Bolling legislative wrap-up

GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION WRAP UP
Legislators act on hundreds of bills and resolutions during 45 day legislative session
March 04, 2007
During the 2007 session of the Virginia General Assembly, the members of the Senate and House of Delegates considered hundreds of bills and resolutions. In this edition of The Bolling Report I will provide you with a summary of some of the most important legislation considered by the General Assembly this year.

I was pleased that a number of important measures that were included in my 2007 Legislative Agenda were approved by the General Assembly. To view a copy of my 2007 Legislative Agenda please click here. To view a recent press release discussing the results of my 2007 Legislative Agenda, please click here.

Abortion

Failed

Ultrasound testing as part of informed consent. This legislation would have required every pregnant female to be given the opportunity to view an ultrasound image of their unborn child prior to the performance of an abortion.

Failed

Abortion illegal if Roe v. Wade overturned. This legislation provided that if the United States Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade is overturned, the law in the Commonwealth rendering abortion a crime, which was in effect prior to the Roe v Wade decision, will be reinstated.

Business

Passed

Regulation of electric utility service. This legislation advances the scheduled expiration date for capped electric utility rates from December 31, 2010, to December 31, 2008. The legislation also provides that the rates of investor-owned electric utilities will thereafter be determined through a biennial review process in which a fair rate of return for the utility's generation and distribution services will be established. The legislation effectively ends the deregulation of electric utilities and the ability of most consumers to shop for electric utility service.

Failed

Payday Loan Act. This legislation would have required payday lenders to query an Internet accessible database prior to making a loan in order to determine whether an applicant was eligible for the loan. A payday lender would have been prohibited from making a loan to a person on the day the person terminated another payday loan, or if the loan would cause the borrower to have more than three payday loans outstanding at the same time.

Failed

Minimum wage. This legislation would have increased the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $5.15 per hour to $6.50 per hour effective July 1, 2007.

Constitutional Amendments

Failed

Transportation Funds. This proposed constitutional amendment would have required the General Assembly to maintain permanent and separate transportation funds, including the Commonwealth Transportation Fund, Transportation Trust Fund and Highway Maintenance and Operating Fund. The amendment would have prevented money in these funds from being used for any purpose other than transportation.

Failed

Governor's term. This proposed constitutional amendment would have allowed a governor to serve two consecutive terms of office and would have balanced executive and legislative branch powers by granting the General Assembly greater power to appoint members of state boards and agencies.

Courts

Passed

Death penalty and triggerman rule. This legislation redefines the "triggerman rule," which currently provides that only the actual perpetrator of a capital murder is eligible for the death penalty. The legislation subjects persons who participate in the planning or execution of murder for hire, murder involving a criminal enterprise and terrorism to the death penalty, as well as the person who actually commits the offense.

Passed

Capital murder of a judge or witness. This legislation provides that the willful, deliberate and premeditated killing of a judge or justice, when the killing is for the purpose of interfering with the judge's official duties; or of any witness under subpoena in a criminal case, when the killing is for the purpose of interfering with the person's duties in the case; is punishable as capital murder.

Failed

Gun shows. This legislation would have required that a criminal history record check be performed on all prospective buyers before a vendor may sell firearms at a gun show. This requirement would have been imposed on private sellers, as well as licensed dealers. Under current law, only licensed dealers must obtain a criminal history record check.

Education

Failed

Student organizations. This legislation would have required local school boards to provide parents or legal guardians the option of opting their children out of any school-sponsored club or organization.

Eminent Domain

Passed

Limits of eminent domain and definition of public uses. This legislation seeks to close the so-called Kelo loophole. The legislation provides a revised definition of the term "public uses", and specifies that the power of eminent domain cannot be exercised when the primary purpose of the taking of private property is to confer a private financial gain or benefit, an increase in tax base or revenues, or an increase in employment.

Health

Passed

Required HPV vaccinations. This legislation adds the human papillomavirus to the list of required vaccinations before a female child enters the sixth grade. The legislation also provides an opt out provision, meaning that a parent or guardian may elect for their daughter not to receive this vaccine.

Passed

Abraham's Law. This legislation specifies that a decision by parents or a legal guardian to refuse a particular medical treatment for a child with a life threatening condition will not be deemed a refusal to provide necessary care if the decision is made jointly by the parents and

the child, the child has reached the age of 14 and is sufficiently mature to have an informed opinion on the subject of his medical treatment, the parents and the child have considered alternative treatment options, and the parents and the child believe in good faith that the decision is in the child's best interest.

Failed

Indoor smoking ban. This legislation would have banned smoking in most buildings or enclosed areas frequented by the public. The General Assembly approved a related proposal that requires restaurants that allow smoking to post a notice stating that fact at the entrance to the restaurant.

Higher Education

Passed

Two-Year College Transfer Grant Program. This legislation provides higher education grants to Virginia residents who have successfully completed an associate degree program at a Virginia two-year college and have been admitted to an accredited nonprofit public or private institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. The amount of the award is fixed at $1,000

per year, with an additional $1,000 per year available to those students pursuing undergraduate work in engineering, mathematics, nursing, teaching or science.

Immigration

Failed

In-state tuition and illegal aliens. This legislation would have prohibited in-state tuition for individuals who are not citizens or nationals of the United States , are unlawfully present in the United States , or do not possess a valid visa.

Natural Resources

Passed

Clean water bonds. This legislation authorizes the Virginia Public Building Authority to issue bonds in the amount of $250 million for grants to fund the installation of nutrient removal technologies at publicly owned sewage treatment plants. The installation of such nutrient removal equipment will enable the state to implement the Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategies.

Transportation

Passed

Photo-red. This legislation grants localities the authority to install and operate photo-monitoring traffic signal enforcement systems. A locality can install such systems at a rate of no more than one intersection for every 10,000 residents.

Passed

Child restraint devices. This legislation increases the age that children must be secured in a child restraint device from 5 to 8 and requires that rear facing child restraint devices for infants from birth to 1-year of age must be secured only in the back seat of motor vehicles. The legislation also removes the current exemption for required child restraint device use for the rear cargo area of vehicles other than pickup trucks.

Passed

Provisional drivers and cell phone use. This legislation prohibits the use of cellular telephones or any other wireless telecommunication devices by drivers under 18 years of age while operating a motor vehicle.

This information is compiled from 2007 Session Highlights, a publication of the General Assembly’s Division of Legislative Services. For a complete copy of 2007 Session Highlights, please click here.

I hope you have enjoyed receiving The Bolling Report during the 2007 legislative session. I hope the report has helped you keep track of the important issues being considered by the General Assembly. If you have any recommendations on how we can improve the report, we would welcome your suggestions.

Now that the legislative session is over, I will be resuming my travels across Virginia . I hope to see you somewhere along the way. You have given me the great honor of serving as the 40th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. I look forward to working with you in the years to come to build a better Virginia .