Bill would restrict legal
aid groups
A Fairfax County teen center
recently had to take down signs prohibiting guns in the building.
Why? Because state law doesn't allow localities to ban weapons in
public places.
County officials wanted
state permission to put the signs back up, but they were blocked last
month by a House subcommittee. [Full
story by Sylvia Moore]
A constitutional 'right
to hunt and fish'
A bill to change the state
Constitution to protect hunters from restrictions on guns and hunting
passed the House Privileges and Elections Committee on Monday, according
to The
News & Advance of Lynchburg.
The amendment states: "The
people have a right to hunt, fish, and harvest game, subject to such
regulations and restrictions as the General Assembly may prescribe
by general law."
Delegate R. Creigh Deeds,
D-Warm Springs, proposed the amendment. "Every year," he
said, "there are bills down here to chip away at that right."
He said his proposal would not supersede existing hunting or firearms
laws.
Delegate Jim Dillard, R-Fairfax,
said Virginia should not clutter its Constitution with meaningless
amendments. He called Deeds' proposal a "feel-good" measure that "effectively
does nothing."
Right to sue HMOs is revived
The "bill of rights" legislation
to allow patients to sue HMO's has risen from the dead.
A related bill sponsored
by Delegate Jack Rust, R-Fairfax, was revived on the House floor Monday,
less than two weeks after it was killed in committee, according to
The
News & Advance of Lynchburg.
Delegate Lacey E. Putney,
I-Bedford, a personal injury attorney, voted for the measure and said
people should receive damages if they are denied reasonable medical
coverage.
"When a person suffers
injury and damages by reason of somebody else, the party at fault
should be responsible," Putney said.
The bill that had been
initially introduced by Delegate A. Donald McEachin, D-Richmond, was
killed 13-9 by the House Courts of Justice Committee on Jan. 27. Republicans
argued that suing HMOs could drive up premium costs and cause some
employers to drop group health insurance.
Virginians cannot recover
money for pain, suffering or loss of earning capacity caused from
a denied HMO claim, although they can recover the amount an improperly
denied treatment would have cost.
Committees favor growth
Legislative panels Tuesday
killed bills to allow localities to control growth by limiting home
construction if they can't keep up with the debt of schools and other
facilities.
The bills also would have
limited development in areas that couldn't support more cars on roads
or students in the schools. Both House and Senate committees killed
the proposals that were supported by 24 high-growth communities from
Tidewater to the Blue Ridge, according to The
Washington Post.
Loudon County is one of
the three fastest-growing counties in the nation, according to The
Post, and is paying for 23 new schools over six years. Loudon officials
support controls on growth.
Legislators plan to study
the issue over the next year.
Members of the House Committee
of Counties, Cities and Towns and the Senate Local Government Committee
receive 15 percent of their $4.4 million campaign contributions last
year from real estate and developer interests, according to a Washington
Post analysis of campaign finance reports.
Seat belt legislation
dies
A bill to require the mandatory
use of seat belts died on a 50-50 vote in the House, according to
the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Delegate John S. Reid,
R-Henrico, said he feared that the law would be used by police as
a pretext to stop motorists for more serious offenses.
The bill's sponsor, Delegate
Jerrauld C. Jones, D-Norfolk, said: "I want to reduce injuries and
death. We can legislate a known killer right out of existence." Sixteen
other states have similar laws.
Richmond Council elections
in November
Delegates yesterday gave
preliminary approval to a measure that would allow localities to move
municipal elections from May to November, Richmond
Times-Dispatch reported.
Reversal on party IDs
on the ballot
Legislation to identify
candidates by party suffered a reversal yesterday when Delegates Joseph
P.Johnson, D-Washington, and Harry J. Parish, R-Manasses, changed
their previous votes, the Richmond
Times-Dispatch reported.
The bill was changed to
expressly ban listing a non-presidential candidate's party on the
ballot. "People ought to vote for you because of who you are and what
you are and not your label," said Delegate Johnny S. Joannou, D-Portsmouth.
