Appeal of bail decision. Specifies the court to which a bail decision, bond amount, or term of recognizance should be appealed. The proper court is determined based on where the initial determination was made and the court in which the charge is pending. The bill also provides that the attorney for the Commonwealth may appeal any bail, bond or recognizance decision, consequently a decision made by a judicial officer (including a magistrate or clerk) will be appealable. Current law limits such appeals from a court decision only, and only upon objection in court by the attorney for the Commonwealth.
HB 636 Appeal of bail decision; court is determined based on where initial determination was made, etc
HB 637 Concealed handgun permit; waives fee for certain members of United States Coast Guard
Concealed handgun permit; fees. Waives the concealed handgun permit fee (maximum $50) for certain designated boarding team members and boarding officers of the United States Coast Guard.
HB 638 Bipartisan Redistricting Commission; created
Bipartisan Redistricting Commission created. Establishes a seven-member temporary commission to prepare redistricting plans in 2011 and each tenth year thereafter for the House of Delegates, state Senate, and congressional districts. Appointments to the Commission shall be made one each by the four majority and minority party leaders of the House and Senate and by the state chairmen of the two major political parties. Those six appointees shall appoint the seventh member and chairman for the Commission. If they cannot agree, they shall submit the names of the two persons receiving the most votes to the Supreme Court for the Court to select the chairman. The Commission will prepare plans and submit them as bills to the General Assembly. The General Assembly shall then proceed to act on the bills in the usual manner. The bill provides for Commission comments on plans as they change in the legislative process. It also spells out the standards and process to be followed by the Commission in preparing plans, including limitations on the use of political data and opportunities for public comment on the plans.
HB 639 Investor-owned electric utilities; regulation of rates by State Corporation Commission
Investor-owned electric utility regulation. Reinstates, only for those investor-owned electric utilities that, as of July 1, 1999, were not bound by a rate case settlement adopted by the State Corporation Commission that extended in its application beyond January 1, 2002, provisions governing the authority of the State Corporation Commission (SCC) to regulate their rates. For these utilities, the measure restores major elements of the ratemaking procedures that existed prior to the enactment of the Electric Utility Restructuring Act in 1999 and of electric utility re-regulation legislation in 2007. Specifically, the measure eliminates, for rate cases initiated after January 1, 2011, rules that authorize such utilities to earn a rate of return on common equity that is not lower than the average of such returns for a majority of peer group utilities, and to recover certain costs through rate adjustment clauses. In rate cases initiated in 2011 and thereafter the SCC is directed to determine rates, terms, and conditions for the provision of generation, distribution, and transmission services for each investor-owned incumbent electric utility that are just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory. These proceedings shall be governed by the provisions of Chapter 10 of Title 56 and shall provide fair rates of return on common equity. In such proceedings, the SCC may use any methodology to determine rates of return on common equity that it finds consistent with the public interest. The SCC is authorized to permit a utility to recover its actual costs, if the Commission finds such recovery is just, reasonable, and in the public interest, of peak-shaving programs, energy efficiency programs, participating in the renewable energy portfolio standard program, and environmental projects.
HB 640 Governor's Development Opportunity Fund; changes name to Commonwealth Economic Development Fund
Governor's Development Opportunity Fund; name change. Changes the name of the Governor's Development Opportunity Fund to the “Commonwealth Economic Development Fund.”
HB 641 Freedom of Information Act; requests may be made by any citizen of United States
Freedom of Information Act; requests for records. Provides that FOIA requests may be made by any citizen of the United States and not just citizens of the Commonwealth. The bill contains a technical amendment.
HB 642 General Assembly; allowance to members for office expenses and supplies
General Assembly; allowance for office expenses and supplies. Provides that payments to a member for office expenses and supplies may be made only upon the member's submission of a voucher for the expenses. This bill also provides that five percent of the accounts for office expenses and supplies will be audited at random each year, and that the allowance for office expenses and supplies will not be counted toward retirement.
*HB 643 House and Senate Ethics Advisory Panels; completion of inquiry once initiated
General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act; former members. Provides that once the House or Senate Ethics Advisory Panel has initiated an investigation into the conduct of a legislator, it must complete its inquiry, report its findings, and dispose of the matter as provided by law, notwithstanding the death or resignation of the legislator during the course of the Panel's work.
**HB 644 General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act; clarifies that member commits knowing violation of Act.
General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act; knowing violations. Clarifies that a member of the General Assembly commits a knowing violation of the Act if he should have known that his conduct violated the provisions of the Act.
HB 645 Enterprise zone job creation grants; business firm is eligible for up to five years for each grant.
Enterprise zone job creation grants. Provides that a business firm is eligible for an enterprise zone job creation grant of $500 per year for up to five years for each grant eligible position that during such year is 150 percent of the federal minimum wage, if the locality where the business firm is located has an unemployment rate of two percent or higher than the statewide average.
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