We are almost at the halfway point of the session, also known as Crossover. Crossover is the day that the House of Delegates must complete its work on the nearly 1,300 House Bills introduced this session. Next Wednesday, the House will begin to consider all bills that have passed the State Senate.

A great deal has been accomplished in the five weeks since the start of Session with over 400 bills, covering a wide range of issues, have passed the House. Over one-third of the bills the House has passed relate to my core focus of the session- helping businesses create jobs, expanding education opportunities, keeping our communities safe, and making our government more efficient and effective. These areas of focus will also be addressed in the budget, which is scheduled to be voted on by the House of Delegates in the coming weeks.    

Tebow Bill Passes House

On the floor this week, the House passed HB 947, which paves the way for homeschooled children to participate on high school athletics teams. The bill, nicknamed the "Tebow Bill", requires the Virginia High School League, the organization that governs high school athletics in Virginia, to allow home school students to try out for public schools teams. Currently, twenty-two states allow for homeschooled children to participate on high school athletics teams, including Florida where Tim Tebow was allowed to play on his high school football team. After the bill had passed, Delegate Rob Bell (R-Albermarle) "Tebowed" on the floor of the House. 

Picture & story: http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Tebow-bill-completes-House-passage-on-to-Senate-3154135.php

House Republicans Unveil 2012 Public Safety Agenda

Again this week, I hosted the House Republican Caucus Policy Work Group press conference to highlight a number of public safety initiatives to keep families safe from habitual drug traffickers, individuals who prey on children, drunk drivers, gang members, and those who commit domestic violence.

Delegate Rob Bell (R-Albermarle) discussed two of his bills, HB 968, which will increase penalties for habitual drug traffickers, keeping our kids away from drugs and drug-related violence, and HB 973, which would impose a mandatory life sentence for raping a child under the age of 12.  In the last two years, 228 children under the age of 12 have been victims of these horrific crimes, and only 10 of these cases resulted in a life sentence, with a median sentence of 13 years.

Delegate Dave Albo (R-Fairfax) introduced two bills, HB 49 and HB 50, which respectively increase the jail time for DUI-maiming and DUI-manslaughter.

Delegate Ben Cline (R-Rockingham) introduced two bills to address strangulation and gang recruitment. HB 752 raises the penalty of assault and battery via strangulation in an attempt to curb the elevation of domestic violence. To help combat gang violence, Cline also introduced HB 751, which will make it a felony to induce criminal activity or recruit a gang member via the internet, a telephone, or text message. With technological developments, gangs are using new methods of communication to recruit, discuss, and plan criminal activities. the nature of criminal activities like everything else in our lives. 

Protecting our families and keeping our streets safe is one of the most important responsibilities of the government. I, along with my Republican colleagues, are 100% committed to doing everything we can when it comes to protecting children and keeping families safe from the dangers of this world.

Peace Supports Measure to Remove Local Government Mandate

As a co-patron of House Bill 869, Delegate Christopher K. Peace (R-97th District), is delighted the measure passed the House by a vote of 74-24 and is now headed to a hearing in the Senate.

HB 869 is a measure that makes designation of urban development areas optional for all localities. Currently urban development areas are mandatory for many higher growth localities. However, the measure does not change the Comprehensive Plan review process.

"I supported this bill, as a co-patron, because I believe that governing is best when closest to the people. This measure allows local government to plan for future development which is in the best interest of their community. Additionally, the protection of private property rights is vital to our citizens," asserted Delegate Peace.

The Comprehensive Plan review process is a long established five-year cycle that governing bodies are mandated to follow. It works well and is an affordable process - Comprehensive Plan reviews can be time consuming and costly in terms of staff time, Planning Commission and Governing Body public meetings and required public hearings; they typically take many months and can easily take years. The issues can be controversial and require considerable research, study and effort to work through the differences of opinion.

In 2007, the General Assembly added Section 15.2-2223.1 to the Code of Virginia requiring high growth localities to designate Urban Development Areas in their comprehensive plans by July 1, 2011 (counties). Designated Urban Development Areas ("UDA") are to be areas of reasonably compact development that can accommodate 10 to 20 years of projected growth.

Visitors

AFP members, 4-H students and parents, Nurses, and Pastors from all over the Commonwealth converged on the Capitol this week. This week I was delighted to be visited by Jerry Benson, Tabor Finstad, and Beverly Doub from New Kent, Ray Smith, Jim Jenkins, Winston Robertson, Mary Rainess of Mechanicsville, Noah and Rena Lane from Aylett, Trapper Davis of New Kent, Pastor Gregory Parisher, Dr. John Albert of Rural Point Baptist Church stopped by. I was also visited by a large group of artists from Covenant Woods. Their artwork adorns the walls of the General Assembly Building and makes our days brighter each and every day.

Contact Me

As always, my staff and I are here in Richmond to serve you. We want to hear what you think about the legislation pending before the House, or if there's anything we can do to help you in dealing with a state government agency. My office can be reached at (804) 698-1097or via the Internet at Delcpeace@house.virginia.gov If you are planning to visit Richmond during Session, I encourage you to visit me in Room 527.

Thank you again for allowing me to serve as your Delegate.

 Video Clip of Peace Floor Remarks: 

Click to watch the video of Del. Peace Floor Remarks about the Road to Revolution Bill, HB 1185