Gov. Ralph Northam signed legislation on Friday that will allow Virginia’s insurers to sell plans covering abortions on a state-run marketplace serving nearly 300,000 people. The move undoes restrictions passed by Republicans in 2011 in the wake of President Barack Obama’s signing of the Affordable Care Act.
Virginia positioned to enact its own voting rights act fauquiernow.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from fauquiernow.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Last Saturday, the Virginia House and Senate approved a pair of bills to legalize marijuana but not for three years and with significant portions of the package required to be approved again next year, which could prove difficult if Democrats lose control of the legislature. The bills now go to the desk of Gov. Ralph Northam, who has previously voiced support for marijuana legalization, but some unhappy advocates are calling on him to amend them to address what they see as serious failings.
Virginia House chamberThe bills, SB 1406HB 2312 would legalize the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana and tax and regulate legal marijuana commerce beginning on July 1, 2024. They also allow for the home cultivation of up to four plants, two mature and two immature. And they mandate the shielding of records for past marijuana convictions from employers, landlords, insurance companies, and educational institutions.
Virginia Is About to Become 12th State to Ban Anti-LGBTQ+ Panic Defense them.us - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from them.us Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
:
A flowering marijuana plant at the gLeaf facility. (Photo: Alex Scribner/VPM News)
Virginia cannabis connoisseurs will have to wait nearly three years before the drug is fully legalized under a plan approved by the General Assembly on Saturday. And while the Jan. 1, 2024 start date is firm under the current legislation, lawmakers will have to re-approve large parts of the regulations guiding legalization when they meet next year.
The bill now heads to Gov. Ralph Northam, who has made legalization a priority in his final year in office.
The agreement passed over the objections of a coalition of criminal justice advocates ranging from the ACLU of Virginia to the advocacy group Marijuana Justice. Many had pushed for the state to remove all fines and penalties for possessing the drug beginning July 1 of this year. Seven Democratic lawmakers in the House of Delegates appeared to agree, sitting out the vote.