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The House of Delegates takes up a bill that would require a woman to have an ultrasound before having an abortion.
Curb on GPS tracking fails in Senate panel
Legislation that would have prohibited the use of GPS devices to track people without their knowledge failed in a Senate committee Monday.
House Bill 807, sponsored by Del. Joe T. May, R-Loudoun, was defeated 9-6 on the Republican-controlled Courts of Justice Committee on a bipartisan vote. The vote effectively kills the legislation for the year.
The measure was a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Technology and Science and was inspired by a constituent who learned that a private detective hired by his spouse could legally place a tracking device on his car without his knowledge.
May's bill provided numerous exemptions for law enforcement, parents, caregivers and owners of fleet vehicles.
Ignition lock advances for drunken drivers
Legislation that calls for the installation of an ignition interlock device for a first offense of drunken driving cleared the Senate Courts of Justice Committee on a bipartisan 9-6 vote.
Currently ignition interlocks — which prevent cars from starting if the driver is under the influence — are installed on second or subsequent offenses of DUI, or on a first offense if a driver's blood alcohol content is 0.15 percent or greater.
The Senate recently passed an interlock bill that requires the devices to be installed when drivers are convicted of exceeding the legal limit of 0.08 percent.
House Bill 279, sponsored by Del. Salvatore R. Iaquinto, R-Virginia Beach, had a similar provision but was amended by the panel to set a new threshold of 0.12 percent.
The measure now heads to the full Senate for consideration.
Was that a ringing endorsement of bill?
An unknown state delegate may have committed a Class 3 misdemeanor Monday when he caused his phone to ring (multiple times) with intent to annoy Del. Robert Tata, R-Virginia Beach.
When the offense occurred, Tata was in the process of explaining his House Bill 39. The bill would make it a Class 2 misdemeanor — punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine — for a second or subsequent offense of causing a phone or pager to "ring with intent to annoy."
Currently, a person guilty of such a crime faces a Class 3 misdemeanor, which carries a fine of up to $500, no matter how many times the offender has been convicted.
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