Produced
by VCU's
Legislative
Reporting
students
A daily roundup of media coverage of the Virginia General Assembly
Updated by noon each weekday by a student in Mass Comm 375 at Virginia Commonwealth University
:: today's editor ::
> Tracey Wainwright

:: verbatim ::

"I’ve lost power in my home; it was uncomfortable. I can’t imagine losing emergency room services in our hospitals."

- Del. Jay W. DeBoer, D-Petersburg, referring to the deregulation of medical facilities. Many legislators said the General Assembly must use as much caution in deregulating medical facilities as it did with electricity.

:: on deck ::

The House Transportation Committee will meet at 8:30 a.m. Thursday in House Room C of the General Assembly Building.

:: bookmark this! ::

> NASIRE

... stands for the National Association of State Information Resource Executives, which represents state chief information officers and information resource executives and managers from the 50 states, six U.S. territories and the District of Columbia.

The association's Web site includes a clearinghouse of state government information from. Just click on "State Search."

:: recess ::

Cars can be famous, too! Visit Car Stars of Film and Television, and check out the history behind some of the most well-known cars of the small and big screens.

:: feedback ::
> Suggestions, ideas,
tips for coverage? Tell us!
Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2000

Laid-off textile workers could get help

The House yesterday approved an altered form of a bill it killed last week that would increase unemployment benefits for thousands of laid-off textile workers in Southside Virginia, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

The original bill by Delegate Ward L. Armstrong, D-Henry County, was to help 3,000 workers in Martinsville and Henry County who lost their jobs after several textile plants closed.

The House voted 53-43 on the new version, which would apply to almost 30 localities. Under the bill, localities must have an unemployment rate at least twice the state average of 2.6 percent. Laid-off workers in those areas would be eligible for up to $100 more a month in unemployment benefits.

The bill now moves to the Senate. A similar bill died last week in a Senate committee.

Legislature must choose
among 3 transportation plans

Halfway into the session, the General Assembly has three transportation plans with committee approval to consider, the Virginia Associated Press reported.

  • The House Finance Committee passed Gov. Jim Gilmore’s plan, which uses money from the state’s share of the national tobacco settlement The plan would take the money up front. Opposing lawmakers said the state eventually could lose tens of millions of dollars.

  • A bill sponsored by Delegate John A. Rollison III, R-Prince William, passed the House Appropriations Committee. His plan gives $2.45 billion of the tobacco money over the next six years to 111 projects around the state. While it distributes the money over a long period of time, the plan also calls for 25 percent of the state’s corporate income-tax collections and tax revenue from auto-insurance policies.

  • The third plan approved by the Senate Finance Committee allocates $2.1 billion over the next six years. The plan guarantees some transportation projects while others are recommended.

Legislators pass historic Internet measure

Both legislative chambers approved a measure today that would make legally binding the restrictions companies impose on how to use their software can be used, The Washington Post reported.

Opponents of the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act say the legislation would help the technology industry at the consumer’s expense. Gov. Jim Gilmore reportedly plans to sign the measure.

The legislation would allow software companies to send legally binding notices about their restrictions via e-mail, without having to prove that the message reached the intended recipient. It also would permit companies to enter a customer's computer and disable a product if the purchaser falls behind on payments.

Senate deregulates medical facilities

The Senate voted yesterday to deregulate medical facilities, with the exception of nursing homes, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. Under the bill passed 27-12, starting and expanding medical facilities would no longer need state approval.

While Republicans in both chambers remained divided on the deregulation, the GOP in recent years pushed toward deregulation. The Legislature’s Joint Commission on Health Care recommended to maintain the state regulation, known as the Certificate of Public Need program.

Supporters of deregulation say the program is burdensome, expensive and politicized, and that the free market should take over. Opponents, such as the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, argue that deregulation would allow doctors to choose the more profitable services, leaving other hospitals in a financial crunch to provide emergency care to all patients.

The bill passed by the Senate satisfies the hospital association and the Medical Society of Virginia because it marks deregulation to start in mid-2001 after the Joint Commission on Health Care draws a plan for the change.

 
:: links ::

> Home page for MASC 375, the Legislative Reporting course
at Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Mass Communications

> Hotlist of newspapers covering the General Assembly

> Other online resources for legislative reporters