General Assembly report: What's been done at halftime

This year's General Assembly session, scheduled to last 46 days, hit its midpoint this week.

During the first half, the House and Senate have focused heavily on smoking, passing divergent bans on lighting up in restaurants and rejecting Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s proposal to double the cigarette tax to 60 cents a pack.

During the second half, they’ll turn their attention to the state’s recession-laden finances.

All told, about 2,300 bills and resolutions were introduced this year and about half are still alive. Here are the issues that have been debated so far. Except where noted, these are the bills that were approved by either the House of Delegates or the Senate and are now being considered by the other chamber.

The “HB” prefix signifies a bill that originated in the House. The “SB” prefix is a bill that originates in the Senate. More information on legislation can be found at www.legis.state.va.us/.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Drunken Driving. Would require people convicted of their first DUI to equip their vehicles with breath-testing machines for six months (HB2041).

Anti-noose bill. Makes hanging a noose on private property or in a public place with the intent to intimidate a felony punishable by prison time (SB1219).

Death Penalty. Would expand death penalty for capital murder to also include perpetrators who knowingly participated in a capital murder with the intent to kill, but didn’t take a life (HB2358, SB961).

Novelty lighters. Prohibits the sale of novelty lighters to juveniles and requires stores place lighters out of children’s reach (HB2578).

Concealed weapons. Would allow individuals with concealed handgun permits to bring their weapons into restaurants or bars that serve alcohol, but penalize people who imbibe spirits or become intoxicated while carrying a weapon (SB1035).

Handgun training. Specifies that handgun competence training can be completed electronically or online (SB1528).

Gun buybacks. A locality’s governing body must issue authorizing ordinance before participating in gun buyback program. Collected firearms must also be sold by public auction, sealed bids or to a licensed dealer (HB2528).

Bill killed:

Gun show loophole. Would have required private sellers of firearms at gun shows to have a criminal background check performed on the purchaser before completing the transaction (SB1257).

ENVIRONMENT

Renewable Energy. Would create the Clean Energy Manufacturing Incentive Grant Program for manufacturers who make a capital investment greater than $50 million and creates 200 jobs (SB1215).

Would provide tax credits for the purchase of wind or solar energy systems (SB1141).

Would exempt residential solar and wind energy systems from retail sales and use tax (SB1216).

Wind energy. Would create a multi-state compact to coordinate development of off-shore wind energy (SB1349).

Would give the Marine Resources Commission the authority to lease underwater land for commercial off-shore wind energy (SB1350).

Energy Efficiency. Would establish a statewide goal of reducing electric energy consumption 19 percent by 2025, compared with the projected consumption level for that year in the absence of energy efficiency measures. Utilities can charge higher rates to compensate for helping reduce consumption (SB1248).

Biofuel. Would allow non-feedstock-based biofuels, such as that made from algae, to be eligible for a higher production incentive grant than standard feedstock-based biofuels. (HB2001)

Would require state vehicles that run on diesel fuel to use fuel that contains a minimum of 2 percent biodiesel fuel, unless the cost exceeds the unblended fuel price by 5 percent (SB1146).

State Forests. Would allow the Department of Forestry to require people who fish and ride horses on state forest lands to buy a $15 annual permit (SB1473).

HAMPTON ROADS

Fighting blight. Would allow cities to offer tax abatement incentives to prod people to renovate or demolish vacant, boarded-up houses and to fast-track the permitting process for doing so (HB1671, SB1094).

Kurt Beach. Provides relief in the amount of $250,000 to Kurt E. Beach to help cover medical expenses that stem from his contracting hepatitis C while on duty as a police officer in Smithfield (HB2243).

Circuit court nominations. Nominations to circuit courts in Virginia, including Edward W. Hanson, Jr., Leslie L. Lilley, each of Virginia Beach, John R. Doyle, III, Jerrauld C. Jones, Louis A. Sherman, each of Norfolk (HR44).

Jordan Bridge. Chesapeake City Council authorized to provide for the emergency replacement of the Jordan Bridge crossing the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River. (SB1550)

SPSA. Would require the governor to appoint non-elected officials to the Southeastern Public Service Authority Board of Directors and force the waste authority to develop strategic operating and financing plans (HB1872), and require SPSA to entertain any reasonable contract offers to create landfill gas-to-fuel or gas-to-electricity operation (SB1523).

Road Authority. Would abolish the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority (HB1580, SB1018).

Hampton Roads. Earmarks for local transportation projects 30 percent of the future growth in tax revenues from business at Hampton Roads ports. The proceeds going to transportation would be capped at $300 million annually (HB1579).

