Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Legislation Update for March 2010 Meeting

Virginia Legislation


Status of Bills is searchable online at
http://leg1.state.va.us/lis.htm


HB10S1
- House Bill 10, with Senate Substitution: Health Care Freedom Act [passed Senate vote, March 8; passed House vote, Feb. 11]

§ 38.2-3430.1:1. No resident of this Commonwealth, regardless of whether he has or is eligible for health insurance coverage under any policy or program provided by or through his employer, or a plan sponsored by the Commonwealth or the federal government, shall be required to obtain or maintain a policy of individual insurance coverage. No provision of this title shall render a resident of this Commonwealth liable for any penalty, assessment, fee, or fine as a result of his failure to procure or obtain health insurance coverage. This section shall not apply to individuals voluntarily applying for coverage under a state-administered program pursuant to Title XIX or Title XXI of the Social Security Act.

SB 417 - Provides that a resident of the Commonwealth shall not be required to obtain or maintain a policy of individual insurance coverage. [Passed Feb. 12 House vote; Passed March 4 Senate vote; awaits Gov. McDonnell's signature.]

HB 49 - Repeals one-handgun-a-month restriction. [Passed House voted on Feb. 16. Currently in Senate Committee for Courts of Justice.]

HB 15 - Bars the use of Virginia jails or prisons for federal terror prisoner detention. [Passed House voted on Feb. 12. Continued to 2011 session in Courts of Justice Committee.]

SB 280 - Removes the current cap of 4% for the county meals tax and allows counties to impose an uncapped rate. The bill would also allow counties to adopt or increase a meals tax by a majority vote of the elected members of the governing body. [Passed Jan 27 Senate vote; Successfully killed (effectively by tabling) in the House Subcommittee by March 1 voice vote.]

HB 570 - Changes the burden of proof from the taxpayer to the assessor when a taxpayer appeals the assessment of real property. [Passed Feb. 4 House vote; Passed March 8 vote in Senate Committee on Finance.]

SB334 - Allows Concealed Carry Permit holder to carry a handgun in restaurants and clubs, so long as he does not consume alcohol. [Passed Feb. 16 Senate vote; passed March 2 House vote.]

HB 69 - Firearms Freedom Act - Declares that firearms, firearms accessories, and ammunition made in Virginia and retained within the borders of Virginia are not subject to federal law or regulation under the authority of Congress to regulate interstate commerce. [Passed Feb. 16 House vote; currently in Senate Committee for Courts of Justice where it is unlikely to pass. Contact Delegate Morgan Griffith and urge him to substitute HB 69 into SB 501; Griffith claimed the bills weren't germane, but they are -- they deal with the same section of law (18.2-308). Morgan Griffith's email address: DelMGriffith@house.state.va.us]

HB 119 - Eliminates Virginia's corporate income tax for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2013. This bill improve employment opportunity in Virginia. [Bill in the House Committee on Appropriations; could be killed in committee]

HB 269 & HB 230 - Gas tax increase – killed in committee

HB 652 - Provides that any restriction, change, or loss of access to or from property taken under the power of eminent domain shall be subject to just compensation. [Passed Feb. 16 House vote; Passed March 1 vote in Senate Committee for Courts of Justice; passed March 3 vote in Senate Finance Committee; awaits Senate vote.]

HB 30 - Budget Bill
Bob Marshall: "I was informed this weekend that the members of the Conference Committee working to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the budget have proposed adding what I believe to be an unconstitutional $76 million round of fee increases to the House budget."

HJ 124 - Should be opposed. Will set the stage for easy passage of a naturopathic licensure bill that will put all traditional naturopaths and hundreds of natural health care practitioners in Virginia out of business. Since only a small group of approximately 11 naturopaths are seeking licensure, passage of this resolution would severely restrict Virginia residents in their choice of health care providers. The house resolution gets their foot in the door for this destructive licensure bill to follow. [Passed Feb 8 House vote; to be continued in 2011 session in the Senate Committee on Rules.]


Federal Legislation

S 3002 - Bill to Amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to impose new regulations on dietary supplements. The bill reverses freedoms inherent in common law where prohibitions must be enumerated; instead, the the act would specify the only legal standards for supplements.

[Commentary from Alliance for Natural Health USA: "Hundreds of thousands of messages poured into the Senate opposing Senator McCain's bill, the bill that would have wiped out current legislative protections for dietary supplements. More and more messages were arriving by the day. The entire Congress began to take note. Senator McCain was embarrassed by our ad whose headline pointed out that he was misrepresenting and did not seem to understand his own bill. Word is now racing around Capitol Hill that Senator McCain met with Senator Orin Hatch, a champion of natural medicine, and told him that he is withdrawing his support for the bill he authored, the so-called Dietary Supplement Safety Act (S 3002). This means that the bill as written is now dead."]