Similar Bills, Different Fates
Ideas that went nowhere when Republicans controlled the Virginia legislature are now moving forward under Democrats. Below are 88 bills killed in committee last year that -- by the halfway point of this year -- made it to the House or Senate floor.
Business/Commerce
| HB757 | Bans criminal history questions on government employment applications |
| HB55 | Creates corporate structure for worker cooperatives |
| HB932 | Removes professional certification requirement for natural gas auto mechanics |
| HB833, SB8 | Requires government contractors to pay employees prevailing wage |
| HB337, SB48 | Prohibits firing/disciplining employees who file unpaid wage complaints |
| HB336, SB49 | Authorizes state to investigate an employer's failure to pay wages |
| HB825 | Establishes paid family and medical leave benefits |
| SB7 | Increases minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour by 2025 |
| HB798 | Prohibits retaliation against employees who report violation of the law |
| HB553 | Requires legislative branch to adopt Commonwealth Workplace Harassment Policy |
| HB46 | Requires employers to notify employees of their intention regarding workers comp claims |
Public Safety
| HB264, SB263 | Requires concealed firearm training to be done in person |
| HB812, SB69 | Limits handgun purchases to one a month |
| SB35 | Gives localities authority to prevent the carrying of firearms at permitted events in a public space |
| SB64 | Makes paramilitary activity intended to intimidate a class 5 felony |
| SB70 | Requires universal background checks for firearm purchases |
| SB1019 | Ties retirement age for law-enforcement officers to Social Security Act |
| HB246 | Requires localities to adopt written policy for police use of body-worn cameras |
| HB35, SB103 | Makes inmates who were sentenced as juveniles eligible for parole after serving 25 years |
| HB33, SB793 | Reinstitutes parole for certain inmates |
| SB493 | Allows consideration of parole for terminally ill and geriatric inmates |
Social Issues
| HB1537, SB183 | Gives localities power to move Civil War monuments |
| HB6 | Bans housing discrimination based on public assistance income |
| HB7 | Bans housing discrimination based on sexual orientation/gender identify |
| HB1252 | Prevents discrimination in apprenticeship programs |
| HB1250 | Prevents use of "bias-based" profiling by police |
| SB936 | Allows qualified charitable gaming organizations to put on Texas Hold'em poker events |
| HB896 | Repeals online lottery ticket sales; directs Virginia Lottery to regulate sports betting |
| SB742 | Prohibits sales of dogs or cats in which animal is subject to repossession upon default of loan |
| HB276, HB618, SB179 | Expands hate crimes to include targeting for sexual orientation/gender identify |
| HB1429 | Prevents health insurance from discriminating based on gender identity |
| HB623 | Removes prohibition on same-sex marriage and uses gender neutral terms for spouses in code |
Courts
| HB100, SB325 | In criminal cases, potential jurors can be informed about possible range of punishment |
| HB995, SB788 | Increases threshold for grand larceny from $500 to $1,000 |
| HB1522 | Prevents forfeiture of property without finding of guilt |
| HB298, SB724 | Increases statute of limitations to prosecute child sexual offenses |
| HB253 | Third conviction of distributing images results in sex offender listing |
| HB266 | Prevents adding interest on traffic/criminal fines |
| HB787 | Allows multi-jurisdictional grand juries to investigate crimes involving discrimination |
Education
| HB375 | Clarifies students' rights in higher education arbitration disputes |
| HB1322 | Prevents questions about criminal history on college applications |
| HB499 | Requires creation of performance standards for public universities |
| HB232 | Requires Dept. of Elections to provide voter registration forms to colleges |
| HB420 | Requires school emergency plans to address students with limited English proficiency |
| HB1143 | Includes behavioral analysts in count of school support staff |
| HB256 | Prevents finding students guilty of disorderly conduct when on school property |
| HB270 | Requires parental notice before school lock-down drills |
| HB74 | Requires teachers to complete mental health first aid training |
Elections
| HB849 | Subjects online political advertisements to same disclosure rules as other ads |
| SB455 | Extends deadline for receipt of absentee ballots from overseas and military voters |
| HB196 | Enhances employment discrimination protection for local election officials |
| HB1210 | Provides non-English election materials |
| HB198 | Requires a special election in cases of a tie vote |
| HB177 | Requires Va. presidential electors to vote for winner of national popular vote |
| HB213 | Add student id from out-of-state college as acceptable voter photo ID |
Transportation
| SB34 | Allows DMV to issue limited duration driver's credentials for certain non-citizens |
| HB34, SB439 | Allows first-time drunk drivers to petition for interlock restricted license |
| HB1644 | Prevents passing of cars stopped at crosswalk |
| HB15 | Requires seat belts on school buses |
| HB561 | Requires consideration of evacuation routes in prioritizing transportation funding |
Other
| HB552 | Excludes FDA-approved birth control from definition of abortion |
| HB572, SB710 | Promotes distributed renewable solar energy |
| HB997, SB675 | Removes the expiration date on fingerprint background checks for child care providers |
| SB33 | Caps interest charged in consumer loans to 36% |
| HB534 | Authorizes localities to impose tax on plastic bags |
| HB1354 | Establishes a Plastic Pollution Prevention Advisory Council |
| SB208 | Creates civil cause for action against contractors who fail to pay labor and materials |
| HB852 | Requires annually information security awareness training for state employees |
| HB1030 | Pilot program for underground electrical transmission lines |
| HB819 | Allows SCC to assess fines for real estate settlement kickbacks regardless of licensure status |
| HB361 | Creates income tax credit for eligible family care expenses |
| SB553 | Creates new rights for cotenants in sale of inherited property |
Source: Virginia's Legislative Information System. Bill descriptions written by VPAP staff.
Methodology: VPAP drew up a list of bills that were introduced in the 2019 session and died in committee in their chamber of origin and, then found similar bills that were introduced in the 2020 session but were approved by committees and sent to the floor of their chamber of origin. Two bills were considered the same, or "semantically similar", if the summary text, as drafted by the Division of Legislative Services, was identical or nearly identical. This semantic similarity is calculated based on variations of the "TF-IDF" and "cosine similarity" algorithms.
Feb. 12, 2020