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2008 Business Chart
2008 General Assembly Legislation as it relates to Newspaper Business
Last updated: 3:45 p.m., May 9
Last updated: 3:45 p.m., May 9
Following is a table of 2008 legislation as it relates to newspaper business in Virginia. This table includes links to the home pages of the legislation and the patron.
| BILL | PATRON | STATUS | DESCRIPTION | VPA POSITION |
| HB 69 | R.G. Marshall | Left in House Privileges & Elections Committee | Before a PAC can run a print ad opposing a certain candidate for public office, it must obtain permission from the political party's candidate who would benefit from such advertisement. | Monitor |
| HB 81 | R.G. Marshall | Left in House Rules Committee | If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the Roe v. Wade abortion decision, then the Attorney General shall publish legal notice statewide that, in his opinion, the decision is overturned and that Virginia's law is as it was prior to the decision in Roe v. Wade. The Attorney General shall publish statewide notice of the change in law, along with the reinstated law governing the criminal offense of abortion. The bill also states that any person who, by publication, lecture, advertisement, or by the sale or circulation of any publication, or in any other manner, encourages or prompts the procuring of abortion or miscarriage, is guilty of a misdemeanor. | Amend |
| HB 372 | Charles W. Carrico | Signed by governor | The bill allows a dealer to advertise a single vehicle, whether it is new or used, by stock number or vehicle identification number in order to disclose a limitation of availability. | Monitor |
| HB 390 / HB 1504 | HB 390: David Bulova / HB 1504: Samuel A. Nixon Jr. | Both bills were incoporated into HB 1469, an identity theft bill. HB 1469 was signed by the governor. | The bill creates the Compromised Data Notification Act, which, following discovery or notification of a breach of a security system, requires a state agency that owns or licenses computerized data that includes personal information to provide notice of the breach to all residents of Virginia whose unencrypted personal information was or is reasonably believed to have been acquired by an unauthorized person. | Monitor |
| HB 711 | William R. Janis | Signed by governor | The bill removes the sunset (July 1, 2009) from the sales and use tax exemptions for audio and video works. | Monitor |
| HB 1036 | Jeffrey M. Frederick | Left in House Finance Committee | The bill requires localities to fix tax rates for an ensuing year at least 30 days prior to approval of the budget for the ensuing year, with separate public notices and separate public hearings. | Monitor |
| HB 1037 | Daniel W. Marshall III | Signed by governor | The bill states that before a non-profit hospital can be sold or converted to a for-profit hospital, it must hold a public hearing at least six months prior to the sale or conversion. | Monitor |
| HB 1396 | Matthew J. Lohr | Left in House Appropriations Committee | The bill charges the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services with the responsibility of promoting Virginia agritourism both nationally and internationally. He is to develop a statewide agritourism master plan and coordinate efforts to educate the public about the importance of Virginia's agriculture heritage and industry. | Monitor |
| HB 1410 | Riley E. Ingram | Signed by governor | As agreed upon by the conferees, the bill states that any candidate clearly identified in a political advertisement is entitled to the name of the person who submitted the advertisement after the ad has been published in a newspaper, magazine or periodical. | Monitor |
| HB 1565 | Anne B. Crockett-Stark | Left in House Appropriations Committee | The bill creates multicounty/city transportation districts for the purpose of providing funding for transportation projects. Each district member is authorized to advertise and hold public hearings on a local option fuel tax of $0.02 per gallon. | Monitor |
| SB 184 | Mark R. Herring | Left in House Counties, Cities & Towns Committee | (As amended) The bill provides that no person mailed written notice pursuant to certain zoning ordinance amendments may challenge the validity of the plan or ordinance, or amendment thereof, due to the insufficiency of, or an error in, the advertisement. | Monitor |
| SB 505 | Ryan T. McDougle | Signed by governor | The bill states that the town of Bowling Green shall publish penal ordinances passed by Town Council once, at least, in one of the newspapers serving Bowling Green. It also states that when Town Council codifies and prints the general ordinances in book or pamphlet form, then it shall not be necessary to publish new or changed ordinances in a newspaper. | Monitor |
| SB 577 | Richard L. Saslaw | Passed Assembly; awaiting action by governor | The bill states that anyone who manufactures, distributes, transports, offers for sale, sells, or possesses with the intent to sell or distribute any advertisements that are designed, marketed, or otherwise intended to be used on or in connection with any goods or services bearing a counterfeit mark shall be guilty of trademark infringement. | Monitor |
| SB 586 | Phillip P. Puckett | Signed by governor | (As amended)The bill requires the Virginia Gas & Oil Board to publish within 10 days of a public hearing hearing agendas on permits for gas or oil operations in a newspaper of general circulation and widely circulated in the localities where the lands that are the subject of the hearing. Currently, the Board provides this public notice within 20 days of the hearing. Interested parties are still notified by certified mail as a condition of the application process. However, interested parties that cannot be identified or located after reasonable effort may now be notified by publication in a newspaper of general circulation widely circulated in the locality where the well is to be located within seven days of the hearing. | Amended |
| SB 752 | Mark R. Herring | Carried over to 2009 | The bill requires the Department of Environmental Quality to notify the owners of neighboring properties when there is an application to participate in the Voluntary Remediation Program. The owners of neighboring properties will be permitted to participate in a public comment process prior to the adoption of a voluntary remediation plan and demand a public hearing on the Department's approval of a voluntary remediation plan or issuance of a certificate of satisfactory completion of remediation. | Monitor |
| SB 783 | Stephen H. Martin | Carried over to 2009 | The bill requires each locality to fix tax rates for an ensuing year at least 30 days prior to approval of the budget for the ensuing year, with separate public notices and separate public hearings. The bill also requires each locality to lower its real estate tax rate for the forthcoming tax year to produce no more than the previous year's real property tax levies when any annual assessment, biennial assessment, or general reassessment of real property by the locality would result in an increase in the total real property tax levied. The locality may increase the rate above the reduced rate after a public hearing held no sooner than 30 days after the rate reduction. | Monitor |
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