Passage of children's life preserver bill unlikely

A children's life preserver bill has essentially been killed in a House of Delegates committee, said Bruce Dungan, Union Hall resident and chairman of the Virginia Safe Boating Alliance.

HB168 would have required children age 12 and under to wear life preservers while underway on waterways with concurrent state and federal jurisdiction, such as Smith Mountain and Leesville lakes.

The bill was tabled on Feb. 4 with a 3-2 vote by a subcommittee of the Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety. It already had been heard by the Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources on Jan. 27 and passed with a 19-3 vote.

Dungan said one of the Agriculture committee members who voted against the bill recommended the full House of Delegates send it to the Public Safety committee on Feb. 1.

"It just seems that a bill as straightforward as this, a bill that was designed to eliminate confusion, a bill that had no financial impact, a bill that created no new law -- three people killed it," said Dungan.

An identical bill, SB93, was passed by the full Senate on Jan. 21 by a 30-10 vote. It now must go to the House of Delegates, where Dungan is sure it will be killed.

"I can't see the House turning down its own bill and then reversing course on a Senate bill," he said.

Dungan said the bill would have eliminated confusion on waterways with concurrent state and federal jurisdiction because the state and federal laws are different.

In Virginia, there must be a properly sized life preserver on board for each person. The federal law requires children age 12 and under to wear life preservers while underway.