2011
HB 1529 Pendente lite support orders; payment of debts: Provides that a pendente lite spousal support order may include ordering that a party pay secured or unsecured debts incurred jointly by the parties or in either party’s name.(PASSED)
HB 1682 Subordinate mortgage; increases maximum amount upon refinancing of primary mortgage: makes it easier for homeowners with a second (subordinate) mortgage to refinance by increasing from $50,000 to $150,000 the maximum amount of the subordinate mortgage that retains its subordinate status upon the refinancing of the primary mortgage. (PASSED)
HB1683 Motor vehicles; passing of bicycles, etc: prohibits following too closely behind a bicycle and increases the required passing distance around bikes from 2 feet to 3 feet. (TABLED)
Related Articles:
http://www.bikecharlottesville.org/article/70
http://www.bikecharlottesville.org/article/73
http://www.bikecharlottesville.org/article/71
http://fabb-bikes.blogspot.com/2011/01/three-feet-passing-bill-hb-1683.html
HB 1684 Voter registration; identification requirements for first-time voters who register by mail: Revises the current requirement for first-time voters who register by mail. The bill replaces the requirement to vote in person with a requirement to show a form of voter identification. (TABLED)
HB 1685 Agricultural net energy metering; creates a category of eligible customer-generators: allows agricultural customers engaging in “net metering” to aggregate multiple meters on their property and across property lines to adjacent agricultural customers for the purpose of making it easier for farms to self-generate electricity with alternative energies. (TABLED; being studied by the SCC)
HB 1686 Distributed solar generation demonstration programs; SCC to consider approval of facilities: Directs the State Corporation Commission (SCC) to approve petitions filed by a utility to own and operate distributed solar generation facilities and to offer special tariffs to facilitate customer-owned distributed solar generation as alternatives to net energy metering. These pilot programs are designed to test out a rate structure for self-generating customers and a system of distributed solar power. (PASSED)
Related Articles:
http://www2.dailyprogress.com/news/cdp-news/2011/feb/12/toscano-bell-see-bills-advance-ar-839022/
http://www.pecva.org/anx/index.cfm/1,714,3663,-1,html
HB1868 Adult adopted person; access to identifying information: Makes it easier for adult adopted persons to obtain their original birth certificates.(PASSED)
HB 1869 General Assembly; reports to accompany general appropriation bills: Requires the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee to issue reports concurrently with the budget conference report that specifically identify (i) any nonstate appropriation, (ii) any item in the conference report that was not included in a general appropriation bill as passed by either the House or the Senate, and (iii) any item that represents legislation that failed in either house during the regular or a special session. (TABLED)
Related Articles:
HB 1870 VEDPA; reports by businesses receiving development subsidies: Requires any business entity that receives a government development subsidy (e.g. tax credits, exemptions, abatements, bonds, grants, etc) to file an annual report with the state to track whether the subsidy is achieving its stated job-creation goals. (TABLED)
Related Articles:
HB 1871 Length of school term; minimum number of days or hours: Provides that, beginning in the 2012-2013 school year, the minimum length of the school term shall increase by 5.5 hours annually for a period of 10 years. (TABLED; incorporated into HJ 646, a study of year-round schooling and other educational reforms)
Related Articles
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/media/files/print-edition/CavalierDaily_012111.pdf
http://www.nbc29.com/story/13872023/toscano-proposes-extending-school-year
HB 1872 Public infrastructure maintenance bonds; City of Charlottesville may require from developers, etc: Allows localities to require public infrastructure maintenance bonds from developers and property owners in conjunction with the construction of single- and two-family homes to cover potential damage to public infrastructure like sidewalks, etc. (PASSED)
HB 1873 Converted vehicles; definition, certain vehicles need not be examined by DMV: Creates a definition for vehicles converted from gas to electric power and provides that such vehicles, when accompanied by certain documents, need not be examined by the Department of Motor Vehicles. (TABLED, being studied by DMV to see how best to define and regulate the permitting of these vehicles)
Related Articles:
This bill was based on a constituent request relating to a great project at the UVA Engineering School converting standard internal-combustion automobiles to electric vehicles. More information here: http://www.seas.virginia.edu/pubs/enews/enews_july10/ride.php
HB 2421 Adoption procedures: Makes numerous changes to adoption procedures including (i) providing that venue for a parental placement adoption consent hearing lies in any city or county in the Commonwealth; (ii) providing that juvenile and domestic relations district courts have jurisdiction over petitions to review an adoption home study and petitions for the court to assist with the execution of another state’s or jurisdiction’s adoption consent or related document; (iii) under what conditions parental consent is not required for an adoption of a child from another country whose foreign placement will be finalized in the Commonwealth; and (iv) providing that procedures used in parental placement adoptions apply in all cases, except step-parent, relative, and agency placements. The bill also provides that a birth parent’s consent to an adoption is not required if he has not visited or contacted the child for six months immediately prior to the filing of the petition for adoption or prior to any adoption-related proceeding in the juvenile and domestic relations district court where the birth parent has been notified of the Putative Father Registry or other adoption-related proceeding or has been contacted for the purpose of seeking his cooperation in a future adoption proceeding. Current law only provides that the birth parent’s consent is not required if he had not visited or contacted the child for six months prior to the filing of the petition for adoption. (TABLED; working with group of adoption advocates and attorneys for reintroduction in 2012)
HB 2422 Protective orders; makes numerous changes to laws governing family abuse and stalking, penalty: incorporated into omnibus protective orders bill (HB 2063), the provisions of HB 2422 that were included require that the procedures for obtaining a protective order and the law enforcement response are consistent for those in dating relationships, too. (PASSED, HB 2063)
Related Articles:
http://preventviolence.wordpress.com/2011/01/26/lobby-day-for-sexual-and-domestic-violence-victims/
http://acluva.org/6566/expanding-access-to-protective-orders-and-penalties-for-dating-violence/
