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2008 Lingamfelter Legislation
Delegate Lingamfelter
Working Hard For You In Richmond
I am pleased to report that we had a very successful legislative session in Richmond. 10 of my bills cleared both the House of Delegates and the Senate of Virginia. Another of my bills was rolled into another similar bill and passed by both chambers. Below you will find brief descriptions of several of the major bills that I introduced and an update on the current status of each bill.
HB 1185 Voter registration; cancellation on basis of non-citizenship.
Provides that the general registrar shall mail notice to voters who are reported not to be citizens by the Department of Motor Vehicles and that such voters will have 14 days to respond to the notice with a sworn statement that the voter is a citizen.
Status: Signed into law by the Governor.
HB 1183 Home instruction of children; requirements.
This law helps families who choose to home school their children to work with division superintendents to choose an evaluation process to demonstrate that the student is making an adequate level of educational growth and progress. These options include (i) a letter from a person licensed to teach in any state or a person with a master's degree or higher in the field of education with knowledge of the child’s performance stating that the child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth and progress; (ii) a report card from a college, college distance learning program, or home education correspondence school.
Status: Signed into law by the Governor.
HB 1178 Forgery; penalty.
Provides that anyone who maliciously affixes a facsimile or likeness of the signature of another person to a writing, without that person’s permission, with the intent to create the false impression that the writing was signed by that person, is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Status: Signed into law by the Governor.
HB 1179 Assault & battery; admission to bail person committing second or subsequent offense against family.
Adds a presumption, subject to rebuttal, against admitting to bail any person who commits a second or subsequent assault and battery against a family or household member.
Status: Signed into law by the Governor.
HB 1181 Conservators of the peace, special; circuit court judge required to appoint.
Requires that a circuit court judge appoint a special conservator of the peace upon a showing by the sheriff, chief of police, or corporation authorized to do business in the Commonwealth that there is a necessity for the security of property or of the peace, and that the person or persons to be appointed possess a valid registration with the Department of Criminal Justice Services. This bill requires that a judge must state, in his written order, the reasons for denying an applicant’s appointment.
Status: Approved by House/Senate Conference Committee and awaiting Governor’s signature.
HB 52 Antique motor vehicles; eliminates notarization requirements of certain information thereof.
Eliminates the requirement that certifications accompanying applications for registration of antique motor vehicles be notarized.
Status: Signed into law by the Governor.
HB 1176 Motor vehicle insurance settlement practices; cap on reimbursement for paint and materials.
Ensures that insurance companies do not require “capping” of repair costs in order to avoid paying the real cost of repairs to an auto body repair shop.
Status: Awaiting signature of the Governor.
HB 1177 Plats; length of validity after all or portion of property recorded.
Provides that once a plat for all or a portion of the property is recorded, the preliminary plat shall remain valid for a period of five years from the date of the latest recorded plat of subdivision for the property. Also, an approved final subdivision plat that has been recorded, from which any part of the property subdivided has been conveyed to third parties, shall remain valid for an indefinite period of time unless and until any portion of the property is subject to a vacation action.
Status: Signed into law by the Governor.
HB 1552 Erosion and sediment control plan; file specifications for stream restoration banks annually.
Allows any person creating and operating stream restoration banks in more than one jurisdiction to file general erosion and sediment control specifications for stream restoration banks annually with the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board.
Status: Signed into law by the Governor.
HB 53 Campaign contributions; requires PACs to report contributions for election of particular candidate.
Requires political committees, out-of-state political committees, and federal political action committees to report contributions they receive that are designated for the election of a particular candidate. Political party committees and organized political party groups of elected officials are the only entities currently required to report such information. Such committees will be required to provide a candidate's campaign committee with information regarding the contributor of the designated contribution so that the candidate can identify that contribution on his or her campaign finance report. In turn, candidate campaign committees will be required to report designated contributions transmitted from such committees as being made by the person who designated the contribution.
Status: This bill was rolled into Delegate Mark Cole’s HB 359 and signed into law by the Governor.
HB 1175 Apprentice hunting license; Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to issue.
Authorizes the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to issue an apprentice hunting license. This license would be issued in lieu of the current state resident or nonresident basic hunting license. It is a one-time license that expires two year from the date of purchase and does not require the licensee to complete a hunter education course. The fee for obtaining the license would be $10 for residents and $20 for nonresidents. The purpose of the bill is to extend limited hunting privileges to persons interested in learning about hunting sports.
Status: Signed into law by the Governor.
Although I introduced these bills in the 2008 Session, it was determined by the Committees to which they were assigned that they would be “carried over” and heard instead in the 2009 Session. These bills represent efforts to reform our real estate tax system, provide relief for disabled veterans, allow voters to register in the political party of their choice, reduce government waste, and enforce English as our Commonwealth’s official language.
I will return to Richmond next January to fight for these bills that will help our taxpayers, communities, and families.
HJ 18 Constitutional amendment; property tax exemption for certain veterans.
This bill directs the General Assembly to exempt from taxation real property that is the principal residence of a veteran (or widow or widower of a veteran) if the veteran has been determined by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its successor agency pursuant to federal law to have a 100 percent combat-related, permanent, and total disability.
HB 20 Primary elections; voter registration by political party.
Adds party affiliation to the information that an applicant is asked to provide when registering to vote. The applicant may indicate that he is an independent. Voters registered prior to January 1, 2009, will be designated as independent unless they provide a political party designation in writing to the general registrar. Voters may change their party affiliation or independent status by written notice at any time except the 28 days before an election when the registration records are closed. The state party chairman of each political party must notify the State Board by January 31 of each year of the party rules governing who may participate in the party primary.
HB 51 Immigration laws; immunity to State agencies and employees, etc. for authorized enforcement.
Provides immunity to agencies and employees of the Commonwealth and political subdivisions for the authorized enforcement of immigration laws.
HB 55 English; designating as official language of State.
States that, except as provided by federal law, English is the official language of the Commonwealth, and no state agency or local government shall provide or otherwise assist in providing any documents, information, literature, or other written materials in any language other than English. The bill provides exceptions to this general rule for any documents, information, literature, or other written materials in a language other than English used in connection with foreign language instruction, administration of justice in the courts of the Commonwealth, law-enforcement purposes, or the provision of health care services.
HB 1560 Real estate taxes; requires localities to permit real property owners to defer portion thereof.
Requires localities to permit real property owners to defer that portion of real estate taxes that exceed 105 percent of the previous year's tax.
Status: This bill was “rolled into” Delegate Tim Hugo’s very similar bill on real estate tax relief and was carried over into the 2009 session.
HB 1184 Financial and management review; Governor to initiate for all state agencies, report.
Directs the Governor to initiate on July 1, 2008, an operational and programmatic performance review of (i) the Department of Health, (ii) the Department of Education, and (iii) primary and secondary education funded by the Commonwealth, which review shall be concluded by December 1, 2008. The review shall be conducted by a private management consulting firm. The goal of the review is to effect savings in expenditures, a reduction in duplication of effort, and programmatic efficiencies in the operation of state government.
HB 1559 Individual retirement accounts (IRAs); exemption from civil judgments.
Exempts individual retirement accounts from all creditor process including civil judgments.
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