1. A8 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015 • • • RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH
G E N E R A L A S S E M B LY 2 0 1 5
What’shappeningtoday?
Secretary of Transportation
Aubrey L. Layne testifies be-
fore the House Appropriations
Committee.
LegislaturechoosesKelsey
asSupremeCourtjustice
The General Assembly has
unanimously appointed Court of
Appeals Judge D. Arthur Kelsey as
a justice to the Virginia Supreme
Court.
The vacancy was created by the
Dec. 31 retirement of Cynthia D.
Kinser, the former chief justice.
Kelsey has served on the Court
of Appeals since 2002. He previ-
ously served as a circuit judge in
the 5th Circuit, which includes
Suffolk, Southampton County and
Isle of Wight County.
“Judge Kelsey is an experienced,
widely respected and accom-
plished jurist who will faithfully
interpret and defend the law, Con-
stitution of Virginia and Consti-
tution of the United States,” said
House Speaker William J. Howell,
R-Stafford.
Kelsey attended Old Dominion
University and received his law
degree from the College of William
and Mary.
PanelOKsredistrictingbill,
proposalfor2-termgovernor
The Senate Privileges and Elec-
tions Committee on Tuesday ad-
vanced legislation that would
establish a different approach to
preparing state and congressional
redistricting plans.
It also advanced a bid to change
the Virginia Constitution to allow
for the election of a governor to
two consecutive terms.
The redistricting bill, Senate Bill
1000, sponsored by Sen. Lynwood
W. Lewis Jr., D-Accomack, would
identify guidelines for drawing
political boundaries and would
require the Division of Legislative
Services to prepare plans for sub-
mission to the General Assembly.
The bill also sets up a tempo-
rary redistricting advisory com-
mission to advise Legislative
Services and hold public hearings.
The legislation, however, would
allow the General Assembly to
reject and ultimately amend the
plans. It cleared the committee on
an 11-3-1 vote and now heads to
the full Senate.
The committee also gave strong
support to a proposed constitu-
tional amendment that would
allow Virginia to join the other 49
states and provide for the possibil-
ity of a two-term governor.
As a proposed constitutional
amendment, Senate Joint Reso-
lution 236, sponsored by Sen.
Thomas A. Garrett Jr., R-Louisa,
would have to pass the General
Assembly twice, with an interven-
ing House election, in the same
form and then be approved by
voters in a referendum.
The resolution now heads to the
full Senate but could face a battle
in the House of Delegates, which
traditionally has opposed similar
bills on the idea that a two-term
governor would convey too much
power in the executive branch.
— From staf reports
BRIEFS
BY MARKUS SCHMIDT
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Matthew Shurka was 16 when
he realized he was gay. With
his father’s guidance, he began
conversion therapy — a con-
troversial form of treatment
aimed at changing sexual ori-
entation from homosexual to
heterosexual.
For three years, Shurka was
not allowed contact with fe-
males, including his mother
and two sisters. He was forced
into what his therapists called
“healthy male bonding” and
says he was subjected to hetero-
sexual pornography. At 18, he
was given Viagra to overcome
anxiety during sex with women.
“This had devastating effects
on me later on,” Shurka, now 26,
said in a news conference Tues-
day at the state Capitol.
With same-sex marriage
pending before the U.S. Su-
preme Court for a nationwide
resolution, Democratic lawmak-
ers, gay rights groups and a few
Republicans have joined forces
this year to introduce more than
20 bills addressing discrimina-
tion and legal protections for
gays and lesbians in Virginia —
including legislation that would
benefit teenagers like Shurka.
For the second consecu-
tive year, Del. Patrick A. Hope,
D-Arlington, has sponsored a
measure that would prohibit
conversion or reparative therapy
on people younger than 18.
“There is no on-off switch to
sexual orientation, and my bill is
based on science that is clear ev-
idence that conversion therapy
does not work, and there is even
some alarming evidence that it
is also psychologically harmful,”
Hope said.
State Sen. Adam P. Ebbin, D-
Alexandria, one of two openly
gay state legislators, told report-
ers that gay rights issues were
“controversial” and “barely
whispered about” when he ar-
rived in Richmond 11 years ago.
“Now, the realities of 2015
must be addressed by the Gen-
eral Assembly and must be ad-
dressed now,” he said.
