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2005 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Rules

Chairman: Thomas K. Norment, Jr.

Clerk: Susan Clarke Schaar
Staff: Virginia Edwards
Date of Meeting: January 28, 2005
Time and Place: 10:30 a.m.; SR-A; GAB

S.B. 791 Arbor Day; designating as last Friday in April, and each succeeding year thereafter.

Patron: Watkins

Arbor Day.  Changes the date that Virginia celebrates Arbor Day from the second Friday in April to the last Friday in April. This change brings Virginia's date into conformity with the date of the federally designated Arbor Day.

S.B. 1014 Health insurance; increases credits for retired teachers & other school bd. employees, removes cap.

Patron: Hanger

Health insurance credits; teachers and other local school board employees.%A0 Increases the monthly health insurance credit to retired teachers from $2.50 to $4.00 for each full year of the retired member's creditable service.%A0 The bill also eliminates an overall cap to the credit, and adds all retired full-time, salaried employees of local school boards as recipients to the credit.%A0 Under current law, only teachers and certain administrative personnel are included under the Code provision, while all other retired full-time, salaried employees of local school boards receive a credit in the amount of $1.50 for each full year of the retired member's creditable service under a different Code provision for local government employees.%A0 The bill is applicable to current and future retirees.

S.B. 1043 Health insurance; increases credits for retired state employees.

Patron: Martin

Health insurance credit for state employees.  Increases the health insurance credit for state employees to $6 per month for each year of creditable service. The monthly credit, however, shall not exceed $180 per month.

Under current law, retired state employees with 15 or more years of service are allowed a health insurance credit of $4 per month for each year of creditable service with a cap of $120 per month.

S.B. 1148 Research and Technology Advisory Commission; membership.

Patron: Stolle

Virginia Research and Technology Advisory Commission.  Increases the membership of the Virginia Research and Technology Advisory Commission from 29 to 30 by adding Eastern Virginia Medical School as an academic research institution member.  The bill also includes technical amendments to note that the Senate Committee on Rules is the proper appointing authority for the Virginia Senate and to alphabetize the research institutions.

S.J.R. 283 Motor vehicle emissions; Department of Environmental Quality to study.

Patron: Puller

Study; reducing motor vehicle emissions; report.  Requests the Department of Environmental Quality to study the costs and benefits of adopting air pollution standards for automobiles in Northern Virginia.

S.J.R. 308 Code Commission; to identify tax preferences outside of Title 58.1.

Patron: Chichester

Virginia Code Commission; tax preferences outside of Title 58.1; report.  Directs the Virginia Code Commission to identify tax preferences located outside of Title 58.1 in the Code of Virginia, and to report biennially to the General Assembly with recommendations for legislation to cross-reference these preferences in Title 58.1 or to generally make the tax preferences in the Code easier to identify.

S.J.R. 319 Resolution; designating February 4 as Give Kids A Smile Day in Virginia.

Patron: Marsh

Resolution; designating February 4, in 2005 and in each succeeding year, as Give Kids A Smile Day in Virginia.  Designates February 4, in 2005 and in each succeeding year, as Give Kids A Smile Day in Virginia to recognize and care for the oral health needs of children, and encourage Virginia dental professionals to participate in the observance of "National Give Kids A Smile Day," by providing free oral health care to children, particularly low-income children, and conducting educational activities to heighten public awareness concerning oral health care.

This resolution is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee Studying Access to and Costs of Oral Health Care in Virginia.

S.J.R. 320 Resolution; designating February as Children's Dental Health Month in Virginia.

Patron: Marsh

Resolution; designating February, in 2005 and in each succeeding year, as Children's Dental Health Month in Virginia.  Designates February, in 2005 and in each succeeding year, as Children's Dental Health Month in Virginia to recognize and care for the oral health needs of children, raise public awareness of the importance of oral health to total health, and participate in the observance of National Children's Dental Health Month.

This resolution is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee Studying Access to and Costs of Oral Health Care in Virginia.

S.J.R. 332 Rotary Day in Virginia. 

Patron: O'Brien

Rotary Day in Virginia.  Designates February 23, 2005, as Rotary Day in Virginia in honor of the centennial of Rotary International.

S.J.R. 333 Help America Vote Act; urging Congress to provide full funding for states.

Patron: Devolites Davis

Memorializing the Congress; Help America Vote Act funding.  Urges Congress to provide full funding for states under the Help America Vote Act.

S.J.R. 335 Juveniles; encourages retailers to take voluntary steps to limit access to medication easily abused.

Patron: Mims

Resolution; limiting access to medications easily abused by minors. Encourages the retailers of Virginia to take voluntary steps to limit access to medications easily abused by minors.

S.J.R. 343 Clean Air Act; Dept. of Environmtl. Qual. to study effect of trees & forests on ambient ozone level.

Patron: Mims

Study; tree-related measures in Clean Air Act state implementation plans to avoid loss of future federal transportation funds. Requests that the Department of Environmental Quality, in consultation with local governments and appropriate state, regional, and federal air quality and natural resource management agencies study the effect of urban trees and native forests on ambient ozone levels and other air pollutants, as well as the feasibility of including tree-related measures in state implementation plans for managing air quality to reduce health risks and avoid loss of future federal transportation funds.

S.J.R. 361 Manufacturing; joint subcomm. studying needs and future thereof, continued.

