Local delegates have pushed some of their bills through the Republican-held House of Delegates and that legislation now will go to the state Senate, where Democrats have a slim majority.
Here are some of the bills that made it to crossover on Feb. 15.
The House of Delegates passed bills patroned by Del. Marcus Simon (D-McLean-Falls Church) to:
• Remove obsolete language relating to the teletype system formerly used by the Virginia State Police (HB 342).
• Make it a Class 1 misdemeanor to knowingly possess any pistol, shotgun, rifle, machine gun or any other firearm with a serial number that has been removed, altered, changed, destroyed or obliterated in any manner. A similar charge would be filed against anyone who sold, gave or distributed a weapon so modified (HB 1306).
Bills passed by Del. Kathleen Murphy (D-McLean-Great Falls) would:
• Allow localities to require installation of broadband service and associated infrastructure for new residential and commercial developments (HB 445).
• Amend the definition of abused or neglected children to allow more complaints to be deemed valid and require reporting of them to appropriate authorities (HB 1334).
Bills passed by Del. Rip Sullivan (D-McLean-Arlington) would:
• Codify the Uniform Fiduciary Income and Principal Act, which replaces the prior uniform act to reflect modern trust-investment practices in the allocation of principal and income (HB 370).
• Add the Arland D. Williams Jr. Bridge to the list of spans subject to the Potomac River Bridges Towing Compact, which gives Maryland, Virginia and District of Columbia authority to remove disabled and abandoned vehicles from those bridges (HB 386). State Sen. Barbara Favola (D-Arlington-McLean-Loudoun) has passed an identical bill.
• Make various changes to the pilot program for municipal-net-energy metering (HB 396).
• Repeal the sunset provision on the Virginia Supreme Court’s authority to adopt rules assessing Virginia State Bar members an annual fee of up to $25 to be deposited in the Clients’ Protection Fund (HB 1285).
Del. Mark Keam (D-Oakton-Vienna) has passed bills that would:
• Extend from 2022 to 2025 the sunset date for the worker-training tax credit and remove a manufacturing-related requirement for businesses seeking reimbursement of direct costs associated with employees’ orientation, instruction and training (HB 695).
• Amend the town of Vienna’s charter to change the election for the mayoral seat and three Council seats from May 2022 to November 2023 and have their terms start on Jan. 1, 2014, and end on Dec. 31, 2025 (HB 700).
If this bill, and an identical one patroned by state Sen. Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax-Vienna), get signed into law, all Town Council seats will be up for grabs in November 2023 and every two years afterward, instead of staggered elections with some seats on the ballot each year.
• Require owners of single-family detached residential properties to disclose in writing to prospective purchasers or lessees the existing lot coverage and maximum lot coverage allowed by local zoning ordinances.
• Authorize localities to pay initial-issuance-fee costs for development and issuance of special license plates featuring that locality’s seal, symbol, emblem or logotype instead of collecting 350 paid applications for such license plates (HB 703).
• Not require petitioners for “writs of vacatur “(cancellation or annulment) for victims of sex trafficking to pay filing fees or costs if the petitioners are found to be unable to pay them (HB 711).
• Designate April 11 in 2022 and in each succeeding year as World Parkinson’s Day in Virginia (HJ 135).