General Assembly wrap-up: What passed, what failed

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — There was contentious debate about gun rights, gay rights and even a poke in the federal government's eye in the 2010 Virginia General Assembly.

But on the eve of Sunday's adjournment, the direst state budget cuts in modern history dominates all else.

So weak was the state's fiscal health that lobbyists who most years sneak spending perks and tax breaks into legislation didn't even bother to try.

Lawmakers still managed to muster millions for job-development, corporate relocation and Hollywood moviemaking incentives. They also voted to allow people with concealed weapons permits to go armed into bars as long as they don't drink and bucked any federal attempt to implement a national health care overhaul in individual states.

The outcome of key legislation in the 2010 General Assembly:

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BILLS ENACTED

• Increases the speed limit to 70 miles per hour on interstates, divided highways and some high-occupancy vehicle lanes.
• Allow concealed guns in bars as long as the carrier does not drink alcohol.
• Allow those without a concealed handgun permit to lock guns in car or boat gloveboxes.
• Prohibit Virginians from being required to purchase health insurance coverage or pay any fines for not obtaining coverage that may be enacted by the federal government.
• Give the state more of a role in the establishment of charter, virtual and laboratory schools.
• Allow those who kill on-duty auxiliary police officers or fire marshals to be eligible for the death penalty.
• Require all car title lenders be licensed, and limit how much they could lend and charge borrowers.
• Establish an abortion-rights "Trust Women/Respect Choice" license plate, with some of the proceeds directed to Planned Parenthood.
• Suspend rate increases for Appalachian Power customers while regulators evaluate the company's rate increase request.
• Allow anyone who lives in a neighborhood governed by a homeowners association to display the flag, but allows the associations to create restrictions on the size and placement of the flag.
• Charge $10 for every felony or misdemeanor conviction, with the money going to the state's two Internet Crimes Against Children task forces.
• Direct royalties from possible future drilling for oil and gas off the Virginia coast to transportation and other services.
• Allow the Virginia Board of Education to grant local divisions waivers to the state requirement that public schools open after Labor Day.
• Grants state recognition for the Patawomeck Indians, the Nottoway Indian tribe and the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian tribe of Southampton County.
• Allow those with a concealed handgun permit to renew that permit by mail.
• Allow wine and liquor tastings at government-run ABC stores.
• Require anyone under 18 to wear a seat belt in a vehicle.
• Require student-athletes who suffer concussions to be held out of games or practice.
• Require the work of panels investigating possible ethics violations of legislators be made public and allow them to continue even if a lawmaker resigns.
• Require the state Department of Corrections to develop a policy to assist victims of crime with meeting with their offenders.
• Allow police officers to question those suspected of driving under the influence as to where they consumed their last alcoholic beverage.

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BILLS FAILED

• Repeal Virginia's ban on buying more than one handgun per month.
• Ban job discrimination against gay state employees.
• Exempt from federal law any firearm manufactured or sold in Virginia.
• Shielding from public record information on concealed handgun permit holders.
• Prohibit localities from destroying weapons acquired in gun buyback programs without offering them at auction to licensed gun dealers.
• Direct the Virginia State Police to come up with a plan to issue lifetime concealed handgun permits instead of requiring renewal every five years.
• Allow concealed handgun permit holders to take guns into emergency shelters.
• Allow murder accomplices to be charged with capital murder.
• Require many Virginia employee health care plans to cover a specialized treatment for autistic children.
• Require private sellers at gun shows to perform background checks on buyers.
• Ban coal companies that perform mountaintop removal mining from dumping the rock and rubble they blast off the tops of mountains into nearby streams.
• Require online stores to start collecting and paying Virginia sales taxes.
• Ban the forced implantation of tracking devices in people as a condition of employment or by insurers.
• ndex the state's car tax to federal fuel efficiency standards.
• Raise the threshold at which water damage to vehicles must be disclosed to buyers.
• Ban talking on a hand-held cell phone while driving and make talking on a cell phone while driving with a provisional license a primary offense.
• Make not wearing a seat belt a primary offense.
• Prohibit homeowners associations from banning clotheslines.
• Allow no-excuse absentee voting.
• Create a bipartisan commission to redraw the state's legislative and congressional boundaries.
• Require licensure and inspection of abortion clinics.
• Require doctors to inform women considering an abortion of the likelihood of complications in future pregnancies.
• Repeal a ban on radar detectors being used in vehicles.
• Lower the punishment for possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana from a criminal offense to a civil one, punishable by a $500 fine and broaden the medical use of marijuana.