As Virginia Gen. Assembly Session Approaches, Legislators File More Bills...Good, Bad, Weird, etc.

Sunday, January 10, 2016

With the Virginia General Assembly cranking up its 2016 session this week, there are a ton of bills being filed (see the Virginia Legislative Information System for a complete list, descriptions, etc. The quality of these bills ranges all over the place, from superb to silly to stupid. Here are a few that jumped out at me from the past few days; note that this list is NOT meant to be comprehensive, so if you have any other suggestions, please leave those in the comments section or email me at lowell@raisingkaine.com. Thanks!

1. I love this bill by Del. Patrick Hope, as energy storage is a fast-growing industry that's going to be huge ("yuuuge" as Donald Trump would say) in coming years/decades. Time for Virginia to get in on the action!

2. Del. Rip Sullivan's bill should be a no brainer for Virginia legislators, helping to jump-start a clean energy revolution in Virginia, while helping homeowners achieve both cost savings and energy independence -- both core conservative values, I'd point out.

3. Excellent bill by Del. Lamont Bagby; the bottom line is once you've "done your time," your right to vote should be automatically restored. End of story.

4. Testing cosmetics on animals is barbaric, unnecessary and should be illegal. Thank you Del. Kaye Kory!

5. The no brainer of all no brainers; if you're in the Terrorist Screening Database, OBVIOUSLY you shouldn't be able to own a firearm. Duh.

6. Good job by Republican Del. Ron Villaneuva; now if only the rest of his party will listen to him!

7. In stark contrast, this bill by Republican Christopher Head is one that needs to be "headed" (get it? heh) off. Blech.

8. This one makes the list simply because of its name. Also, which of the Kilgore brothers was supposed to be the smart one, Jerry or Terry? Or is this sort of like the Bush brothers, where neither is the sharpest tool in the shed?