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Volume 17
Number 2
January 21, 2005
Director on Record
Where We Are
Bills Tracking
Day of All People of Faith Information <click>
Download Registration Form <click(.pdf)>
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Welcome to LegisLink Online! During the Assembly we will be delivering a weekly E-mail to inform you of where bills are, an inside look at the mood of the Assembly, and a reminder about where we are in the legislative process. Join us February 3rd for our advocacy day for even more information.
The Director on Record
How to Eat an Elephant
Sometimes people ask, particularly when we are speaking in houses of worship across Virginia, how we handle defeat. The inevitable questions are not meant to suggest that many of our priorities lead us into quixotic battles for justice amid the powers and principalities of a less-than compassionate system. Rather, they are honest questions from voices that fear the disempowering effect of the good trouncing we sometimes get on some of our issues.
When one works for justice, handling immediate defeat for the sake of long term goals is a lesson quickly learned. Compassion is not contrary to people’s own response to crisis, demonstrated by our American response to the Southern Asia tsunami. But, the work for justice requires more focus and more dedication than a Pavlov, albeit important, response to the critical needs of the vulnerable. True justice demands that we participate in the long slog of strategizing, discerning, and acting incrementally. That is perhaps why our new slogan, “Learn. Pray. Act. The CommonWealth depends on Us” is so descriptive of the Center’s own philosophy of work. We know that effectiveness is not measured by a single legislative bill or even a season. Long-term change comes through the discernment, and actions of many years.
A friend of mine in Zimbabwe, Don Messick, once asked if I knew how to eat an elephant. Thinking of a pacaderm’s size, I had no answer. He simply responded, “One bite at a time.”
It takes time to digest lasting change, but little by little we can tackle huge issues with effective solutions.
Perhaps that is why your voice is so important in Richmond. If it were not for the members of the Virginia Interfaith Center, many issues vital to those least able to have a voice would get lost in the shuffle of the 3000+ bills facing the General Assembly. If it were not for your dedication to working for long-term justice their voice would be lost. Each time you send a letter or call a legislator it reiterates the values of our message and reinforces that priorities like taxes and poverty are moral issues.
I hope that you will join us on February 3 for the Day for All People of Faith at the General Assembly. It is an early morning start for many of us but the impact it can have is tremendous. Senators and Delegates are eager to hear from each of you about your concerns for Virginia and your ability to speak on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves is vital. Someone needing justice needs you to Learn. Pray. and Act. - Doug
Where We Are in the Legislative Process...
This second week seems like we just began and that we’ve been at it for weeks! With the prefiling of many bills, committees have been quickly at work. The focus over the next two weeks is mainly on committees and their subcommittees. The most important committees for our work include:
--House and Senate Courts of Justice
--House Appropriations (especially the Health and Human Resources subcommittee)
--Senate Finance (especially the Health and Human Resources subcommittee)
--House Health, Welfare & Institutions (HWI)
--House and Senate Commerce and Labor
Please visit our web site at www.virginiainterfaithcenter.org to learn more about committee composition and meeting times.
Please remember important upcoming dates:
February 3 - Day for All People of Faith
February 8 - Legislative Crossover
February 10 - Budget Crossover
February 16 - Each House completes work on the other House’s budget
February 26 - Adjournment Sine Die
Bill Tracking
Bills in black are those that the Virginia Interfaith Center opposes. Grey indicates the bill is dead.
NOW IS THE TIME TO CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS BY FAX, EMAIL, PHONE, OR VISIT! Send email and fax messages to your legislators via our user friendly communications system on our Web site at www.virginiainterfaithcenter.org.
Key - HB= House Bill; SB=Senate Bill; BA=Budget Amendment; PBI=passed by indefinitely (dead); Tabled=probable death; Left in Committee=probable death
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Legislative Concern
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Bill Number, Patron & Party
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Summary
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Status
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Poverty and the Working Poor
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HB 1761
(Dillard, R)
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Provides that a person who is otherwise eligible to receive TANF (welfare) and food stamp benefits shall not be denied such public assistance because the person has been convicted of a drug-related felony. |
Referred to Health, Welfare & Institutions (HWI)
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Poverty and the Working Poor
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HB 1864 (Morgan, R)
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Prohibits lenders from making payday loans to individuals who already have a current loan. Requires a 24 hour waiting period between such loans. |
Referred to Commerce and Labor
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Poverty and the Working Poor
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HB 1961
(Jones, D)
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Prohibits lenders from making payday loans to individuals who already have a current loan. Requires a 30 day waiting period between such loans. |
Referred to Commerce and Labor
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Poverty and the Working Poor
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HB 2050
(Nixon, R)
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Increases the minimum earnings required for a laid off worker to be eligible for unemployment from $2,500 to $3,500 over two quarters. |
Referred to Commerce and Labor
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Poverty and the Working Poor
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HB 2137
(Purkey, R)
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Establishes penalties for companies who transfer assets to another business with common ownership for the primary purpose of attaining a lower unemployment tax rate. |
Referred to Commerce and Labor
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Poverty and the Working Poor
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HB 2393
(Griffith, R)
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Repeals the statutory provisions governing the employee day of rest requirements. |
Referred to Commerce and Labor
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Poverty and the Working Poor
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SB 1055
(Wagner, R)
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Increases the minimum earnings required for a laid off worker to be eligible for unemployment from $2,500 to $3,500 over two quarters. |
Referred to Commerce and Labor
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Children
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HB 1998
(Griffith, R)
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Exempts martial arts programs from daycare licensure even when such programs operate like a child care facility and advertise as an alternative to child care. |
Referred to HWI subcommittee #2
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Children
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HB 2107
(McQuigg, R)
