Sign In
Free Newsletter
Va. Senate passes ban on smoking with kids in car
RICHMOND The Virginia Senate has passed legislation making it illegal for adults to smoke with kids in the car. The vote on Sen. Ralph Northam's bill was 30-10. It now goes to the House of Delegates, which historically is less receptive to such restrictions.
Democrats criticize Cuccinelli for remarks in new book
RICHMOND Democratic lawmakers on Thursday denounced Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's remarks in his new book about government programs like Medicare and Social Security.
Democrats criticize Cuccinelli for remarks in book
RICHMOND Democratic lawmakers on Thursday denounced Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's remarks in his new book about government programs like Medicare and Social Security.
Pre-Labor Day school bill fails in Va. Senate committee
Tourism interests prevailed again in the perennial battle over Virginia’s school calendar when a Senate committee Thursday rejected a bill to undo a law mandating a post-Labor Day start to the instructional year. Sen. Ralph Smith’s SB 1099 is among the latest attempts to repeal the statute which requires school divisions that want to start early to obtain a state waiver.
As bill dies, push to lift uranium ban losing steam
RICHMOND With his legislation to advance uranium mining in Virginia seemingly shelved for the year, Sen. John Watkins searched for a way forward Thursday, urging Gov. Bob McDonnell to plow ahead on the development of mining regulations.
Virginia ‘Tebow bill’ delayed, in-state tuition spiked
RICHMOND For the time being, legislation that would allow students educated at home to play public school sports has been held back in the Virginia Senate while similar legislation survives in the House of Delegates.
Hybrid car owners protest at the Virginia Capitol
RICHMOND With signs, cardboard wind turbines and a parade of Priuses, hybrid car owners on Thursday afternoon sent a message to legislators meeting inside the Capitol: No hybrid tax. The demonstration by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network was in protest of legislation that would tax hybrid car owners and repeal renewable-energy incentives for electricity companies.
Virginia ‘Tebow bill’ clears House, not Senate
RICHMOND Legislation that would allow students educated at home to play public school sports was held back in the Virginia Senate on Thursday, hours before similar legislation passed in the House of Delegates.
Bill would give private gun sellers option for checks
RICHMOND A bill to give private sellers at gun shows the option to obtain criminal background checks on customers before completing a sale has been filed in the General Assembly days ahead of a key legislative deadline. The proposal from Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, was introduced on the Senate floor Thursday and could come up for committee consideration at a hearing today.
Governor’s transportation plan on road to revisions
RICHMOND Gov. Bob McDonnell's transportation funding plan took another step through the legislative process Thursday, but it's clearly very much a work in progress.
41 years later, Va. still nixes Equal Rights Amendment
RICHMOND Del. Scott Surovell was 1 year old in 1972 when Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, proclaiming that "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex."
Bill aims to ease prescription costs for Virginians
RICHMOND The annual cost of Sarah Keitt’s prescriptions – about $48,000 – to treat her multiple sclerosis is more than some Virginians make in a year. But until she and her family reach their annual out-of-pocket maximums, they must scrounge to pay much of the costs themselves, already totaling $3,000 this month, Keitt told lawmakers this afternoon.
