Governor vetoes, signs bills

Gov. Tim Kaine had until May 4 to act on legislation returned to him from the veto session held April 4, but he has gone ahead and either vetoed or signed into law the bills for which his amendments were rejected.

Kaine vetoed these bills of interest to local governments:

• HB 2422 (Griffith) would have removed the requirement for restaurants to maintain nonsmoking sections, provided that they post “smoking permitted” signs.
  
• SB 838 (Devolites Davis) which would have dealt with disclosure by local officials on potential conflicts of interest concerning local land use matters. Gov. Kaine said that the bill weakened disclosure requirements for local officials in most of the state, and that the House of Delegates had refused to accept amendments to restore those provisions.
  
• SB 1301 (Newman), which would have provided for funding for combined sewer overflow in Richmond and Lynchburg through the Water Quality Improvement Fund. The governor noted that the appropriations act including over $3 million for each city for CSO projects this year, and he pledged to again include CSO funding in his budget submission for the next biennium. He also pledged to “continue to work with Lynchburg and Richmond city officials and legislators to find a workable, long-term funding solution for these CSO projects – a solution that does not jeopardize agriculture programs or diminish overall water quality in the Commonwealth.”
  
  

The General Assembly rejected amendments to several other bills of interest to local governments, and Kaine had the option of either signing these, vetoing them, or allowing them to become law without his signature. The governor has signed these pieces of legislation:

• SB 1063 (Rerras), which requires local governments to give 30 days notice of the public hearing on the setting of the real estate tax rate (instead of the current seven days notice).
  
• HB 2707 (Hugo) and SB 840 (Devolites Davis), which prohibit the purchase of direct recording voting machines (touch screens) after July 1, 2007.
  
• HB 2261 (Rust), which provides for enhanced fines for any conviction resulting from a violation of provisions related to overcrowding of residential dwellings.
  
• HB 1817 (Suit), which exempts from Virginia titling and registration requirements any vehicle registered to an active duty military service member, activated reserve or national guard member, or mobilized reserve or national guard member living in Virginia as long as the vehicle is registered and titled elsewhere in the United States.
  
• HB 1908 (Albo), which raises the age at which children have to be in child restraint seats.
  
• HB 2028 (Sherwood), revising the charter for the city of Winchester.
  
• HB 2951 (Cosgrove), which requires VDOT to impose and collect tolls for the use of U.S. Route 17 in Chesapeake. The bill becomes effective upon the approval of the Federal Highway Administration.
  
• HB 3079 (Bowling) and SB 1340 (Puckett), creating the Appalachian Region Interstate Compact and Commission.
  
• SB 1001 (Houck), reducing the notice requirement for electronic communication meetings from seven to three working days and clarifies that political subdivisions, other than units of local government, may conduct electronic communication meetings.
  

What's new | Marketplace | VML Insurance Programs | About the League | Calendar | Sustaining membership
Legislative activities | Publications | Conferences | Affiliate organizations | Links

©2007 Virginia Municipal League. Comments and questions about this page or the data provided may be addressed to Manuel Timbreza.
Special thanks to the Virginia Institute of Government for hosting this site.