Petersen-Proposed Sunday Hunts, Eco-Friendly Buildings Now in House Hands

Virginia is a little closer to Sunday hunts and energy-smart state buildings thanks to two bills proposed by Fairfax City's representative, Sen. Chap Petersen.

The Senate approved a bill that would allow hunting Sundays on private property (SB 464) with a 29-11 vote last week. The legislation, which had Petersen's bill (SB 173) on the issue rolled into it, was introduced by Sen. Ralph Northam (D-6th District).

Petersen (D-34th District) had another victory on the Senate floor when his proposal that would require state buildings to follow Virginia Energy Conservation and Environmental Standards (SB 160) passed on a 26-14 vote.

Petersen told Patch before the session he had introduced a similar bill last year — which passed the Senate, but failed in the Republican-dominated House of Delegates — but would re-introduce it this year using the term "cost-effective" rather than "green" to avoid partisan pushback. The General Laws and Technology Committee sent the bill to the floor with an amendment that would change "cost-effective" to "high performance," which the Senate rejected.

Both bills await a decision in the House of Delegates.

But Petersen also saw some of his bill proposals delayed until the next legislative session.

Petersen proposed a bill that would prohibit using closed-circuit cameras in schools to monitor student conduct, with the exception of doing so to protect the physical safety of students. The Education Committee voted unanimously to continue the bill until 2013.

In an Oct. 2 post on his Ox Road South blog, Petersen posted his opinions about the discussion among the Fairfax County School Board members to allow interior surveillance cameras in schools,.

"If there is a consistent problem with discipline at lunch or elsewhere, then deal with it the old-fashioned way — have school staff eat lunch in the cafeteria and monitor the students first-hand,"Petersen wrote. "There is no need to spend thousands of dollars on a wiring the school so students can be furtively watched from all angles."

Legislation that would reallocate seats on the Commonwealth Transportation Board to align with the current congressional districts rather than the current allocation based congressional lines determined in the 1930s.

"Since those are redrawn after every census, the CTB would reflect current demographics. That's imperative," Petersen wrote in a statement last week.

The Transportation Committee delayed decision until 2013 while the new congressional districts are being set this year, which Petersen saw as a slight shift in the right direction because the committee did not decide to kill the bill altogether.