EDUCATION

Education standards. Would freeze accreditation standards as of July 1, 2008, and delay any increase until July 1, 2010, unless required by federal law (HB2166).

Bullying. Directs the Board of Education to adopt guidelines to help schools deal with the use of electronic means to bully, harass and intimidate, otherwise known as “cyberbullying” (HB1624).

Truancy. Would allow parents and principals to petition a juvenile court judge to suspend the driver’s license of a student under 18 who misses 10 consecutive days of school (HB1826).

Bills killed:

Out-of-state student cap. Would have required most universities to have at least 75 percent in-state enrollments (HB2475). Would have set the minimum Virginia enrollment at 70 percent. (HB2325) and would have set it at 80 percent (HB2324).

Uniform grading. Local school boards would have established a uniform policy to interpret end-of-course grades in all Virginia grades 6-12, but allow a weighted system for advanced placement, honors and International Baccalaureate classes (HB1603). Would have required a statewide uniform grading policy so students could receive a maximum of five quality points for an “A” in Advanced Placement classes (HB1700).

MILITARY

Virginia War Memorial. Would require the war memorial board of trustees to develop criteria for including the names of service members who died in non-hostile combat-related situations and terrorism (HB1875).

HEALTH

Smoking ban. Would ban smoking in restaurants and bars but amended to allowing smoking during hours minors are admitted, permits smoking in room from rest of establishment only by a door and permits smoking when rented for private parties. Ban would begin Jan. 1, 2010 (SB1105).

Smoking and driving. Imposes $100 fine for smoking in a motor vehicle in which a minor is present (SB1106).

Autism. Would provide tuition assistance for private schooling of autistic children. (HB2104)

Bill killed:

Autism insurance. Would require insurance companies to cover autism diagnosis and treatment for children failed to pass either chamber (HB1588, SB1260).

SOCIAL ISSUES

Prayer and State Police. Would restrict the State Police superintendent from forbidding volunteer chaplains to express religious beliefs and require a disclaimer in event programs that chaplain’s expressed beliefs are not endorsed by State Police (HB2314).

Abortion. Would require women to be given the opportunity to see an ultrasound image of their fetus before an abortion (HB2579). Would require doctors to offer to anesthetize a fetus before abortion and provide information that a 20-week-old fetus can feel pain (HB2634).

Bill killed:

Discrimination. Would have expanded state employment law to prohibit discrimination of public employees based on sexual orientation (HB2385).

TRANSPORTATION

Vanity license tags. Would allow the state Department of Motor Vehicles to increase the fees for personalized license plates up to $10 (SB1167).

Seat belts. Would make failure to wear a seat belt a primary offense, meaning police could stop a driver solely that offense (SB1161). Riders in the back seat of a vehicles would be required to wear seat belts (SB1502).

Teens and cell phones. Police could ticket a teen driver with a provisional license who is using a cell phone while driving (SB1227).

Text messaging. Would make sending and reading text messages while driving a secondary offense (HB1876).

VOTING AND ELECTIONS

Fundraising. Prohibits governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and legislators from attending fundraising events during the General Assembly session (HB1634). Bans campaign contributions made through stored value cards such as a prepaid credit card. (HB1658).

Redistricting. Would establish a seven-member redistricting commission, with one member a compromise between the two political parties. (SB926).

Early voting. Qualified voters may vote in person 3 to 15 days before an election at a specified time and site provided in the locality (SB819). Qualified votes may cast absentee ballots in person without an excuse for not voting on Election Day (SB810).

Campaign gear at polls. Permits voters to wear buttons, stickers, or items of apparel that contain a candidate’s name or a political slogan when voting (SB867).

STATE GOVERNMENT

State reptile. Would designate the Eastern Box Turtle as the state reptile (SB1504).

Bills killed:

Spending Limits. A constitutional amendment limiting annual state budget increases to the rate of inflation plus the percentage increase in Virginia’s population (HJ710).

Limits on retirement fund investments. Bills to force the Virginia Retirement System to divest itself of investments in companies that have ties with Iran and other state sponsors of terrorism failed to get out of Senate and House committees (HB2357, HB2457, SB1545).

BUSINESS

Union limitation. Resolution to enshrine in Virginia’s constitution a state law barring mandatory union membership (HJ640).

TAXES

Bill killed:

Cigarette tax. Would have doubled the per-pack tax on the cigarettes to 60 cents and added 25-cent tax per ounce on each can or package of snuff (HB2389, SB947).

Compiled by staff writers Dave Forster, Lauren King, Warren Fiske and Julian Walker.