2005 Legislative Roundup

SB711: Sen. Houck
Establishes permanent, uniform rules in FOIA for video- and tele-conferencing by state’s public bodies. Recommended by FOI Advisory Council and Joint Commission on Technology and Science. (Combined with SB1196)

SB752: Sen. Wampler
Extends for 2 more years the University of Virginia’s special reporting rules for electronic meetings

Approved.

SB857: Sen. Howell
Amends an existing FOIA exemption to include investigation of suspicious deaths by a new Adult Fatality Review Team.
Killed, House Appropriations

SB879: Sponsor: Sen. Wampler;
General Laws Committee
Creates meeting and record exemptions for confidential proprietary records and trade secrets. Stricken by the sponsor.

SB882: Sen. Obenshain
Requires the library board or governing body of a library that receives state funding for any purpose to include in its acceptable use policy for the Internet provisions requiring the selection, installation and activation on those computers that have Internet access a technology protection measure, as selected by the Library of Virginia, to filter or block Internet access through such computers to child pornography, obscenity or information harmful to minors. The bill also requires the library board or governing body to actually select, install and activate the technology protection measure.
Killed in Senate committee

SB927: Sen. Blevins
Allows the district court clerk to destroy court records after electronic imaging.
Killed in Senate committee

SB934: Sponsor: Stosch
Purpose: Orders auditor of public accounts to set up a user-friendly Web site on the state budget and state spending.The auditor would be directed not only to post 10 years’ worth of figures, but to track spending trends so that citizens could follow the financial “paper trail.” Statistical trends also would be included, such as school enrollment, prison populations and income levels. Approved unanimously. House WMTA amendment in conference.

SB996: Sen. Devolites Davis
Provides that a referendum committee that continues in existence more than six months after the referendum is held may either file a final report or continue as a political committee subject to the filing requirements for political committees.
Approved

SB1019: Sen. Mims
Requires that the record of any future divorce suit not contain the social security number of any party or of any minor child, or any credit card or bank account number. This type of information, to the extent required by law to be provided to a governmental agency, shall be contained in a confidential summary order.
Approved

SB1027: Sen. Newman
Dissolves the Virginia Information Providers Network as a separate division of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA); amended to restate FOIA protections.
Approved

SB1030: Sen. Lambert
Provides that confidential records and information obtained from private and public entities and provided to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) during the course of a death investigation and records collected and maintained during the course of investigations, surveillance programs or research or studies of deaths having a public health importance by the OCME are exempt from disclosure. (A Freedom of Information Act exemption was removed from the bill in subcommittee.) The bill also provides that the records of the OCME may not be subject to subpoena or discovery in criminal or civil proceedings.
Approved

SB1069: Sen. Edwards
Creates an ombudsman for children’s services. “Records concerning closed cases shall be subject to the disclosure requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, but in a manner that does not identify any complainant or any person unless (i) such complainant or person or his legal representative consents in writing to such identification or (ii) such identification is required by court order.” Stricken at patron’s request.

SB1080: Sen. Ticer
Relaxes contribution-reporting rules in non-election years for local government officials.
Approved

SB1109: Sen. Blevins
Revises certain provisions relating to minors’ health records to provide a measure of consistency with the federal regulations that were promulgated by the federal Secretary of Health and Human Services pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act concerning access to and authority to disclose protected health information.
Approved

SB1134: Sen. Norment
Establishes a permanent council to operate, maintain, and preserve Capitol Square, which includes the State Capitol, the Executive Mansion, the Bell Tower, and the area surrounding the Capitol enclosed by the iron fence installed in 1818 and its extension. The council will have sole authority to coordinate and approve any additions, improvements or renovations and will oversee state appropriated funds for the operation, maintenance and renovation of Capitol Square. FOIA meeting rules will be followed, Joint Rules’ powers notwithstanding.
Killed in Rules Committee

SB1147: Sen. Obenshain
Anti-phishing bill, companion to HB 2304
Amended,approved

SB1157: Sen. Stolle
Amended to create a new FOIA exemption for advice on judicial ethics given to a judge by the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission’s (originally, the bill removed JIRC from FOIA altogether)
Approved by Senate, 39-0; approved in House 85-10. Voting no: Alexander, Armstrong, BaCote, Hamilton, Melvin, Moran, Putney, Spruill, Van Yahres, Ward

