ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 21, 1997 TAG: 9702210092
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
Gun-control advocates lost Thursday as the House approved a bill that would weaken Virginia laws for granting concealed weapons permits.
The bill, approved 72-26, would extend the life of a permit from two to five years. It would allow licenses issued in other states to be valid in Virginia if permit laws in the others states were "substantially similiar."
"This is the Vinnie from Toledo bill," groused Del. Clifton "Chip" Woodrum, D-Roanoke, who voted against it. "It's a loosening of the law and I'm not altogether pleased with it."
Efforts to alter the law began in the Senate to fit new federal rules that states need enabling legislation to use FBI fingerprint computers for "non-criminal justice purposes" such as checking a person's background before issuing a gun permit.
House amendments to expand the bill were sponsored by Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton, and supported by a coalition of Republicans and rural Democrats.
The House also watered down a bill banning weapons "in or around" public parks and facilities in Richmond. The legislation was designed to create a "weapons-free zone" around teen centers in Richmond, which has the highest murder rate in the state.
The House amended the bill, however, to ban carrying of weapons only inside the centers.
Both bills will head to conference committees to work out differences between their Senate and House versions.
Health Sciences included
The College of Health Sciences would get $700,000 under budget amendments approved early Thursday by House-Senate conferees.
But Harry Nickens, president of the private school in Roanoke, should keep the champagne on ice.
Gov. George Allen has threatened to veto money for the school for the second straight year.
Allen said he disapproved of the funding mechanism. The College of Health Sciences would get the money only if state tax revenues exceed projections.
Last week, Allen wrote budget writers warning them not to include any so-called "contingent appropriations" in revisions to the 1996-98 budget.
House Majority Leader C. Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton, said a veto of the College of Health Sciences money would be a personal slap against him.
The College of Health Sciences began seeking up to $950,000 in state funds last year, after Carilion Health Systems cut off its cash subsidy for the school, which trains nurses and other health professionals.
Reporters still barred
Virginia senators killed a bill Thursday that would have forced the Department of Corrections to let reporters back into the state's 43 prisons.
Opponents said reporters are allowed to talk to prisoners by telephone. More access than that, they said, is unnecessary and would undermine corrections department authority.
The bill's supporters disagreed.
"You cannot see how prisoners are treated on the telephone," said Sen. Yvonne Miller, a Norfolk Democrat.
"We live in a democracy where prisoners have not been declared animals. They are still human beings entitled to certain rights and although we say people who commit crimes should be punished at no point have we said that we are divorcing them from the human race."
The bill died on a 26-14 vote.
The Department of Corrections has refused press requests to enter the prisons since 1995.
Charter schools dies again
Charter schools - public schools exempted from some regulation in return for high student performance - briefly returned to the General Assembly on Thursday before being killed in a parliamentary maneuver.
Tempted by the prospect of millions of federal dollars, the state Senate voted to resurrect charter schools.
A few hours later, the House of Delegates rammed through a motion to set aside the bill for the day. Because Thursday was the last day the assembly can vote on bills, the action killed the bill.
The final motion to delay the bill was approved on a 56-43 vote.
House Democrats also struck two other Senate-approved measures. One would have made killing a pregnant woman with the intent to kill her fetus a capital crime. The other would lower the threshold for "drug kingpins."
Drug bill modified
A generic drug company with a manufacturing plant under construction in Bedford County beat back a high-priced lobbying effort over sales of blood-thinning medication.
The Senate voted 20-17 to weaken a bill that Barr Laboratories said would discourage sales of a generic form of Coumadin.
The bill was sought by DuPont Merck Pharmaceuticals, which holds the patent to Coumadin, which generates an estimated $500 million in sales each year. Barr Laboratories officials say they are on the verge of receiving federal approval for a generic form.
DuPont Merck's lobbyists argued that Coumadin is such a sensitive drug that pharmacists should go through an extra layer of approval before switching patients from the brand name to a generic, or vice-versa.
Opponents - led by Lynchburg Sen. Steve Newman - said the bill was nothing more than a bid to save DuPont Merck's monopoly.
The Senate narrowly agreed with Newman's amendment that effectively nullifies the bill unless the Virginia Board of Pharmacy deems the added approval process is necessary.
On to the governor's desk
Legislation passed by the Senate Thursday and sent to the governor for signature include:
* A bill setting minimum staffing requirements for day care operators was narrowly approved
* A bill granting limited immunity from civil prosecution to teachers who discipline their students.
* A bill making public some of the proceedings of the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission (JLRC), which investigates complaints against judges.
* A bill allowing the Kids Voting program to hold mock elections for children at public voting sites.
* A bill requiring legislators to disclose gifts valued at more than $100 and to give detailed reports about compensation they get from groups with interests in legislation.
Staff writers Warren Fiske, Laura LaFay, Robert Little and David M. Poole, and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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