Not feeling up to par on Wednesday, and knowing it would be a long day, I left it up to Champe to make the trip down there and cover both the Senate Transportation and the House Courts Committees. With the setup now during the construction of the new GAB building, both committees are held right across the hall from each other in the lower level of the Capitol, so it’s easy to go back and forth between the two.
With both scheduled for shortly after adjournment of each house, Senate Trans went first but SB 1550, Surovell’s Vulnerable Road user bill was not heard until after the Driver’s Card bill, which is supported by a large turnout of the Hispanic community and always requires a lengthy discussion. It would require such drivers to register and receive a Driver’s Privilege Card (not a Driver’s License, but similar to one, except that they would not have the right to vote) upon proof of insurance and legal presence in the U.S. As in the past, the bill went down on a party line vote (7-6), with all the R’s voting against it.
Eventually, Surovell’s SB1550 , the vulnerable road user bill was heard and it also went down on a party line vote (but only by 6-6), as Sen. Bill DeSteph of Va. Beach, who we thought might be a supporter since he is a cyclist Was not present for the vote, thus listed as abstaining.
Much later, at 7:30, Champe reported that HB 1811, Del. Chris Collins’ (of Winchester) bill which would make it unlawful for a driver to use a “handheld personal communication device” while operating a moving motor vehicle was just being called. At about 8:30 he called again to report that the bill had been reported on to the full House Courts Committee by a 7-1 vote, with Del.Charniele Herrring (D) of Alexandria being the lone dissenter, as her concerns about law enforcement using this law to profile drivers were not yet fully resolved. Further, it appeared that the R leadership of this Committee (Gilbert & Bell), were fully behind the bill, which augurs well for its passage this session, although a few concerns about how the bill’s present language will cover systems now being installed in new vehicles still need to be worked out. The substitute bill will likely be reconsidered next week.
A good report on the progress of our #1 bill for this session, and a big WELL DONE to Champe Burnley for sticking it out on an unusually long day to see it reported out!
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