General Assembly Passed HB345 General Assembly; first-day introduction bills. Allows members of the General Assembly to introduce first-day introduction bills on the second day of the 1998 Regular Session of the General Assembly. Patron - Almand SB401 Impact statements. Codifies a process for preparing and distributing impact statements for proposed legislation and requires that the Division of Legislative Services prepare such impact statements. Currently, the Department of Planning and Budget, the Department of Taxation, the State Corporation Commission, and other agencies prepare legislative impact statements on most bills pursuant to a Governor's executive order. The bill requires that the impact statements include the assumptions and methodology use in calculating the fiscal impact. The measure is effective July 1, 1999. Patron - Gartlan Failed SB250 Steps of the State Capitol; public forum. Designates the steps of the State Capitol as a limited public forum for the display of unattended exhibits and requires the Joint Rules Committee to adopt reasonable rules regarding the administration of the forum by September 1, 1998. Patron - Barry SB345 General Assembly; judicial nominations. Increases the responsibility of the Committees for Courts of Justice in the selection process of persons elected to the Supreme Court of Virginia and Virginia Court of Appeals. In addition to qualifying candidates for these courts, the Committees will be statutorily responsible for nominating qualified candidates for consideration by the houses. Patron - Edwards SB505 General Assembly; bill limitation. Prohibits a member from introducing more than 10 bills during any regular session of the General Assembly. Exceptions to the limitation include prefiled legislation, bills related to the administration of government and introduced at the request of the Governor, and property or sales tax exemption bills. Patron - Potts Carried Over HB383 Legislative continuance. Provides that the court need not grant a continuance for a legislative meeting outside of the General Assembly session if the continuance is not requested in writing at least five business days prior to the date for which the continuance is sought, with a copy provided to the parties or their counsel. Patron - Joannou HB574 General Assembly; limit on introduction of legislation. Prohibits a member from introducing more than 12 bills during any regular session of the General Assembly. The only exception is for emergency legislation introduced at the written request of the Governor or with the consent of four-fifths of the members voting in the house in which the bill is offered. Patron - Purkey HB743 Legislative continuances. Provides that a party to a judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding who is connected to the General Assembly or Division of Legislative Services is entitled to one continuance as a matter of right during the period beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after a session of the General Assembly if the party or his attorney is an officer, employee or member of the General Assembly or an employee of the Division of Legislative Services. The bill provides that there will be only one continuance in any proceeding granted as a matter of right during a period beginning one day prior and one day after the adjournment of the meeting date of any reconvened session or legislative meetings held on non-session dates and that the request for the continuance must be in writing. The bill provides further that any subsequent request for a continuance in the same matter shall be filed in writing at least three days prior to the first day for which the continuance is sought. Such written request must include the date, time and nature of the meeting. The continuance must be granted unless the court finds that there is clear and convicting evidence that a continuance will cause undue delay or substantial inconvenience on either party. Patron - Croshaw SB389 Legislative continuance. Places limitations on the right granted to members and certain employees of the General Assembly to claim a continuance in pending proceedings. A request for a continuance would have to be made in writing and given to the court and the parties at least three days prior to any scheduled proceedings. For cases involving felonies, the establishment of child support, and judicially-determined expedited matters, the bill would limit the continuance to no more than 90 days. For all other cases, the continuance, if granted, could not delay the proceeding for more than six months, unless that six-month period would expire during a legislative session. Patron - Stolle < PREVIOUS | CONTENTS | NEXT >