2005 Legislative Accomplishments
Bills Passed | Co-Patron Bills Passed | Richmond Roundups
My Bills that Passed in the 2005 Session
HB 814
Carried over from the 2004 session, this bill prohibits insurance companies from canceling or non-renewing homeowners' policies, and placing the homeowners on a national register, just for making an inquiry that does not involve the filing of a claim or the notification of a loss. It passed the General Assembly by an overwhelming vote in the House of Delegates and unanimous in the State Senate. A Washington Post article reported that such cancellations and non-renewals were taking place, along with placement on a national data base. Such anti-consumer actions will no longer be allowed in the Commonwealth of Virginia as of July 1, 2005.
HB 2912
This legislation rights an egregious wrong to school employees who have very serious illnesses or injuries. The issue began with a Loudoun County teacher, who had only about a month of active service when she was diagnosed with a recurrence of cancer and was refused her request for unpaid leave in order to receive chemotherapy. She was ineligible for unpaid leave under the federal Family Medical Leave Act, could not borrow from the school system's leave bank because she had not previously used unpaid leave, which created a "catch-22." The school superintendent ordered her either to resign or be fired. An uproar secured her reinstatement, but the callous treatment of this teacher made clear that state school systems needed to end such callous treatment.
My legislation, which passed with near unanimous support, requires all Virginia school districts to devise policies providing for donation of unpaid leave (which is what the teacher originally asked to receive) to school employees suffering from debilitating or life-threatening illness or injury, regardless of how long a school employee has been on the job.
The legislation was enacted unanimously.
HB 2123
A consumer fraud occurs when people pretend that they are licensed professionals, such as architects, or contractors, or cosmetologists, and secure contracts to perform the services. These con-artists can damage people and property. Up to now swindled consumers have only had the ability to sue to receive compensation for their loss. My bill clarifies that a judge can order monetary restitution to compensate people for damages these characters cause. It passed easily.
HB 1857
I successfully carried the House version of Arlington County 's legislation requesting the General Assembly to extend the existing transient occupancy tax, i.e. the "hotel tax." Strongly supported by the Arlington County Chamber of Commerce and all forty of the county's hotels, this legislation continues our tourism and business travel promotion fund, vital to Arlington 's ability to compete with the District of Columbia . Since the bill affected only one locality, it required 66 votes to pass my bill. With some legislative maneuvering, the legislation passed with 71 votes.
HB 1851
For some time the County has wanted to be able to allow developers to transfer density rights from one parcel to another if doing so will benefit the county's smart-growth plan. By placing more density in the Metro corridors and away from less dense parts of the county we can enhance the success of our high development areas, mitigating air pollution, while encouraging transit options.
I carried the County's bill on the House side, and Sen. Patsy Ticer introduced a Senate companion bill. Because some communities did not handle such density transfers well and caused headaches to local governments seeking to manage their growth, this legislation had to overcome adverse attitudes. Even homebuilding industry representatives had concerns about the general idea. Fortunately, we were able to craft legislation, particular only to Arlington (again needing at least 66 votes). The development community felt that Arlington had the know-how and the effective policies to make the County a model for successful use of this land-use tool elsewhere.
We got the votes we needed early on, but a member of the Northern Virginia House delegation took it upon himself to play with the carefully revised legislation, and caused enormous delays and confusion. A conference committee was called to iron out differences between the House and Senate bills, as a result of this meddling. So, to make the legislative process simpler, I struck my bill, and we used Sen. Ticer's equivalent bill as the way get density transfer authority.
HB 1854
Because drugs cost so much, I want to find ways to keep costs down. I introduced legislation that built on an earlier state law to allow certain medical facilities to donate unused, unopened, and unexpired pharmaceuticals to pharmacies for distribution to indigent people. My bill added hospitals to the list of donors, and said that the drugs could go to free clinics, as well as individuals in need.
Some of the bills I co-patroned that passed:
HB1503 Health insurance credit for retired teachers.
Increases the health insurance credit for retired teachers to $4 per month for each year of creditable service with no monthly cap. Under current law, retired teachers with 15 or more years of service are allowed a health insurance credit of $2.50 per month for each year of creditable service with a cap of $75 per month
HB1550 Child Day-Care Council regulations; parental notification when a child is injured.
Requires the Board of Social Services and the Child Day-Care Council to review all regulations under their purview regarding child day programs to determine whether they adequately provide for the notification of parents, legal guardians, or other persons duly authorized to pick up a child, in the event a child sustains a significant physical injury while under the program's care. If the regulations are deemed inadequate, then the Board and Council shall adopt regulations that require each program to notify a child's parent, legal guardian, or other person duly authorized to pick up the child from the center whenever any owner, operator, manager, or employee thereof has actual knowledge of a significant physical injury sustained by the child while in attendance. The regulations shall establish notification procedures including the time and manner in which notification shall be made, and the nature and scope of physical injuries that shall require notification.
HB 1945 Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002; definition of qualifying project.
Expands the definition of "qualifying project" to include any improvements necessary or desirable to any unimproved state or locally owned real estate.
HB 1946 Department of Human Resource Management; employee suggestions program.
