General Assembly review: Bill allowing cyclists to yield at stop signs narrowly passes House of Delegates

Yesterday was Crossover Day in the General Assembly which means that any remaining legislation in both chambers had to have been approved or or it died. As of Monday night, that were 1,228 regular bills pending that originated in the House of Delegates and 473 pending that came from the the Virginia Senate.

As of Wednesday, February 14, at 10:10 a.m. those numbers had been whittled down to 735 in the House of Delegates and 464 in the Senate. This post is intended to give people a brief snapshot of what haad passed the House of Delegates. It’s not an exhaustive list, but a sampling of some bills I found of interest.

• Last June, Wintergreen Police Officer Chris Wagner was shot and killed while responding to a call. His family is not eligible to receive health and disability benefits under Virginia’s Line of Duty Act because the Wintergreen Police Department is a private force. The Nelson County Board of Supervisors requested that legislation be introduced to extend those benefits to non-public police departments. The version in the House of Delegates failed in a subcommittee on January 18 due to fiscal concerns but SB466 is still alive and unanimously passed the Senate on February 8. The House of Delegates have assigned the to the Committee on Public Safety. Another bill, HB1433, offers other changes to the Line of Duty Act. 
• HB1495 would establish the Television and Film Production Development Grant Program to create apprenticeship programs. This passed on a 55 to 43 vote. 
• HB1488 would standardize public notice requirements for certain meetings. This one passed unanimously and awaits action in the Senate Local Government Committee. 
• HB1462 would create a civil penalty for anyone caught leaving a firearm unattended in a motor vehicle. This passed the House of Delegates on a 51 to 46 vote. 
• HB1429 introduced by Delegate Amy Laufer (D-55) would exempt indoor agricultural equipment from personal property taxes. 
• HB1415 would allow localities to create a civil penalty if a property owner demolishes a building in a historic district without approval. This passed 54 to 44. 
• HB1398 would allow localities to create a framework to preserve housing currently rented at affordable levels by allowing a right of first refusal to the locality or a qualified designee. This passed yesterday on a 54 to 46 vote. 
• HB1386 would require that workplaces must comply with local laws on firearms. This passed on a 51 to 46 vote. 
• HB1370 would prohibit medical debt to be reported to consumer reporting agencies. This passed on a 54 to 45 vote. 
• HB1284 would allow firefighters and emergency medical services personnel to engage in collective bargaining as part of a union .The vote on this one was 51 to 47. 
• HB1266 would allow bicyclists, e-bikes and scooters to yield at stop signs in certain conditions and to allow riders to ride two abreast in lanes. This was originally defeated on a 49 to 49 vote but then passed on a second vote 51 to 49. 
• HB1077 is a similar bill that passed 52 to 47. 
• HB1174 would raise the age to own an “assault firearm” to 21 and that passed on a 51 to 46 vote. 
• HB1071 would allow localities to reduce speed limits to less than 25 miles per hour. This passed 53 to 46. 
• HB894 would slightly expand the number of all-virtual meetings that advisory boards and commissions could meet. Currently that’s capped at no more than 25 percent of their total meetings and the proposal would change that to no more than 50 percent. The effectiveness of this would be limited by the fact that these groups would still be restricted to two electronic-only meetings a year. This passed the House 74 to 26. 
• HB842 would allow localities to contract with private companies for pupil transportation. This passed 81 to 19. 

The rules of Crossover Day did not This does not apply to the budget, as both of the relevant committees in each chamber have until the end of February 18 to report what they’ve come up with. The House and Senate have to approve their versions by February 22 and then have to approve the other chamber’s version by February 28. 

All committees have to complete their work by midnight on March 4 and all bills have to be approved by midnight on March 9. Then the 140 legislators go home until they reconvene on April 17 to consider amendments and vetoes that will have been made by Governor Glenn Youngkin.

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