AP
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Legislation to mandate reporting of alleged campus sexual assaults to police is advancing in the General Assembly. A state Senate subcommittee approved a bill Monday submitted by Republican Sen. Richard Black of Loudoun County that would require any employee of a state college or university who learns of such an allegation to report it to a local law enforcement agency within 24 hours. Failure to do so would be a misdemeanor. Black’s measure is one of 10 bills advancing in the Senate that were prompted by several recent high-profile cases of alleged sexual assaults on Virginia campuses. Similar legislation has been introduced in the House of Delegates. Clergy, attorneys and crisis counselors who obtain the information on a confidential basis would be exempted from the reporting requirement under Black’s bill.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ A series of gun control measures has been defeated by a Republican-controlled Virginia Senate committee. The Senate Courts of Justice panel voted Monday against bills aimed at beefing up Virginia’s gun control laws. The proposals include limiting handgun purchases to one a month and closing the so-called “gun show loophole” that allows sales by private sellers without a criminal background check. Committee chairman Sen. Thomas K. Norment, Jr. said at the hearing that a bill to make it illegal for those convicted of certain violent crimes from transporting or possessing guns had passed the committee. But the General Assembly’s database of vote results later showed that the vote failed by a large margin. The panel also voted to allow gun owners to obtain a lifetime concealed carry permit.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ The state Senate has approved constitutional amendments that would establish a bipartisan redistricting process and enable the Virginia governor to seek a second term. But both measures approved Monday face long odds in the House of Delegates. The redistricting measure from Republican Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel of Fauquier County and Sen. Louise Lucas of Portsmouth would establish an independent commission to redraw General Assembly and congressional districts after each federal census. It passed on a 27-12 vote. The redistricting process is now controlled by the majority party in each chamber. The measure allowing the state’s governor to run for a second consecutive term, sponsored by Sen. Thomas Garrett of Louisa County, was approved 24-15. Virginia is the only state that does not allow the governor to seek re-election.
Bob and Maureen McDonnell
(Associated Press photo)
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ A federal appeals court has approved former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s request to remain free while he appeals his corruption convictions. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond said McDonnell’s appeal raises a substantial question of law or fact that could warrant reversal or a new trial. The court also ordered that briefs in the case be filed by March 2 and set a May 12 hearing. A jury last year found McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, guilty of taking gifts and loans from a vitamin executive in exchange for promoting his products. McDonnell was scheduled to begin his two-year prison term Feb. 9. Federal prosecutors had opposed McDonnell’s request to remain free on bail pending his appeal.
Former Virginia
Gov. Bob McDonnell
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board has suspended former Gov. Bob McDonnell’s license to practice law, citing his felony public corruption convictions. The bar said yesterday that the suspension takes effect Thursday. McDonnell was directed to appear before the disciplinary panel on Feb. 20 to show cause why his license should not be further suspended or revoked.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ A lawsuit seeking to redraw Virginia House district boundaries has surprised and sparked concern among some of the Democratic African-American lawmakers. A suit filed in December by a law firm with ties to the Democratic Party argues that state Republicans illegally packed black voters into a dozen House districts when it drew new district lines in 2011. But many of the African-American lawmakers who represent those districts say they weren’t consulted about the lawsuit before it was filed. Redistricting has been a hot topic in Virginia, a purple state where Democrats hold all the state-level elected offices but Republicans have sizeable majorities in both the state’s Congressional delegation and in the House of Delegates.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ The impact of climate change in Virginia will be the focus of a panel discussion sponsored by the Virginia Conservation Network. The forum Monday in Richmond will feature a coal miner’s daughter and activist from Wise County, a Norfolk resident and a staff attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center. Virginia’s coast is among the most threatened in the U.S. by climate change and rising seas. Gov. Terry McAuliffe has revived a commission to blunt the impact of climate change along the coast and elsewhere. The Climate Change and Resiliency Commission’s 30-plus members include utility officials, environmentalists and climate scientists, among others. Two McAuliffe Cabinet secretaries co-chair the commission.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe and a powerful Republican lawmaker are proposing tighter grant making rules for the embattled Virginia tobacco commission. The commission’s chairman, GOP Del. Terry Kilgore, introduced legislation Friday that would require greater scrutiny and transparency over how the commission spends its funds. The legislation is backed by McAuliffe. Created 16 years ago to spend Virginia’s portion of the national tobacco settlement, the Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission has doled out more than $1 billion on a wide range of projects in an effort to spur economic development in southwest and Southside Virginia. The commission has come under fire recently for what critics say is an opaque, haphazard system of awarding grants often based on political considerations.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ John Whitbeck is the new chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia. The party says its State Central Committee elected Whitbeck as chairman on Saturday. He replaces Pat Mullins, who retired. Whitbeck formerly served as the party’s 10th Congressional District chairman. He will serve the remainder of Mullins’ term as chairman, which runs through the Virginia GOP Convention in the summer of 2016. Also Saturday, Whitbeck announced that former Texas Gov. Rick Perry will be the keynote speaker at the party’s Commonwealth Dinner in Richmond on Feb. 24.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Nominations are being sought for Virginia’s 8th annual Super Teacher Awards. The Super Teacher program honors eight outstanding K-12 public school teachers in Virginia each year. Each winner will receive $2,000 from the Virginia Lottery and $2,000 worth of classroom supplies from The Supply Room Companies. The lottery says 56 teachers have received more than $200,000 in prizes since 2008. Virginians 18 years or older can submit nominations online here through Feb. 13. The winners will be announced online in the spring.