From driving to voting, many new laws in effect today
P. KEVIN MORLEY/TIMES-DISPATCH
An Allstate Insurance demonstration put a student driver behind the wheel earlier this year to show how such distractions as texting while driving can cause wrecks.
New state laws that ban text messaging while driving and get tougher on drunken drivers take effect today.
In a 46-day session, the General Assembly approved 879 bills, most of which are now law.
The session will probably be best known for a measure prohibiting smoking in most restaurants and bars in Virginia. This measure will not take effect until Dec. 1 to give restaurant owners more time to prepare for the ban.
Here’s a look at some of today’s new laws:
State budget — The revised $77 billion budget uses about $1.4 billion in federal stimulus funds to keep the
spending plan in balance.
Texting while driving — Those who text or e-mail while driving can receive a $20 fine or $50 for a second offense. Drivers can be cited only if pulled over for another offense. Thirteen other states and the District of Columbia have banned texting while driving.
Drunken driving — People twice convicted of drunken driving within 10 years will be required to use ignition interlock devices, electronic devices installed in motor vehicles connecting a breathalyzer to a vehicle’s ignition system. The devices prevent the starting of a motor vehicle if alcohol is detected on the operator’s breath.
Payday lending — Lenders will be required to choose between offering payday loans, whose fees are fixed, and open-ended loans, which can carry sky’s-the-limit interest rates. Lenders getting out of the payday business would lose their licenses to offer such loans in Virginia for a decade.
Voting — Voters will be allowed to go to the polls wearing clothing such as T-shirts or buttons that back a candidate. Before the presidential election last year, the State Board of Elections — interpreting a state law that forbids electioneering within 40 feet of the polls — said voters should not wear such clothing to the polls. After the General Assembly approved the new legislation, three free-speech organizations dropped a lawsuit against the elections board.
Novelty cigarette lighters — Stores will not be allowed to sell novelty cigarette lighters to juveniles. Such lighters must be kept out of reach to the public, and any clerk who sells one to a minor will face up to a $100 fine.
Health insurance — Health insurers will be allowed to offer group health-insurance policies that do not include state-mandated health benefits to employers with 50 or fewer employees.
Concealed weapons — Those applying for a concealed-weapons permit may complete the required firearms training online or by video. Legislators overrode Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s veto of the bill.
Tax amnesty — The State Tax Commissioner is authorized to operate a tax-amnesty program during the 2009-2010 fiscal year, which begins Wednesday.
Tax credit — The amount of the land-preservation tax credit that may be claimed in 2009 and 2010 is reduced to $50,000 from $100,000.
Inmate fees — The amount that a sheriff or jail superintendent may charge an inmate per day to defray the costs of the prisoner’s keep increases to $5 from $1.
Mental health — The name of the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services is changing to the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.
School absences — A court may suspend a minor’s driver’s license if the student misses 10 consecutive days of school.
Financial literacy — Local school boards will be required to establish educational objectives in financial literacy for middle and high school students.
Annexation — The moratorium against annexation by cities is extended from 2010 to 2018.
Wildlife — The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries will be allowed to issue a kill permit to an airport operator if the department finds wildlife is creating a hazard. Currently, a kill permit can be issued only for deer.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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Reader Reactions
You would have the govt.“regulate” how others use their private PROPERTY so that they will be forced to provide you with what you Want.That makes you the perfect example of a nazi/socalist. If a Libertarian wants a smoke free bar or sidewalk he will build his own.
CA.. I guess you probably haven’t noticed the absolute explosion of handicapped signs on vehicles around the Richmond area..lol. Honestly, I think there are more people than not who would drive across a parking lot instead of walking 100 feet:)! Midlothian, Broad Street etc.. developed just like most main corridors out of major cities..business creeps out as resident’s moved out.. I am not sure that a sidewalk really would be all that great of a benefit since I doubt many in our car-centric society would use them. I actually lived in San Jose and the same strip mall set ups and sprawl existed there too.. I didn’t see the planned communities since where I lived the area had already been built up for quite some time.
Socialist/Nazi??? Please….help me understand how my comments even remotely resemble those things. Feeling butt-hurt because I just insulted the place where you live?
CA You just gave us such a good example of why the Cap and Trade legislation is such a bad idea. It makes the US a less “favorable” place to do business. Please people.. wake up and tell your elected officials that we can’t cripple our economy any further.. this will kill us.. skyrocketing energy costs etc.. lost jobs.. you think things are bad now? just wait.
ca Libertarian should change his I.D. to ca socalist/nazi.
The problem with cities in Virginia is that not only can they not annex, but apparently can so seldom incorporate at all. Why isn’t Midlothian incorporated, for example? Your cities become stagnant because they cannot expand into more prosperous territory and gain more of a tax base. There may be exceptions like Alexandria, which is mostly wealthy. So, what happens, like you said, is that businesses choose to locate in adjacent counties where the rules are more in their favor. The problem is that county planners are still living out their rural fantasies and don’t want to make any improvements like sidewalks or mixed-use high-density town centers. So you end up with corridors lined with these businesses for miles and no sense of cohesiveness. Look at what a disgrace Midlothian Turnpike is. Lines of businesses for miles, each surrounded by vast treeless parking lots, and NO sidewalks. Look at Route 3 in Spotsylvania County, west of Fredericksburg. Same thing. Even Tyson’s Corner really sucks. I’m not saying that we don’t have ugly sprawling areas in California, but at least here in CA planners wouldn’t THINK of building a major commercial corridor without pedestrian amenities. Here, usually adjacent cities compete with each other for commercial development. In VA, there’s often no such thing as adjacent cities (like Glen Allen and Short Pump should be, for instance). Therefore the county is the one in charge of overseeing all development, and Virginia’s county planners have too large a geographic area under their jurisdictions to be bothered with focusing on very local neighborhood improvements such as sidewalks, crosswalks, and landscaping. So it all looks like one bland clusterF. Richmond proper, on the other hand, maybe a lot of things, but bland is not one of them. This is why Virginia needs more incorporated areas, in the areas that are already developed but the counties have no motivation to give them a sense of place for the local residents.
TheGoodShepherd, Smoke does not bother me, however cheap perfume and cologne make me loose my appetite.How about banning being smelly in a restaurant?
CamsPoppy is pretty close to being correct. This is not foolishness, it’s outright stupidity on the part of our legislators. Anyone who is texting while driving obviously does not have the mental capacity to realize the danger involved, so they will certainly not be concerned about a $20 fine! BTW, the seat belt law passed to protect us from OURSELVES, carries a $25 fine, so go figure, it’s more important to protect us from ourselves than to protect us from the stupidity and recklessness of others! The Genreal Assembly is a joke. The only law they passed that had any teeth was repealed (abusive driver law) because they (mostly lawyers) didn’t know it would be challenged for being discriminatory (or did they?).
Business owners should decide on the smoking issue, not the govt.
If you don’t like a restaurant’s policy, tell them and don’t go there.
Free market reigns!
CA.. I actually lived in Cali for a while and enjoyed not having to breath smoke when I went to a restaurant.. I still thought that it shouldn’t have been mandated by govt.. that surely a business that did not allow smoking would end up getting more patrons..
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