2019 Virginia General Assembly
Legislative Highlights
February 5, 2019
Today is “crossover.” Any bill that has not been passed out of their original house by the end of the day today is officially defeated.
We had been watching two bills related to guardianship, but only one remains as of today:
HB 2430 (Levine) was defeated in subcommittee last week. The bill would have strengthened the rights of people under guardianship to be able to have visitors. dLCV expressed concerns with the bill, because it exempted people in the public guardian program from the protections, and because the bill contained a “notice to family members” section that did not allow the person with a disability to opt out of the notice. The elder bar did not testify to the bill at first, but later came out strongly against it, claiming it would unnecessarily complicate their work. The subcommittee hearing the bill originally approved it but then reconsidered it two weeks later and defeated it.
SB 1144 (Peake) authorizes a court to issue a summons or rule to show cause against a guardian who has failed to file an annual report. The bill has been approved by the Senate and is now assigned to the House Courts of Justice committee.
The mission of the disAbility Law Center of Virginia is to advance independence, choice and self-determination; protect legal, human and civil rights; and eliminate abuse, neglect and discrimination of people with disabilities through zealous and uncompromising legal advocacy and representation. We are available to educate policy makers about the potential impact of legislative proposals.