With the House having convened at 11:00 a.m. today, shortly after adjournment was much earlier than in the last few days, so Sen. Surovell’s SB1550 “Vulnerable Road User” bill was heard relatively early, but after significant discussion with the Rep of the Commonwealth’s Attorneys Assn in opposition along with SubComm Chair Todd Gilbert, the bill was Passed By Indefinitely along party lines by a 5-2 vote, as Rob Bell, Chris Collins, Les Adams, & Margaret Ransone joined Chairman Gilbert in opposing it, while Delegates Vivian Watts & Mike Mullin supported it.
Not clear at this juncture where we stand officially with the two bills banning hand held cell phones by drivers, but it appears that HB1811 will be dropped and Sen. Stuart’s SB 1341 will go on to be approved on the House Floor and then sent on to the Governor for his signature. I will do another update as soon as I receive official word on the status of these bills.
Hadn’t yet heard what caused the lengthy session in the House but it resulted in “shortly after adjournment” being right around 4:00 p.m. for House Courts Sub Comm1, and they didn’t have a quorum then, but Chairman Rob Bell and a undersized committee heard some bills without voting on them with the understanding that they would have to adjourn just prior to 5:30 since they would have to get back to the House Floor by then. [continue reading…]
On a rainy morning,Sen. Black’s SB1154 Due Care bill was heard first in House Trans Sub1 shortly after 7:00 a.m. and was Passed by indefinitely by an 8-1 vote , following some comments by Committee members that it was too vague.
After two other bills were heard, Sen. Surovell did a nice job of presenting his SB1550 Vulnerable Road User bill, which Champe Burnley and the representative from Alexandria spoke in favor of, following which it was Reported by a 6-3 vote with a recommendation that it be referred to the Courts of Justice Committee, with only Chairman Garrett, Dels. Thomas & Toscano in opposition. Hopefully it will be handled promptly there as time is running short, but Courts does have more than one meeting scheduled before this session concludes. Its very encouraging that this bill has gotten further than ever before as Sen. Surovell has carried it several times previously, but never gotten it this far. [continue reading…]
A really long day in the House meant that half an hour after adjournment turned out to be 4:20 p.m. for the House Courts Sub Comm 1 to begin, so it was about 5 when they got to SB1341 the Senate version of the bill banning the use of hand held Cell Phones by drivers.
With the House version of this bill already being familiar to the SubComm members, there was a question confirming whether this bill was indeed identical to HB1811. When it was noted that it was, there was an immediate “Move to Report” followed by passage by a 6-1 vote, without any further discussion or testimony, with only Del. Gilbert in opposition. The entire process taking only about a minute, the bill now moves on to the full House Courts Committee, which should be Wednesday, half an hour after adjournment, where I expect it to get similar treatment as it sails on to the House floor. [continue reading…]
SB1550 would make it easier to prosecute drivers who hit cyclists, by making it illegal to operate a vehicle in a distracted or careless manner resulting in injury to cyclists, pedestrians, wheelchair users, scooter riders, and other vulnerable road users.
SB1550 will be up for vote by House Transportation Subcommittee #1 this Tuesday morning, Feb. 12, at 7am. If you’re in any of these delegates’ districts… [continue reading…]
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