Steve Landes touts legislative successes in House

Del. Steve Landes, R-Weyers Cave, today highlighted his legislation that has advanced in the Virginia House of Delegates.

“I am pleased to note that five of the bills I have introduced, House Bills 1396, 1402, 1668, 1669, and 2341 have been passed in the House of Delegates and now stand before the Virginia State Senate for consideration,” said Landes. “Additionally, House Bill 1401 was reported from the Education Committee on a 16 to 5 vote and House Bills 1970 and 2053 were both reported from Committee on 21 to 0 votes. I am hopeful to shepherd these bills through the House and onto the Senate for consideration. All of these bills are part of my broader efforts to promote economic development, provide the highest quality education for our children, and to increase healthcare access, affordability and choice.”

The following pieces of legislation have been passed by the Virginia House of Delegates and are before the Virginia State Senate for consideration:

• House Bill 1396 Charter; Town of Grottoes. Authorizes the town council to appoint a member to the office of vice-mayor, to serve in the event of the mayor’s absence or inability to act.
• House Bill 1402, Higher educational institutions; governing boards, residency. Requires each chairman, vice-chairman, rector, and vice-rector of the governing board of a public institution of higher education to be a resident of the Commonwealth
• House Bill 1698 Virginia Small Business Financing Authority; administration of Small Business Investment Grant Fund. Makes changes to the Small Business Investment Grant Fund to make it easier for investor applicants to qualify for grants and provide more benefits for investor applicants.
• House Bill 1969 Small Business Jobs Grant Fund Program. Reduces from 50 percent to 35 percent the minimum percentage of revenues that a small business must derive from out-of-state sources in order to be eligible for grants from the Small Business Jobs Grant Fund Program; provides that to be eligible for assistance under the Program a company must make a new capital investment of at least $50,000; and changes the definition of small business for purposes of the Program.
• House Bill 2341, Board of Education; membership. Requires at least two of the nine members of the Board of Education to represent business and industry in the private sector in the Commonwealth.

The following pieces of legislation have been reported from committee and are before the Virginia House of Delegates for consideration:

• House Bill 1401 Public institutions of higher education; speech on campus. Prohibits public institutions of higher education from abridging the freedom of any individual, including enrolled students, faculty and other employees, and invited guests, to speak on campus, except as otherwise permitted by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
• House Bill 1970 Creation of economic revitalization zones in counties. Grants counties authority to create economic revitalization zones. The zones shall be for the purpose of providing incentives to private entities to purchase real property and interests in real property to assemble parcels suitable for economic development. Each county establishing an economic revitalization zone may grant incentives and provide regulatory flexibility. This authority currently exists for cities.
• House Bill 2053 Direct primary care agreements. Establishes a direct agreement between a patient, the patient’s legal representative, or the patient’s employer and a health care provider for ongoing primary care services in exchange for the payment of a monthly periodic fee is not health insurance or a health maintenance organization, provided that the health care provider does not require patients to pay monthly periodic fees prior to initiation of the direct agreement coverage period.

Landes represents the 25^th House District, which includes parts of Albemarle, Augusta, and Rockingham Counties. Landes is currently serving his eleventh term in the Virginia House of Delegates. Visit SteveLandes.com for additional information.