Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 2, 1994 TAG: 9402020133
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C6 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
A bill to allow relatives of capital murder victims to witness executions also cleared a House committee, and the Senate approved a bill to ban the use of state funds to add metric measurements to highway signs.
The House Corporations, Insurance and Banking Committee unanimously endorsed a bill requiring insurers to offer coverage of bone-marrow transplants for breast cancer patients. There was no opposition to the bill, although it could increase costs for insurance companies.
"Insurance companies were losing lawsuits in state after state," Del. David Brickley, D-Woodbridge and co-sponsor of the bill, told reporters. "They realized that now is the time to move forward."
The bill's sponsor, Del. Mary Christian, D-Hampton, said the cost of the transplants has gone down, and the procedure no longer is considered experimental.
The House Roads and Internal Navigation Committee endorsed a bill that would require children under age 16 to wear seat belts while riding in the back of a pickup truck.
Among those speaking for the bill, sponsored by Del. George Grayson, D-Williamsburg, were friends and relatives of Randy Hathaway, a 14-year-old New Kent County boy who died in 1992 while riding in the back of a pickup truck that was involved in an accident.
"If we save one child, it's well worth it," said the Rev. Milton Hathaway, the boy's father.
From 1986 to 1992, 16 children died in highway accidents while riding in the backs of pickup trucks in Virginia, said Dr. Maurice Murphy, a Williamsburg physician.
A bill to allow up to three members of a murder victim's family to witness the killer's execution cleared the House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee by a 13-4 vote.
"I realize that this is not for everyone, but for those who want it, it would provide closure and allow them to put the incident behind them," said the bill's sponsor, Del. Robert McDonnell, R-Virginia Beach.
Committee members who opposed the bill called it ghoulish.
The Senate, in its first prolonged debate this year, discussed a bill to ban the use of state funds to convert highway signs to metric measurements. The federal government is studying whether to require metric road signs but has made no recommendation.
Sen. H. Russell Potts, R-Winchester, said he proposed the bill because a USA Today poll showed that 90 percent of Americans oppose metric highway signs. It would cost $15 million to convert signs in Virginia, he said.
"Americans overwhelmingly oppose metric signs on our highways," Potts said. "They say, `No, no, no, a thousand times, no.' "
Senate Majority Leader Hunter Andrews, D-Hampton, called the bill ridiculous.
"You're going to be laughed at for voting for this," he said.
The Senate approved the bill 23-15.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1994
by CNB