
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, January 22, 1994                   TAG: 9401220243
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Staff report
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HERE'S A RUNDOWN OF LEGISLATION SO FAR IN THE '94 SESSION

With two business days remaining for members of the 1994 General Assembly to introduce legislation, here's a rundown of some of the major proposals already in the hopper. Bills and resolutions have been proposed to:

Require legislators to disclose real estate contracts with the state worth more than $10,000.

Restrict lobbying by former state officials for two years after they leave office.

Amend the state constitution to limit General Assembly members to 12 years of service, provide six-year terms for state senators and four-year terms for delegates.

Amend the constitution to allow citizen initiative and referendum.

Limit General Assembly members to introducing no more than 12 bills or resolutions in a single assembly session.

Amend the constitution to restrict the governor's power to veto or amend bills.

Require that candidates be identified by political party on state ballots.

Allow the governor to serve two consecutive terms.

Require school bus drivers to wear seat belts at all times, not just when transporting children.

Lower the blood-alcohol limit for a drunken driving conviction from 0.10 percent to 0.05 for drivers of commercial vehicles.

Lower the blood-alcohol limit for a drunken driving conviction from 0.10 to 0.08, require a six-month license suspension for drunken drivers under age 21, require a seven-day license suspension for anyone arrested for drunken driving.

Require a one-year prison term for a drunken driver convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

Allow motorists to request that their Social Security number not be used as their driver's license number.

Require persons aged 75 or older to renew their driver's license every two years by taking an eye test and a road test.

Prohibit the carrying of passengers under age 16 in the open bed of a pickup truck.

Eliminate tolls on the Norfolk-Virginia Beach Expressway.

Require a separate sentencing hearing for felons convicted by a jury.

Allow the attorney general to request a circuit court to appoint a special grand jury.

Require a life without parole sentence for anyone convicted of a third violent felony.

Allow imposition of the death penalty for anyone committing a murder after being convicted of two other violent felonies.

Permit persons sentenced to death to get a court hearing when evidence discovered after trial establishes a probability they were erroneously convicted. No hearing is allowed now unless evidence is discovered within 21 days of conviction.

Ban smoking in public schools.

Allow schools to open before Labor Day.

Require police to report any felony arrest of a school employee to the local school superintendent.

Require school boards to hold public hearings before consolidating or redrawing school boundary lines affecting 15 percent of students or more.

Require that the Department of Taxation include voter registration applications in mailing tax forms and instructions.

Revise the income tax deduction for taxpayers aged 62 and older.

Return a portion of lottery proceeds to localities.

Raise the individual tax rate from 5.75 percent to 6.25 percent on income of $100,000 or more.

Earmark one-half cent of the state sales tax in Petersburg for tornado relief in that city.

Allow a judge to reduce spousal support payments if the spouse is living with another person.

Abolish tolls on the James River ferry between Scotland and Jamestown.

Stop plans for construction of a state office building in Richmond to house offices of the Virginia Lottery.

Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1994

by CNB