In her last General Assembly session, Del. Marian Van Landingham (D-45) patroned seven bills, five of which are now on their way to the governor:
• HB2078: Authorizes the creation of the position of a state archaeologist.
• HB2079: Creates the Virginia Historic Preservation and Museum Assistance Grant Program.
• HB2113: Del. Van Landingham's plan to require that localities work toward creating accessible housing was incorporated into HB2407, which was patroned by Del. Clarence Phillips (D-2). In its final form, the bill added provisions regarding the elderly, persons with disabilities, age-restricted housing, nursing homes and assisted-living facilities to the statutory guidelines for local comprehensive plans.
• HB2545: Del. Van Landingham's proposal to improve the quality of care provided to adults who reside in assisted living facilities was incorporated into HB2512, which was patroned by Del. Phillip Hamilton (R-93). In its final form, the bill requires administrators of assisted living facilities (except for those providing residential living care only) to be licensed by the Board of Long-Term Care Administrators.
• HB 2547: This bill requires a fiduciary to notify the clerk and commissioners of accounts when he or she is no longer a resident of Virginia within 30 days after the change in residency.
DEL. BRIAN MORAN (D-46) patroned 10 bills, five of which are now on their way to the governor:
• HB 2549: This bill clarifies provisions regarding receiverships for attorneys who become disabled, impaired, absent, deceased, suspended or disbarred.
• HB2552: Moran's bill would have provided that an employer who pays wages with a bad check having a face value of $200 or more shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony. It was incorporated into HB2674, which was successfully patroned by Del. Adam Ebbin (D-49).
• HB2632: This bill requires law-enforcement to include photographs of arrested suspects within its reports.
• HB2633: This bill requires plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases to obtain an opinion that the defendant for whom service of process is requested deviated from the applicable standard of care. Moran's bill was incorporated into HB2659, which was patroned by Del. Terry Kilgore (R-1). In its final form, the bill requires an expert witness to certify that health-care practitioners have deviated from the standard of care in Medical malpractice lawsuits.
• HB2778: This bill provides that the commonwealth may appeal cases on speedy trial grounds. Currently, such appeal must be on the ground that a statute upon which the dismissal was based is unconstitutional. Moran's bill was incorporated into HB1977, which was patroned by William Janis (R-56). In its final form, the bill provides that in a felony case, a pretrial appeal from a circuit court may be taken on the ground that the speedy trial statute was violated or that the defendant was subjected to double jeopardy.
DEL. ADAM EBBIN (D-49) patroned 10 bills, three of which are now on their way to the governor:
• HB2635: Allows local governments to establish the interest rate applicable to deferred real estate tax payments.
• HB2638: Provides that an employer who fraudulently fails or refuses to pay wages is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and is guilty of a Class 6 felony if the amount is $1,000 or more.
• HB2674: Provides that an employer who pays wages with a bad check having a face value of $200 or more shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony.
SEN. PATRICIA TICER (D-30) patroned 16 bills, nine of which are now on their way to the governor:
• SB895: This bill provides that only one set of fingerprints needs to be provided by the prospective employee of an organization providing care to children, the elderly or the disabled. Currently, two sets are required.
• SB1074: This bill adds encroachments to those items for which a county with the county-manager plan of government such as Arlington may charge an application processing fee.
• SB1075: This bill allows any county with a county-manager plan of government such as Arlington to provide in its zoning ordinances for the transfer of some or all specified development rights.
• SB1079: This bill provides that the current limitation of 180 days from the discharge for bringing a court action alleging employment discrimination is extended in instances where the employee has filed a discrimination complaint with the Virginia Human Rights Council or a local human rights or human relations agency.
• SB1080: This bill requires the reporting of any single contribution of $500 or more made to a governing body member in a non-election year to be filed with the local electoral board by the end of the 15th business day, rather than the fifth business day.
• SB1083: This bill prohibits anyone from engaging in computer-assisted remote hunting.
• SB1084: This bill increases fingerprint fees for noncriminal prints from $5 per card to $10 for the first card and $5 for each successive card.
• SB1085: Ticer's bill would have permitted the suspension of a license to operate an assisted living facility in cases of immediate and substantial threat to the health, safety, and welfare of residents or participants. It was incorporated into SB1183, which was patroned by Sen. Emmett Hanger Jr. (R-24). In its final version, the bill requires administrators of assisted living facilities (except for those providing residential living care only) to be licensed by the Board of Long-Term Care Administrators within the Department of Health Professions.
• SB1086: This bill amends current variance provisions by authorizing zone administrators to grant modifications from zoning ordinance provisions with respect to physical requirements, such as size, height, or location.