Our Bill is Now a LAW!

I know this announcement is a little late, but life needed my attention... But yes, you heard right! SB 1141 aka. HB 2361 is now § 19.2-386.32... The bill did not pass as it was written, but what did survive of the initial proposal will hopefully aid in the recovery of a child who has been internationally abducted. The law was effective July 1, 2011. Let's take a look at all the steps that had to be taken for this law to be created!

* 01/12/11 Senate: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/12/11 11101219D
* 01/12/11 Senate: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
* 01/13/11 Senate: Assigned Courts sub: Civil
* 01/31/11 Senate: Committee substitute printed 11104839D-S1
* 01/31/11 Senate: Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (15-Y 0-N)
* 02/01/11 Senate: Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
* 02/02/11 Senate: Read second time
* 02/02/11 Senate: Reading of substitute waived
* 02/02/11 Senate: Committee substitute agreed to 11104839D-S1
* 02/02/11 Senate: Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB1141S1
* 02/03/11 Senate: Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N)
* 02/07/11 House: Placed on Calendar
* 02/07/11 House: Read first time
* 02/07/11 House: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
* 02/21/11 House: Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N)
* 02/23/11 House: Read second time
* 02/24/11 House: Read third time
* 02/24/11 House: Passed House BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N)
* 02/24/11 House: VOTE: BLOCK VOTE PASSAGE (98-Y 0-N)
* 02/24/11 House: Reconsideration of House passage agreed to by House
* 02/24/11 House: Passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N)
* 02/24/11 House: VOTE: PASSAGE #2 (99-Y 0-N)
* 03/03/11 Senate: Enrolled
* 03/03/11 Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1141ER)
* 03/03/11 House: Signed by Speaker
* 03/06/11 Senate: Signed by President
* 03/26/11 Senate: Governor's recommendation received by Senate
* 04/05/11 Senate: Placed on Calendar
* 04/06/11 Senate: Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation (40-Y 0-N)
* 04/06/11 House: House concurred in Governor's recommendation (96-Y 0-N)
* 04/06/11 House: VOTE: ADOPTION (96-Y 0-N)
* 04/06/11 Governor: Governor's recommendation adopted
* 04/06/11 Senate: Reenrolled
* 04/06/11 Senate: Reenrolled bill text (SB1141ER2)
* 04/06/11 Senate: Signed by President as reenrolled
* 04/06/11 House: Signed by Speaker as reenrolled
* 04/06/11 House: Enacted, Chapter 852 (effective 7/1/11)
* 04/06/11 Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0852)

Thank you to everyone who supported this bill, with a special thank you to Senator Martin, Senator Quayle, and Delegate McClellan.

Our bill has been signed by the Speaker and the President!

Great news! Our bill has been signed by the President and the Speaker... what does this mean? The next step is for our bill to be placed on Governor McDonnell's desk for his signature and then it will be a law! I am so excited about our bill. It was definitely a learning experience and we didn't get exactly what we asked for, but we did get something that's extremely important and that's the forfeiture of all assets of the abductor in international child abduction cases.

Of course the success of this law will depend on interpretation and whether it can be enforced as intended. But below is the journey our bill has taken to get where it is:

01/12/11 House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/12/11 11102905D
01/12/11 House: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
01/21/11 House: Assigned Courts sub: #2 Civil
01/26/11 House: Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (9-Y 0-N)
01/31/11 House: Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (22-Y 0-N)
01/31/11 House: Committee substitute printed 11104760D-H1
02/02/11 House: Read first time
02/03/11 House: Read second time
02/03/11 House: Committee substitute agreed to 11104760D-H1
02/03/11 House: Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB2361H1
02/04/11 House: Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N)
02/04/11 House: VOTE: BLOCK VOTE PASSAGE (98-Y 0-N)
02/07/11 Senate: Constitutional reading dispensed
02/07/11 Senate: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
02/09/11 Senate: Reported from Courts of Justice with amendments (14-Y 0-N)
02/11/11 Senate: Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
02/14/11 Senate: Read third time
02/14/11 Senate: Reading of amendments waived
02/14/11 Senate: Committee amendments agreed to
02/14/11 Senate: Engrossed by Senate as amended
02/14/11 Senate: Passed Senate with amendments (40-Y 0-N)
02/15/11 House: Placed on Calendar
02/16/11 House: Senate amendments agreed to by House (97-Y 0-N)
02/16/11 House: VOTE: ADOPTION (97-Y 0-N)
02/22/11 House: Enrolled
02/22/11 House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB2361ER)
02/22/11 House: Signed by Speaker
02/23/11 Senate: Signed by President

Making progress in the General Assembly

Yesterday evening my partner, Karl Hindle and I testified before the Courts of Justice house committee in regards to our proposed bill HB 2361. It was very intimidating at first and the meeting room had a "courtroom feel" to it. Standing at the podium my left leg began to have a nervous quiver like Thumper from the movie Bambi. However I gained my composure and pressed on.

Karl's speech was right on, as usual. I felt that the committee responded well to us and I feel very optimistic about the fate of our bill. I met Delegate McClellan and as I envisioned, she was very pleasant and I admire her for what she does.

This journey has been very empowering for me. In an email this past October my children's father made the smug comment, " You think you can change laws!" Well with the way things are looking, I might be able to do just that!

WE HAVE A SPONSOR!!!!

My friend Karl Hindle and I have created a bill and have been searching for a delegate or senator to sponsor the proposal. After 2 meetings and a couple of emails, we finally have one, Senator Frederick Quayle from Virginia's 13th District. Our proposal is now in the process of being written into a bill and once that happens we'll need to gain some support! But I am so happy that things are falling into place. Not only will the bill help with prevention, but it will help with recovery of children both abducted from and into the state of Virginia, while creating a better reporting system. More to come once things are set in stone!

I haven't won yet...

Today was my hearing for the appeal I had filed in response to a ruling in juvenile court. Even though I presented what I felt was a strong argument, the judge ruled in my daughters' father's favor and my daughters are to be issued passports and to leave for India on October 28th... The judge did state that he felt there was a slight risk of abduction, however, it was not significant enough to deny the trip or to even post a bond. Of course I object to this ruling and efforts will begin in do time to make arrangements to ensure my daughters safe return. In the meanwhile... I am going to take some much deserved downtime these next few days... recollect my thoughts, come to terms with today's events, and then get back to work. Also, I would like to kick my efforts to gain support for HR 3240 into high gear. I did receive a phone call from the office of congressman Forbe's in Virginia, and they would like to arrange a meeting so that we could discuss HR 3240 and international parental child abduction in general.