2018 Virginia General Assembly
Legislative Highlights
January 8, 2018
The 2018 legislative session in Virginia will begin on January 10th at noon. This is a “long” session meaning that the legislature plans to be in session for 60 days, rather than the 45 days of the “short” session that meets on odd-numbered years.
During this “long” session, the legislature will review the Governor’s proposed budget for the next two years and will consider amendments to that proposal. The legislature will consider proposed constitutional amendments, will request studies to be completed on different topics and will debate substantive changes to the Virginia code.
The disAbility Law Center of Virginia will be monitoring developments in the legislature that may be of interest to people with disabilities. We are available to educate policymakers about the potential impact of legislative proposals. Please let us know of any legislative proposals or budget issues that you think we should be following. Contact us at info@dlcv.org or by calling 1-800-552-3962 or 804-225-2042.
The mission of the disAbility Law Center of Virginia is to advance independence, choice and self-determination; protect legal, human and civil rights; and eliminate abuse, neglect and discrimination of people with disabilities through zealous and uncompromising legal advocacy and representation.
New proposals for legislation will be released to the public over the next several weeks, but some proposed legislation is available to the public already. A few of interest to the disability community include:
HB 324 (Campbell), which prohibits the closure of Southwest Virginia Training Center;
HB 325 (Campbell), which prohibits the closure of both Southwest Virginia Training Center and Central Virginia Training Center;
SB 45 (Favola), which adds the category of “disability” to the list of protected classes under the hate crimes statute;
SB 156 (Edwards), which adds additional information required from guardians in their annual reports to the courts;
SB 199 (DeSteph) which creates additional requirements that a person with a disability must satisfy before filing suit for a violation of the American with Disabilities Act.