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Assembly Briefs: Delegates Will Take Another Look at Red-Light Cameras

Posted on: Saturday, 4 March 2006, 12:00 CST

By The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Mar. 4--The House of Delegates will get one more look at the issue of red-light cameras in the last week of the General Assembly session.

Although the House has killed three similar efforts to reinstate the cameras, senators said they wanted to push the issue again. In a 31-8 vote, the Senate passed HB181, which has been amended with a provision that would allow any Virginia locality to use the red-light monitors.

House leaders have pledged to kill the legislation.

The cameras, which are mounted at intersections, photograph vehicles that run red lights and tickets are issued to their owners. Virginia Beach used them at four intersections during a nine-month test that ended in June when authorizing legislation expired.

Opponents say they are an invasion of privacy and a Big Brother measure that actually increases hazards on the road because they cause motorists to brake to avoid running a red light.

Police say they are effective at decreasing major accidents at intersections.

Red-light infractions at the four Virginia Beach intersections where the cameras had been have more than doubled since June, police have said.

Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, has pushed for their return. Stolle worked as a police officer for 11 years, and said the cameras would decrease the fatal and serious injury accidents he saw while on patrol.

"What I learned was that enforcement was extremely important," he said. "And that's what this is all about. It's the threat of enforcement that leads to voluntary compliance that ultimately ends up in saving lives."

â€" Meghan Hoyer

Commissions: No-shows could face loss of positions

Members of local planning commissions, industrial development authorities and wetlands boards who miss more than four meetings a year could be removed from their positions under a bill under consideration in the General Assembly.

HB1171 would allow cities to remove a commission member if he or she missed three meetings in a row or four meetings in 12-months .

"In a number of localities, you have an individual who doesn't participate for whatever reason," said Sen. Thomas Norment, R- James City. "That is not constructive or helpful to that locality.

"Sometimes we just get a bad egg," he added. "We ought to have a way to remove them."

Sen. Henry Marsh, D-Richmond, said the bill would "invite mischief" by allowing cities to remove board members under the guise of attendance problems.

"There are extraordinarily qualified people serving on local boards," he said. "This law could be used as an excuse to remove them."

Over his objections, the bill was approved by the Senate 30-9 Friday.

â€" Meghan Hoyer

Wrongful cases: Attorneys' fees worry lawmakers

Legislators are worried that too much of the money they award people who are wrongly convicted of crimes ends up in their attorneys' pockets.

Senators voted Friday to offer Willie Davidson of Norfolk $390,000 -- $78,100 of that amount up front and the remainder divided into monthly payments over 25 years.

Davidson was convicted in Norfolk Circuit Court of a 1981 rape and burglary and spent 11½ years in prison. Last year, state forensic scientists tested old DNA evidence from his case and concluded he did not commit the crime.

House budget leaders have offered Davidson $168,800, all in a single payment. House and Senate leaders must negotiate a compromise figure before the legislature's scheduled adjournment on March 11.

This week, senators expressed concern that 10 percent of Davidson's award would go toward attorney fees. Senate Finance Chairman John H. Chichester, R-Stafford, said individuals seeking damages for wrongful convictions don't need to hire attorneys to represent them before the legislature.

Davidson, who met with lawmakers earlier this week, said neither proposal offers adequate reimbursement for his imprisonment or the 13 years after he was released when he lived under suspicion that he was a criminal.

The issue is one legislators expect to face many times within the next few years. The state forensics lab is reviewing all old DNA evidence in its files. Senators said lab officials are predicting they will find 30 to 50 cases of wrongful convictions.

â€" Christina Nucklols

Veterans: Bill for nursing home gets Senate approval

Senators approved a measure Friday that gives Gov. Timothy M. Kaine the authority to seek federal money for a 240-bed veterans nursing home in Hampton Roads.

Kaine and lawmakers have agreed to back a $14.6 million interest-free loan as the state's share for the project.

The bill, HB1383, sponsored by Del. Kirkland Cox, R-Colonial Heights, received unanimous support in the House of Delegates and the Senate, and Kaine is expected to sign it into law.

The Virginia Department of Veterans Services has estimated that it will take at least three years to receive federal funding and begin construction on the project. The project, which has a total price of $41.5 million, currently is ranked near the bottom of

129 projects seeking funding from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

â€" Christina Nucklols

Builder levy fees: House kills measure adding Suffolk to list

A bill that would have allowed Suffolk to levy fees on builders to pay for road improvements has failed.

SB225, which in late February passed the Senate, was killed Friday by a House committee.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Frederick Quayle, R-Suffolk, called for adding Suffolk to a list of Northern Virginia localities that can impose fees on new construction to help pay for roads.

The Home Builders Association of Virginia opposed the bill.

â€" Aaron Applegate

Unweaned mammals: House passes bill that prohibits sale, raffle

Chicks and ducklings can't be sold or raffled. Under SB574, sponsored by Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, they couldn't be given away either.

To help protect their safety, current law prohibits the sale of such animals or to use them as a prize. The new bill says the animals can't be given away either, unless it's under special circumstances or to an animal shelter or veterinarian. The law applies to unweaned mammals such as dogs and cats or fowl that are less than two months old and given away in groups smaller than six.

The bill passed unanimously in the House Friday and now goes to the governor.

A violation of the law would result in a maximum fine of $500.

â€" Mike Gruss

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

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Source: The Virginian-Pilot

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