Press release from the Virginia Senate Republican Caucus….
The Virginia Senate Republican Caucus today expressed satisfaction on the progress of the 2019 Session of the Virginia General Assembly at Crossover, the halfway point of the legislative session.
Of the nearly 800 bills filed by members of the Virginia Senate, 479 were approved by the upper chamber by the Crossover deadline and will now be considered by the House of Delegates. Senate Bill 1100, Amendments to the 2018-2020 Biennial Budget, will be taken up by the Senate Thursday.
“Senate Republicans are excited about how many of the issues important to the people of Virginia we have addressed this year,” noted Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment, Jr. (R-James City). “Tomorrow, we’ll approve a fiscally responsible budget that includes $1 billion in tax relief for working families. We’ve already approved legislation that will give consumers greater choice and more affordability in healthcare coverage. And, we’re prioritizing education and public safety for increased investments, including a 5% pay raise for teachers.
“We still have two-and-a-half weeks left in session, but I am very pleased with what our Caucus has accomplished so far and the example they are setting by focusing on the priorities of the people of Virginia.”
Below is a select list of bills, sponsored by members of the Senate Republican Caucus and grouped by topic, that were approved by the Senate of Virginia by Crossover.
Strengthening the Economy and Creating Jobs
SB 999 (Stanley) Passed Senate 40-0
Creates the Virginia Grocery Investment Program and Fund to help facilitate grocery stores in underserved communities.
SB 1099 (DeSteph) Passed Senate 35-5
Requires Virginia state government to guide public bodies to purchase iron and steel made in the United States.
SB 1420 (Sturtevant) Passed Senate 40-0
Allows co-working establishments to apply for ABC license.
SB 1425 (Dunnavant) Passed Senate 39-1
Limits the amount of local repetitive taxes food trucks are required to pay.
SB 1495 (Chafin) Passed Senate 38-0
Establishes the Virginia Rural Information Technology Apprenticeship Grant Fund and Program, awarding grants to small, rural information technology businesses.
SB 1523 (Ruff) Passed Senate 34-6
Creates a cabinet-level position in the Governor’s Cabinet for Secretary of Workforce Development.
SB 1589 (Dunnavant) Passed Senate 40-0
Creates the Virginia Works Portal, creating one-stop access for information on career paths, education, workforce development, and employment opportunities.
SB 1726 (McDougle) Passed Senate 40-0
Deregulates happy hour pricing restriction, allowing restaurants to promote business.
Increasing Access to Quality Health Care
SB 1004 (Chase) Passed Senate 40-0
Requires patients be made aware of their right to request an estimate for health procedures in hospitals.
SB 1027 (Sturtevant) Passed Senate 38-2
Allows Virginians to purchase catastrophic health care insurance, which requires all ACA provisions, with low-cost, high-deductible health plans.
SB 1221 (Chafin) Passed Senate 40-0
Expands opportunity for healthcare access through the use of tele-medicine.
SB 1240 (Reeves) Passed Senate 40-0
Increases duration for short-term, limited-duration health care plans to match the federal rule.
SB 1358 (Wagner) Passed Senate 40-0
Allows localities to establish healthcare clinics for locality employees, which include dental and vision coverage.
SB 1581 (Suetterlein) Passed Senate 40-0
Codifies parental leave policy from Executive Order Number 12 (2018) to state employees, consisting of eight weeks of paid parental leave following birth, adoption, or foster placement.
SB 1596 (Dunnavant) Passed Senate 40-0
Requires health insurance to consider amounts paid when considering contributions to out-of-network payments.
SB 1763 (Sturtevant) Passed Senate 40-0
Directs health carriers to address surprise billing, where certain health services are out of patient insurance network.
Expanding Opportunity through Education
SB 1015 (Stanley) Passed Senate 23-15
Expands the Education Improvement Scholarships tax credit pre-kindergarten programs.
SB 1314 (Hanger) Passed Senate 40-0
Requires children in state hospital and mental health facilities to participate in education and training programs.
SB 1368 (Norment) Passed Senate 40-0
Lowers cost of Prepaid529 college savings plans by putting specific criteria to limit the amount of financial reserves paid in.
SB 1519 (Carrico) Passed Senate 38-2
Allows University of Virginia at Wise to offer reduced rate tuition for prospective students who live in Southwest Virginia.
SB 1590 (Dunnavant) Passed Senate 39-1
Expands Virtual Virginia to all public schools.