The U.S. Supreme Court in
October left standing a ruling by
a Richmond appellate court that
struck down the 2006 amend-
ment to the state Constitution
defining marriage as between a
man and a woman. The ruling
essentially legalized gay mar-
riage in Virginia and several
other states until the Supreme
Court takes on the issue again
during its current term.
“Even as Virginians continue
to celebrate the freedom to
marry, it is important to remem-
ber that LGBT Virginians are
still discriminated against every
day,” said James Parrish, execu-
tive director of the gay rights
group Equality Virginia.
Many of the gay rights mea-
sures have met resistance in the
GOP-controlled legislature, indi-
cating that Republicans are not
interested in giving way to legis-
lation riding on the coattails of
the same-sex marriage ruling.
“I don’t see the Republicans
changing their opposition eas-
ily or soon,” said Sen. Barbara
A. Favola, D-Arlington. “Unfor-
tunately, I think we are going to
continue to have to fight these
battles.”
However, some GOP lawmak-
ers have softened on gay rights.
“Times are changing; we should
be more accepting,” said Del.
Ronald A. Villanueva, R-Virginia
Beach, who has introduced a
workplace nondiscrimination bill
that is pending before the House
Committee on General Laws.
“We have proposed an
agenda that would improve our
public schools, support our vet-
erans and make college more
affordable,” said Matt Moran,
spokesman for House Speaker
William J. Howell, R-Stafford.
“The Democrats in Virginia have
a political agenda, not a govern-
ing one,” he said.
Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-
Prince William, has introduced
legislation with a “conscience
clause” under which someone
subject to a state license could
deny services to gay people on
religious or moral grounds.
Another Marshall bill would
prevent state agencies from re-
quiring a contractor entering
into a public contract “to agree
to additional nondiscrimination
provisions” that are not required
under the Fair Employment
Contracting Act or the Virginia
Public Procurement Act.
Victoria Cobb, president of the
Family Foundation of Virginia,
asserted in a statement Tuesday
that with no answers for Virgin-
ia’s struggling economy and bud-
get deficit, “liberals in Richmond
are instead fixated on legislation
regarding sex and abortion.”
“Their obsession with social
issues won’t distract anyone
from the fact that they have no
answers for the economic prob-
lems faced by working Virgin-
ians,” Cobb said.
mschmidt@timesdispatch.com
(804) 649-6537
Twitter: @MSchmidtRTD
BY JIM NOLAN
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Heroin overdose fatali-
ties in Virginia more than
doubled from 2011 to 2013
— from 100 deaths to 213.
Perhaps that’s why Dem-
ocrats and Republicans —
often at odds — appear in
agreement that something
needs to be done.
Heads of law enforce-
ment agencies and Virginia
Attorney General Mark
Herring joined lawmak-
ers Tuesday to outline a
legislative agenda of four
bills aimed at combating
the growing impact of the
deadly narcotic.
“I don’t want another
parent to have to bury a
child,” Herring said.
The bills being promoted
are:
♦House Bill 1500. Spon-
sored by Del. Betsy B. Carr,
D-Richmond, Del. John M.
O’Bannon III, R-Henrico,
and Del. Thomas Davis
Rust, R-Fairfax, the “good
Samaritan” bill, in place in
21 other states, is designed
to encourage reporting of
heroin overdoses by not
penalizing for minor pos-
session or intoxication
crimes if the person reports
an overdose and remains
on the scene.
♦House Bill 1638. Spon-
sored by Del. Jackson H.
Miller, R-Manassas, the bill
would give prosecutors ad-
ditional authority to hold
drug dealers responsible
for an overdose death.
♦House Bill 1458.
Sponsored by Carr and
O’Bannon, the bill would
provide for a statewide ex-
pansion of the pilot project
in which law enforcement
agencies use the prescrip-
tion drug Naloxone, which
counteracts heroin and
prescription opioid over-
doses. The bill, which also
immunizes law enforce-
ment officers, is part of the
law in 23 other states and
has reversed more than
10,000 overdoses from
1996 to 2010.
♦Senate Bill 817. Spon-
sored by Sen. Janet D.
Howell, D-Fairfax, the bill
would allow probation of-
ficers to access the Virginia
Prescription Monitoring
Program to ensure that
their clients are not receiv-
ing unauthorized opioid
prescriptions.
Herring said the heroin
problem is “not just a law
enforcement issue but a
public health issue.”
