By Elaine Donnelly
Extending sexual misconduct to combat units
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
A Virginia Senate committee rejected legislation Monday that would have expanded background checks at gun shows after an attempted compromise between gun-control supporters and opponents pleased neither side.
Gov. Bob McDonnell’s transportation-funding package won a Senate committee’s endorsement Thursday despite the reservations of some of his fellow Republicans and outright opposition from Democrats.
Virginia budget negotiators have agreed on a new two-year, $85 billion spending plan, but the Senate's leading Democrat said Thursday his party would not deliver the necessary votes to pass it.
Virginia's two-year, $85 billion spending plan is finally in a conference committee, but funding for the Dulles Metrorail is emerging as a key sticking point that could drag out the already-extended session even further.
Virginia Republicans were hopeful that a weekend away from Richmond would help thaw a stalemate over the state's proposed two-year, $85 billion spending plan. But the weekend arrests of more than 30 activists protesting anti-abortion legislation has only fueled the partisan flames that have engulfed the Capitol.
The Virginia Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that will require women to undergo ultrasound imaging before having an abortion, after a torturous process through the legislature that saw Gov. Bob McDonnell broker a compromise on the high-profile measure.
The Virginia Senate Finance committee Tuesday morning killed a bill that would repeal state funding for low-income women to have abortions if a doctor determines their child will be born with a physical deformity or mental deficiency.
After Virginia's Senate Education and Health Committee passed a bill requiring women to undergo ultrasound imaging before having an abortion, Sen. Janet D. Howell went back to her hotel room, admittedly angry.
The Virginia Senate on Wednesday approved a bill requiring women to undergo ultrasound imaging before they have an abortion - the most aggressive measure on reproductive rights that has cleared the upper chamber thus far in the 2012 session.
The Virginia Senate on Wednesday approved a bill requiring women to undergo ultrasound imaging before they have an abortion — the most aggressive measure on reproductive rights that has cleared the upper chamber thus far in the 2012 session.
Democrats persuaded reluctant Republicans to vote for their second attempt at a Senate redistricting map, approving the map on Thursday after extensive closed-door efforts to draw a plan they hope wont be vetoed by Gov. Bob McDonnell.
Delegate Robert G. Marshall won't likely forget that his Prince William district experienced the largest population surge of any when he looks at the redistricting map drawn by House Republicans.
Sen. Janet D. Howell, Fairfax Democrat, said voluntary background checks are "a pitiful response" to mass shootings in recent years, including the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre and the December slayings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
"It's verging on deceptive," she said. "It will make it look like we've done something, where in fact we've done nothing."
