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Virginia Legislative Suspension of Administrative Rules Amendment (2018)
| Virginia Legislative Suspension of Administrative Rules Amendment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 6, 2018 | |
| Topic State legislatures measures | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
The Virginia Legislative Suspension of Administrative Rules Amendment was not on the ballot in Virginia as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 6, 2018.
The measure would have authorized the state legislature to suspend or nullify administrative rules and regulations by a simple majority vote of the House and Senate. The measure would have also empowered the legislature to establish a legislative committee or commission to suspend administrative rules and regulations until the end of the next regular session while the legislature is not in a regular session.[1]
This amendment was one of two related to legislative oversight of administrative rules that was approved by the Republican-controlled legislature in 2017. The amendments were approved largely along partisan lines. These proposals needed to be approved again in the 2018 legislative session to reach the November 2018 ballot. With at least 15 House seats flipping from Republican to Democrat following the 2017 election, the partisan control of the legislature was significantly disrupted.
Text of measure
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article IV, Virginia Constitution
The measure would have amended Section 14 of Article IV of the Virginia Constitution. The following underlined text would have been added: Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.
The authority of the General Assembly shall extend to all subjects of legislation not herein forbidden or restricted; and a specific grant of authority in this Constitution upon a subject shall not work a restriction of its authority upon the same or any other subject. The omission in this Constitution of specific grants of authority heretofore conferred shall not be construed to deprive the General Assembly of such authority, or to indicate a change of policy in reference thereto, unless such purpose plainly appear.
The General Assembly shall confer on the courts power to grant divorces, change the names of persons, and direct the sales of estates belonging to infants and other persons under legal disabilities, and shall not, by special legislation, grant relief in these or other cases of which the courts or other tribunals may have jurisdiction.
The General Assembly may regulate the exercise by courts of the right to punish for contempt.
The General Assembly may suspend or nullify any or all portions of any administrative rule or regulation by a joint resolution agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each house. The General Assembly may by general law authorize a legislative committee or legislative committees acting jointly or a legislative commission to suspend any or all portions of any administrative rule or regulation while the General Assembly is not in a regular session, within such restrictions and upon such conditions as may be prescribed. An administrative rule or regulation suspended by such committee or commission shall be suspended until the end of the next regular session.
The General Assembly's power to define the accrual date for a civil action based on an intentional tort committed by a natural person against a person who, at the time of the intentional tort, was a minor shall include the power to provide for the retroactive application of a change in the accrual date. No natural person shall have a constitutionally protected property right to bar a cause of action based on intentional torts as described herein on the ground that a change in the accrual date for the action has been applied retroactively or that a statute of limitations or statute of repose has expired.
The General Assembly shall not enact any local, special, or private law in the following cases:
- (1) For the punishment of crime.
- (2) Providing a change of venue in civil or criminal cases.
- (3) Regulating the practice in, or the jurisdiction of, or changing the rules of evidence in any judicial proceedings or inquiry before the courts or other tribunals, or providing or changing the methods of collecting debts or enforcing judgments or prescribing the effect of judicial sales of real estate.
- (4) Changing or locating county seats.
- (5) For the assessment and collection of taxes, except as to animals which the General Assembly may deem dangerous to the farming interests.
- (6) Extending the time for the assessment or collection of taxes.
- (7) Exempting property from taxation.
- (8) Remitting, releasing, postponing, or diminishing any obligation or liability of any person, corporation, or association to the Commonwealth or to any political subdivision thereof.
- (9) Refunding money lawfully paid into the treasury of the Commonwealth or the treasury of any political subdivision thereof.
- (10) Granting from the treasury of the Commonwealth, or granting or authorizing to be granted from the treasury of any political subdivision thereof, any extra compensation to any public officer, servant, agent, or contractor.
- (11) For registering voters, conducting elections, or designating the places of voting.
- (12) Regulating labor, trade, mining, or manufacturing, or the rate of interest on money.
- (13) Granting any pension.
- (14) Creating, increasing, or decreasing, or authorizing to be created, increased, or decreased, the salaries, fees, percentages, or allowances of public officers during the term for which they are elected or appointed.
- (15) Declaring streams navigable, or authorizing the construction of booms or dams therein, or the removal of obstructions therefrom.
- (16) Affecting or regulating fencing or the boundaries of land, or the running at large of stock.
- (17) Creating private corporations, or amending, renewing, or extending the charters thereof.
- (18) Granting to any private corporation, association, or individual any special or exclusive right, privilege, or immunity.
- (19) Naming or changing the name of any private corporation or association.
- (20) Remitting the forfeiture of the charter of any private corporation, except upon the condition that such corporation shall thereafter hold its charter subject to the provisions of this Constitution and the laws passed in pursuance thereof.[2]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Virginia Constitution
In Virginia, a constitutional amendment needs to be passed by a simple majority vote in both chambers of the state legislature over two consecutive legislative sessions to be certified for the ballot. The amendment was not passed before the Virginia 2018 state legislative session ended on March 10, 2018, and was therefore not certified for the November 2018 ballot.
2017 legislative session
Rep. Christopher T. Head (R-17) introduced the amendment into the legislature as House Joint Resolution 545 on November 22, 2016. The Virginia House of Delegates approved the amendment on February 6, 2017. The Virginia Senate provided a substitute version of the bill, which the chamber passed 21 to 19 on February 20, 2017. The House took up the substitute bill on February 22, 2017, passing the amendment 52 to 46. Two representatives did not vote on the measure.[3]
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2018 legislative session
The amendment needed to be approved again by both chambers of the legislature during its 2018 session to be certified for the ballot. The amendment was not passed before the Virginia 2018 state legislative session ended on March 10, 2018, and was therefore not certified for the November 2018 ballot.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Virginia General Assembly, "House Joint Resolution 545," accessed February 22, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source.
- ↑ Virginia General Assembly, "House Joint Resolution 545 Overview," accessed February 22, 2017
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State of Virginia Richmond (capital) |
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