Legislation Update for February '10 Meeting

Virginia Legislation

Pro Gun Rights Bills:

HB 475 - Allows concealed carry permit owners to carry concealed in K-12 parking lots, and in schools when they are not in use for school activities.

HB 72 - Reduces the penalty from a felony to a Class 1 misdemeanor for someone carrying a firearm on K-12 school property with no criminal intent. [The bill was tabled in committee on Feb. 8; unfortunately this will probably kill the bill.]

HB 49 - Repeals one-handgun-a-month restriction.


Other Bills to Support:

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; referred to Senate.]

HB 1319 - Exempts Virginia from enforcing the federal Clean Air Act and Copenhagen Accords. [Voice vote continued bill into 2011 session.]

HB 15 - Bars the use of Virginia jails or prisons for federal terror prisoner detention. [Passed Feb. 15 House vote.]

SB 417 - Declares that Virginia residents cannot be required to purchase or maintain health insurance. [Passed Senate and House; awaits Gov. McDonnell's signature.]


Virginia Constitutional Amendments to Support:

HJ 7 - Protects an individual's right to participate or decline to participate in a health care system or plan.

HJ 26 - Limits the next year's spending to the previous year's total spending plus a factor for inflation and population increase.

HJ 115 - Enumerates previously vague powers of eminent domain; stipulates that eminent domain may not be used to increase the tax base, tax revenues, or employment. This amendment would effectively neuter the attrocious Supreme Court ruling on the Kelo case as applied in VA.

OPPOSE:

Ressurrection of the Death Tax!

HB 223 and HB 275 - [SUCCESS! HB 223 has been tabled, effectively killed; and HB 275 has been struck from the docket.]

HB 230 - Gas tax increase.

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 Senate vote; oppose passage in the House of Delegates.]

Federal Legislation

Support Ron Paul's Bills:

HR 4248 - Free Competition in Currency Act - Lifts legal tender laws and allows for the free market competition of currencies in the U.S. Lifts sales and capital gains taxes on transactions in gold and silver, thereby legalizing monetary provisions in the Constitution, that have been suppress by unconstitutional laws. This bill would remove the Federal Reserve's currency monopoly and would result in repercussions for the Fed creating money out of thin air. Citizens would be empowered to maintain the value of their savings that would otherwise be lost to inflation. (See past blog post for further details.)

HR 3394 - Freedom of Health Speech Act - Provides that the FTC has the burden of proof if it alleges that a dietary supplement claim is false or misleading, and that it cannot prosecute a company without giving 30 days notice that such claim violates the law.

HR 3395 - Health Freedom Act - Provides that FDA has the burden of proof if it alleges that a claim is false or misleading, and says that FDA may not take action to prevent use of a truthful, non-misleading claim that any nutrient in a food or supplement can cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent any disease.


OPPOSE:

HR 2159 - Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2009 - Denies issuance and transfer of firearms to labeled domestic terrorists. Would allow Obama's Attorney General, Eric Holder, to "withhold" from court and from defendants any and all evidence in gun related criminal proceedings based upon the accusation of participation terrorism. Instead, the court must accept summaries of evidence provided by Holder. Essentially, the bill allows you to be disarmed and/or imprisoned without providing real evidence.

S 3002 - Bill to Amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to impose new regulations on dietary supplements. This bill will destroy the free market for dietary supplements of almost any type, including vitamins. This is part of the globalist agenda handed down from by the international Codex Alimentarius group to take away personal health freedom. There is a high likelihood that this bill could get attached to another statist bill, S 510, deceptively coined the "FDA Food Safety Modernization Act".

S 510 - Gives futher advantages to mega corporate farmers and harms small farmers by giving a preferred voice to corporate farmers to be heard by the FDA. Harming small farms means that organic, non-GMO, chemical-free food will become more scarce. The bill also usurps state soverignty and unconstitutionally asserts that the federal government can dictate food inspection practices which, again are likey to benefit the corporate farmers at the detriment of small farmers.

Important Pending Virginia Legislation

HB = House Bill ; SB = Senate Bill

Positive Virginia Legislation to Support

HB 10 - Virginia Health Care Freedom Act - Sponsored by Bob Marshall

Protects an individual's right and power to participate or to decline to participate in a health care system or plan. The bill prohibits any law that will infringe on an individual's right to pay for lawful medical services. The bill further prohibits the adoption of any law that imposes a penalty, tax, or fine upon an individual who declines to enter into a contract for health care coverage or to participate in a health care system or plan.

