Tuesday was the deadline by which a bill must have passed the House of Delegates and crossed over to the Senate (or visa-versa) to remain alive. The vast majority of bills that passed the House were bipartisan and without controversy, including a number of important economic development initiatives. However, during several extended floor sessions, the House debated and voted on many controversial bills, including several throwback “states’ rights” bills, bills to expand access to guns, and a bill that will threaten our right to breathe clean air. After the dust settled, I am pleased to report that several of my own bills moved forward.
Spurred on by the Tea Party movement, Republicans in Richmond this year are pushing a slate of bills intended to assert Virginia’s independence from the U.S. Government. These bills range from the patently unconstitutional (House Bill 10 violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution) to the outright dangerous (guns manufactured under House Bill 69 could be exempt from Federal domestic violence laws.) Of course, I opposed these measures.
One bill intended merely as a symbolic restatement of the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution could have unintentionally threatened tens of thousands of jobs by denying the U.S. Government’s purview over Federal and Federal contractor jobs located in Virginia. Therefore, I successfully persuaded the House of Delegates to amend the bill correcting that oversight. Especially at a time when we are trying to persuade Northrop Grumman to locate its corporate headquarters here, the General Assembly should be careful about thumbing its nose at Federal jobs and contractors. While I am still not crazy about the bill, Thomas Jefferson’s rules, which govern parliamentary procedure in the House of Delegates, require a member to vote in favor of a bill he or she successfully amends, so I did.
Unfortunately, crossover was barely a speed bump for efforts to expand the prevalence of guns in Virginia. House Republicans approved bills to repeal the “one handgun per month” rule for gun sales, to create a lifetime concealed handgun permit with less public safety oversight, to allow handguns to be stored in boats and motorcycles, and to allow concealed handguns to be carried into emergency shelters. They also repealed the rule allowing localities to fingerprint concealed handgun permit applicants. I was proud to vote against each of these measures, which only serve to solidify Virginia’s reputation as arms dealer to the eastern seaboard.
During debate on Monday, I spoke out against House Bill 1300, which would prevent the Air Pollution Control Board from denying cap-and-trade permits for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. Cap-and-trade can effectively reduce carbon emissions because carbon dissipates equally regardless of where it is emitted. However, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide produce dangerous ground-level ozone smog in the area where they are emitted. Therefore, this bill would force the Air Pollution Control Board to allow let dirty power plants to meet their clean air obligations on paper while threatening public health and safety in real life. While the bill passed the House, I am working with the Senate to amend it to protect Northern Virginia, which has the worst air quality in the state.
After an arduous first half of the General Assembly session, the following items on my own legislative agenda moved forward for consideration by the Senate: House Bill 267 makes technical changes to the Advanced Health Care Directives Registry legislation I championed in 2008 to facilitate the upcoming launch of registry at no cost to taxpayers or users; House Bill 270 requires the Department of Health’s emergency vaccination plans to ensure that all school-aged children have equal access to vaccines, such as H1N1, whether they attend private schools, charter schools, traditional public schools, or are home schooled; House Bill 273 will give the City of Alexandria the power to improve retirement benefits for deputy sheriffs, emergency medical technicians, and fire marshals by letting them retire after 25 years of service, like other public safety personnel; House Bill 355 strengthens transparency and accountability in the budget process by requiring the Department of Taxation to make its annual report of corporate tax benefits and the associated revenue losses available online for public scrutiny. Additionally, at my request, the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control reversed its prohibition on hotel manager’s receptions that include complimentary wine and beer for guests and their visitors, thus accomplishing the policy goal of my House Bill 354, so I withdrew the bill.
With crossover behind us, our focus will shift to the budget, and I hope to report progress on that front next week. In the meantime, sign up for my email list at www.davidenglin.org to stay apprised. As always, I welcome your ideas and your feedback at 703-549-3203 or DelDEnglin@house.virginia.gov. Thank you for the opportunity to serve.
