VaNews Feb. 4, 2020
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** Greehan, Taves & Pandak
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Representing and advising Virginia localities, officials and public entities to achieve the public interest.

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** GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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** HQ2-INSPIRED VIRGINIA BILL THAT COULD HAVE FORCED DEALS BETWEEN DEVELOPERS AND UNIONS DIES ([link removed])
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By ALEX KOMA, Washington Business Journal (Subscription required for some articles)

A bill that would have empowered some Northern Virginia officials to force developers of large projects to strike agreements with construction unions died in committee Monday. The legislation from Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, could have given several D.C.-area localities new power to require protections for workers on large job sites in exchange for winning zoning approvals.


** SENATE COMMITTEE REJECTS UPDATE ON LEAVING FIREARMS NEAR CHILDREN ([link removed])
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By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

Senate Democrats advanced another batch of gun control bills Monday, but a pair of Democrats — including Sen. Creigh Deeds of Bath — broke with their party to halt a bill that would strengthen a law about adults recklessly allowing a loaded firearm to fall into the hands of a minor.


** VIRGINIA SENATE BLOCKS ANOTHER NORTHAM-BACKED GUN BILL ([link removed])
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By ALAN SUDERMAN, Associated Press

The Virginia Senate blocked one of Gov. Ralph Northam’s top gun-control bills Monday, adding to the list of measures the Democratic governor supports that may not pass the legislature. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted against a bill that would make it a felony to “recklessly leave a loaded, unsecured firearm” in a way that endangers a minor.


** BILL ADVANCES TO GIVE LOCAL GOVERNMENTS THE AUTHORITY TO REMOVE CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS ([link removed])
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By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

A proposal to create a method for local governments to remove war monuments, including ones to the Confederacy, is headed to the floor of the Virginia Senate. The Democrat-controlled Senate Local Government Committee voted 8-7 along party lines on Monday to advance Senate Bill 183, from Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, to give localities the authority to take down monuments. The House of Delegates will take up its versions of the legislation later this week.


** BILL TO ALLOW REMOVAL OF CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS ADVANCES ([link removed])
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By C. SUAREZ ROJAS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Virginia localities ready to remove Confederate monuments might soon have the authority to do so. On Monday, a Senate committee voted along party lines to advance local control legislation that conservative lawmakers have steadfastly blocked in recent years. With Democrats now in control of both chambers of the General Assembly, the idea of letting localities decide whether they wish to remove or alter the war memorials in their jurisdictions is gaining momentum.


** PROPOSED CASINO DEAL: 5 CITIES, COMPETITION IN RICHMOND, HUNDREDS OF MACHINES FOR COLONIAL DOWNS ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

A proposed legislative deal would let five Virginia cities pick their own resort casino operator — with Richmond getting to choose between two operators — and Colonial Downs Group could add up to 2,500 slotlike machines in compensation for increased competition with its Rosie’s Gaming Emporiums, multiple sources have told the Richmond Times-Dispatch.


** LAWMAKERS DEBATE ELIMINATING ONLINE TRAINING OPTION FOR CONCEALED CARRY PERMITS IN VIRGINIA ([link removed])
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By WHITTNEY EVANS, VPM

A prospective concealed carry permit holder in Virginia doesn’t have to prove they know how to use a firearm in-person. They can take a quick online course and drop off an application to the local circuit court. But now some lawmakers want to change that.


** LEGISLATION WOULD ELIMINATE PATIENT RESPONSIBILITY FOR SURPRISE OUT-OF-NETWORK MEDICAL BILLS ([link removed])
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By MEGAN PAULY, VPM

Insured Virginians who end up in the hospital for an emergency – or even a scheduled procedure – can sometimes end up with a surprise bill from an out-of-network provider. State lawmakers are weighing in on a number of proposals to protect patients from these surprise bills this year, as they have for the past few years.


