Public Safety & Criminal Justice

During the last three sessions, I have introduced a bill to require all occupants of a motor vehicle to utilize safety restraints. The current law in Virginia requires safety belt use only by occupants under the age of 18, drivers, and front-seat passengers. During 2014, 58 percent of back-seat passengers killed in accidents were not wearing a safety belt. More than half of adults aged 20-44 that died in car accidents in 2016 were not wearing a seatbelt. Last year alone 308 unbelted motorists died in crashes on Virginia roadways accounting for 52 percent of all crash fatalities. Not wearing a seatbelt not only increases the risks of harm to oneself, but also to other occupants of the vehicle, other drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.

I have also introduced numerous bills to require safety belt installation on all new purchased school buses in Virginia, and over time, all school buses. Currently, six states have laws requiring seat belts for large school buses. Many private schools in Virginia already have seatbelts on their school buses. We should be doing all we can to ensure the safety of our schoolchildren while on the way to and from school.

In 2018, I introduced a bill to create the Virginia State Police Electronic Summons System Fund and establish and maintain an e-summons system for the Virginia State Police, which is currently the only policing agency without an e-summons system. E-summons would increase efficiency for law enforcement as well as reduce human error when writing tickets.

During the 2018 session, I also introduced HB 633, which aimed to end the practice of suspending driver’s licenses for nonpayment of fines and court costs for offenses not pertaining to the operator or operation of a motor vehicle. This practice disproportionately targets poor Virginians, and license suspension impacts the ability to drive to work, support a family, and inevitably repay owed court debt. While this bill did not go through, I was happy to see this measure be adopted with the passage of Governor Northam’s biennial budget earlier this year. As of July 1st of 2019, approximately 627,000 Virginians were eligible to have their license reinstated. While this move is a great step forward to a more equitable justice system, this fix is only temporary. During the 2020 session, I look forward to working towards permanently banning this practice through legislation.

In 2018, I was proud to support the measure to increase the felony grand larceny threshold from $200 to $500. While originally pushing for an increase to $1,000, the increase to $500 was a bipartisan agreement with the Republicans. The previous $200 grand larceny threshold had not been revised in over 40 years. A felony larceny charge can be punished by up to 20 years in prison. Virginia had one of the lowest felony grand larceny thresholds in the country, but this change has put Virginia towards the middle of the pack.

I am a strong supporter of the decriminalization of marijuana in Virginia. Too many young people, disproportionately people of color, are being put into prison for years on nonviolent marijuana charges. The effects of this incarceration is something these young people carry the stigma of for the rest of their lives and often have trouble finding employment and stable housing after they have served their time. Upon decriminalization, those currently serving time for minor marijuana charges should have their records expunged.

In all likelihood, we will see legislation brought forth next year in the General Assembly to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, which will allow Virginia to tax sales and create extra revenue that can be put towards enforcing distribution laws, preventing sales of marijuana to minors, and regulating the safety of the product.