HB 60 - Amends Food Safety Preparation Law § 3.2-5130 - Sponsored by David J. Toscano

Exempts private homes from food safety inspections where the resident processes and prepares pickles, relishes, and salsas for sale to individuals at the home or at farmers markets and labeled "NOT FOR RESALE - PROCESSED AND PREPARED WITHOUT STATE INSPECTION." Private homes are already exempt from inspection where candies, jams, jellies, and baked goods are prepared and distributed accordingly.

HB 69 - Firearms Freedom Act - Sponsored by Charles W. "Bill" Carrico

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.

HB 106 - Concealed Carry - Sponsored by Mark L. Cole

Allows a person with a valid concealed handgun permit to carry a concealed handgun in a place of worship with permission of the leader of the religious meeting. The bill also eliminates the restriction against carrying a concealed handgun in a restaurant that serves alcohol.

HB 108 - Disposition of Firearms - Sponsored by Mark L. Cole

Provides that no locality may participate in any program in which individuals are given a thing of value in exchange for surrendering a firearm to the locality unless the governing body of the locality has enacted an ordinance authorizing the participation of the locality. The ordinance shall require that such firearms shall be sold by public auction or sealed bids to a person licensed as a dealer or be disposed of in any other appropriate manner.

HB 109 - Elimination of Firearms Licensing Fees and Records - Sponsored by Mark L. Cole

Repeals local authority to impose a license tax of not more than $25 on persons engaged in the business of selling pistols and revolvers. Also, a recordkeeping requirement for such persons is deleted and the clerk of the circuit court shall destroy any such existing records.

HB 152 - Personal Protection for Private Security Employees - Sponsored by John M. O'Bannon, III

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.

Virginia Legislation to Oppose, as explained by VCDL

SB 70 - Reinforces Federal Gun Ban for Domestic Violence Misdemeanor - Sponsored by John M. O'Bannon, III

Allows a person convicted of certain criminal offenses to petition to have his conviction expunged after a five-year period has expired following the conviction, upon a showing that his opportunities for employment, education, or professional licensure are prejudiced by the existence of the criminal record. Expungement would not be available for someone convicted of a violent felony, a DUI-related offense, an offense for which registration on the sex offender registry is required, or domestic violence.

VCDL.org Comments: This bill disallows expungement for MISDEMEANOR domestic violence convictions if that conviction bans the possession of a firearm under federal law. Once convicted, you will be forever banned from possessing firearms as there will be no way to get that conviction expunged. The misdemeanor domestic violence gun ban is a travesty and we need to have a way for good people to get their gun rights back.

HB 183 - Firearms Freedom Act - Sponsored by Joseph D. Morrissey

Allows a person convicted of a criminal offense to have his conviction expunged after 10 years have passed following the conviction, upon a showing that his opportunities for employment, education, or professional licensure are prejudiced by the existence of the criminal record. Expungement would not be available for someone convicted of a violent felony, a DUI-related offense, an offense for which registration on the sex offender registry is required, or domestic violence.

VCDL.org Comments: This bill is a matching bill to SB 70, which allows for expungement of certain convictions, but does not do so in a way that the federal government would likely accept because the expunged data is not really expunged, but is kept for possible reference in the future. Even if the expungements were valid, the bill does not allow the expungement of MISDEMEANOR domestic violence convictions if that conviction bans the possession of a firearm under federal law. Once convicted, you will be forever banned from possessing firearms as there will be no way to get that conviction expunged. The federal misdemeanor domestic violence gun ban is a travesty, is unconstitutional, and Virginia should not be supporting it in any way.

HR 4248: Free Competition in Currency Act

Introduced 12/09/09

Introduction combining Ron Paul & “Fall of the Republic” economic data

A system of the reintroduction of competing currencies needs to be established now. At this country’s emergence there was no Federal government monopoly on coin and currency, no Federal Reserve to print currency without regard to inflation. In fact the Federal government needs to have the ability to inflate the fiat Federal Reserve Notes in order to carry on constant wars and at the same time provide the people with their bread and circuses. The current national debt including toxic derivatives exceeds the GNP by 20 to 30 times. Our economy is bankrupted. The Wall Street bankers together with their international partners are holding Congress hostage with the threat of Marshall law unless more bailout currency is appropriated to them. No amount of bailout is enough to stem the tide of the toxic derivatives originally put in place by the Clinton administration. Obama has the same hencemen as Clinton.