Patron: Wagner

Study; continuing the joint subcommittee studying the needs of the manufacturing sector and the future of manufacturing in Virginia; report.  Continues for one year the joint subcommittee established in 2004 by SJR 64 to study manufacturing needs and the future of manufacturing in Virginia. The joint subcommittee is directed to (i) determine how the manufacturing sector's needs may be addressed quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively and (ii) consider what role state and local governments should have in this endeavor.

S.J.R. 363 Prescription assistance programs; Dept. of Aging to consult w/Dental Assoc. to disseminate info.

Patron: Martin

Feasibility of information distribution by Mission of Mercy; resolution.  Encourages the Department for the Aging, the Department of Medical Assistance Services, and the Department of Health to consult with the Virginia Dental Association and the Virginia Health Care Foundation on the feasibility of using the Mission of Mercy program to disseminate information concerning prescription assistance programs and Medicare prescription drug discount cards.

S.J.R. 367 Private landowners; Board of Forestry studying, continued.

Patron: Ticer

Study of incentives for forestland owners; report.  Continues the Board of Forestry's study of incentives to private landowners to hold and preserve their forestlands.

S.J.R. 380 Lead poisoning prevention, joint subcommittee studying; continued.

Patron: Lambert

Study; Lead poisoning prevention.  Continues the Joint Subcommittee Studying Lead Poisoning Prevention for one year, with authority to hold two meetings. In conducting its 2005 study, the joint subcommittee will monitor the evolution of the data-sharing partnership established in § 32.1-127.1:04; monitor the completion of the reference database of statewide health-related data elements required by SB 565 of 2004; examine issues relating to lead poisoning among immigrant and adopted children; and seek to assist the Department of Health and the Department of Housing and Community Development in every appropriate way in maintaining federal funding.

S.J.R. 388 Code Commission; reorganizing and renumbering of #1950 Code and publication.

Patron: Mims

Virginia Code Commission.  Advises the citizens of Virginia of the intention of the Virginia Code Commission to publish a 2007 Code of Virginia to replace the Code of 1950.

S.J.R. 391 Prescription drugs; U.S. Secretary of Health & Human Serv. to approve purchas. from other countries.

Patron: Reynolds

Resolution; purchasing of prescription drugs from other countries. Memorializes the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to approve the purchasing of prescription drugs from other countries.

S.J.R. 393 Firearms hunting ordinances; Department of game and Inland Fisheries studying continued.

Patron: Stolle

Study; local firearms hunting ordinances; report.  Continues the 2004 study requesting the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to study local firearms hunting ordinances. The agency was requested to examine, among other issues, how these ordinances can be made more uniform and consistent across the Commonwealth, with particular attention paid to the development and use of model ordinances that would lead to an easier understanding by the public of the hunting laws.

S.J.R. 394 Risk Management Plans for Physicians and Hospitals, Joint Subcommittee Studying; continued.

Patron: Newman

Study; medical malpractice; report.  Continues the Joint Subcommittee Studying Risk Management Plans for Physicians and Hospitals to study various aspects of medical malpractice in Virginia.

S.J.R. 400 Study; voluntary, public-private health insurance purchasing pool for small businesses; report. 

Patron: Colgan

Study; voluntary, public-private health insurance purchasing pool for small businesses; report.  Requests the Secretary of Administration to prepare a program design for a voluntary, public-private health insurance purchasing pool for businesses with 50 or fewer employees. The Secretary of Administration is directed to work with representatives of health insurers, insurance agents, health care providers, and small businesses in developing the program design. This project is a recommendation of the Lieutenant Governor's Commission on Small Business Health Insurance Costs.

S.J.R. 402 Public schools; Dept. of Education to study best educational practices and programs for use therein.

Patron: Locke

Study; comprehensive study of best educational practices and programs; report. Requests the Department of Education to conduct a comprehensive study of best educational practices and programs for use in public schools. In conducting its study, the Department shall (i) ascertain the best educational practices and programs employed by school divisions to increase the academic achievement of at-risk students; (ii) review the reports of other states pertaining to best educational practices and programs for use with at-risk students to identify and evaluate those practices and programs, including school reform models, that demonstrate success in raising the academic performance of at-risk students; and (ii) determine the costs of implementing successful best practices and programs identified by the Department.

The Department of Education must submit an executive summary and a report of its findings and recommendations to the 2006 Session of the General Assembly.

S.J.R. 411 Prescription drugs; U.S. Secretary of Health & Human Serv. to approve purchas. from other countries.

Patron: Reynolds

Resolution; purchasing of prescription drugs from other countries. Memorializes the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to approve the purchasing of prescription drugs from other countries.

S.J.R. 437 No Child Left Behind; memorializing Congress to amend to include waiver about school accountability.

Patron: Hanger

Memorializing Congress; No Child Left Behind Act.  Urges Congress to amend the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act immediately to include a mechanism for an automatic waiver from its provisions for school accountability for states, such as Virginia, that have successfully raised student achievement through their own standards and accountability reforms, and that this waiver be made available to states so long as they maintain these proven standards and accountability programs. The resolution also requests that any further action anticipated to enforce the Act be deferred until full funding to implement the law has been authorized.

S.J.R. 441 Federal Burial Allowance; Congress urged to increase.

Patron: Saslaw

Memorializing the Congress; Federal Burial Allowance.  Urges Congress to increase the federal burial allowance from $300 to $750.