** HOUSE PANEL DEFEATS BILL TO COMPENSATE COLLEGE ATHLETES FOR USE OF LIKENESS ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Virginia will not be joining a growing movement to allow college athletes to receive compensation for their talent — for now. A House of Delegates subcommittee voted 4-1 on Monday to table House Bill 300 from Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax, an action that essentially kills it. The bill would have given student-athletes the chance to earn compensation that comes from the use of his or her name, image or likeness.


** BILL THAT GIVES ELECTORAL VOTES TO POPULAR VOTE WINNER FAILS ([link removed])
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By ZACH ARMSTRONG, VCU Capital News Service

Legislation seeking to guarantee the presidency to candidates who earn the popular vote in national elections has again failed to advance in the General Assembly. Senate Bill 399, introduced by Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, would’ve joined Virginia into the National Popular Vote Compact and awarded its electoral votes to the presidential ticket that receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Ebbin withdrew the bill from consideration Tuesday without identifying the reason.


** SENATE APPROVES BILL TO BAR DRIVER'S LICENSE SUSPENSIONS FOR UNPAID FINES ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The Virginia Senate has approved the first bill filed this session, one that would bar the Department of Motor Vehicles from suspending driver’s licenses for unpaid court fines. The Senate backed Senate Bill 1 from Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, which also would require the DMV to return or reinstate any driver’s license that was suspended before July 1, 2020, solely for the nonpayment of fines. Those people would not have to pay a reinstatement fee.


** HOUSE PANEL BACKS CHANGED VERSION OF STUDENT CENSORSHIP BILL ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

A revised version of a bill to protect student journalists would apply only to college students. The House Education Committee on Monday approved House Bill 36 from Del. Chris Hurst, D-Montgomery, in an 18-1 vote, sending the bill to the full House of Delegates.


** HOUSE APPROVES BAN ON CONVERSION THERAPY ([link removed])
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By BEN PAVIOUR, VPM

Licensed counselors could no longer attempt to change a youth’s sexual orientation or gender identity under legislation passed by the General Assembly.


** MASON PUSHES BILL INSPIRED BY RTD'S 'UNGUARDED' INVESTIGATION ([link removed])
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By BRIDGET BALCH, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The Senate Judiciary Committee is considering a bill introduced by Sen. Monty Mason, D-Williamsburg, aimed at preventing ethical conflicts from arising in guardianship cases. Mason was prompted by “Unguarded,” a three-part Richmond Times-Dispatch investigative series published in November, which revealed that VCU Health System and other health care providers in the Richmond region had taken hundreds of low-income patients to court and asked to have their lawyer appointed the patients’ guardian, putting him in charge of the person’s medical decision-making and finances.


** PUSH TO ERASE PROSTITUTION CONVICTIONS FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING VICTIMS FAILS FOR NOW, BUT WILL BE STUDIED ([link removed])
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By MARIE ALBIGES, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The appetite for erasing certain criminal convictions — in part so long-ago mistakes don’t keep people from getting jobs and housing — was strong this year in the General Assembly. Nearly 30 bills related to expunging records of crimes including possession of marijuana and larceny were filed this session, mostly by Democrats as part of a push for broader criminal justice reform.


** GREENWAY BILL KILLED IN HOUSE OF DELEGATES COMMITTEE ([link removed])
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By NATHANIEL CLINE, Loudoun Times

Different year, same result. A Virginia House committee has again killed a bill aimed at addressing toll price concerns on the Dulles Greenway. The House Labor and Commerce Committee voted on the bill late last week. The proposal would have amended the powers and responsibilities of the State Corporation Commission (SCC) to regulate the toll road. The measure failed on an 8-8 vote in committee.


** LABOR SECRETARY WARNS AGAINST MINIMUM WAGE HIKE DURING VISIT TO HAMPTON ROADS ([link removed])
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By TREVOR METCALFE, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia voiced his opposition to several worker-oriented pieces of legislation, including a proposed Virginia minimum wage hike, during a visit Monday to Hampton Roads. “This does not strike me as a time where it makes sense to put a large number of new regulatory requirements on employers just at the moment when the job markets are functioning so well for workers, when wages are rising and where deregulation has helped achieve that,” Scalia said.


