Cannabis bill rolls along
The Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services passed a bill to legalize a retail market for cannabis, 10-5 on Friday, sending it to the Senate floor.
Two Republicans voted in favor of the bill: state Sen. Christie New Craig, R-Chesapeake, and state Sen. Emily Jordan, R-Isle of Wight County.
HB 698, from Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax County, saw no discussion or speakers in opposition and is now sent down the hall to Senate Finance, where it will be seen next Tuesday.
The referral comes a day after identical Senate bill SB448, sponsored by Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, passed the House General Laws committee, 12-10.
Lawmakers transformed the House bill into a mirror of its Senate counterpart Thursday and have avoided working out their differences in conference. However, the bill still has to get past Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who has said he has no interest in cannabis.
— Zane Turner
House backs Obenshain, Ballard push for more OB-GYN graduate medical residency slots
Dels. Chris Obenshain, R-Montgomery County, and Jason Ballard, R-Giles County, called attention this week to their budget amendment that would devote $1 million in the state budget to fund 10 new OB-GYN graduate medical residency slots.
They said the proposal was in direct response to LewisGale Hospital Montgomery’s recent decision to temporarily cease obstetrics services for patients in the New River Valley.
“We were both disappointed to learn of [LewisGale Hospital Montgomery’s] recent decision to temporarily cease obstetrics services for patients in the New River Valley. Access to health care services is already a challenge for many families in Southwest Virginia,” Obenshain and Ballard said in a statement. “Once we learned of the workforce challenges that led to this unfortunate decision, we immediately went to work on trying to find potential solutions. After speaking with leaders at Montgomery Regional, we requested funds for additional graduate residency positions in obstetrics in the biennial budget. Our hope is that these additional residency slots will help facilitate the reopening of obstetric services at [the hospital] in the near future.”
The House Appropriations Committee included their amendment in the House version of the budget. The Senate Finance Committee did not include a similiar amendment introduced by state Sen. Travis Hackworth, R-Tazewell County. A conference committee will work out differences between the House and Senate versions of the budget.
— Cardinal Staff
Study bill for rural secretariat advances
A bill to study whether the state should establish a secretary of rural affairs unexpectedly passed a hurdle Friday.
The House Rules Committee voted 17-0 to send SJ21, by state Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, on to the House Appropriations Committee, where any fiscal impacts will be considered.
Earlier this session, a House Rules subcommittee had decided to put off a similar bill by Del. Israel O’Quinn, R-Washington County, until next year. Aird’s bill had previously passed the Senate 40-0 without requiring a trip through that chamber’s budget committee.
The proposal to create a secretary of rural affairs began with University of Virginia law professor Andrew Block and then-law student Antonella Nicholas, who argued in a law review article last year that rural issues needed a specific advocate within state government.
— Cardinal Staff