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Provides that any parent or other adult person responsible for the care of a child less than six years old who leaves such child unattended in a motor vehicle shall be subject to a civil penalty of no more than $100. |
Referred to Courts of Justice, Criminal Law subcommittee
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Children
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SB 743
(Miller, D)
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Extends the penalties for carrying a gun or other weapon on school property to child day centers. |
Referred to Courts of Justice
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Children
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SB 862
(Howell, D)
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Requires clergy to report suspected child abuse or neglect. The bill does not require the reporting of privileged communications between clergy and the persons they counsel. |
Referred to Rehab and Social Services
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Children
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SB 1006
(Hanger, R)
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Clarifies that the public schools in a school division shall be free to children in foster care living in that school division in the same manner as provided to homeless children and youth pursuant to the McKinney-Vento Act and state law. |
Referred to Education and Health
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Criminal Justice
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HB 1596
(Black, R)
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Increases by 50 percent the compensation allowed to court-appointed counsel in the district court and circuit court. |
Referred to Appropriations
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Criminal Justice
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HB 1800
(Albo, R)
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Adds willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing ordered by a member of a gang to the list of capital crimes eligible for the death penalty. |
Referred to Courts of Justice Criminal Law Subcommittee
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Criminal Justice
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HB 1805
(Marshall, R)
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This legislation would reduce the hurdles for a convicted individual to introduce evidence of innocence. |
Referred to Courts of Justice Criminal Law Subcommittee
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Criminal Justice
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HB 1975
(Callahan, R)
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Eliminates the death penalty for juvenile offenders. |
Referred to Courts of Justice Criminal Law Subcommittee
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Criminal Justice
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HB 2755
(Bland, D)
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Eliminates the requirement that persons convicted of non-violent felonies must wait five years after completion of sentence to petition through the courts for restoration of their right to vote. |
Referred to
Courts of Justice
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Criminal Justice
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HB 2773
(Bell, R)
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Removes the "default" life sentence in the event a jury cannot agree on the sentence in a capital case and provides for the empanelment of a different jury for ascertaining punishment, or for sentencing by the judge upon agreement of all parties. |
Referred to
Courts of Justice
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Criminal Justice
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SB 1078
(Ticer, D)
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Eliminates the death penalty for juvenile offenders. |
Referred to Courts of Justice
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Criminal Justice
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SB 1177
(Obenshain, R)
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Eliminates the "triggerman rule," which provides that only the principal in the first degree may be convicted of and punished for capital murder. The bill removes the "default" life sentence in the event a jury cannot agree on the sentence in a capital case and provides for the empanelment of a different jury for ascertaining punishment |
Referred to Courts of Justice
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Health Care
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Budget
amendment
(number and patron TBA)
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Increases eligibility for prenatal care from 133% of the federal poverty level to 200% of the federal poverty level. |
TBA
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Health Care
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Budget
amendment
(number and patron TBA)
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Increase dental reimbursement rates the average commercial rate. This increase should help alleviate the critical shortage of Dentists participating in the Medicaid program. |
TBA
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Health Care
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HB 2036
(Hamilton, R)
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Provides generally that the Commonwealth shall seek to ensure coordinated, effective, and efficient long-term care services to older adults. |
Referred to Health, Welfare & Institutions
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Health Care
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BA
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To remain in the community, non-married participants in almost all Medicaid Waivers must pay for all their living expenses with only $579 per month (100% of SSI). This amount is called the “Personal Maintenance Allowance” (PMA).This BA will raise the PMA to 300% of SSI in all Medicaid Waivers, meaning that an individual waiver recipient could keep up to $1737 of his/her own income to meet living expenses in the community |
TBA
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Housing and Homelessness
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HB 1992
(Griffith, R)
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Amend VA Fair Housing law to allow the display of religious symbols. The use of religious symbols can be discriminatory toward protected classes. Their use creates a presumption even if the intent is not to discriminate. |
Referred to General Laws subcommittee #1
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Housing and Homelessness
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Budget
amendment
(number and patron TBA)
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Provides funding for a pilot rental assistance program, which will assist and stabilize families leaving welfare to move back into communities. |
TBA
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Tax Equity
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HB 1638 (Callahan, R)
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Enacts the reduction in the rate of the state sales tax on food to 1.5% in July 2005 instead of in July 2007. |
Assigned to Finance
subcommittee #2
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Other
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HB 2673
(Scott, R)
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Amends and updates nomenclature throughout the code, with minimal substantive change, regarding churches and religion. The bill also defines "minister" and "church" to encompass all religions. |
Assigned to General Laws subcommittee #3
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Day of All People of Faith (formerly Lutheran, Episcopal, Presbyterian Day)Information <click>Download Registration Form <click(.pdf)>
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