SB1192: Sen.. Devolites Davis
Clarifies that clerks are able to provide secure remote access to any document which is filed among the land records in the circuit court and allows them to also provide secure remote access to any person and his counsel to documents filed in matters to which such person is a party. The bill also clarifies that the Supreme Court is not prohibited from providing online access to a case management system which may include abstracts of case filings and proceedings in the courts of the Commonwealth. Extends the sunset clause to July 1, 2007. Amended to remove a proposed ban on postings by individual citizens.
Approved

SB1196: Sen. Newman
Relaxes FOIA rules for electronic meetings; requires 7-working-day notice, physical presence of quorum at primary meeting site.
Amended, approved

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HJ27: Del Armstrong
Renews effort to televise and webcast the floor sessions of the House of Delegates
Killed in House Rules Committee; voting yes: Callahan, McDonnell, Landes, Hall

HJ667: Del. Albo
Asks the State Board of Elections to study clarification and reorganization of the Campaign Finance Disclosure Act. Input would be sought from “one or more non-profit groups with an interest in Campaign Finance disclosure in Virginia.
Approved

HB1547: Del. Frederick (for the Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services)
Amended to remove FOIA exemption for “identifying information for restricted fertilizer . . . having a potential explosive capacity that is determined to present an unreasonable threat to public safety.
Killed in committee

HB1664: Del. Lingamfelter
Increases penalties for violations of Campaign Finance Disclosure Act.
Approved

HB1676: Del. Cosgrove
Provides that any board member or prospective board member of a Crime Stoppers, Crime Solvers or Crime Line program shall not be required to pay for a criminal history records check for appointment to such a board.
Approved

HB1696: Del. Spruill
Provides that any person who on more than one occasion uses any type of still or video or motion picture camera to record the image of an individual, who is not a public figure, when he knows or reasonably should know that the individual does not wish to have his image recorded, is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. Stricken by the patron.

HB1706: Del. Kilgore
Allows clerks to continue to charge 50 cents a page for copies of clerks’ records — but requires clerks to give the state any part of the 50 cents that represents profit. Amended to say “the costs of making out the copies shall include lease and maintenance agreements for the equipment used to make out the copies, but shall not include salaries or related benefits. The costs of copies shall otherwise be determined in accordance with (FOIA)”
Approved

HB1716: Del. Fralin
Requires public schools to more accurately report criminal incidents
Approved

HB1729: Del. Cosgrove.
Makes it a crime to spread unathorized computer spyware; killed in committee (issue to be studied)

HB1733: Del. Cosgrove.
Proposed FOIA record exemption § 2.2-3705.1. #10
Revises FOIA record exemptions to require withholding of e-mail addresses whenever citizens ask for electronic mail from government (unless the subject of the record waives, in writing, the proposed privacy protection (changes FOIA from presuming a record is open to presuming the record is closed). Recommended by House General Laws Subcommittee, 3-1; killed in full General Laws Committee, 14-3. (Voting in support of the measure: Wright, McDougle and Danny Marshall)

HB1741: Del. Cosgrove
Creation of a videotape, photograph, film or videographic or still image record created by placing the lens or image-gathering component of a recording device in a position to capture an image of the person’s undergarments, genitals, pubic area or buttocks when the undergarments, genitals, pubic area or buttocks would not otherwise be visible punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Approved; in conference committee

HB1750: Del. Landes
Creates a human rights agency to investigate discrimination charges; provides for confidentiality prior to public hearings. Killed in committee, 12-4

HB1759: Del. Dillard
Requires legislative committees to meet by mid-year to consider carried-over legislation, with an opportunity for the chief patron to address the merits of the proposed legislation. To be revisited by Rules next year.

HB1773: Del. Dillard
Legalizes e-filing your absentee-ballot application.
Killed in committee

HB1791: Del. Cox
Makes clarifying and technical changes to the Virginia Public Records Act. The bill removes obsolete definitions, clarifies existing definitions of “archival records” and “public records,” and creates a definition for “private record,” a term that is used in the Act but not currently defined. The bill removes references to the preservation of medical records, an area of law that has been superseded by other state and federal medical records laws, and programs for microfilming records by The Library of Virginia, a service not provided by The Library of Virginia. The bill also clarifies that a public record may not be destroyed or discarded unless certain requirements are met. This change codifies current practice. This bill is a recommendation of the HJR 6 study (2004).

