AP
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Legislation aimed at protecting a growing health care model where patients pay their doctors a periodic fee in return for agreed-upon primary care services is moving toward becoming law. The Virginia Senate narrowly approved the measure Wednesday despite strong opposition from the health insurance industry. Supporters of direct primary care agreements say they act like a subscription, providing an affordable and predictable way for the uninsured or people with high deductible insurance to cover their primary health care costs. Advocates say passing a law codifying the practice would prevent doctors from facing illegitimate but costly lawsuits from insurance companies.
Paul Thomas, from WDBJ7
PULASKI, Va. (AP) _ A Virginia man whose 5-year-old son who was found dead in a septic tank has been sentenced to a year and three months in jail for child abuse and neglect. Media outlets report that 32-year-old Paul Thomas entered an Alford plea on two counts Wednesday in Pulaski County Circuit Court. In an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges sufficient evidence for a conviction. Noah Thomas and his infant sister were left alone while their mother, 31-year-old Ashley White, drove their father to work last March. White says Noah disappeared after she returned home and took a nap.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginia has become the first state to approve legislation regulating the fast-growing but embattled online fantasy sports industry. Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed legislation Monday that formally legalizes and regulates sites such as FanDuel and DraftKings. Under the new law, fantasy sites have to pay a $50,000 registration fee and submit to regular outside audits. The legislation also explicitly says that fantasy sites are not “illegal gambling.” McAuliffe said the new law will “keep consumers safe from abuses.” Virginia is one of several states where DraftKings and FanDuel have pushed for legislation to regulate the new industry. Fantasy sports have been under fire in some states, and attorneys general in New York, Illinois and Texas have issued opinions that they are illegal games of chance.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Gov. Terry McAuliffe has vetoed a bill that would allow drinks with high alcohol content like Everclear to be sold at state-owned liquor stores. The Democratic governor had initially proposed delaying the bill that would allow the sale of Everclear and other high-proof grain alcohol. But that effort was rejected by the GOP-controlled House of Delegates. McAuliffe said in his veto message Monday that he’s concerned about the impact the bill could have on binge drinking on college campuses. McAuliffe says he thinks the state needs to study the issue further before passing the law. He says he directed the secretaries of Health and Human Services and Public Safety and Homeland Security to come up with ideas for how to sell high-proof alcohol responsibly.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ A Senate panel has endorsed the nomination of former Virginia Attorney General Ken to the state Supreme Court. The Senate Courts of Justice Committee voted along party lines to advance Cuccinelli’s nomination on Tuesday. The committee vote followed the Senate’s failure to elect Court of Appeals Judge Rossie Alston to the high court. Alston had been the top choice of Republican leaders, who rejected Justice Jane Marum Roush, McAuliffe’s selection for Supreme Court. But a Republican holdout, Sen. Glen Sturtevant, blocked GOP efforts to elect Alston. Sturtevant supported Cuccinelli’s nomination in committee Tuesday. Sturtevant said he will endorse Cuccinelli when his nomination comes to the Senate floor because the former attorney general hasn’t been used as a “political pawn” by the General Assembly.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ An effort by doctors, tea party groups, conservative lawmakers and others to loosen government oversight of new or expanded health care facilities has failed. The Virginia Senate effectively killed legislation Monday aimed at reforming the state’s decades old certificate of public need law, which requires medical providers to prove to the State Board of Health that proposed new facilities, expansions or major equipment purchases are necessary in a geographic area. Opponents of the current systems say it is not competitive and results in higher health care prices. Hospitals argue they don’t operate in a free-market system and need laws to remain economically viable.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ The Virginia Senate has approved a bill that would allow the state to execute condemned inmates in the electric chair when it can’t find lethal injection drugs. The bill passed the GOP-controlled Senate with a 22-17 vote Monday after a passionate debate. The Republican-dominated House has already approved the bill. Virginia is one of at least eight states that allow electrocutions, but currently gives inmates the choice of lethal injection or the electric chair. If they don’t choose, they receive the injection. Like many states, Virginia has struggled to obtain lethal-injection drugs in recent years because drug companies have protested their use in executions.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ The Virginia Senate has approved a bill that would allow some students to use public funding to pay for private school tuition. The Senate voted 20-19 to pass the bill on Monday. It would allow parents of students with disabilities use a portion of their child’s share of state school funding to cover educational expenses, like textbooks and tuition at a private school. Supporters say the state should help students who may succeed in a different educational environment. Opponents say allowing taxpayer dollars to fund educational costs at religious schools would violate Virginia’s Constitution. The House has already approved the bill.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Republican state Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel says she’s running to become Virginia’s next lieutenant governor. Vogel told The Richmond Times-Dispatch that running for the office in 2017 is “awesome opportunity.” She says the Republican party needs to get its “mojo back” and that she would bring a fresh perspective as a working mother. The 45-year-old lawyer and mother of six was re-elected to her third term in the state Senate in November. Vogel represents the 27th District, which includes Clarke, Fauquier and Frederick counties, the city of Winchester and part of Culpeper and Loudoun and Stafford counties.
(Associated Press)
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ The U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled April 27 to hear arguments on former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s appeal of his conviction on corruption charges. The high court released its schedule Friday. A jury in September 2014 convicted McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, of doing favors for wealthy vitamin executive Jonnie Williams in exchange for more than $165,000 in gifts and loans. McDonnell and federal prosecutors have argued over whether the former governor was convicted based on an overly broad definition of bribery. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision by the end of June.