ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 27, 1997 TAG: 9702270014
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
The 1997 General Assembly adjourned last week, taking action on more than 2,500 bills and resolutions. Here are some of the winners and losers.
Gov. George Allen can amend or veto any bill that passed. The Assembly will reconvene April 2 to act on Allen's recommendations.
BUSINESS & JOBS
Approved
REAL ESTATE CLOSINGS: Overturn a proposed State Bar rule banning non-lawyers from handling real estate transactions.
CARPAL TUNNEL: Set criteria for workers to prove job-related injury under worker's compensation law.
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS: Increase benefits for unemployed workers by $35 million
TAX REBATE FOR CHIP MAKER: Provide up to $15 million incentive grants to a Seimens-Motorola joint semiconductor computer chip plant in Henrico County.
Failed
TENT SALES: Ban special promotions where several automobile dealers gather at one location.
SECOND MEDICAL OPINION: Gives employers right to shop for second opinion if independent physician finds injured employee covered by worker's compensation.
WIND STORM INSURANCE: Allowing insurers in coastal areas to delete wind damage in homeowner policies, making such coverage a "last resort" option.
BILLBOARDS: Allow trimming of trees that block view of roadside signs.
TAXES
Approved
UNEMPLOYMENT TAX: Reduce levy that businesses pay by $190 million over six years.
BOAT TAX: Trim the sales tax on motorboats from 4.5 percent to 2 percent.
Failed
ELIMINATE PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX: Phase-out of local levy on cars, boats and other personal property.
VEHICLE TAX: Reduce the taxable value of a motor vehicle by the value of a traded-in vehicle.
EDUCATION & FAMILIES
Approved
ABORTION NOTIFICATION: Require pregnant, minor girls to notify a parent before undergoing the procedure.
COMMUNITY COLLEGE GRANTS: Provide scholarships for second-year students in certain technical fields.
TEACHER IMMUNITY: Codify Supreme Court decision giving teachers protection from lawsuits when acting in good faith.
BUCKLE-UP CHILDREN: Require children under 15 in backseat to wear seat belt.
TATTOOS FOR MINORS: Require parental permission for minors seeking tattoos.
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE: Virginia will not recognize such marriages approved by other states.
Defeated
JOINT CUSTODY: Create a rebuttable presumption that divorcing parents will have joint custody of children.
CHARTER SCHOOLS: Allow localities to provide tax dollars to schools run outside the public education system, provided the schools meet academic standards.
SCHOOL SMOKING: Prohibit smoking inside any school building.
EBONICS: Disallow teaching of black street language known as "Ebonics" in state schools.
PARENTS RIGHTS: Establish constitutional right for parents to direct education and upbringing of children.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Approved
CONCEALED WEAPONS: Require fingerprints to be included with concealed permit application.
PASSING SCHOOL BUS: Increase penalty for passing a stopped school buss from $50 to $250.
SPRINKERS IN DORMS: By 1999, install fire suppression systems in 13 college high-rises housing 7,200 students.
Defeated
FIREARMS SURRENDER: Require people served with a protective order in stalking and abuse cases to surrender all firearms within 24 hours.
PRISON ACCESS: Allow the press to conduct face-to-face interviews with inmates.
CAPITAL CRIME: Expand capital murder statute to include killing of pregnant woman and unborn child with intent to kill the fetus.
DRUNKEN DRIVING: Make third DUI conviction within five years a felony.
BOATING SAFETY: Require "jet ski" operators to complete a boating safety course.
PUBLIC LIFE & LEGISLATIVE ETHICS
Passed
JUDICIAL INQUIRIES: Require more information about complaints filed against judges.
LEGISLATIVE IMMUNITY: Repeal legislative protection from criminal arrest during Assembly sessions. The measure cannot become law until approval by statewide referrendum this fall and by the 1998 General Assembly.
GIFTS: Require government officials disclose gifts with a value greater than $100, down from current level of $200.
DISCLOSURE: Make lawmakers provide more information about fees they receive for representing clients before state agencies.
LEGISLATIVE FUNDRAISING: Prohibit legislators and statewide offices from liciting or accepting contribwhile the General Assembly is in session, unless official faces a contested race.
STATE SONG: Force "Take Me Back to Old Virginia" into semi-retirement as the State Song "emeritus."
Failed
PUBLIC FINANCED CAMPAIGNS: Provide public funds to candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general, if they agree to cap individual contributions to their campaign at $500.
JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS: Create indepedent commission to make nonbinding recommendations to the General Assembly for nominees for judgeships.
FELONS VOTING RIGHTS: Establish a procedure for the restoration of the right to vote for convicted felons.
HEALTH & WELFARE
Approved
QUALITY OF CARE: Set up a hot-line for consumer complaints about HMO care.
GRADUATE STUDENTS: Add graduate students who receive a stipend to state health plan.
EMERGENCY ROOM: Set up procedure for emergency room phyisicians to recover costs from HMOs.
MEDICINAL HEROIN: Banned used of heroin for medicinal purposes.
Killed
RECONSTRUCTIVE BREAST SURGERY. Require insurers who pay for mastectomies to also pay for reconstructive breast surgery.
MEDICAL MARIJUANA: Repeal medical use for marijuana.
DRUG SWITCHING: Ban cash bounties that encourage pharmacies to fill presciptions with chemically dissimilar drugs.
DOMESTIC PARTNERS: Allow state health plan to provide coverage for live-in domestic partners.
MISCELLANEOUS
Passed
CHARITY BINGO: Exempt from state regulations charities that raise small amounts of money with bingo.
HORSE RACING: Give Colonial Downs until September to open race track in New Kent County.
LANDLORD TAX CREDIT: Allow tax break for landlords who rent to tenants who have been homeless in the past year.
Failed
CASINO GAMBLING: Ban slots and other casino-style games.
SEXUAL-ORIENTATION: Prohibit discrimination in employment and housing based on sexual orientation.
Want to be heard?
Write the governor c/o State Capitol, Richmond, Va. 23219 or you can e-mail via the governor's home page at http://www.state.va.us/governor/
LENGTH: Long : 220 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997by CNB