Virginia state capitol building (Photo courtesy: Thinkstock/Sean Pavone)
Tuesday is the halfway point -- also known as crossover day -- of the Virginia General Assembly. Bills that haven’t already passed one chamber and been sent to the other die -- perhaps to live again in the next session. The remaining bills have until this session wraps in March to pass through the second chamber.
In January, we highlighted 10 bills we were tracking. Below, we update their status.
- A House of Delegates subcommittee last month tabled Del. Jennifer McClellan’s proposal outlining more stringent protocol for sexual assault evidence collection and storage at her request. McClellan instead signed on to a similar bill, and then that bill was rolled into another introduced by Del. Rob Bell. The legislation sailed through committee and the House is expected to vote on it today, McClellan said in an email.
- The Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections, of which Sen. Donald McEachin is a member, struck his automatic voter registration measure at his request. McEachin's legislative assistant wrote in an email that he had pulled the proposal at the request of the administration, which is working on its own voter registration plan.
- Del. Steve Landes’ proposal that would require colleges and universities to report “efforts to stimulate economic development” passed the House. A Senate committee is now considering the matter, meaning the bill could make it to the floor for a vote, pass and be signed into law.
- Last week, a House subcommittee tabled Del. Bob Marshall’s measure that would have made it illegal to aid the resettlement of refugees from Iraq or Syria.
- Del. Delores McQuinn’s proposal to increase the maximum salary for Richmond City Council members never made it to the House floor. The Richmond Times-Dispatch has more on why.
- A Senate committee rebuffed the now-annual attempt to raise the minimum wage.
- The House on Friday passed by a 50-48 vote the proposal for a November referendum on the Board of Education’s authority to establish charter schools. On Monday, the Senate struck down a similar measure concerning charter schools.
- Sen. Janet Howell’s bill to prohibit individuals who are the subject of a protective order to possess a gun was tweaked and incorporated into the bipartisan firearm deal struck between Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Republican legislators. It passed the Senate and should land on McAuliffe’s desk by session’s end.
- It’s back to the drawing board for turkey-carcass entrepreneurs. A House subcommittee tabled Del. Manoli Loupassi’s measure to legalize the harvesting and transportation of turkey feather and toe utensils.
- A measure to provide an incentive to farmers who sell “certain crops” to Virginia breweries was continued to the 2017 session.
