,000-per-day civil penalty for knowingly offering children’s toys for sale more than 14 days after notice that product has been recalled. Combined with bill sponsored by Del. Brian Moran, D-Alexandria. Status: Reported from subcommittee to Courts of Justice Committee.
HB 1199: Would allow sale of publications that feature and educate the public about the Virginia wine industry in ABC stores. Status: Failed in Rules Subcommittee
HB 1200: Would establish a civil penalty showing more than four digits of a credit card on a receipt. Status: Heard in Rules Subcommittee and referred to Small Business Commission.
HB 1260: Reduces age of minors allowed to donate blood from age 17 to age 16. Combined with bill by Del. John M. O’Bannon, R-Richmond. Status: approved by House.
HB 1198: Makes Virginia law on commercial driver’s licenses conform with federal requirements. Status: approved by House.
HJ 105: Autism Study; requests JLARC to study autism services in Virginia to identify best-practice models for delivering information from multiple, scattered sources to doctors and parents. Status: Reported from subcommittee to Rules Committee.
HJ 106: Fluorescent light bulb recycling study; seeks to address problem of mercury contamination from disposed bulbs. Status: Accepted to be performed by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.