The pace of bill filings is picking up with hundreds of proposals a day flooding the Division of Legislative Services. Among the latest from the Peninsula delegation, Del. Shelly Simonds, D-Newport News, introduced her proposal for a state board to regulate the price of prescription drugs (an idea modeled on Maryland’s recent law) (HB 691).
She also introduced a bill (HB 693) requiring school boards provide a paid maternity leave benefit, which Simonds says will help recruit and retain teachers at a time when many school systems struggle to do so. She’s also proposing requiring middle school students take a computer science or introduction to technology course (HB 694).
Del. Mike Mullin, D-Newport News, wants to let social workers seek protective offenders seek protective orders for incapacitated adults when they see cases of abuse (HB 470). He said the staffers of the Peninsula’s unique-to-Virginia team of elder abuse investigators and case managers say they sometimes need the authority to ask courts to step in when caregivers are abusing vulnerable adults.
Mullin also wants to increase the penalty for cruelty to children (defined as tortured physically or psychologically, tormented, mutilated, beaten, or cruelly treated) to a class 4 felony, which means a prison term of 2 to 10 years.(HB 673). He’s also proposing a bill (no number yet) to make sure electric utility customers have a free choice if they want to shop for a supplier of renewable energy.
Del. Marcia Price, D-Newport News, is proposing (HB 423) a new Gun Violence Survivor Assistance Fund and Grant Program, to provide financial assistance to victims of gun violence who need to update their homes to deal with a gun-caused disability. She’s also proposing a 30-day stay of eviction and foreclosure proceedings for Virginians caught short by a federal government furlough. (HB 340).
Del. Emily Brewer, R-Suffolk, wants making, selling or giving illegal drugs to someone who then overdoes the crime of felony homicide, which is punishable by a prison term of five to 40 years.(HB 605)
State Sen Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, who is already carrying high priority Democratic bills on repealing laws requiring photo IDs to vote and invasive ultrasounds for women seeking abortions, as well as a new one-gun-a-month cap on firearms purchases and ratification of the Equal Rights amendment, also wants to allow localities to remove, relocate, or alter any monument or memorial for war veterans located in their public spaces (SB183) and to ban disposableshopping bags (SB 198). She’s also proposing disclosure requirements for landlords and home sellers and to and to set training standards for school resource officers .
Senate Minority Leader Thomas K. Norment, R-James City, wants to let the three Historic Triangle communities consider using a portion of their sales tax surcharge to pay for a shared sports facility (SB 254)
Shad Plank is the Daily Press blog that tracks Virginia politics. It takes its name from the traditional Shad Planking political get-together, though hopefully it is tastier than the roasted fish featured at that Sussex County event. To contact Dave Ress with tips or questions, call 757-247-4535 or email dress@dailypress.com.