SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

2008 SESSION

  • print version
Senate Committee on Rules

Chairman: Mary Margaret Whipple

Clerk: Susan Clarke Schaar/Patty Lung
Staff: Cheryl Jackson, Brenda Edwards
Date of Meeting: March 3, 2008
Time and Place: 3:00 p.m. -- Senate Room A

H.B. 777

Patron: Tata

Commission on Civics Education. Extends the sunset provision applicable to the Commission from July 1, 2008, to July 1, 2010.

H.B. 781

Patron: Kilgore

Southwest Virginia Cultural Heritage Commission.  Creates the Southwest Virginia Cultural Heritage Commission to encourage the economic development of Southwest Virginia through the expansion of cultural heritage ventures and initiatives related to tourism and other asset-based enterprises, including the Southwest Virginia Artisan Center, the Crooked Road, Round The Mountain, and related cultural heritage organizations and venues that promote entrepreneurial and employment opportunities. The bill sets out the membership of the Commission and its powers and duties. The bill contains technical amendments.

H.B. 1391

Patron: Cox

Virginia Bicentennial of the American War of 1812 Commission. Establishes the Virginia Bicentennial of the American War of 1812 Commission to prepare for and commemorate the 200th anniversary of the war. Composed of 12 members, the Commission is authorized to plan commemorative events and activities, encourage research to promote historical literacy and understanding of the war, and support organizations throughout the state as they plan commemorative events. A special nonreverting fund is established to support the Commission's activities. The Commission expires July 1, 2015.

H.B. 1441

Patron: Orrock

Duties of the Division of Legislative Services.  Adds to the duties of the Division of Legislative Services the responsibility for providing an annual report to the General Assembly regarding the status of all reports, actions, or data collection required by legislation enacted by the General Assembly, except the appropriation act, or otherwise requested by the General Assembly of agencies and collegial bodies.

H.B. 1500

Patron: Lewis

Aerospace Advisory Council; created.  Reduces the membership of the Council from a total of 15 to 13 members, by reducing the number legislative and nonlegislative members. Provides that the nonlegislative citizen members representing NASA Wallops Flight Facility and NASA’s Langley Research Center shall be appointed by the Governor to serve as ex officio liaisons to the Council.

 

H.B. 1529

Patron: Abbitt

Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Awards Committee.  Clarifies that the Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Awards Committee may reduce the scholarship award to any student to ensure that, when the award is added to other financial assistance received by the student, the award does not produce a total of financial assistance in excess of the annual costs of tuition, excluding fees and expenses, and textbooks. Currently, state law requires that the award shall not exceed these annual costs. This bill requires all approved educational agencies enrolling scholarship recipients and receiving award disbursements on the behalf of such students to notify the Committee and the State Council of Higher Education prior to the start of each term, regarding the total of other financial assistance received by such students. Also, technical amendments have been made to conform provisions pertaining to the dual enrollment of students to the established procedures, protocol, and requirements for dual enrollment of college level students as currently in effect in the Commonwealth. This bill is a recommendation of the Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Awards Committee.

H.J.R. 51

Patron: Morgan

Study; unemployment compensation benefits for seasonal or temporary employment.  Directs the Commission on Unemployment Compensation to study the need for limitations on the eligibility of seasonal or temporary employees for unemployment compensation benefits.

H.J.R. 72

Patron: Purkey

Study; privatization of the ports of Virginia; report.  Establishes a joint subcommittee to study public-private partnerships regarding seaports in Virginia.

H.J.R. 75

Patron: Cole

Study; local incentives to private businesses; report.  Establishes a joint subcommittee to study local incentives provided to private businesses for economic development purposes. In conducting its study, the joint subcommittee shall (i) determine all incentives that localities are permitted to provide to private businesses; (ii) evaluate the impact of such incentives on smaller local competitors of the businesses provided the incentives; and (iii) evaluate the effectiveness of the incentives that are provided.

H.J.R. 79

Patron: Hamilton

Barring physicians or other health care practitioners from prescribing an alternative brand of medication because of financial incentives.  Requests the Governor and the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to develop a policy barring physicians or other health care practitioners from prescribing an alternative brand of medication because of financial incentives without first disclosing the incentives to the patient or the patient's parent, legal guardian, or other authorized representative.

