…was Passed By Indefinitely (killed) this afternoon in the Senate Courts of Justice Committee.
In my ten years of observing the handling of bills in various committees of both the Senate and House, this one was easily the most poorly handled.
After earlier clearing the Senate Transportation Committee and going forward to the full Senate, it was re-referred back to the Courts of Justice Committee. Since Cross Over is looming next week and this committee meets only once more prior to that, everything was in hurry up mode. The bill had been bounced back from the full Senate with several amendments added exempting “Professional Drivers, Drivers with Commercial Licenses, and Ham Radio Operators”, in an effort to remove specific objections. It looked like these had been added without Sen. Ticer being familiar with them, and she didn’t have a copy of the latest version of the bill with her.
Naturally, committee members opposing the bill immediately started
asking her questions about these amendments. What is a Professional Driver? Who is required to have a Commercial License? What does a Ham Radio Operator’s set look like in an automobile, and how does he operate it? Sen. Ticer didn’t know. The Chairman asked if a rep from DMV was present. One was, and she didn’t know any of the answers, either. One of the opponents, Sen. Ryan McDougle, chimed in that a Commercial License was required to drive a vehicle weighing over 26,000 lbs., so that it primarily would apply to drivers of tractor trailer trucks. No one seemed to know what a “Professional Driver” was, some thinking that it may have been inserted by someone as another name for a driver who needed a Commercial License. No one had a clue regarding how a Ham Radio operator functioned in a vehicle.
Seeing herself in trouble, Sen. Ticer requested that the bill be Passed By for the Day, so she could be brought up to speed on the amendments, and come back on Monday. Committee Chairman Henry Marsh, a supporter of the bill, and wanting to help, called for a vote on a PB for the Day (noting that the only remaining committee meeting before Cross Over was next Monday), but that was voted down since the committee wanted to clear the docket today. After a few more questions, a move to Report was made, and the bill failed by a 6-7 margin, with two abstaining. Close, but no cigar!
So that’s it for the Cell Phone Ban bill that I thought had the best chance. There were three others on the House side, all limited to text messaging and E-Mailing, but I am not sure what their status is.
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I will dig deeper to see who voted against this bill. Would be nice if a link could be included that shows the votes. I am tired of people paying more attention to the cell phone conversation than in commandeering a 2+ ton vehicle on the overcrowded roads we have in VA.