Home Virginia Politics 75+ of the Best New Bills – and Bills “Carried Over” from...

75+ of the Best New Bills – and Bills “Carried Over” from 2020 – for the 2021 Virginia General Assembly Session

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According to VPAP: “This week, 10 new bills were filed for the 2021 session of the General Assembly. An additional 385 were carried over from the 2020 regular session.” Here are the new bills – not counting commemorating/commending resolutions – followed by some bills from 2020 that jumped out at me, the vast majority because I think they should pass in the 2021 General Assembly session (sources: VPAP, LIS). Note that this list isn’t comprehensive, as there are a bunch more excellent bills, but I just wanted to give a good flavor for the breadth and scope of the many important areas to be covered in 2021.

NEW BILLS FOR 2021

  • SB 1098: Unmanned aircraft; exempts an owner from the requirement to register. Chief Patron: Sen. Barbara Favola (D)
  • HB 1735: Alcoholic beverage control; privileges of farm winery licensees and limited brewery licensees. Chief Patron: Del. Lee Ware (R)
  • HB 1736: School nurses; excludes positions from certain requirements, school board to employ in each school. Chief Patron: Del. Dawn Adams (D)
  • HB 1737:  Nurse practitioners; practice without a practice agreement. Chief Patron: Del. Dawn Adams (D)
  • HB 1738: Alcoholic beverage control; local outdoor refreshment areas. Chief Patron: Del. Will Wampler (R)
  • HB 1739: State parks; discounted rental and service fees, military and veterans. Chief Patron: Del. Will Wampler (R)
  • SB 1097: Absentee voting; witness signature not required. Chief Patron: Sen. Barbara Favola (D)
  • SJ 270: Constitutional amendment; marriage (first reference). Chief Patron: Sen. Adam Ebbin (D)
  • SJ 271: Constitutional amendment; Governor’s term of office (first reference). Chief Patron: Sen. Adam Ebbin (D)

Of these, the ones that jump out at me are Sen. Adam Ebbin (D)’s SJ 270 and S 271, both of which I strongly support; and SB 1097 by Sen. Barbara Favola (D), which I also strongly support. Obviously, it’s long past time that Virginia’s constitution was rid of the odious “Marshall-Newman” anti-same-sex-marriage amendment. As for Virginia’s governor, to me it’s an absolute no-brainer that he or she should be able to serve two terms, as in basically every other state.

As for carryover bills from 2020, there are numerous good ones that should pass in 2021, such as:

 

 

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