Margi's Sponsored Legislation

Commending Our Military Kids, Inc.

Status: Agreed to by Senate by voice vote, 03/06/2008

Commending Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Langley High School, and Oakton High School.

Status: Agreed to by Senate by voice vote, 02/28/2008

Commending Vincent F. Callahan, Jr.

Status: Agreed to by Senate by voice vote, 02/28/2008

Celebrating the life of Richard G. Darman.

Status: Agreed to by Senate, 02/14/2008

Celebrating the life of Martha K. Glennan.

Status: Agreed to by Senate, 02/14/2008

Commending the Fairfax County school winners of the Governor's Award for Educational Excellence.

Status: Agreed to by Senate by voice vote, 02/14/2008

Celebrating the life of William A. Strauss.

Status: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ307ER), 03/08/2008

Medical assistance services; coverage of treatment for breast and cervical cancer. Eliminates requirement that women be screened in under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program to qualify for coverage.  

Status: Left in Appropriations, 02/12/2008

Electric utilities; notice of renewable power options.  Requires each investor-owned electric utility in the Commonwealth to include in its monthly billing statements to individual retail customers a notice of options to purchase electric energy provided 100 percent from renewable energy sources.  Effective January 1, 2009, such customers will be permitted to buy electricity produced from renewable sources from licensed suppliers, if the incumbent utility does not offer an approved tariff for renewable energy.  The notice shall include instructions for exercising the option to purchase electric energy from renewable sources from the utility or from a licensed supplier, as applicable.  The customer shall be given the option to make the switch to renewable power via Internet connection, telephone, or mail.

Status: G Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0518), 03/17/2008

Sales and use tax; energy conservation products tax holiday.  Adds WaterSense products and additional Energy Star products to the Energy Star products sales tax exemption and a second four-day period when certain such products are exempt from the sales and use tax. Currently, the Energy Star products tax holiday is during the month of October and this legislation places the second one in April. It also exempts such products that are purchased for business use, not just personal use.

Status: G Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0554), 03/17/2008

Greenhouse gas emissions; mandatory reporting. Requires that the State Air Pollution Control Board adopt regulations requiring the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources. The regulations would apply only to those sources that emit more than a de minimis amount of greenhouse gas and that are already required to report emissions of other air pollutants. The Board is also authorized to adopt regulations that require those same parties to report greenhouse gas emissions from fleets of motor vehicles. Beginning in 2008, the Virginia Department of Transportation is required to provide the Department of Environmental Quality with data necessary to maintain a greenhouse gas emissions inventory for individual road segments throughout the Commonwealth.

Status: Left in Commerce and Labor, 02/12/2008

Civil remedial fees on certain drivers.  Repeals § 46.2-206.1, which provides for the imposition of civil remedial fees on certain drivers.

Status: Left in Transportation, 02/12/2008

Overbreeding of cats and dogs; penalty.  Prohibits any dealer from breeding more than 20 litters of dogs or cats, or selling more than 100 dogs or cats, in any year. Violators are guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.

Status: Incorporated by Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources (HB538-Orrock), 01/23/2008

Suspension of license on conviction of reckless driving by a minor.  Provides that if a minor is convicted of reckless driving in violation of subdivision (i) of § 46.2-862 (reckless driving in excess of 20 miles per hour over the speed limit), he shall lose his privilege to drive for six months. Currently, there is no exception for minors and all persons convicted of reckless driving (any offense) are subject to license suspension for a period of 10 days to six months.

Status: Left in Courts of Justice, 02/12/2008

Standards of Learning; growth model for student academic achievement.  Requires the Board of Education to develop and implement a growth model to assess and measure individual academic performance and achievement from grade to grade. The Board must ensure that the growth model emphasizes instruction and the students' mastery of curriculum content, ensures proficiency in core Standards of Learning subjects, is consistent with the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, and provides flexibility in allowing school divisions to select evaluation and testing instruments to measure student academic performance and achievement, including for state assessment programs.

Status: Continued to 2009 in Education, 01/30/2008