H.J.R. 89

Patron: Cosgrove

Study; Southeastern Public Service Authority; report.  Directs the Auditor of Public Accounts to collect, receive, and analyze data and information relating to the operation and finances of the Southeastern Public Service Authority.

H.J.R. 90

Patron: Cosgrove

Continuing the Joint Subcommittee Studying Science, Math, and Technology Education at the Elementary, Secondary, and Undergraduate Levels.  Continues the joint subcommittee to review the curricula of existing public schools in the Commonwealth, including Governor's Schools and other specialized public schools devoted to math, science, or technology; study accessibility to specialized public schools by students throughout the Commonwealth; review and recommend innovative ways to interest students at all education levels in science, math, and technology; identify the key points during the K-12 education experience that will determine whether a student will become interested, and maintain that interest, in math, science, technology related subjects; and identify programs and activities that promote partnerships between educators at the Commonwealth's public schools and institutions of higher education, as well as with business and research entities in the science and technology sectors located in the Commonwealth.

In addition, to address the shortage of science and engineering graduates in the Commonwealth, the joint subcommittee shall, in its deliberations, ascertain the factors contributing to the shortage of science and engineering graduates in the Commonwealth and recommend alternatives to mitigate its effect; determine the current supply and demand for science and engineering graduates in Virginia, and project the need for such graduates in the next decade; examine ways to promote and encourage collaboration and partnerships between science and engineering programs at the Commonwealth’s institutions of higher education and science- and technology-based businesses in Virginia, including tax incentives; assess the feasibility of using the collaboration between Virginia Tech and the Virginia Community College System in the Lynchburg area as a model for institutional partnerships; and identify incentives designed to attract and retain more students into science and engineering programs and prepare them for careers in these fields. This resolution incorporates HJ 115 (Purkey).

H.J.R. 91

Patron: Hamilton

Study; Private institutions address Virginia’s educational and workforce needs; report.  Establishes a joint subcommittee to study ways in which the Commonwealth may work with Virginia’s private nonprofit colleges to meet state higher education needs.

H.J.R. 105

Patron: Valentine

Study; autism services; report.  Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee to study autism services in Virginia to identify and evaluate best practices in the provision of services for the diagnosis, treatment, and management of autism; methods of providing services to persons with autism; ways to disseminate information regarding best practices; and provide autism education and training for law enforcement and judicial personnel.  This resolution incorporates HJR 110 (Englin).

H.J.R. 113

Patron: Moran

Study; juvenile justice; Virginia State Crime Commission. Directs the Commission to continue its study of juvenile justice. The Commission, in continuing its study of the juvenile justice system in the Commonwealth pursuant to House Joint Resolution 136 (2006), shall also (i) review the severity of offenses committed by juveniles in the Commonwealth; (ii) evaluate the effects on the learning environment and educational process, particularly for other students, when juvenile offenders are returned to the public school classroom; (iii) identify and examine more effective methods of rehabilitating juveniles, particularly juveniles who commit serious offenses; and (iv) recommend such changes as the Commission may deem necessary to provide a more effective juvenile justice system. This resolution incorporates HJ 160 (Phillips).

H.J.R. 119

Patron: Nutter

Study; impact of eVA on small businesses in the Commonwealth. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to study the impact of eVirginia (eVA) on small businesses in the Commonwealth. In conducting its study, JLARC shall (i) identify the total number of contracts and the total dollar amount awarded to small businesses in the Commonwealth, annually, since the implementation of the eVA procurement system; and (ii) examine the impact of the fee structure and the mandatory use of eVA on the procurement opportunities of small businesses in the Commonwealth.

H.J.R. 155

Patron: Suit

Study; requesting the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC) to study automatic aide for emergency responses across jurisdictional lines; report.  Requests the HRPDC to study emergency responses across jurisdictional lines in the Hampton Roads region and to issue a report with its findings and recommendations.

H.J.R. 159

Patron: Jones, S.C.

