The Virginia General Assembly – 2008 Session
Report from the General Assembly
The oldest representative body in the western hemisphere went back to work on January 9, 2008, to grapple with many pressing issues at the State Capitol in Richmond. This year the Assembly met in Richmond for 60 days that ended up being extended by a few days to finalize a two-year budget for the Commonwealth. In addition to the task of adopting the budget, the senators and delegates proceeded to consider as many as 3000 bills, resolutions and studies covering a wide range of topics and issues.
One of the first floor fights on the House side involved the Rules of Procedure, the rules by which the House is governed. Democrats are in the minority and attempted to amend the rules by requiring that all votes in subcommittees be recorded. This attempt failed resulting in the continued practice of unrecorded votes in subcommittees. This is important because, under the rules of the House, subcommittees can vote to kill which often results in that bill never being considered by the full committee. Since subcommittees often meet very early in the morning or late at night the public is not always able to follow the debate and the vote. The public should not be greeted by closed doors in its quest to find the outcome of bills.
In addition, the Republican majority has also set a cap on the number of bills that may be introduced by any single legislator in the 2009 Session, further reducing the opportunity to bring issues before the legislature for a fair hearing.
In last fall's elections, the State Senate achieved a Democratic majority. The House gained four new Democratic seats and then picked up another Democratic Delegate following a win in a special election after the 2008 session had began.
In my four years in the General Assembly, I found this session to be one of the most difficult because the Republicans are increasingly concerned that the tide is turning bright blue in Virginia and that their days in the majority may be fleeting.
Despite the restrictions and the difficult atmosphere in Richmond, I attempted to negotiate my way through the maze to deal with important legislation. In my fourth year in the House of Delegates, I find myself moving up in the system. I am now a senior member on the Democratic side on two committees, which are Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources, while gaining a new seat on the General Laws Committee which address mainly commercial issues.
The Speaker of the House has also appointed me to the Executive Committee of the Virginia Sesquicentennial Commission of the Civil War, which will be a major enterprise designed to bring scholars, school children, tourists, and many other groups to Virginia to learn more about this important chapter in Virginia's heritage and history.
In another aspect of my duties as a member, I was appointed by the Speaker to serve on the Joint Subcommittee to Study Long Term Funding Sources for the Purchase of Development Rights, to Preserve Open-Space Land and Farmlands. This initiative will help encourage our commitment to ensure that Virginia will fulfill its duty to preserve our land.
Despite the energetic efforts of our Governor and progressive lawmakers to place high emphasis on critical transportation projects necessary to unlock the gridlock that wastes time, gas and our environment; the other side of the aisle has yet to come to grips with this crisis. At the conclusion of the regular session on March 13, 2008, the Republicans had failed to propose a plan to deal with transportation needs. The Governor has called for a Special Session to deal with these issues. I will back the Governor and my progressive colleagues to support a solution, which will not prove easy to accomplish, due to the state of the economy, as well as the pullback by the U.S. Department of Transportation in funding the Rail to Dulles project that is critical to our transportation system.
On other fronts, I fought against the discrimination that some legislators embraced in their proposed legislation in their quest to chase immigrants. The Senate killed a bill that would have punished workers for speaking in a foreign language on the job. At the same time, I worked to encourage immigrants and others to come forward to provide information to law enforcement personnel if they were a victim of a crime or if they were a witness to a crime. My bill (HB307) on this subject was left in the House Committee on Rules without so much as a hearing. Senator Howell's bill on this issue was killed on the House floor.
My own legislation met with mixed results during this Session:
A bill (HB306) to improve the training of Animal Control Officers died in the House Agriculture Committee despite support of many organizations working in animal welfare.
My bill (HB308) which would eliminate the $10 fee for a special Gold Star license plate to family of persons who have died in military service, was incorporated into Delegate Tata's bill (HB2) and passed by both Houses.
My bill (HB309) to allow in-person absentee voting without providing an excuse was killed by a subcommittee in the House Committee on Privileges and Elections.
My bill (HB310) that would have granted an absentee ballot by mail to anyone who qualified under the Americans with Disabilities Act or the Virginians with Disabilities Act was carried-over for further study in the House Committee on Privileges and Elections. Two weeks later the same committee reported out Senator Deed's identical bill (SB7) after removing one phrase. Sen. Deed's bill later passed both Houses.
My bill (HB607) giving Virginians much more control over their credit accounts by freezing access to them, was incorporated into Delegate Byron's bill (HB1311) and passed by both Houses.
My bill (HB609) prohibiting text-messaging by teenagers while driving was sent to the Joint Commission on Technology and Science for further study.
My bill (HB610) that would have added Homeless persons to categories of persons protected under the Virginia Hate Crimes Act, was tabled in the House Committee for Courts of Justice after a spirited presentation and debate.
Two of my bills (HB1168 and HB1475) were incorporated into Delegate Albo's bill (HB815) and passed by both Houses. These bills will prohibit the possession of firearms by anyone who has a protective order in force against them, and will ensure that the Central Criminal Records Exchange is notified immediately when an individual is ordered to receive mental health treatment by a court. It is my hope that these new laws will lessen a repeat of so many of the gun-related incidents we have seen in the past.
My bill (HB1474) creating a program in the Office of Newcomers in the Department of Social Services was left in the Special Subcommittee on Immigration of the House Committee on Rules without so much as a hearing. This office would have assisted legal immigrants in their quest for citizenship.
An important issue which I have pursued for several years concerning the treatment of juveniles suspected of committing felonies made a great step forward during this Session. I introduced a bill (HB606) to continue the effort to require that all custodial interrogations of juveniles accused of a felony be electronically recorded. Studies have shown the high rate of false confessions by juveniles, with 12-15 year olds falsely confessing 69% of the time. These young people have been convicted of crimes they did commit and some of them have been incarcerated for years before steps were taken to address their situation. Last year when I appeared before the House Courts of Justice Committee, the Majority leader of the House stated that a serious problem existed if steps were not taken to address the special circumstances of juveniles in trouble. Last year the House Courts Committee sent my bill to the Virginia Crime Commission with a request that the issue be examined. The Crime Commission sent the bill to the Department of Criminal Justice Services for its examination. The DCJS developed a model to be used by law enforcement during custodial examinations. This model is being reviewed by law enforcement agencies though out Virginia. It is my hope that this model will be adopted by all of Virginia's law enforcement agencies in the near future.
Based on the work I have done, both the Chairman of the House Courts of Justice Committee and the House Majority leader warmed to the issue, took our concerns seriously, and have engaged the issue by beginning to implement a series of directives and protocols necessary to create a more effective approach to the special needs of young people entering the Juvenile Justice system.
Lastly, it was my honor to introduce HJR65 celebrating the life of William Littleton Winston, former Chief Judge of the Arlington Circuit Court. Judge Winston died last November. He served as a member of the House of Delegates representing Arlington from 1955 to 1965, as well as Chief Judge for 23 years. He was appointed by the Governor to serve on a three member panel to decide if Virginia should participate as a signatory in the pact to create the Metro System. He cast the deciding vote. The Arlington Delegation joined me in welcoming the Winston family to a Center Aisle Presentation on the floor of the House during the first week of March. Arlington will miss Judge Winston and values his life of service to the community and the Commonwealth.
It is my distinct honor to represent you in the House of Delegates. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I may be of assistance to you or your family. My Arlington office phone number is 703-228-7909.