General Assembly wrap up

Senate panel OKs telecommuting legislation

Three bills promoting telecommuting
– the practice of working from home
by using a computer link to the office
– have won unanimous approval from
the Senate’s technology committee.

The measures are:

-House Bill 1018, which would
define telecommuting as a work arrangement
in which supervisors allow
employees to conduct their normal job
duties away from their workplace at
least one day a week.

-House Bill 1017, which would
ensure that the Office of Telework
Promotion and Broadband Assistance,
established by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine
in 2006, will continue to exist after the
governor’s term ends.

-House Bill 1021, which would
establish a goal for 20 percent of all
eligible Virginia state employees to
telecommute by 2010.

“We think this (the goal) is something
the state can do and should
do,” said Delegate Timothy D. Hugo,
R-Centreville, who sponsored all three
bills. “It has been a monumental thing
to try and push the state forward on
this.”

Many commonwealth employees,
such as receptionists and doctors, are
ineligible for telecommuting because of
the nature of their jobs. HB 1021 also
makes an exemption for members of
the Virginia State Police.

The three bills were passed unanimously
by the House two weeks ago.
Last Wednesday, the Senate General
Laws and Technology Committee voted
15-0 in favor of the telecommuting
legislation.

Brief by Alex Bahr

Physical exam requirement for preschoolers fails in assembly

A bill requiring comprehensive
physical examinations for children
entering preschool for the first time
failed Thursday in the Senate Health
and Education Committee.

Virginia law currently requires a
physical exam prior to enrollment in
kindergarten and elementary-school
classes. The failed legislation, House
Bill 896, was sponsored by Delegate
Matthew J. Lohr, R-Harrisonburg,
who said local schools want to reduce
medical costs for disadvantaged families
without insurance or yearly access to
free physical exams.

“The school divisions feel like this is
an extra burden for low-income families
to have to spend the money to get
physicals so close together,” Lohr said.
“So, they requested that we change the
code to basically say that you have to
get a physical before you enter pre-K
or kindergarten, instead of both.”

Dr. Colleen Kraft, president of
the Virginia chapter of the American
Academy of Pediatrics, said physical
examinations are necessary before
entering each school level because
of the differences among developing
children.

“There are certain screening tests that
we can do on 5-year-olds that we can’t do
on a 3-and-a-half- to 4-year-old,” Kraft
said. “All of the insurances, including
Medicaid, pay for yearly physicals
for these kids. We need to be able to
look at their physical exams and their
screening skills in order to have them
ready for kindergarten. So, we oppose
this bill.”

A similar bill presented by Sen.
Mark D. Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg,
previously failed in committee.
Brief by M.K. Luther

Credit-report control in Virginians’ futures

Virginians soon would be allowed
to freeze access to their credit reports,
if legislation passes in the General
Assembly.

House Bill 1311, sponsored by
Delegate Kathy J. Byron, R-Lynchburg,
and Senate Bill 576, sponsored by Sen.
Richard L. Saslaw, D-Springfield, would
prevent consumer-reporting agencies
from releasing credit reports without
the Virginia consumer’s permission.

“Everyone is aware of the importance
of protecting our personal information,
and almost all of us know someone who
has been the victim of identity theft or
credit-card fraud,” Gov. Timothy M.
Kaine stated in a press release.

Earlier this year, the governor
announced legislative initiatives to
protect consumers from identity theft
and credit fraud at Richmond’s AARP
headquarters.

A 26-member group, including
assembly members, business leaders
and consumer advocates, helped recommend
consumer-protection legislation
for the governor. Madge Bush, a Virginia
director of advocacy for AARP, was part
of the advisory group.

“Our members are very concerned
about identity theft and wanted to have
this protection available in our state,”
Bush said.

Bush also said the kind of bipartisan
support received by the legislature
is positive and shows the legislature
“clearly can break the gridlock” and
respond to the real needs of the
commonwealth’s consumers.

“While there is no single solution
to the many challenges we face in this
area, I believe these proposals strike a
reasonable balance between the interests
of the commonwealth’s citizens and
the legitimate interests of the business
community,” Kaine said.

Brief by Michelle Antogiovanni