U.S. Route 460 Communications Committee; report.  Extends the U.S. Route 460 Communications Committee until commencement of construction of the U.S. Route 460 project as approved by the Commonwealth Transportation Board in November 2005.  The Committee must submit an executive summary of its findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the Regular Session of the 2009 and 2010 Sessions of the General Assembly.

H.J.R. 177

Patron: Byron

Study; single sales factor; report.  Establishing a Joint Subcommittee to study the benefits of adopting a single sales factor to apportion the income of multistate corporations for purposes of the corporation income tax.

H.J.R. 178

Patron: Athey

Study; Urban Development Areas; report.  Establishes a joint subcommittee to study development and land use tools in Virginia's localities. The two-year study will examine and monitor the transition to channeling development into Urban Development Areas, and determine if additional legislation is needed to help localities as they transition to Urban Development Areas.  The joint subcommittee shall also make a comprehensive evaluation of all existing land use planning tools and infrastructure financing options, as well as consider matters addressed in HJR 22 (2008).  This resolution incorporates HJR 22 (Marshall, R.G.).

H.J.R. 194

Patron: Jones, S.C.

Study; transportation network of Hampton Roads.  Establishes a 10-member joint subcommittee to conduct a one-year study of the transportation network of Hampton Roads.

H.J.R. 195

Patron: Lohr

Study; transfer of development rights; report.  Establishes a nine-member joint subcommittee to study transfer of development rights (TDR) and examine ways in which the existing TDR legislation may be modified to make it more appealing to localities.

H.J.R. 196

Patron: Hargrove

Study; Bureau of Insurance; licensure of insurance agents; report.  Requests the Bureau of Insurance of the State Corporation Commission to collect certain demographic and other information from agent licensing examination candidates.

H.J.R. 248

Patron: Sickles

Study; Development and enhancement of the biosciences and biotechnology.  Directs the Joint Commission on Technology and Science to study and advance the development and enhancement of the biosciences and biotechnology in the Commonwealth.

In conducting its study, the Joint Commission on Technology and Science shall, among other things, (i) review and implement appropriate and efficacious recommendations of state and national research investigations in the disciplines of bioscience and biotechnology, including the Governor’s Commission on Biotechnology; (ii) examine, continue, and enlarge the work begun by the Governor’s Commission on Biotechnology, including, but not limited to, determining how Virginia’s research universities, federal and state laboratories, biotechnology incubators, research parks, private industry, and other major resources can be leveraged to help make Virginia a more attractive location for the development and enhancement of the biosciences and biotechnology industry; (iii) determine how these resources may increase the development of the biotechnology industry through technology transfer and commercialization of new ideas and discoveries; (iv) assess how strategic initiatives in bioscience and biotechnology may generate economic development and investment in Virginia, particularly in rural and urban regions of the Commonwealth; (v) examine Virginia’s workforce development status, including education, supply, and training needs relative to supporting viable bioscience research and biotechnology industry in the Commonwealth; (vi) evaluate the capacity of bioscience and biotechnology to protect and preserve Virginia’s natural resources; and (vii) develop and recommend a strategic and visionary plan that implements certain of the recommendations deemed feasible and appropriate, establishes Virginia as a national and global leader in bioscience and biotechnology research and application by 2018, and enables the Commonwealth to maintain its national and global leadership thereafter.

During the course of its study, the Joint Commission on Technology and Science shall ensure the participation and contribution of representatives of Virginia's public research institutions of higher education, the Center for Innovative Technology, the private biotechnology industry, and the Secretary of Technology. The Joint Commission of Technology and Science shall also ensure the involvement of representatives of agricultural and tobacco interests, federal laboratories in Virginia involved in research and technology transfer in life sciences, and the not-for-profit life science and research institutions and laboratories in the Commonwealth.

S.J.R. 225

Patron: Petersen

Vietnam Anti-Trafficking Day.  Designates December 2, in 2008 and in each succeeding year, as Vietnam Anti-Trafficking Day in Virginia to coincide with the international commemoration of the day.

S.R. 9

Patron: Petersen

Commending the Republic of Korea and the Korean-American community in Virginia.