Many bills signed by Kaine have local ties

By Lillian Kafka

Published: March 13, 2008

The 2008 General Assembly adjourned Thursday.

One measure of elected officials’ productivity is the number of bills turned into law. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine signed a number of initiatives from local delegates into law this week.

There are more awaiting Kaine’s signature. In most cases he has up to 30 days to sign or veto some of these bills that have already passed House of Delegates and Senate muster.

Unless the bill has an emergency clause, it becomes effective July 1.

Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Dale City

• Antique vehicle owners no longer have to notarize their vehicle

registration with the Department of Motor Vehicles. They simply have to certify that the antique vehicle is in safe working order.

• Apprentice hunting licenses will now be available for a one-time license that expires two years after it’s issued. The $10 license ($20 for nonresidents) is designed to let people learn about hunting without investing in a full-fledged hunting license.

• Subdivision plats in a multi-phase development are now valid for only five years after they are recorded. This shelf life was established with HB 1177, which received unopposed support in the House and Senate.

• HB1178 expands the scope of illegal forgery to someone who, without permission, attaches the signature of some-one else in order to give the impression that person really signed the document.

• Someone arrested on a charge of assault and battery of a family member won’t get bail if that person has a similar prior conviction.

• Parents who home school their children now have a new option to prove that their children are learning up to state standards. In addition to certain tests and school superintendent evaluations, a parent can submit a report from a licensed teacher, or someone with a masters’ degree or higher in an academic discipline, or a report card from a regular college, a community college, a home education correspondence school or a college distance learning program.

• A registrar must now notify a person that he or she has been reported by the DMV as being non-citizen before cancelling their voter registration. That person has 14 days to respond. Previously the registrar could cancel voter registration without notification.

• Anyone creating and operating stream restoration banks in more than one jurisdiction can now file general erosion and sediment control specifications stream restoration banks annually with the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board.

Del. Paul F. Nichols, D-Occoquan

• HB 1455 clarifies a law regarding people who cast provisional ballots and where their votes are logged.

• The Virginia Resource Authority will now be able to finance the construction of local government buildings, in addition to projects it already finances, such as water and sewer projects, sports facilities, public transportation facilities and remediation for brownfields and contaminated properties.

This is the first in a series of stories on local legislation that the governor has signed.

Staff writer Lillian Kafka can be reached at 703-878-8065.