End of Regular Session News

           After eight  weeks, the regularly scheduled 2008 Legislative Session is over, unfortunately House and Senate budget negotiators could not reach agreement and the session has been extended.  Legislation Patroned or Co-Patroned by Delegate Nichols included:   

            HB 1302, expands the definition of “scene of the accident” to include more reasonable areas out of the way of moving traffic.  By expanding this definition, a police officer could legally order a vehicle that has been in an accident to be moved to an area that won’t block traffic while still being able to file a police report.  The bill was amended and considered by numerous committees in both the House and the Senate, and will be effective July 1, 2008 assuming a signature by the Governor.

            HB 1455 passed through both houses without contention.  The bill will change details in the process of provisional ballot taking.  Instead of signing off provisional ballot castors in a pollbook, the voter’s information will be written in the provisional ballot log which will make it less likely that votes are miscounted.  HB 1455 will expedite and further insure the integrity of voting within the Commonwealth.

             HB 1457  will allow the Virginia Resources Authority to finance public buildings.  This will greatly increase the rate at which public infrastructure can be built while reducing the cost.  Through a half-a-dozen votes in both houses, HB 1457 received not a single “no” vote.

           Unfortunately, many more of Delegate Nichols’ bills were killed than passed.  Among those bills that were killed by the majority House leadership were six anti-illegal immigration bills.  HB 90 would have required contractors and subcontractors of public projected to use the federal E-Verify system to verify the legal status of their workers.  When illegal immigrants work for government contractors and subcontractors, they are paid with tax money.  HB 90 would have assured that this practice would end. 

            HB 155 would have prohibited illegal immigrants who have been arrested from release on bail and HB 156 would have banned illegal immigrants from qualifying for a mortgage.  HB 305 would have established a Division of Legal Presence within the Department of State Police.  The Division would employ 100 full time troopers to be assigned exclusively to illegal immigration issues. 

            These bills all dealt with a pressing issue in Prince William, illegal immigration, but they have something else in common.  These four bills were all left in committee and pocketed by the committee chair.  It is a common practice to play partisan games with bills by not taking them up in committee.  Delegate Nichols is not the only victim of these cutthroat tactics.  The Republican majority in the House has made it impossible for Delegates from across the aisle to fully represent and protect their constituents.