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House committee rejects sex-selective abortion ban
RICHMOND A Republican-controlled House subcommittee this afternoon unanimously voted against banning sex-selective abortions in Virginia, citing Constitutional concerns and worries about penalizing doctors for their patients’ motives.
Assault on high prison phone rates fails in Va. House
RICHMOND A lawmaker was rebuffed again today in his years-long assault on the high telephone rates paid by Virginia prisoners.
Welfare bills progress in the Virginia Senate
RICHMOND Efforts to expand welfare eligibility, drug test some welfare recipients and limit where their benefits may be used are progressing in the Virginia Senate.
Va. panel snuffs out absentee voting for senior citizens
RICHMOND The only expansion of voting rights that seemed to have a chance of passage in the 2013 General Assembly was quickly and quietly snuffed out today.
Va. panel tables absentee voting for senior citizens
RICHMOND The only expansion of voting rights that seemed to have a chance of passage in the 2013 General Assembly was quickly and quietly snuffed out today.
Va. gun show loophole bill advances, but not for long
RICHMOND Those who've long pined for passage of a bill requiring gun buyers to undergo background checks before purchases from private dealers at gun shows thought a breakthrough had been made when legislation addressing that issue cleared a Senate panel Friday morning.
A false start for a Virginia gun-show bill
RICHMOND A Senate committee's decision Friday to advance legislation that would require all sales of firearms at gun shows to be transacted by licensed dealers who would conduct background checks was short-lived.
Panel’s approval of gun show bill short-lived
RICHMOND A Virginia Senate committee that advanced legislation closing the so-called "gun show loophole" changed course about an hour later. The Courts of Justice Committee voted 8-6 Friday to endorse a new version of the perennially unsuccessful measure. The panel later reconvened on the Senate floor, reconsidered and put off action until Monday.
For the moment, gun show loophole bill survives
RICHMOND A series of Democrat-sponsored bills to place more controls on gun rights were shot down in a Senate committee Friday morning after a House subcommittee spiked some similar measures the night before. But in a surprise move, a version of the so-called gun show loophole bill cleared the Courts of Justice Committee after being modified at the last-minute.
House of Delegates opening prayer draws applause
It's rare that the daily opening prayer in the House of Delegates draws applause. One veteran member said he couldn't remember it ever happening. But it happened Friday. His deep voice soaring in the rhythmic cadence typical of African American churches, the Rev. Joshua King of Union Baptist Church in Hopewell applied some holy balm to the House's often warring factions.
Bill to repeal land tax credit is tabled
RICHMOND As a few state lawmakers fret about the burgeoning array of tax breaks that have chipped away at the public treasury, one Hampton Roads delegate Friday took on the biggest tax credit Virginia offers - and one of the most popular. The result was predictable: Del. Chris Jones' bill to repeal the land preservation credit quickly was deep-sixed after a roomful of lobbyists objected to it.
Senate OKs expanding names for war memorial
RICHMOND For years, state lawmakers have struggled to decide on what guidelines to set for inclusion on the Virginia War Memorial's Shrine of Memory, a marble and glass wall bearing more than 12,000 names. The complexity of the war on terror, funding for new walls to accommodate additional names and other issues muddy the conversation.