Protecting Virginians & Reforming Criminal Justice
SB 1023 (Cosgrove) Passed Senate 40-0
Changes statutory requirements allowing retired law enforcement officers to serve as school resource officers.
SB 1179 (Stuart) Passed Senate 40-0
Allows Virginian active-military to receive a concealed-carry permit from Virginia when stationed outside Virginia.
SB 1213 (Newman) Passed Senate 38-0
Requires Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety to develop a case management tool for use by public elementary and secondary school threat assessment teams.
SB 1214 (Newman) Passed Senate 40-0
Requires local school boards in which local law enforcement agency employs school resource officers to enter into memorandum of understanding with local law enforcement agencies that set forth powers and responsibilities of SROs.
SB 1215 (Newman) Passed Senate 40-0
Requires each school board to develop training on safety procedures in the event of an emergency situation on school property, and that training to be delivered to students and employees at least once a year.
SB 1218 (Newman) Passed Senate 40-0
Requires SOLs administered to students in grades 9 – 12 to include reading, writing, mathematics, science, and Virginia and U.S. history.
SB 1339 (Reeves) Passed Senate 40-0
Omnibus bill addressing the deficiencies in the Department of Social Services agency in response to the JLARC report.
SB 1379 (McDougle) Passed Senate 40-0
Requires copies of all discovered or known child pornography found during course of criminal investigation to be included in the Child Pornography Registry.
SB 1501 (Carrico) Passed Senate 35-5
Requires those guilty of premeditated murder against law enforcement to serve a mandatory minimum of at least life in prison.
SB 1529 (Chafin) Passed Senate 40-0
Expands fingerprinting for criminal offenses to address the missing 700,000 files from the criminal database.
SB 1602 (Obenshain) Passed Senate 40-0
Omnibus bill addressing the 700,000 missing files from the Central Criminal Record Exchange.
SB 1661 (Peake) Passed Senate 40-0
Requires local social services to conduct sex trafficking assessment upon receiving a complaint of suspected child abuse, and allow local departments to take child victims into custody.
SB 1669 (Vogel) Passed Senate 40-0
Creates a Sex Trafficking Response Coordinator within the Department of Criminal Justice Services.
Improving Transportation
SB 1183 (Stuart) Passed Senate 40-0
Specifies that emergency vehicles in performance of their official duties shall be granted free use of tolls.
SB 1468 (Black) Passed Senate 40-0
Allows the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority to evaluate and rate transportation projects instead of the Department of Transportation.
SB 1749 (McDougle) Passed Senate 40-0
Creates the Robert O. Norris Bridge and Statewide Special Structure Fund, tasked with reviewing current and future conditions of pavement and bridges in the Commonwealth.
SJ 254 (Black) Passed Senate 40-0
Directs the Department of Transportation to study the feasibility of purchasing the Dulles Greenway.
Maximizing Virginia Energy
SB 1707 (Chafin) Passed Senate 40-0
Creates the Southwest Virginia Energy Research and Development Authority to promote opportunities for energy development in Southwest Virginia.
Ensuring Transparency and Ethics
SB 1068 (Obenshain) Passed Senate 40-0
Requires a two-year waiting period for members serving on Board of Visitors from accepting employment from a state-funded university or college.
SB 1087 (Obenshain) Passed Senate 40-0
Puts in place decennial redistricting guidelines that freeze county redrawing until the General Assembly completes the process so that split precincts are prevented.
SB 1352 (McDougle) Passed Senate 22-18
Creates the Medicaid Fiscal Oversight and Accountability Office as an agency to prepare the Official Medicaid Forecast for oversight of Medicaid expenditures, review of fiscal impact of policy changes, and other oversight.
SB 1455 (Vogel) Passed Senate 35-2
Reorganizes the Department of and State Board of Elections in response to the JLARC report on political bias.
SB 1577 (Suetterlein) Passed Senate 40-0
Requires ballot for elected offices appear before any questions presented to voters.
SB 1579 (Suetterlein) Passed Senate 21-17
Establishes decennial redistricting criteria.
SB 1696 (Wagner) Passed Senate 40-0
Requires employers to provide employees with hourly paycheck stubs.
SB 1703 (Suetterlein) Passed Senate 39-0
Requires Library of Virginia to catalogue and make available to the public all records delivered by an outgoing Governor within one year of delivery.
SB 1751 (Ruff) Passed Senate 38-2
Requires DPOR to review licensure accounting each biennium, and in the event it takes in higher revenue than needed, requires DPOR to reduce licensure fees.