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2013 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Finance

Chairman: Walter A. Stosch

Clerk: Patty Lung, Cheryl Law
Staff: Nicole Brenner, L. Wallmeyer
Date of Meeting: February 18, 2013
Time and Place: Upon Adjournment in the Old Senate Chamber
Includes the Public Safety Subcommittee Report

H.B. 1435 Senior judge system; to study feasibility & effect of implementing for circuit & district courts.

Patron: Albo

Judges; senior judge system for the circuit and district courts of Virginia; study. Allows the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia to contract with an independent entity such as the National Center for State Courts to study the feasibility and effect of implementing a senior judge system. The Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia shall submit an executive summary of its progress towards accomplishing the study by November 15, 2014.

H.B. 1751 Assault and battery; includes certain employees of DBHDS, penalty.

Patron: Miller

Crimes; assault and battery. Includes an employee or other individual who provides control, care, or treatment of sexually violent predators committed to the custody of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services within the enhanced penalty provision of the assault and battery section.

H.B. 1806 Methamphetamine; substances used to manufacture.

Patron: Garrett

Substances used to manufacture methamphetamine. Adds ammonium nitrate to the list of substances of which the possession of two or more with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine is punishable as a Class 6 felony. The bill also strikes "metal" from the term "lithium metal."

H.B. 1816 Methamphetamine manufactory; penalty for allowing child younger than 15 yrs., etc., to be present.

Patron: Kilgore

Allowing child or incapacitated person to be present in methamphetamine manufactory; penalty. Provides that any person 18 years of age or older who knowingly allows a child younger than 15 years of age or a mentally incapacitated or physically helpless person to be present in the same dwelling, apartment, unit of a hotel, garage, shed, or vehicle (i) during the manufacture or attempted manufacture of methamphetamine or (ii) where there are present, with intent to manufacture methamphetamine, at least two of the components of methamphetamine manufacture is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not less than 10 nor more than 40 years. Currently the prohibition applies only to a child in care or custody of the miscreant and does not punish for the presence of the child when the components of manufacture are found in the residence or other specified place.

H.B. 1850 Assault and battery; adds employees of local or regional corrections facilities.

Patron: Albo

Crimes; assault and battery; local and regional correctional facility employees; penalty. Adds employees of local or regional corrections facilities within the enhanced penalty provision of the assault and battery section.

H.B. 1927 Assault and battery; adds volunteer firefighter or any emergency medical service personnel, penalty.

Patron: Morris

Emergency medical services personnel; penalty for assault and battery. Adds emergency medical services personnel members who are employed by or volunteers of an emergency medical services agency providing services to the list of individuals of whom assault and battery may be a Class 6 felony with a six-month mandatory minimum sentence.

H.B. 1952 Higher educational institutions; board of visitors governance, report.

Patron: Landes

Boards of visitors of public institutions of higher education; public access to information and governance. Adds specific topics to be covered during the educational programs for governing boards and requires such programs to be delivered by the State Council of Higher Education annually. The bill also requires each board of visitors to adopt bylaws with certain provisions relating to the Freedom of Information Act; annually meet with the president of the institution to deliver a review of the president's performance; designate its executive committee to organize the working processes of the board and recommend best practices for board governance; and annually deliver an executive summary of its interim activities to the General Assembly and the Governor.

H.B. 1955 Impersonating a law-enforcement officer or other public safety personnel; impersonating, penalty.

Patron: Landes

Impersonating a law-enforcement officer or other public safety personnel. Provides that any unauthorized person who wears a uniform identical to or substantially similar to a standard uniform used by an office of sheriff to impersonate the office of sheriff is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor (currently a Class 3 misdemeanor). The bill adds new punishment for a second or subsequent such offense: a Class 6 felony. The bill also adds the same new punishment for a second or subsequent offense of impersonating a law-enforcement officer or other public safety personnel, currently a Class 1 misdemeanor for any such offense.

H.B. 2093 Circuit court judges; increases number in Fifteenth Judicial Circuit.

Patron: Peace

Number of circuit court judges; Fifteenth Circuit. Creates an additional circuit court judgeship in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit (City of Fredericksburg and Counties of Caroline, Essex, Hanover, King George, Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Westmoreland).

H.B. 2211 Stalking; Class 6 felony for conviction of second offense within five years of prior conviction.

Patron: McClellan

Penalty for second offense of stalking. Provides that, upon conviction of a second offense of stalking occurring within five years of a prior conviction of such an offense, if such person was also convicted within the five-year period prior to the instant offense of a violation of (i) assault and battery and other crimes against the person when the victim of that crime was the same person who was the victim of the stalking activity in the instant conviction, (ii) domestic assault, or (iii) a protective order, such person is guilty of a Class 6 felony.

H.B. 2235 Firearms; increases penalties for use, display, or discharge during commission of certain felonies.

Patron: Lingamfelter

Use, display, or discharge of firearm in committing felony. Increases (exclusively mandatory minimum) penalties for use or display of a firearm during the commission of certain felonies from three to four years for a first offense and from five to six years for a second or subsequent offense.

H.J.R. 762 Breast cancer awareness and prevention; local health departments to provide detailed report.

Patron: McQuinn

Breast cancer awareness and prevention; report. Requests local health departments to provide to the State Health Commissioner a detailed report on efforts to promote a breast cancer awareness and prevention to increase early detection of breast cancer, successful treatment outcomes, and survival rates, particularly among minorities and other women who have less access to quality health care.

S.B. 1374 Schools; those denied accreditation and fail to make progress during subsequent school year, etc.

Patron: Alexander

Schools that have been denied accreditation and fail to make progress toward accreditation; turnaround specialist. Requires the Board of Education to designate for further corrective action any school that has been denied accreditation and that has failed, per the Board of Education's assessment, to demonstrate progress toward full accreditation during the subsequent school year in accordance with the corrective action plan submitted by the local school board and the memorandum of understanding between the Board and the local school board. The bill also requires the Board to direct the school principal, in conjunction with the Office of School Improvement, to act as a turnaround specialist and to implement certain changes in order to meet the unique needs of the school until the school achieves full accreditation status.