To take back control of our own currency, the following needs to be established:

1. Eliminate capital gains and sales taxes on gold and silver coins.
2. Reestablish private mints.
3. Eliminate legal tender laws. The Constitution, article I section 10 allows states to use only gold and silver as legal tender in payment of debts. The Constitution says nothing about the Federal government declaring anything a legal tender. The Federal government on its own declared the fiat Federal Reserve Notes legal tender. If people are free to reject debased currency such as the Federal Reserve Notes, and instead demand sound currency, than sound currency will return. A free market will dictate this result. Merchants and citizens would be free to reject the Federal Reserve Notes and thus reject the yolk of the Federal Reserve!
   

H.J. Res. 5 - Repeal of 22nd Amendment

This joint resolution was introduced in the House by New York Representative José Serrano. The resolution would repeal the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, removing the two-term presidential term restriction, enacted as a consequence of the four terms of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Given that we know our voting system has been compromised by an expanding paperless system of black-box electronic voting (constructed thanks to the Help America Vote Act of 2002) passage of the resolution would mean that an unlimited dictatorial succession of presidential terms for Barack Obama or any other president would be possible.

S. 773, Cybersecurity Act of 2009

The Cybersecurity Act of 2009, S. 773, was introduced by John Rockefeller of West Virginia under the guise of improving security of critical technical systems within government and private sectors.

The bill usurps and centralizes more power to the Executive branch in the following ways:

• The bill empowers the President to declare a cyber security emergency and take control of any so-called "critical infrastructure" within the private sector.


• In such an "emergency" the President can also order companies to disclose private information, regardless of privacy laws like the Wiretap Act or the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.


• The bill creates a federal certification program for cybersecurity professionals. This certification would be mandatory for certain systems and networks within the private sector.

Status as of September 7, 2009: Three Cosponsors; in Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Related Links:

• Obama's Latest Cyber Space Power Grab
• Cybersecurity Act of 2009: What You Should Know

HR 1495

Purpose: To amend the IRS Code of 1986 to make health care coverage more accessible and affordable.

Dr. Ron Paul introduced this bill which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

Health Insurance costs: a. CRDEIT 1. the amount paid by the taxpayer for insurance which constitutes medical care for the taxpayer and the taxpayer's spouse and dependents
plus 2. the amount contributed to a health savings account of the individual
b. LIMITATION 1. the taxpayer's net income tax
plus 2. the taxpayer's social security taxes

Disposition of unused health benefits: carried forward to the next year (no loss)

Strengthening Health Savings Accounts: the amount allowable as a deduction to a taxpayer under subsection (a) for the taxable year shall not exceed $8000 or $16000 for a joint return

REPEAL OF 7.5% THRESHOLD ON DEDUCTION FOR MEDICAL EXPENSES!

COMMENT: Immediately, anyone who works benefits from the above proposed changes. This is the 1st of a series of bills that Dr. Ron Paul will introduce to the House to take on the health care issue, bypassing Obama's proposal for health care. Write your congressman now to support this bill.

HR 3200

The hot topic of debate these days are the health care reform bills. The front runner in the House of Representatives is HR 3200. What is so bad about health care reform anyway? First and foremost, it is unconstitutional. Article 1, section 1 says that

"All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States..".

That is easy enough to understand, Congress is they only branch of the federal government that has been granted the power by the States to make laws. This does not mean that Congress can make just any law it feels like. Article 1, section 8 lays out the powers of Congress

"The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;--And

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof."

Herein we find the root problem with health care reform. The federal government has no authority under the Constitution of the United States to legislate health care. If that power has not been given to the federal government, then it belongs to the States respectively. That should be the end of the debate, but unfortunately, it is not. We know our Representatives only consider what we think when enough of us speak up. The rest of the time they hear from special interest groups and lobbyists. Why do we see the CEO of Carillion and pharmaceutical representatives trying to sell us this health care reform? It is suspicious at best. These corporations will be reaping the benefits from health care reform, they would lobby against it otherwise. So often the loudest voices heard have the most dollar signs attached. We must never forget the men and women in Washington are supposed to be working for us, and it is our duty to supervise their activities, just like any "boss" should. We can have the ultimate effect on our elected representatives pocketbook by not re-electing them.

In regards to the actual bill, HR 3200, there is much to be desired. I will not break down every part, this has been done already by many different people. I will provide links and encourage you to read and share what you see.

What does is say about major health care issues?


Page by page breakdown of HR 3200.