The measure was designed to help police track stolen goods.

The expansion of the so-called triggerman rule is an effort to expose close accomplices in murder cases to capital punishment

It doesn’t sound like a lot of money, but the measure generated considerable debate on the House floor Wednesday. The bill would double the court filing fee to $10, with the additional money going to boost compensation for Legal Aid attorneys.

The legislation does cover many items, including postcards—which House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, happens to collect.  Griffith put the skids on the bill that otherwise was sailing along, delaying consideration of the bill in the House of Delegates.  Among his concerns with the bill is that it does not specify how old an item must be to be considered an antique—and be exempt from the bill.

  It was the governor’s second veto in three years of the guns-in-cars proposal, which he called contrary to existing law by allowing those without a background check and training to conceal a handgun.

The House of Delegates has rejected legislation prohibiting police officers from asking crime victims and witnesses about their immigration status.

If you’ve ever said you’d give $5 to avoid the lines at the DMV, it’s time to put your money where your mouth is.

Money for public schools, particularly pay for teachers, remained Tuesday as the chief obstacle for a dozen legislators negotiating the final shape of a new, $78 billion budget.

Legislation sponsored by Delegate Bill Janis of Henrico County applies to drivers under 21 whose blood alcohol content registers between .02 percent and .08 percent, which is the legal threshold for intoxication.

The bill requires large commercial dog breeding operations to get a business license and submit to inspections by local animal control officers. It also imposes strict record-keeping requirements.

Voting largely along party lines, the Senate passed Democratic Senator George Barker’s bill 22 to 18. Governor Tim Kaine asked Barker to sponsor the bill after a winter storm prevented perhaps thousands of Virginians from voting in last month’s presidential primaries.

The University of Virginia requested the bill to protect personal information, such as Social Security numbers, net worth and marital status, of its donors or potential benefactors.

Governor Tim Kaine has vetoed two bills that could have resulted in more concealed weapons in cars and restaurants.

Push to get a study on uranium mining is tabled in General Assembly.

The bill makes it easier to investigate and prosecute dogfighting cases and makes it a felony to give animals any substance to enhance their ability to fight. It also increases cockfighting from a misdemeanor to a felony.

The General Assembly is bound for a special session to reinvent the transportation package that was gutted last week by a state Supreme Court decision.

A company pushing for the study has the rights to a massive uranium deposit in Pittsylvania County

The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee unanimously passed a compromise bill Monday that, among other things, extends the amount of time borrowers have to repay a loan and effectively limits them to fewer than a dozen per year.

Hang a Virginia flag and its breast-baring image in your restaurant and you could lose your liquor license.  That’s the warning of a Virginia Beach attorney opposed to a bill that more clearly defines what noisy, lewd or disorderly conduct could result in an establishment losing its license to serve mixed drinks.

House of Delegates Democrats and Republicans fought bitterly over teacher salary raises yesterday, but Gov. Timothy M. Kaine ignored the subject as he assembled budget conferees for the first time.  Kaine said he is optimistic that an agreement can be reached on the $78 billion budget by March 8, the scheduled adjournment date.

What started out as a parliamentary power play regarding the budget has turned into a real constitutional quandary for legislators.

The House Committee on Courts of Justice this afternoon approved bills dealing with mental-health system reform, punishments for animal fighting and protection for immigrants.

Features of the 2007 transportation funding law that remain in force and those killed by Friday’s state Supreme Court ruling

The Virginia Supreme Court has ruled that doctors working for a foundation affiliated with a state university are not protected from malpractice lawsuits by the doctrine of charitable immunity.

Virginia legislators want to be the only ones who can authorize putting tolls on Interstate 81, and unless the governor steps in they’ll get their way.

Showdown votes are now expected Monday on both sides of the Capitol on proposed restrictions on high-cost instant loans.

Undocumented immigrant students apparently can continue to attend state public colleges and universities that will accept them—at least for now.

After being presented at three hearings, a “zero-tolerance” bill designed to increase the penalty for underage drinkers who drive cleared the Senate’s Courts of Justice Committee Thursday night

Lawmakers have delayed until next year a proposal to drastically change the way developers help pay for municipal services required by new development.

The Senate Transportation Committee has endorsed legislation limiting the number of times an applicant can take a drivers license test to three times in three months.