Amended, approved

HB1804: Del. Bob Marshall
Eliminates any jurisdiction of the State Corporation Commission to regulate voice-over-Internet protocol service. Voice-over-Internet protocol service is excluded from the scope of the definitions of telephone service, telecommunications service, local exchange telephone service, and interexchange telephone service
Amended, approved in House, 90-7; killed in Senate committee

HB1816: Del. Bob Marshall
Requires each public and private two- and four-year institution of higher education in the Commonwealth to publish annually a descriptive report detailing the (i) purpose, amount, use, and distribution of student fees assessed each semester or during an academic year; and (ii) the name of each organization and student leader, if applicable, including the nature of the organization’s activity, that receives funding of $100 or more from student fees. The bill also requires institutions to post the annual report on its website to facilitate access and availability of the report to students enrolled at the institution and their parents.
Approved

HB1864: Del. Morgan
Establishes a database to track payment of PayDay loans.
Killed in committee

HB1909: Del. Baskerville
Purpose: Removes absentee-ballot restrictions.
Killed in committee

HB1959: Del. Dwight Jones
Provides that the fees charged to persons with incomes at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty line for copies of court documents shall not exceed $0.10 per page.
Killed, Courts of Justice committee

HB1961: Del. D.C. Jones
Only the person seeking the payday loan may make a direct inquiry to the designated third-party provider to request a more detailed explanation of a particular transaction that was the basis for the database’s determination that the person was ineligible for a loan. Any information regarding any person’s transactional history is confidential and exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. Killed in committee

HB1962: Del. Dwight Jones
Bans use of hand-held cell phones while driving.
Killed in committee

HB1993: Del. Griffith
Requires increased budget disclosures by Dept. of Planning and Budget.
Passed by the House, 95-0; approved in Senate, 25-13

HB1997: Del. Griffith
Non-FOIA change in handling civil commitment of sexually violent predators.

Approved; in conference committee

HB2000: Del. Griffith
Changes name from license tax to gross receipts tax and repeals newspapers’ exemption from the tax. It allows localities to exempt newspapers from the BPOL tax provided they are exempt from state sales tax. However, if the locality imposes the tax on newspapers, 50 percent of the revenues generated from the tax on newspapers must be used for the locality’s arts, cultural or tourist attractions. Killed in committee

HB2021: Del. Welch
Requires General Assembly candidates to file campaign finance reports electronically
Amended by Privileges and Electikons Committee to allow continued filing of paper reports, with a filing fee of $25. Stricken on House floor

HB2032: Del. Miles
Provides that the Department of Emergency Management shall be responsible for the coordination, receipt, evaluation, and dissemination of emergency services intelligence and shall coordinate intelligence activities with the Department of State Police. The bill creates a records exemption under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act for contact information, computer information and operating schedule information submitted by an individual or agency for participation in the Statewide Alert Network.
Approved

HB2034: Del. Hamilton
Higher education reform act. Approved unanimously in House

HB2044: Del. Hamilton
Expands the Prescription Monitoring Program to include reporting by out-of-state dispensers (nonresident pharmacies) and prescribers licensed in other states and to cover the entire Commonwealth. Discloses information for the purpose of bona fide research or education to qualified personnel; however, data elements that would reasonably identify a specific recipient, prescriber, or dispenser shall be deleted or redacted from such information prior to disclosure. Further, release of the information shall only be made pursuant to a written agreement between such qualified personnel and the Director in order to ensure compliance with this subdivision. Stricken in committee. Combined with HB2866 (charter bill for universities)

HB2052: Del. Nixon
Extends the sunset clause prohibiting clerks from posting sensitive personal-identifying information on a court-controlled website from July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2007.SB827; continues remote access via subscription. Amended to provide immunity for clerks unless they’re grossly negligent in the handling of subscriber-only land records.
Passed

HB2055: Del. Nixon
Provides that using a version of the National Do Not Call Registry obtained from its administrator no more than 31 days prior to the date of a telephone solicitation call constitutes a reasonable practice and procedure to effectively prevent telephone solicitation calls that would violate the Virginia Telephone Privacy Protection Act. The establishment and implementation of reasonable practices and procedures to effectively prevent such telephone solicitation calls is an affirmative defense to an action claiming a violation of the Act. Currently, such defense is available to telephone solicitors that use a version of the National Do Not Call Registry obtained within three months preceding the date of the call. Reducing the period from three months to 31 days makes the Act consistent with federal regulations. Approved

HB 2190: Del. Waldrup
Repeals BPOL tax exemption for newspapers, magazines, other publications; see HB2000
Killed in committee

HB 2191: Del. Waldrup
Creates a newspaper-only tax; see HB2000
Killed in Committee

HB2205: Del. Marrs
Prohibits the disclosure online via the Physician Information Project of malpractice

settlements that are required to be reported by insurance companies, and limits reports to the Board of Medicine from individual physicians to malpractice judgments. The settlements will still be reported to the Board of Medicine by the malpractice carriers.
Killed in House Courts, 15-3. Voting yes: McDonnell, Black, Marrs

HB2215: Del. Albo
Modernizes the Virginia Computer Crimes Act by updating definitions to comport with changing technology, removing superfluous language and relocating language. The bill adds unauthorized installation of software on the computer of another, disruption of another computer’s ability to share or transfer information and maliciously obtaining computer information without authority as additional crimes of computer trespass, a Class 1 misdemeanor. Approved

HB 2304: McDougle
Anti-phishing bill, companion to SB1147. Combined with HB2631.

