Like snow melting off of area rooftops in recent days, bills crafted by local General Assembly members are beginning to trickle in for the session that starts Jan. 12.
As of Jan. 5, no House of Delegates members representing the Sun Gazette’s readership area had filed legislation. But local members of the state Senate had filed numerous proposals that they would like to see made into law.
State Sen. Barbara Favola (D-Arlington-McLean-Great Falls) has filed these bills:
• SB 13 would require acquisition of a roofing subcontractor through competitive negotiation if the contract involves a roof replacement based on energy performance.
• SB 14 would direct the Department of Health to develop, manage and maintain a prescription-drug donation awareness and coordination program in conjunction with the Board of Pharmacy’s program.
• SB 15 would establish paid family leave as a class of insurance. Such an insurance policy, issued to an employer as part of a benefit program for workers, would pay the employee’s income loss due to birth or adoption of a child, placement of a child with the employee for foster care, care of a family member with a serious health condition or circumstances in which a family member is called for active armed-forces duty.
• SB 35 would allow a planning commission to extend the 60-day period during which it makes a recommendation to the governing body on a comprehensive-plan amendment, provided the applicant agrees. The bill also would extend from 60 days to 100 days, or longer if agreed to by an applicant, the period during which the governing body would hear and rule on an appeal of a planning commission’s decision.
• SB 43 outlines circumstances under which counties or cities may bring actions to enforce health-and-safety provisions of the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.
• SB 48 would require the Commonwealth Council on Aging to submit by Oct. 1 each year an electronic report regarding its activities and recommendations to the governor, General Assembly and Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services.
• SB 49 would remove from the definition of critically missing adult, under the Virginia Critically Missing Adult Alert Program, the requirement that the adult be believed to have been abducted.
• SB 56 would establish the Foster Care Prevention program to facilitate placements with relatives and ensure the relatives were provided with the resources necessary to care for the child.
• SB 62 would establish the School Health Services Committee to review and provide advice to the General Assembly and other policy makers regarding proposals requiring local school boards to offer certain health services in schools. The bill, which would expire July 1, 2025, would require the committee to submit its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly and governor by Oct. 1 each year.
State Sen. Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax-Vienna) has submitted these pieces of legislation:
• SB 7 would require Virginia’s standard deduction to be equal to the federal one for tax years starting in 2022.
• SB 8 would allow hunting on Sundays on public or private land, so long as it occurs more than 200 yards from a place of worship.
• SB 9 would permit attorney fees to be awarded in eminent-domain cases in which there is a judgment for a property owner, if such judgment is not paid within the time required by law.
• SB 44 would prohibit people from making single contributions, or any combination of contributions, exceeding $20,000 to any one candidate for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general or the General Assembly in any single election cycle.
The bill would not limit contributions made by the candidates or their families to each candidate’s own campaign or contributions made by political party committees. Civil penalties for violations could equal up to two times the excess-contribution amounts.
• SB 45 would prohibit candidates, campaign committees and political committees from soliciting or accepting contributions from any public utility and prohibit any public utility or any political committee established by such public utility from making any such contribution.
• SB 46 would allow people affected by quarantine orders to file an appeal in the circuit court for the city or county in which he resides or is located or the circuit court for the jurisdiction or jurisdictions for any affected area. Currently, only someone subject to a quarantine order may appeal it.
State Sen. Janet Howell (D-Reston-Arlington) has introduced just two bills so far, but they’re both lengthy ones pertaining to the state’s budget.