Roy's Report: 08-03-04
file GA08-03-04
General Assembly, Tuesday, March 2nd, 2008
FOUR days until adjournment!
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Federal authorities began releasing some prisoners who had been handed excessive sentences for crack cocaine. The previous sentencing guidelines were much harsher on crack than on powder cocaine. http://tinyurl.com/2yve7w
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8:30 a.m. Sunshine Reception - Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council, Coalition for Open Gov't, Press Association and Association of Broadcasters; 4th Floor East Conference Room, General Assembly Building
The notable thing about this reception was poking about on the new, not-quite-ready-for-prime-time website of the Virginia Public Access Project. This is the group that makes the details available about who's giving how much money to the politicians. They gather this data into one place, making it a whole lot easier to track down what's happening. The newly-designed site won't be up until April, but the existing one is chock full of information. Check it out at http://vpap.org/!
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The Governor announces that he's vetoed SB436 and SB476, which are the bills affecting concealed weapons in locked containers in vehicles, and in places with ABC licenses. They now come back to the Assembly, which can override his veto by a 2/3 vote.
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10:00 a.m. Senate Convenes; Senate Chamber, The Capitol
. . . and almost immediately recessed until 11 am . . . still in recess a few minutes before noon, when I left to watch the House (which is more interesting).
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12:00 p.m. House Convenes; House Chamber, The Capitol
Delegate Gilbert announces the Governor's veto, with harsh words for the sincerety of his (Kaine's) announced support for the Second Amendment.
Del. Athey distinguishes between the two bills. Defends carrying weapon in locked glove box as being safer than carrying in plain sight on seat, as allowed by current law.
Del. Marsden defends restaurant-carry bill, opposes vehicle lock-box bill, explains concept.
SB35, Deeds, SUBSTITUTE, Recount procedures; ensures that logic and accuracy tests are performed after programming tabulator.
Moved from "uncontested", and passed by for today.
SB216, Edwards, SUBSTITUTE, Involuntary mental health treatment; prohibition from possessing or transporting firearms.
House accepted Committee substitute; bill will now go back to Senate to see whether they'll accept the House change.
SB246, Bell, SUBSTITUTE, Involuntary commitment; establishes new standard for outpatient commitment.
This is the major reform passed with much work and care in the wake of Virginia Tech murders.
Passed, 99-0. Now goes back to Senate.
SB405, Puckett, SUBSTITUTE, Controlled substances; nonresident pharmacies reporting and approval requirements.
This is the out-of-state-pharmacy bill, which I opposed in committee hearing.
Delegate Morrissey spoke about a provision of the bill which I had overlooked. For the first time in Virginia, it makes possession of Schedule VI drugs (all other prescription medications) a class 1 misdemeanor (up to 12 months in jail). Neither Federal law, nor any other state, has such a law. Also, there is no list of what substances are classified in Schedule VI.
To little avail. Passed, 90-6. Goes to Governor.
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HB34, Ingram, SUBSTITUTE, Aggravated sexual battery; person over 18 guilty of felony with child under 13.
"French-kissing" bill; House rejected the Senate version.
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I see, as I'm getting ready to post this report, that there was a meeting of House Courts Committee immediately after adjournment. I missed the announcement, and too late to find out what happened now. Details in tomorrow's report.
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Next significant meetings are Wednesday:
Noon House and Senate convene.
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DETAILS:
To see the summary, text, status, estimated cost, votes, or other details on any bill, go to:
http://leg1.state.va.us/. Click on:
“Bills & Resolutions – status of individual bills and related information”.
At the text-entry block, enter the bill and type just as I have it listed above. (Use “SB921”, not “S.B. 921”, for example.)
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REMINDER:
http://leg1.state.va.us/ and http://legis.state.va.us/
These are the two websites where you can access nearly anything you want to know about practically anything related to the General Assembly. Use them!
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