Legislative Bulletin February 2, 2023 – Action Alert
Thursday, February 02, 2023 - 03:12pm
Update to Alert published 1:19pm Feb. 2: New day, time and committee assignment for SB1379
Oppose bill that threatens sovereign immunity for local governments
SB1379 (Deeds) will be heard Monday, Feb. 6 at 8:00am in Senate Judiciary
SB1379 (Deeds) would end sovereign immunity for medical providers, including doctors, nurses, and others who provide medical services to local and regional jail inmates. The bill was filed in response to a Virginia Supreme Court opinion that stopped an inmate’s malpractice suit against a doctor employed by the city. The same court found that the doctor had done nothing wrong in caring for the inmate.
Key points
- This would be the first of a thousand cuts that kills sovereign immunity. If it becomes law, before long, there will be bills filed to strip sovereign immunity from other local government officials. On the state level, UVA and VCU hospitals will likely face similar legislation.
- Sovereign immunity is critical to carrying out government services. If city, town, and county employees are faced with being personal defendants in lawsuits, it will become harder to hire workers and will cause the cost of operating to dramatically increase.
- If SB1379 becomes law, plaintiffs’ attorneys will file suits against city, local governments nurses and ambulance crews that respond to a call at a local or regional jail when any harm to an inmate is claimed. This will increase insurance costs and will make it harder to fill EMS jobs.
Action requested
Contact the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee before 8:00am on Monday, Feb. 6 to oppose SB1379.
| Edwards (Co-Chair) | district21@senate.virginia.gov | (804) 698-7521 |
| Deeds (Co-Chair) | district25@senate.virginia.gov | (804) 698-7525 |
| Saslaw | district35@senate.virginia.gov | (804) 698-7535 |
| Norment | district03@senate.virginia.gov | (804) 698-7503 |
| Lucas | district18@senate.virginia.gov | (804) 698-7518 |
| Obenshain | district26@senate.virginia.gov | (804) 698-7526 |
| McDougle | district04@senate.virginia.gov | (804) 698-7504 |
| Stuart | district28@senate.virginia.gov | (804) 698-7528 |
| Stanley | district20@senate.virginia.gov | (804) 698-7520 |
| Petersen | district34@senate.virginia.gov | (804) 698-7534 |
| Surovell | district36@senate.virginia.gov | (804) 698-7536 |
| McClellan | district09@senate.virginia.gov | (804) 698-7509 |
| Boysko | district33@senate.virginia.gov | (804) 698-7533 |
| Morrissey | district16@senate.virginia.gov | (804) 698-7516 |
| Peake | district22@senate.virginia.gov | (804) 698-7522 |
Contacts: Mark Flynn, markkflynn@gmail.com; Janet Areson, jareson@vml.org