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** INTERNATIONAL OLIVE OIL MANUFACTURER TO INVEST $11M FOR SUFFOLK OPERATION ([link removed])
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By SYDNEY LAKE, Va Business Magazine

International olive oil manufacturer Acesur USA LLC will invest $11 million to establish its first U.S. production operation in Suffolk, creating 29 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Monday.


** PACKAGING COMPANY SET TO INVEST $6.5M IN HENRICO COUNTY PLANT ([link removed])
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By SYDNEY LAKE, Va Business Magazine

Austin, Texas-based packaging manufacturer ePac Flexible Packaging will invest $6.5 million to establish a manufacturing facility in Henrico County, creating 35 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Monday.


** LYNNHAVEN INLET COULD BE CONSTRUCTION BASE FOR OFFSHORE WIND OFF VIRGINIA BEACH COAST ([link removed])
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By STACY PARKER, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

A city-owned bulkhead next to the Lynnhaven Inlet could be used as a construction base for an offshore wind turbine project. Ørsted, a Danish company that will install two test wind turbines off the coast of Virginia Beach, would lease the Lesner Municipal Wharf, southwest of the Lesner Bridge, to moor a vessel and open a construction office.


** HEMP GROWERS FACE PROCESSING BOTTLENECK, UNCERTAIN REGULATORY LANDSCAPE ([link removed])
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By MASON ADAMS, Virginia Mercury

As the second year of commercial hemp begins in Virginia, growers face regulatory uncertainty and a rapidly evolving market.


** HIGHER EDUCATION
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** VIRGINIA TECH'S INNOVATION CAMPUS HIRES DIRECTOR ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Virginia Tech’s new Innovation Campus tied to part of Amazon’s second headquarters has its leader. The university announced that Lance Collins, the dean of engineering at Cornell University, was hired Monday as the inaugural vice president and executive director of the campus in Alexandria.


** LOCAL
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** LIBERTY UNIVERSITY HELPS FUEL LYNCHBURG'S STEADY GROWTH ([link removed])
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By RICHARD CHUMNEY, News & Advance (Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)

The Lynchburg area grew by nearly 10,000 people over the last decade, extending the region’s trend of steady population growth, according to the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. Last year, an estimated 262,428 people lived in the Lynchburg metropolitan area, up from the 252,634 people recorded in the 2010 census, according to estimates released this month by the Weldon Cooper Center


** ABC HEADQUARTERS MOVE EXPECTED TO CLEAR WAY FOR NEW BALLPARK ADJACENT TO THE DIAMOND ([link removed])
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By JOHN O'CONNOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Gov. Ralph Northam on Tuesday will speak at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority headquarters and warehouse in Hanover County, which doesn’t smell like a sports story, but is.


** CHESTERFIELD COUNTY BEGINS TALKS TOWARD NEW BOND REFERENDUM ([link removed])
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By IAN M. STEWART, VPM

A joint meeting last week between Chesterfield’s school board and county supervisors dove into how to create a new bond referendum that could reach voters this November. It's the start of a long conversation about how to fund major projects for the county.


** RICHMOND COUNCIL BLOC DOUBLES DOWN ON OPPOSITION TO NAVY HILL PLAN; CONSULTANT PRAISES PROJECT ([link removed])
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By MARK ROBINSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

With a new report praising the $1.5 billion Navy Hill plan in hand, a majority of the Richmond City Council doubled down on its opposition to the downtown redevelopment proposal on Monday. In a signal that the economic development deal may officially die next week, a panel of the nine-member council recommended striking the project from its docket.

Today's Sponsor:


** Greehan, Taves & Pandak
------------------------------------------------------------

Representing and advising Virginia localities, officials and public entities to achieve the public interest.