Making a difference and
preventing more lives from
being lost motivated two
parents to attend the brief-
ing. Each lost a child to ad-
diction and overdose that
initially grew from a de-
pendence on opiate-based
prescription medication
for common injuries and
ailments.
“We are experiencing an
epidemic,” said Don Flat-
tery, who lost his 26-year-old
son, Kevin, to an overdose.
“It does not discriminate.”
“This disease affects ev-
erybody,” said Carolyn
Weems, whose daughter,
Caitlyn, died in 2013. “It is
an awful thing to bury your
child.”
The Virginia chapter of
the American Civil Liber-
ties Union said it has “seri-
ous privacy concerns” over
the prescription drug mon-
itoring legislation.
“Virginia’s law permits
access to designated of-
ficials without requiring a
warrant,” said ACLU pol-
icy director Frank Knaack.
“Legislation to expand ac-
cess to this program to pro-
bation officers increases
our concerns.”
KnaacksaidtheACLU
alsohasconcernsoverex-
pandingthehomicidestat-
utetoincludeheroindealers.
“Expanding the law
to allow someone to be
charged for murder simply
for supplying a drug when
another adult voluntarily
takes the drug will not end
overdoses,” he said.
jnolan@timesdispatch.com
(804) 649-6061
BY MARKUS SCHMIDT
Richmond Times-Dispatch
The House of Delegates and the
state Senate voted Tuesday to confirm
Martha P. Ketron, daughter of former
Democratic state Sen. Phillip P. Puck-
ett of Russell County, for a full term
as a juvenile court judge in Southwest
Virginia.
Puckett abruptly resigned from the
legislature in June, paving the way for
Republicans to take over the Senate
and thwarting Gov. Terry McAuliffe on
Medicaid expansion.
Democrats abstained
from voting on Ketron’s
nomination Tuesday.
The U.S. attorney for
the Western District of
Virginia announced last
month that he was clos-
ing his investigation
into the circumstances of Puckett’s
resignation without seeking charges.
Ketron first was appointed tempo-
rarily as a juvenile and domestic rela-
tions district court judge in Southwest
Virginia in 2013, pending confirma-
tion by the legislature.
The House first approved her ap-
pointment in early 2014, but it stalled
in the Senate because of a policy
against appointing lawmakers’ rela-
tives to the bench.
Ketron received 65 votes from
House Republicans on Tuesday. But
Democrats, who unanimously backed
the judge last year, refused to cast
their votes this time out of protest.
“I don’t think anybody realized the
circumstances of her nomination last
year,” said Democratic Caucus Chair-
man Scott A. Surovell, D-Fairfax.
In the Senate, Ketron’s confirma-
tion was approved 21-0.
Puckett’s resignation sparked the
federal investigation after it became
known that before the senator re-
signed, Del. Terry G. Kilgore, R-Scott,
head of the state tobacco commission,
spoke to Puckett about taking a staff
job with the panel. Puckett later took
himself out of consideration.
U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va.,
has acknowledged that as Democrats
sought to keep Puckett in the fold, he
had a phone conversation with the
state senator’s son, Joseph Puckett,
and discussed job possibilities for his
sister, Ketron.
In October, McAuliffe’s chief of
staff, Paul Reagan, apologized for
what he said was “poor judgment” in
his own bid in June to keep Puckett
from resigning by offering to help find
his daughter a state job.
Puckett said his biggest reason for
resigning was to clear the way for his
daughter to obtain legislative approval
for a full term as a judge.
mschmidt@timesdispatch.com
(804) 649-6537
Twitter: @MSchmidtRTD
Puckett’s
daughter
receives
approval
Republicans in House and
Senate vote for judgeship,
but Democrats abstain
Puckett
Gay rights groups, lawmakers introduce new bills
More than 20 measures
address discrimination,
legal protections in Va.
BOB BROWN/TiMeS-DiSpaTch
Del. Patrick A. Hope, D-Arlington, (left) listened as Matthew Shurka,
who underwent conversion therapy as a teen, spoke during a press
conference Tuesday at the General Assembly in Richmond.
Fight against heroin
unites both camps
Democrats, GOP
back bills to combat
deaths from drug
BOB BROWN/TiMeS-DiSpaTch
Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring hugged Honesty Liller, a former drug user who is
now the CEO of the McShin Foundation, before speaking Tuesday at the state Capitol.