Author: Potomac Local News

RICHMOND — A legislative subcommittee has killed a bill intended to shield older children from the effects of secondhand smoke.

Subcommittee No. 1 of the House Courts of Justice Committee voted 5-3 to indefinitely postpone consideration of HB 2091, which sought to outlaw smoking in a motor vehicle containing minors under age 16. Currently, it’s illegal to smoke in a car if there are passengers under 8.

RICHMOND — Delegate Elizabeth Guzman (D-31 Fauquier, Prince William) filed legislation last week that would increase the age Virginians could smoke or use nicotine products with minors in motor vehicles. The proposed bill would raise the current age from eight to 16 years old.

“As a mother, it was of great surprise to me to learn that children over the age of eight can be exposed to second-hand smoke in vehicles,” Guzman said in a press. “Virginia needs to update its code to reflect the evidence-based results of medical studies.”

RICHMOND — The Family Foundation and other groups that oppose abortion are urging Virginia legislators to oppose ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. They say the ERA, which is currently before the full Senate, is anti-women, anti-American and “a smokescreen for abortion.”

Conservative activists held a news conference and met with legislators this week to voice concerns about the ERA, which they refer to as the “Everything Related to Abortion Act.” They said the proposed constitutional amendment uses women as pawns to push forward an abortion-rights agenda.