General Assembly 2011

Among the major issues: The state's continuing efforts to provide services with fewer dollars and Gov. McDonnell's plan to privatize liquor stores. Session ends Feb. 26.

The latest

Follow the Blue Ridge Caucus blog and @BlueRidgeCaucus on Twitter.

• Va. Senate votes to restrict local government land grabs
• House advances “personhood” and abortion ultrasound bills

From today's paper

• 'Personhood' bill set for vote today
• Eminent domain bill passes in Virginia Senate
• General Assembly Notebook: House advances capital punishment bill
• Follow state and local political coverage from The Roanoke Times

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• Live video and audio streams broadcast from each chamber every day of this year's session

Who's your legislator?

• Find out who represents you (and how to contact your legislators).

More resources

• How to track a bill
• How bills become laws

GUN CONTROL

Gun show bill dies in subcommittee

A perennial effort to close the so-called "gun show loophole" was shot down in a House subcommittee Thursday evening.

The bill would have required prospective buyers to undergo an instant criminal background check before buying a firearm from a private seller at a gun show. Such checks are now required only when the gun is being sold by a licensed dealer.

Gun control proponents, including the mayor of Richmond and several family members of students killed in the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings, spoke in favor of the measure. Gun rights advocates opposed it.

The bill, HB 1234, sponsored by Del. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond.

SEAT BELTS

House tables measure addressing nonuse

Efforts to toughen Virginia's seat belt law hit a wall Thursday in the House of Delegates.

The state Senate had passed a bill Wednesday to make nonuse of seat belts a primary offense, meaning police could stop a vehicle solely for that reason. But an identical bill was tabled Thursday morning in a House subcommittee, meaning no such measure is likely to reach the House floor.

Introduced by Del. Bill Barlow, D-Smithfield, HB 901 had the support of the insurance industry, the American Automobile Association, Drive Smart Virginia, the Virginia Highway Safety Office and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Proponents of the measure said 88 percent of drivers in states with primary seat belt laws buckle up, compared with 77 percent in states such as Virginia, where nonuse of belts is a secondary offense.

SCHOOL YEAR

Senate committee in favor of earlier start

A bill that would allow school divisions to start classes before the Labor Day holiday squeaked through a Senate committee Thursday on an 8-7 vote.

School divisions turned out to speak in favor of SB 412, saying they needed the extra instructional time to prepare for Standards of Learning, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate testing. School divisions in states that can start before Labor Day -- or schools in Virginia that have received a waiver -- have a competitive advantage over schools that can't, they argued.

But tourism industry representatives said they would be hurt by less late-summer vacation time.

Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel, R-Fauquier County, who sponsored the bill, said they would gain vacation time in early June.

GRADING

Uniform grading scale stalls in committee

A House committee set aside proposals Thursday that would have established a uniform grading scale throughout the state, saying they needed more study.

The bills would have put all school divisions in the state on a 10-point grading scale.

One school division changing its scale creates "a domino effect," said Del. Matthew Lohr, R-Rockingham County, as school divisions and parents jockey to give their students an advantage in applying for colleges and scholarships.

"It's keeping up with the Joneses," he said, arguing that a uniform scale statewide would help ease the competition.