HB2399: Del. Phillips
New public-safetry exemption: Allows 911 subscriber data to be kept confidential
Approved

HB2404: Del. Phillips
Creates record and meeting exemptions for proprietary records and trade secrets developed by or for wireless service authorities
Approved

HB2426: Del. Cole
Provides that the localities within the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission may meet at two or more locations simultaneously, linked by telephonic or video conferencing as long as each location is public and has met all advertising requirements. Measure stricken by the patron.

HB2474: Del. May
Amends the Virginia Consumer Protection Act to prohibit a supplier from using a consumer’s social security number when the consumer requests that his driver’s license number be used. Current law requires that a supplier only provide an alternate number if the consumer so requests in writing. This bill provides consumers with another option other than providing their social security numbers and writing to the supplier for a new number. Approved in House

HB2482: Del. May
Amends the Personal Information Privacy Act to prohibit (i) intentionally communicating an individual’s social security number to the general public; (ii) printing an individual’s social security number on any card required for the individual to access or receive products or services; (iii) requiring an individual to use his social security number to access an Internet website, unless an authentication device is also required; or (iv) mailing a package with the social security number visible from the outside. The bill exempts public bodies and public records. Approved in House; stricken in Senate committee at patron’s request.

HB2516: Del. O’Bannon
Seeks consistency with federal law for confidential health records; companion to SB1109. Approved

HB2539: Del. Chris Jones
Amended, seeks to end uncertainty surrounding when PACs need to file pre-election reports by scrapping them altogether and replacing them with (1) quarterly reports and (2) year-round requirement to report all donations of $10,000 or more within two working days. Approved

HB2666: Del. McDonnell
Revises the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 (PPTA) by authorizing memoranda of understanding and binding preliminary agreements among the parties to negotiate in good faith; authorizing the negotiation of developers’ fees, management fees, and similar financial incentives to attract private sector investment in light of the risk profile and other investment opportunities; requiring that appropriate action be taken to protect intellectual property, trade secrets, finance plans, and other confidential and proprietary information contained in proposals; and authorizes use of confidentiality agreements in connection with any comprehensive agreement, service contract, lease or, or other agreement. Approved

HB2672: Del. Plum
Amends an existing meetings exemption to allow closed meetings to discuss records exempt from public disclosure relating to the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act (PPEA)
Stricken by patron; PPEA issues sent to FOIA Council for study

HB2676: Del. Ebbin
Establishes Adult Fatality Review Team (“Team”) to review suspicious deaths of adults in order to create a body of information to help prevent future fatalities. Information obtained or generated by the Team regarding a review shall be confidential and exempt from disclosure requirements under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq.). Such information shall not be subject to subpoena or discovery or be admissible in any civil or criminal proceeding. If available from other sources, however, such information and records shall not be immune from subpoena, discovery, or introduction into evidence when obtained through such other sources solely because the information and records were presented to the Team during an adult death review. Killed in Appropriations Committee

HB2721: Del. Scott
Requires agencies and businesses that maintain computerized data that
includes personal information to notify the subject of that information
when a breach of the database containing that information is discovered.
No notice is required if an investigation determines that there is no
reasonable belief that the information has been or will be used in an
unlawful manner. The bill provides for various means of notifying the
owner or licensee of that information and requires the agency or
business to coordinate notification with consumer reporting agencies if
they indicated that the affected individual can obtain a credit report. JCOTS to study.

HB2727: Del. Scott
Directs State Board of Elections to make spot checks of campaign finance reports for accuracy and completeness.
Killed in committee

HB2729: Del. Jim Scott
Exempts records of active investigations being conducted by the Department of Criminal Justice Services involving the private security business
Approved

HB2760: Del. Reese
Allows local government to meet via phone and video-conferencing. Retains all other e-meeting rules that currently exist in FOIA.
Sent to FOIA council for study, at Reese’s request.