Veterans; identification card, discount on state-operated attractions. (SB991)

Introduced By

Sen. John Miller (D-Newport News)

Progress

Introduced
Passed Committee
Passed House
Passed Senate
Signed by Governor
Became Law

Description

Department of Veterans Services; veterans identification card; discount on state-operated attractions. Provides a 50 percent discount on the admission fee to all state-operated attractions for a Virginia veteran who presents a valid veterans identification card issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles. The discounted admission fee shall apply to the card holder and up to 5 persons accompanying him to such attraction. The bill also requires the Department of Veterans Services to publish on its website an annually updated list of state-operated attractions. Read the Bill »

Outcome

Bill Has Failed

History

DateAction
01/08/2013Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/13
01/08/2013Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/13 13103520D
01/08/2013Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology
01/14/2013Reported from General Laws and Technology (15-Y 0-N) (see vote tally)
01/16/2013Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) (see vote tally)
01/17/2013Read second time and engrossed
01/18/2013Read third time and passed Senate (38-Y 0-N) (see vote tally)
01/23/2013Impact statement from DPB (SB991)
01/25/2013Placed on Calendar
01/25/2013Read first time
01/25/2013Referred to Committee on General Laws
02/01/2013Assigned GL sub: #3 ABC/Gaming
02/07/2013Subcommittee recommends laying on the table
02/18/2013Left in General Laws

Comments

Gregg J writes:

What about veterans with a federally issued ID card? Why would this legislation be written with such a narrow scope? Could it be to boost revenue through increased sales of the DMV issued card?

Waldo Jaquith writes:

There are two small problems with this.

First, the catch line refers to "certain state-operated attractions," while the text of the law itself refers to "all state-operated attractions."

Second, "state-operated attractions" aren't actually a thing. That is, there is no definition for this term or the term "attraction" in the Code of Virginia. For this law to be meaningful, it needs to include a definition for what constitutes not just an "attraction" but what constitutes being operated by the state.