By Hannah Hess | Virginia Statehouse News RICHMOND — As technology advances and Virginia scrambles to keep pace, health-care professionals at AD Williams Memorial Clinic here are worried lawmakers will get tangled in family medical decisions. Virginia lawmakers want to make it illegal to track people without their consent. The move aims to stop unauthorized [...]

By Hannah Hess | Virginia Statehouse News RICHMOND — Concealed carry permit holders and applicants have a right to keep their information — physical descriptions, criminal and mental health histories, and fingerprints — private, according to a bill that passed the Virginia House. “I don’t believe that entire list en masse should be published, because [...]

By Carten Cordell | Virginia Statehouse News ALEXANDRIA — Delegate Bob Marshall's attempt to prohibit the use of foreign law in Virginia court decisions is drawing the ire of at least some religious and civil liberties groups. The bill would prevent judges from citing any law originating outside the United States, unless either the U.S. Constitution [...]

By Hannah Hess | Virginia Statehouse News RICHMOND — Surrounded by mug shots of convicted child predators, law-enforcement officers, lawmakers and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli pressed for more state money Tuesday to help fight Internet sex crimes against children. The coalition described stomach-turning sex crimes — involving infants and teens — prosecuted by the Internet Crimes [...]

By Hannah Hess | Virginia Statehouse News RICHMOND — Construction worker Jerry Blow Sr., 53, of Richmond, hollered Monday morning at passers-by, as they entered the General Assembly Building. Blow, a black man who is lobbying for equality in state contracts, held a sign made of bright-colored poster board. The sign said: End Va's Economic [...]

By Hannah Hess | Virginia Statehouse News RICHMOND — In 1989, Douglas Wilder campaigned for Virginia governor with a promise to crack down on gun violence. He won the election by less than a half percent — becoming the nation’s first post-Civil War black governor — and promised to be a leader for gun control in [...]

By Hannah Hess | Virginia Statehouse News RICHMOND — Virginia home-schoolers want the opportunity to represent their towns on the sports field, and supporters of the “Tim Tebow bill” say paying taxes to the school district should make home-schooled students eligible to play. Tebow, the starting quarterback for the National Football League's Denver Broncos, in [...]

By Carten Cordell | Virginia Statehouse News ALEXANDRIA — Gov. Bob McDonnell's proposed $2.2 billion payment into the state pension fund still falls $600 million short of what state retirement officials say is needed to address a multi-billion hole.    The Virginia Retirement System, or VRS, estimated that the system needs $2.8 billion during the next two years [...]

By Hannah Hess | Virginia Statehouse News RICHMOND — Delegate Joe Morrissey, D-Henrico County, called a Republican adoption policy proposal “highly discriminatory, mean and cruel.” His comments came after a heated statehouse debate Tuesday about whether or not the bill, referred to as the “conscience clause,” would prevent gay couples from adopting children. But Delegate [...]

By Carten Cordell | Virginia Statehouse News ALEXANDRIA — With their newfound majority, Virginia Republicans want to resurrect a proposal that would tighten voter-identification requirements. The measure failed to clear the state Senate last year. The bill, which cleared committee and advanced to the House of Delegates on Friday, would require voters to present Virginia-issued photo [...]