Provides that state employees who make a suggestion or proposal under the Employee Suggestion Program shall receive initial confirmation of receipt within 30 days. A determination of the feasibility of the suggestion or proposal shall occur with 60 days of initial receipt. The bill requires approval by the Department of the award. The bill also requires the Department of Human Resource Management to report annually to the Governor and the General Assembly on (i) the number of proposals received and what, if any, actions were taken on them (ii) the number of proposals that were implemented and the results of those efforts in eliminating or reducing state expenditures or improving operations, (iii) the number of dollars and awards made to employees for adopted proposals, (iv) the actual cost savings realized as a result of implementing such proposals, and (v) the number of proposals that were not implemented or acted upon with an explanation or justification for inaction.
HB 1947
Directs the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to establish, as an element of the Office of Farmland Preservation, agricultural enterprise districts upon application by localities with established agricultural or forest districts, locally designated agricultural enterprise districts, or purchase of development rights programs. "Qualified agricultural businesses" and "qualified farm businesses" located in such districts may apply to the Department for assistance in developing a new business plan and grant funding for up to 50 percent of the associated costs of implementing that plan, up to a maximum $500,000. "Qualified agricultural businesses" are agricultural businesses that establish a new business operation or plan to expand and improve an existing operation within a designated agricultural enterprise district. "Qualified farm businesses" are farm businesses that establish a new agricultural or forest production operation or plan to expand or improve an existing operation within an agricultural enterprise district. This bill contains a delayed enactment clause of January 1, 2007 , which is conditioned upon funding for the program being included in the appropriations act for fiscal years 2006-2008.
HB 2099
Provides long-term funding of transportation projects throughout the Commonwealth by dedicating all insurance license tax revenues for such purpose. The Commonwealth Transportation Board is authorized to issue revenue bonds using no more than one-third of the insurance license tax revenues for debt service on the bonds. The amount of insurance license tax revenues not used for debt service, plus the proceeds of the bonds, is allocated to each highway construction district for transportation projects on a pro rata basis according to population. The transportation projects to be funded shall be determined by the Commonwealth Transportation Board.
HB 2266 School boards; policies on bullying.
Directs the Board of Education to include bullying in its standards for school board policies on student conduct and requires school boards to include (i) instruction on the inappropriateness of bullying in their character education programs and (ii) bullying provisions in their student conduct codes. In addition, the measure requires the reporting of incidents of stalking to principals and division superintendents. Finally, except as may be prohibited by federal law, regulation, or jurisprudence, principals must report certain violent acts, stalking, and other conduct to parents of the minor student who is the target of the conduct; included in this report is disclosure that the incident has been reported to law enforcement, and that the parent may contact law enforcement for further information. This bill is identical to HB 2879 ( Marshall , R.G.).
HB 2362
Requires administrators of assisted living facilities to be licensed by the State. These licensing provisions shall take effect July 1, 2007 . The bill permits the Commissioner of the Department of Social Services (DOSS) to suspend a license to operate an assisted living facility and adult day care center in cases of immediate and substantial threat to the health, safety, and welfare of residents or participants. The bill sets forth requirements for administration of drugs administered and requires that assisted living facilities employ a certified nurse aide registered as a medication aide who sees each resident once a week and is available seven days a week to see any resident upon request. The bill also requires the DOSS and Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services to increase the access to and improve the quality of care provided to adults with serious mental illnesses, mental retardation, or substance dependence or abuse who reside in assisted living facilities. The bill requires the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services (DMHMRSAS) to develop standards for the assisted living facility licensing regulations adopted by the State Board of Social Services for the provision of care and treatment, training, or habilitation services to and the protection of such adults. DMHMRSAS shall consult about treatment, training, and habilitation needs of and services and behavioral interventions for such adults to licensing staff in the Department of Social Services (DOSS), particularly to staff designated as resource specialists for serving such adults. The bill requires all applicants for an assisted living facility license to undergo a criminal background check. and requires each assisted living facility to provide written disclosure documents to residents upon admission. The DOSS shall develop a training module for licensing inspectors and criteria for assessing civil penalties.
HB 2420
Establishes the Latino Advisory Board to advise the Governor regarding the development of economic, professional, cultural, educational, and government links between the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Latino community in Virginia, and Latin America. The Council is composed of 21 citizen members of whom at least 15 must be of Latino descent. In addition, Secretaries of the Commonwealth, Commerce and Trade, Education, Health and Human Resources, Public Safety, and Transportation, or their designees, serve as ex officio members. The bill has a delayed effective date of October 15, 2005 .
HB2638
Provides that an employer who willfully and with intent to defraud fails or refuses to pay wages in accordance is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor if the value of the wages earned and not paid by the employer is less than $10,000 and is guilty of a Class 6 felony if the value of the wages earned and not paid is $10,000 or more or, regardless of the value of the wages earned and not paid. If the conviction is a second or subsequent conviction the determination of the "value of the wages earned" shall be made by combining all wages the employer failed or refused to pay.
HJ 817
Supports the establishment of a memorial commission by the Governor to pay tribute to Virginia 's first responders killed in the line of duty.
Complete Listing of Legislation as Chief Patron on the General Assembly website
see also: Legislation as Co-Patron