By Alexa Welch Edlund, Times-Dispatch
House Bill 1650, sponsored by Del. Cia Price, D-Newport News, which would have empowered local governments to seek court orders directing landlords to fix uninhabitable dwellings, died in the House General Laws Committee with no debate.
It passed out of the committee last year with the support of 11 of 12 Republican members, and this year’s version was approved in a gatekeeper subcommittee with the support of one member, Del. Emily Brewer, R-Isle of Wight, who voted to kill the measure when it came before the full committee.
Price said the measure was needed because tenants often lack the resources or time to go to court to enforce building cost standards for habitability.
Local governments’ power is limited to issuing fire code violations, which Newport News did last year when getting a court order to condemn a 15-story apartment building because its elevators and sprinklers weren’t functioning, Price and a lobbyist for the city of Alexandria told the subcommittee earlier in the session.
DraftKings contributors Geoff Ulrich and Pearce Dietrich join the Sweat to debate which Conference Championship team total is catching their eye.
