Virginia’s General Assembly session ended its regularly scheduled 60-day run on Saturday. The work of the legislature is far from over, however—the divided assembly has not yet agreed on a state budget and has left a number of bills on the table. Once the budget is complete, a special session can be held later in the year to continue ironing out the remaining bills.
For the moment, let’s take a look at some notable bills the six state delegates and senators who represent Charlottesville and Albemarle have been able to pass so far.
Delegate Rob Bell (R) was the chief patron of a bill aimed at limiting the amount of information law enforcement has to turn over under the Freedom of Information Act. The bill passed with broad Republican support and a handful of Democrats, including both Deeds and Hudson, on board as well. The bill means criminal investigative files can’t be disclosed to requesters unless the requesters are family of the victim or an attorney petitioning for the accused party’s innocence. The bill had been opposed by the Virginia Press Association and the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, but supported by the families of Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington.
Delegate Matt Fariss (R) put forward a bill to increase the penalty for stealing a catalytic converter from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony, increasing the potential penalty to one to five years in prison. Fariss’ bill was tabled in the House, but the Rustburg delegate was a sponsor on a very similar bill from Bell that did make it through. The bill passed the Senate unanimously but was more controversial in the House, where it advanced 57-38.
Delegate Sally Hudson (D) was the chief patron of more than two dozen bills, but almost all were squashed in the Republican-controlled House, including bills to fund school renovation via local sales taxes and to allow localities to conduct local elections through ranked-choice voting. She was the chief co-patron of two unanimously passed bills that will make hospital pricing more transparent.
Like Hudson, Delegate Chris Runion (R) had some tough sledding in the divided legislature—his bills to tighten ballot access and weaken civilian police oversight bodies passed the Republican House but died in Democrat-controlled Senate committees. Runion was the chief patron of a unanimously approved bill requiring the state’s Department of General Services to prioritize purchasing recycled plastic when it acquires plastic for use by state agencies.
Senator Creigh Deeds (D) was the chief patron of a bill that bans health care providers from collecting debt from patients until after the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund, a state program to help victims with medical expenses, has had a chance to decide if those patients are eligible for relief. The bill comes the year after UVA hospital received national negative attention for its aggressive bill collection practices. Deeds’ bill passed the Senate 24-15, with much of the Republican caucus opposing, but passed the House 91-7.
Senator Bryce Reeves (R) proposed multiple bills aimed at loosening gun laws. His initiative to allow concealed carry without a permit was killed in a Senate committee, but he did pass a bill declaring that retired law enforcement officers can purchase service weapons without undergoing a criminal background check. The bill passed the Senate unanimously and the House 61-37.
