Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 22, 1991 TAG: 9102220533
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: From Landmark News Service and The Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The bill will go to conference committee, where a similar measure died on the last day of the 1990 session.
Before voting 70-29 to pass Sen. Moody Stallings' bill, the House approved an amendment allowing prosecution only if an injury occurs. Also, the maximum penalty was reduced from a year in jail to a $500 fine.
Stallings, D-Virginia Beach, told reporters he would oppose the changes.
"We're going to fight this right to the last day of the session," Stallings said. "It's ridiculous to have to have a child injured or killed before a prosecution can occur."
The session is scheduled to end Saturday.
Charles H. Cunningham of the National Rifle Association, which opposed Stallings' bill, said he supports the measure with the House changes.
"The only disappointment is that the way it's written, it's not going to save any lives because there is no gun-safety training provision," Cunningham said.
A House committee had amended the bill, which applies to children younger than 15, to require public schools to teach gun safety. Speaker A.L. Philpott, D-Bassett, ruled the change improperly expanded the bill to achieve more than one purpose. The House rejected the amendment.
Philpott also threw out proposed amendments by Del. Vance Wilkins, R-Amherst, that would have expanded the bill to cover unsecured swimming pools and stairs. Wilkins also wanted to add matches and poisons to the bill, but the House defeated those amendments.
Most of the debate focused on the penalty and whether an injury should be required to trigger prosecution.
"If you're going to make this a jailable offense, you should require that an injury occur," said Del. William Robinson, D-Norfolk.
But after adopting Robinson's amendment adding the injury requirement, the House decided a jail term was still too harsh.
"A Class 3 misdemeanor is sufficient to send a message to the people," said Del. William Bennett, D-Halifax. "Violators would pay a fine and have a criminal record, and that's sufficient."
Other delegates objected to the possibility of sending grieving parents to jail.
Del. Jerrauld Jones, D-Norfolk, argued that judges would not have to impose the maximum penalty in such cases. He added that reducing the penalty "trivializes what is a very serious problem."
The House also voted 57-40 to pass a bill changing the way highway condemnation cases are decided in Northern Virginia. Juries of landowners chosen at random would determine the value of land seized by the state for road construction. Such juries now are selected from a court-approved list of real estate experts.
Gov. Douglas Wilder proposed the new method in the belief that it would save the state money. The original bill would have applied to all condemnation cases in Virginia and would have been permanent. The version approved by the House is a two-year experiment.
A House bill that would regulate surrogate motherhood contracts was approved by the Senate 19-18 with Lt. Gov. Don Beyer casting the deciding vote. The Senate had narrowly defeated a nearly identical bill a few weeks ago.
Sen. Thomas Michie, D-Charlottesville, said the bill takes a balanced approach that protects the rights of the surrogate mother and the couple who raises the child.
Sen. Robert Russell, R-Chesterfield, objected to the bill because it said it would allow the surrogate mother to get an abortion through the sixth month of pregnancy if she changed her mind about the contract.
Beyer also decided another key issue when he ruled a proposed parental consent abortion amendment was improper.
Sen. Joseph Benedetti, R-Richmond, tried to attach the abortion measure to a bill requiring informed consent when a woman seeks treatment for infertility. Benedetti argued that the amendment was proper because, like the bill, it dealt with informed consent.
Michie argued that "infertility treatment has nothing to do with abortion." He also said abortion consent involves a third party - a minor's parents - while the bill dealt only with a doctor-patient relationship.
Beyer agreed with Michie and ruled the amendment was not relevant.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
by CNB