Proposed changes from Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe to legislation dealing with surveillance technology and ethics are expected to receive substantial attention when lawmakers return to Richmond Wednesday for a one-day “veto session” to accept or reject the governor’s amendments and vetoes.
Privacy advocates, for example, have bristled at Mr. McAuliffe’s fixes to legislation intended to curb the use of surveillance technology by law enforcement to collect personal information on citizens.
Under the legislation passed by the General Assembly earlier this year, law enforcement agencies could collect information from license plate readers if it’s used in the investigation of a crime and is purged from the system after seven days. Mr. McAuliffe amended the bill to replace the seven-day time limit with a 60-day limit and made the bill applicable only to license plate readers rather than all surveillance technology.
Mr. McAuliffe also amended legislation that would replace a state moratorium on the use of drones set to expire July 1. The bill would prevent government agencies from using drones except during the execution of a search warrant, and Mr. McAuliffe proposed to change restrictions on the circumstances when the technology can be used.
“The governor’s amendments would turn pro-privacy legislation into pro-surveillance laws,” said ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Claire Guthrie Gastanaga.
A spokesman for Mr. McAuliffe said the governor’s amendments to the surveillance legislation are “a reasonable compromise that preserves the use of these technologies for law enforcement and anti-terrorism purposes while limiting how this data can be stored and used.”
Law enforcement can’t access personal information about license plates without a specific law enforcement purpose, but current law lets localities decide how long they store the data, with some departments storing it up to two years.
The bill as written would significantly impair the use of body cameras, dashboard cameras and other technologies, according to McAuliffe spokesman Brian Coy.
With respect to the drones bills, the governor’s amendments make clear that drone technology cannot be used for criminal investigative purposes without a warrant, Mr. Coy said.
“But they also preserve the use of these technologies for other purposes that are important to public safety like monitoring traffic, fires or floods,” Mr. Coy said in an email.
Mr. McAuliffe also proposed changes to sweeping ethics legislation passed in the waning hours of session. Rather than a $100 cap per gift to legislators from a lobbyist or lobbyist principal or entities seeking a contract with the state, Mr. McAuliffe proposed an aggregate $100 cap.
The legislation comes on the heels of the corruption convictions of former Gov. Bob McDonnell and former first lady Maureen McDonnell, who were found guilty of exchanging gifts and loans for favors to vitamin salesman Jonnie R. Williams Sr.
Mr. McAuliffe imposed a similar $100 per year cap on himself, his family and members of the executive branch and their families upon entering office in January 2014.
Lawmakers will also weigh more than a dozen vetoes issued by the governor, including on bills that would exempt concealed carry permit holders from local restrictions on carrying a loaded shotgun or rifle in a vehicle on public streets and limit the use of concealed handgun permittees’ information in a state database by out-of-state law enforcement agencies.
The governor’s office has said the bills could put law enforcement officers at risk and hamper criminal investigations.
He also vetoed legislation dubbed the “Tebow bill” that passed in 2015 after years of trying, which would allow home-schooled children to play sports on public school teams. Mr. McAuliffe’s office said the law would create a double standard for academic requirements. The bill is named after Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, who was home-schooled in Florida and played on a local high school team.
Lawmakers need a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override vetoes. The House is solidly Republican, but the GOP has just a 21-19 advantage in the Senate, meaning at least a handful of Democrats would have to buck Mr. McAuliffe’s wishes for a veto to be overturned outright.
If lawmakers reject the governor’s amendments by less than a two-thirds majority, the original legislation goes back to the governor, who can sign the legislation as is or issue a final veto.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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