Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 4 · column 6 of 9 · from the scan, no model involved
By JIM POPE
Arundel Newspapers Writer
For better or worse, Virginia’s 140 legislators will convene in Richmond this week for the 1978 session of the General Assembly.
Arriving with them in the capital city are about 2,000 pieces of legislation that will be introduced during this session. The majority of those are “housecleaning bills” designed to clean* up legislation that has proved unworkable.
At the top of this list is the state code affecting juveniles. After last session, law enforcement officers across the state, juvenile court judges and parents were horrified at the changes made by the General Assembly.
According to those changes, a runaway or a delinquent cannot be picked up by the police unless he agrees. Del. Earl E. Bell of Loudoun says legislation will be introduced to straighten that out.
Although 2,000 legal papers will be filed, only a few will ever gain public recognition. These are the issues that excite the public.
The Equal Rights Amendment will probably get a great deal of attention from the public this year, although few legislators give it much chance of getting out of the House of Delegates Privileges and Elections Committee. It has been tied up there for a number of sessions.
Another long timer in Richmond is parimutuel betting legislation. Del. Raymond Guest of Front Royal who said he would introduce the legislation predicts it will have a good chance of passing this year, allowing local option for privately owned race tracks.
The legislators also must iron out the state’s annexation laws. A 10-year moratorium on annexations was imposed last session, but
81.9%