Dear Fellow Virginians,
The Virginia General Assembly Session begins January 9th, and continues for 45 days.
I would greatly appreciate your support of the bills I have introduced. Unless legislators hear from their constituents, bills fail for lack of support. So far I submitted the bills below after talking to Virginians all around the Commonwealth. If one or more measures interest you, please take a minute to send an email asking your own delegate or senator to co-patron and vote for them.
Since so few people take the time to contact their legislators, especially at the state level, your action can have a huge impact!
HB 1313: Reverse Obama Health Tax Increases: A provision of Obamacare raised the threshold for deducting unreimbursed medical expenses from 7.5% to 10% of adjusted gross income and reduced the maximum amount that can be spent from flexible spending accounts from $5000 to $2500. This increases the tax burden on families, especially those with high medical bills for chronic illness, disabled children and seniors. My bill will de-conform Virginia’s income tax, (which usually conforms to the federal income tax) to keep the 7.5% threshold and $5000 FSA.
HB 1314: Obama Abortion Pill-Birth Control Mandate: Protects Virginia Employers from having to provide coverage for birth control, early abortion pills and sterilization operations if against their conscience.
HB 1315: Obama Abortion Pill-Birth Control Mandate: Protects Virginians from having to purchase health insurance which covers birth control, early abortion pills and sterilization operations if against their conscience.
HB 1316: Sex-Selection Abortions: Prohibits abortion procedures to select the gender of the child and imposes a Class 4 felony for abortionists performing illegal abortions.
HB 1369: Sex Offenders near School Bus Stops: Provides that families of school children be informed if a school bus stop is located within 500 feet of the home of a convicted sex offender.
HB 1417: Obama Abortion Pill-Birth Control Mandate: Provides that the Commonwealth of Virginia cannot be mandated by the federal government to include coverage for contraception, abortion pills or sterilization in health insurance policies offered by the Commonwealth to employees or beneficiaries.
HB 1529: Compensate Forced Sterilization Victims: From 1924 to 1971 approximately 7,400 Virginians were forcibly sterilized often without their knowledge, pursuant to Virginia’s now repealed Eugenic Sterilization Law. My bill will award $50,000 to each victim to provide some sense of justice to the few remaining victims. Government is required to compensate for taking away property; how much more should it compensate for taking away the ability to have a family.
HB 1557: Concealed Carry Training for School Personnel: Establishes minimum training standards to certify persons designated by a school board to carry a concealed handgun on school property to protect students. Because elite politicians have armed body guards and secret servicemen guarding their children, and their children’s private schools employ armed security officers, all children should be afforded similar protection. Training shall include, but not be limited to, situational assessments pertaining to the use or display of a firearm, the safe carrying and storage of a concealed firearm, the use of a firearm, and proper response to emergency situations on school grounds until the arrival of law enforcement.
HB 1571: Unfair Towing Practices: Requires that before any vehicle is towed by a tow truck operator as the result of a towing request (i) made by a law-enforcement officer or (ii) made by the owner or operator of the vehicle to be towed based on the recommendation of a law-enforcement officer, the officer making such request or such recommendation shall supply the owner, if the owner is present, or the operator of the vehicle to be towed, with a written statement of the amount to be charged for the towing and storage of the vehicle. Significant abuses have come to my attention regarding some towing practices.
HB 1576: National Guard: Provides Virginia armed forces with educational materials about constitutional declarations of war or use of force and the doctrine of the Just War.
HJ 542: Constitutional Amendment: Provides that each fiscal year, any surplus tax funds collected which exceed that required to be deposited to the Rainy Day Fund shall be refunded to the taxpayers of the Commonwealth provided the surplus exceeds $50 million. Refunds will be based on the proportion of the taxpayer's share of the total income tax revenues of the Commonwealth in the calendar year in which the fiscal year surplus occurs.
HJ 590: State Legal Tender Laws: Establishes a joint subcommittee to study whether the Commonwealth should adopt an alternate medium of commerce or currency to serve as an alternative to the currency distributed by the Federal Reserve System in case of a major breakdown of the Federal Reserve System, or if foreign powers seek to disrupt our national monetary system through economic warfare.
HJ 599: Intrastate Commerce Powers: Establishes a joint subcommittee to study the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution and Virginia's ability to regulate intrastate commerce, manufacturing and agriculture.
You can also watch the proceedings of the General Assembly on your home computer. Session usually begins at noon (non-televised committee meetings are held before and after session). Session can last a few hours or many depending upon the agenda! Remember that we are all elected to serve, and are employed by you! Here is the link to watch the proceedings:
Thank you for taking the time to read my 2013 legislative update.
Sincerely,
Delegate Robert G. "Bob" Marshall
