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

HAPPY 2011 Everyone! ... At least I hope it will be :)

I hope everyone had a splendid New Years Eve. I had a fun-filled evening surrounded by friends! Even though my age is beginning to catch up with me, I managed to have a festive, "dry" celebration! It was a moment of pure bliss saying "good riddance" to 2010 and "HELLO 2011!" 2010 was a burden whose load became more heavy as each month passed. It began on a sad note with the passing of my Grandma Cassell and things were just slowly added until I reached the motherload: October, November, and December.

The glass wasn't 1/2 empty the entire year... Some good things happened... I had my first publishing in a magazine! I did about a 15 photo spread for a nationwide magazine, 100,000 copies printed which was anything but shabby for a dame who only owned her D90 since last May :)

Anyway, I'm just glad to see 2010 gone! Looking back all my troubles began in 2000: car accident, cancer, marriage, divorce... And maybe I'm just having a 10 year streak of bad luck? Anyway, I just have a good feeling about 2011. I'm looking forward to the legal classes I'm taking this semester and I'm no longer going to be navigating the legal system blindfolded. After all, isn't the blindfold for the judge???

Well that's my year in a nutshell/Happy New Year post! I hope that everyone has a safe, happy, and prosperous New Year and I just pray that the Lord lighten my load and let things begin to turn around for me! HAPPY 2011!