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For Release: February 20, 2009
Contact: David Clementson
Email: dclementson@oag.state.va.us
Phone: 804-786-2071

Attorney General Bob McDonnell’s
2009 Legislative Agenda Moves Forward

RICHMOND – As Attorney General Bob McDonnell steps down today, his 2009 legislative agenda is in the final stages of successfully moving through the General Assembly. The Attorney General limited his annual package of bills to less than 15 pieces of legislation in order to reduce costs and to help keep the General Assembly’s focus on the budget shortfall facing the Commonwealth. Currently all but two initiatives that were part of the Attorney General’s Agenda announced on January 14 have passed or are still under consideration by the General Assembly. Details on the bills moving towards passage can be found below.

Additionally, Attorney General McDonnell announced today that he will be rejoining his old law firm of Huff, Poole & Mahoney P.C in Virginia Beach.

“It is encouraging to see the overwhelming majority of our legislative agenda moving toward passage in the General Assembly,” Attorney General McDonnell said. “During the past three years our legislative agendas have enjoyed broad, bipartisan support, with 83 bills passed and signed into law by the Governor. We accomplished this by bringing legislators together around good ideas to achieve positive results for the citizens of the Commonwealth. With our current budget realities in mind, I proposed a limited legislative agenda this year, consisting of common-sense solutions to real problems. I am encouraged by the strong support that our legislative agenda has earned during this session of the General Assembly, once again with broad bipartisan support.”

McDonnell’s 2009 legislative agenda follows three past years of important reforms advocated by Attorney General McDonnell. He won passage of all his original campaign promises within the first two General Assembly sessions: sweeping new measures combating sexual predators, protecting children online, reducing frivolous prisoner litigation, eliminating burdensome government regulations, improving homeland security and securing private property rights. McDonnell has also secured numerous other reforms, including creating a Senior Alert to help locate missing senior citizens, improving animal fighting laws, strengthening Virginia’s mental health system, protecting Second Amendment rights and strengthening identity theft laws..

 To read more about the success of the Attorney General’s previous legislative packages, please visit:

2006:
http://www.vaag.com/PRESS_RELEASES/NewsArchive/
0606_McDonnell_Legislation_Takes_Effect_Saturday.html

2007:
http://www.vaag.com/PRESS_RELEASES/NewsArchive/062907_NewLaws.html

2008:
http://www.vaag.com/PRESS_RELEASES/NewsArchive/010808_Agenda.html

The Attorney General’s 2009 Legislative Agenda Includes:

Election Reforms

Absentee Voters
Patron: Cosgrove/Martin
HB1877/SB1070

• Adds emergency response workers to the list of persons entitled to vote by absentee ballot. 
• Requires absentee ballots are sent expeditiously to voter, including overseas military members.

Voting Improvement Act
Patrons: Cosgrove/Blevins
HB1878/SB1188

Components in the current version include:

Election Official Relief Act

• Makes an additional election official available to arrive one hour before closing at each precinct to assist with closing the polls, including tabulation of the final vote count.

Election Paraphernalia

• The wearing of election paraphernalia within 40 feet of the voting precinct may include t-shirts, buttons and stickers.

Voter Domicile

• Promoting clarity and uniformity among the localities responsible for determining a voter’s residence.  
• Amend Section 24.2-101 regarding the definition of “residence or resident.” Contained within that definition are criteria to be applied to the determination of “domicile” under Virginia law, and to require the State Board of Elections to promulgate uniform guidelines to assist local registrars with determining a voter’s residence.

Prevent Dual Registration and Voting

• Increasing criminal penalties for a voter who knowingly votes or assists another to vote in a jurisdiction where the voter is not qualified to vote. The application to register to vote will also contain a statement informing the voter that if they vote more than once in the same election they shall be guilty of a felony. The Attorney General is also working with the State Board of Elections to develop other ways, within existing law, to maintain an accurate voter registration list to prevent voters from being registered in more than one place.

Consumer Protection

Mortgage Lender and Broker Act
Patrons: Kilgore/Watkins
HB2261 and HB2262/SB1169 and SB1170

• Remove the “mortgage lender” exemption from the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.
• Clarify and expand the Attorney General’s enforcement authority under the Mortgage Lender and Broker Act (MLBA).

Prohibition on Sale of Recalled Products Involving Children
Patrons: Iaquinto/McDougle
HB2039/SB954

• Adds provisions to Virginia Consumer Protection Act which will allow the Attorney General to enforce laws regarding recalled products involving children. Will also empower citizens to hold stores accountable for continuing to sell such items that have been recalled.

Public Safety

Identity Theft
Patrons: Bell/Hurt
HB2402/SB1301

• Amend the identity theft statute to encompass the theft of someone’s identity to illegally obtain loans, credit, etc. The statute currently only addresses theft to obtain goods and services.

Gangs
Patrons: Cline/Obenshain
HB2441/SB1223

• Create a statute requiring the Department of Corrections to provide an inmate’s gang affiliation to the Commonwealth’s Attorney when they are being prosecuted for an offense occurring in a state prison.

Infrastructure

Enhancing Virginia’s Infrastructure
Patron: McDougle
SB1153

• Expanding Virginia’s Public Private Partnerships to include a greater range of projects and facilitate greater participation by the private sector.  

Electronic Filing with State Agencies
Patrons: Massie, Wagner
HB1969/SB1299

• Clarifies that state agencies can offer citizens and businesses the option of filing paperwork and paying fees online.

Other Legislation Moving Forward Supported by Attorney General Bob McDonnell

In addition to his Legislative Agenda, composed of bills crafted by the Attorney General’s Office and highlighted by the Attorney General, additional bills that the Attorney General actively supported that are on their way to passage include:

Improvements to the Virginia Sexually Violent Predator Program
Patron: Griffith
HB1843

• Clarifies and strengthens various provisions of the Act to ensure that the Commonwealth has all relevant information available to assess the person’s continued threat to society.

First Responder Notification of Contact with Infectious Disease
Patrons: J. Miller/McDougle
HB2141/SB1107

• Ensures that first responders have the ability to quickly learn whether they have been subjected to an infectious disease in the course of their duties.

Virginia Budget Transparency
Patron: Cuccinelli
SB936

• Enhances the ability of the public to view on-line data collected by the Auditor of Public Accounts regarding the operation of state government

Children’s Health Care Coverage and Support
Patron: Barker
SB1237

• Provides additional healthcare options for children receiving child support by encouraging use of private sector insurance solutions.

Emergency Replacement of Jordan Bridge
Patron: Blevins
SB1550

• Enables the City of Chesapeake to work with the private sector to expeditiously replace an unsafe bridge that is important to travel and commerce in the region.