** EDITORIALS
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** VIRGINIA VOTERS LOOK AHEAD TO PRIMARY ([link removed])
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Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

The clock is ticking for Virginia, where only 28 days now separate commonwealth voters from the presidential primary and the next opportunity to chart a course for the nation’s future.


** IN SUPPORT OF NO-EXCUSE ABSENTEE VOTING ([link removed])
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Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The most sacred right of a citizen of our democratic republic is the right to vote. To select people to serve as our elected representatives from city councils and boards of supervisors to state legislatures, all the way up to Congress and the White House, is a civic duty. The right to vote is fundamental to who we are — and want to be — as a nation.


** TIME TO ADDRESS OUR INFRASTRUCTURE DEFICITS ([link removed])
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Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

This past Sunday, we wrote about the Richmond region’s push to better finance its transportation needs. A new report magnifies how badly infrastructure improvements are needed in the area. According to TRIP, a Washington, D.C.-based transportation research nonprofit, nearly one third of major local- and state-maintained roads are “poor or mediocre.”


** VIRGINIA HAS THE CHANCE TO BECOME A NATIONAL LEADER ON CLIMATE POLICY ([link removed])
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Washington Post Editorial (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

The Democrats’ takeover of Richmond promised to bring action on big problems Virginia Republicans had played down or ignored — such as climate change. Now, as the legislature approaches key deadlines, a group of lawmakers has teed up a major global warming bill: the Virginia Clean Economy Act.


** OP-ED
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** EPPES AND ELWARD: ASSISTED SUICIDE WOULD PUT OUR MOST VULNERABLE PATIENTS AT RISK ([link removed])
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By DR. THOMAS EPPES AND DR. KURT ELWARD, Published in Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

With the newly elected Virginia state legislature taking power in 2020, the debate over assisted suicide has returned to the General Assembly with a name change to disguise the real meaning. The bill [Health Care Decision Making, HB 1649] introduced by Del. Kaye Kory, D–Fairfax, also intends to expand assisted suicide authority to nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

Thomas Eppes practices family medicine in Lynchburg. Kurt Elward practices family medicine and obstetrics/gynecology in Charlottesville,


** ROZELL: STATE GOP IN DENIAL ABOUT ELECTION DAY ([link removed])
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Published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Anytime a political party gets shellacked on Election Day, it's useful to ask whether the party has learned anything from the experience, and whether it is willing to fix its problems. If the post-election message from Virginia GOP Chairman Jack Wilson to the party faithful is any guide, the answer is "not likely."

Mark Rozell is dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.


** WURL: COLLECTIVE BARGAINING FOR EDUCATORS MEANS BETTER SCHOOLS, COMMUNITIES FOR ALL ([link removed])
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By MARY WURL, Published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

I’ve taught public school for more than two decades. Before I taught in Virginia, I was an educator in St. Paul, Minn., where union activism and collective bargaining, which is the freedom of workers to have a say in their workplace, were guaranteed. Coming to Virginia was eye-opening: We can’t negotiate a contract to get the resources our students need — counselors, librarians, special education funding — because all public school employees in Virginia, in fact, all public employees, don’t have collective bargaining rights.

Mary Wurl is a sixth-grade teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools


** JORDAN: WHAT FREE PUBLIC COLLEGE MEANS FOR VIRGINIA'S SMALL PRIVATE COLLEGES ([link removed])
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By PHYLLIS W. JORDAN, Published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The occasion was the inauguration of our college’s new president. A friend and I ran out to the grocery store for supplies, still wearing our Sweet Briar College nametags. The grocery store cashier started telling us how glad she was that the small Virginia college had survived a 2015 attempt to shut it down. She and her husband owned a restaurant in nearby Amherst. Without the college students and staff, she said, they would have had to close.

Phyllis W. Jordan is editorial director of FutureEd, a think tank at Georgetown University
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