Richmond Roundup: How Puller And Surovell Stacked Up

With the Virginia legislative session ending one day late, the final votes on bills have been completed for now. Though the General Assembly will reconvene on April 4 to address any bills vetoed by Governor McDonnell, no new bills can be voted on, leaving failed bills in the trash can until the 2012 session.

Here's a look at how some of our local politicians' bills did this past session:

Delegate Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax)

• HB 1469: A, Surovell introduced this bill to correct an error in a law meant to require drivers to stop at a school bus. The law's actual text required drivers to stop a bus, instead. He called this bill one of his most significant of the session in an interview with Patch, particularly since "reports from the Fairfax County Police Department of people driving past buses have increased after the media coverage [of the error]." The bill was incorporated into a similar Senate bill introduced by a Republican almost a month later. The final bill passed the General Assembly and now awaits the governor's signature.
• HB 1801: Delegate Surovell said this bill was , which would have changed the composition of the Commonwealth Transportation Board to have equal representation and four new members representing seaports, aviation, mass transit and railroads. The bill failed in committee and never reached a House or Senate vote. Surovell cited this as one of his disappointments for the session because the distribution was not based on current population, giving less-dense areas more voting power than Northern Virginia.  "We haven't done anything to solve our transportation problems," he said.
• HJ 603: Another major goal of Surovell's was to create a joint subcommittee to study Route 1 and to create a Route 1 corridor. It also sought to improve highways, mass transit, rail, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in the corridor after the study's completion. The bill failed in committee.
• HJ 604: This resolution was an amendment to the commonwealth's constitution to allow localities to veto state law, , in order to avoid unnecessary burdens created by unpopular, unfunded state mandates. This bill failed to pass the committee.

Senator Toddy Puller (D-Mount Vernon)

• SJ 292: Similar to Delegate Surovell's HJ 603, this resolution asked the Department of Rail and Public Transportation to study the Route 1 area in Fairfax County, Prince William County and Stafford County in coordination with other Virginia agencies to examine possible public transportation projects. The resolution passed a voice vote in the Senate in early February and passed a formal vote in the House on Feb. 22. Puller cited this as one of her largest victories of the session, particularly considering the number of times she's attempted to pass a similar bill. "This will allow us to go ahead and get funding to improve Route 1 and get some transit in the corridor," Puller said in an interview with Patch. "We've got to have a study."
• SB 987: This bill was the official written form for a referendum approved by voters in the November 2010 elections, mandating property tax exemptions for disabled veterans who have a 100 percent service-related disability. The General Assembly was required to pass it in law-form, which occurred on Feb. 24. The bill is waiting for Governor McDonnell's signature.
• SJ 294: , this resolution wanted to create a joint committee to study the incidences and potential deterrents of eating disorders in Virginia.  The resolution failed in committee.
• SB 762: , known as Ashley's Law. In short, it requires emergency vehicles to use sirens when passing through stop signs or lights. Named for a after sustaining an injury from an emergency vehicle that did not use the siren, Puller said she was "very delighted" with its passage and looked forward to a possible signing ceremony with Governor McDonnell.