A bill everyone liked
16 03 2010It’s not often that everyone on Capitol Hill can agree on something.
But during the just-completed General Assembly session, Del. David Toscano, D-Charlottesville, secured passage for a bill that didn’t get a single vote against it as it worked its way through committee and the floor of both houses.
The bill is House Bill 747. It covers adoptions and allows a circuit judge to waive the appointment of a guardian ad litem in adoptions by stepparents or close relatives.
The measure made it through a Courts of Justice subcommittee 8-0 and the full committee 22-0. It passed the House 98-0.
On the Senate side, HB 747 sailed through Senate Courts 14-0 and the full Senate 40-0.
Undoubtedly there are other bills that made it through similarly unscathed, but this one is worth noting since (a) it makes sense and (b) it should make family practice just a little easier.
Presumably, the only people who wouldn’t like this proposal are those who serve as guardians ad litem, who now may be out of a little work. Apparently they don’t have a lobbyist working the Hill for them.
How about a similar bill in the case on Minor Settlements where the infant is represented by counsel?