REPORT FROM SENATOR RYAN MCDOUGLE

2007 GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION

On January 10th, the 2007 Virginia General Assembly convened for another legislative session. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve in the Virginia Senate and thank you for your support in my first term. I will continue to serve you in the Senate with the same commonsense conservative leadership and the hard work ethic you relied on during the four years I served you in the Virginia House of Delegates. The current session is slated to last 46 days. During that short period, my colleagues and I will discuss, debate, and vote on nearly 3,000 bills and numerous budget items introduced in the General Assembly.

I strongly believe it is a priority to examine the methods and techniques needed to operate our state government more efficiently. This continued vigilance will save Virginia taxpayers money as we propose and focus on new ideas to cut back spending habits. In the near future, Virginia will need to comply with the Real ID Act, which was enacted by Congress in 2005. With the threat of terrorism in our country and the rising problem of identity theft, Congress passed this law for increased security of our citizens. In an effort to implement more cost effective measures, I am sponsoring Senate Bill 1337 which directs DMV to prepare a plan for all Virginia driver’s and learner’s permits to be centrally manufactured and sent to the licensee or permittee by mail. Currently, many citizens drive to the DMV service center and wait in long lines to carry out simple transactions. DMV will need to transition business operations and transactions to more cost effective delivery channels and improve and upgrade its IT systems. My legislation encourages Virginians to carry out transactions over the Internet, telephone or by mail instead of at the DMV customer service center in order to reduce DMV overhead and in turn save you more money. Without improvements in operations, the Real ID Act could substantially increase wait times at customer service centers and with some estimates, cost Virginians millions of dollars. I look forward to continuing to work on this important issue which will work to save our state government and all Virginians time and money.

In addition to working to reduce government spending, I have focused much of my legislative priority on legislation that keeps criminals off our streets. One such piece of legislation, Senate Bill 876, allows a person to be charged for criminal street gang participation for a first offense distribution of heroin or cocaine. Currently, a person can only be charged for criminal street gang participation for a second or subsequent violation of felony drug distribution. This legislation will provide a much needed tool to Sheriffs and Prosecutors as they fight to reduce gang participation and work to crack down on street violence and crimes.

I am also pleased to patron Senate Bill 1071 which stiffens the penalties for sexual predators and enables law enforcement to track these predators with new methods over the Internet. This legislation will put Virginia first in the country to track convicted sex offenders as they use e-mail and chat rooms to prey on our children. This legislation will be considered next week in the Senate Courts of Justice committee and I will continue to update you on its status.

Thank you again for allowing me to serve you. Many of you have called and written me with your concerns or views on important legislative measures. If you also simply need some assistance with a problem involving our state government, please do not hesitate to contact me. I can be reached during the General Assembly session at 804-698-7504 or by e-mail at district04@sov.state.va.us. I look forward to hearing from you and appreciate your continued support!

Sincerely,

Ryan T. McDougle

Senator McDougle Sponsors

New Sex Offender Registry Legislation

Richmond, VA: This week Senator Ryan McDougle (R-Hanover) together with Attorney General Bob McDonnell announced their legislative package which will require sex offenders to publicly reveal their e-mail addresses and instant messaging screen names on Virginia’s Sex Offender Registry. Virginia is the first state to introduce this cutting edge legislation.

Throughout the summer and fall, Senator McDougle participated in Attorney General McDonnell’s Youth Internet Safety Task Force. The Task Force included members of law enforcement, Internet Providers such as Yahoo and AOL, social networking representatives such as MySpace, and parent and educational groups. These members worked together at monthly meetings to craft a policy that protects our children from sexual predators. It is estimated that 79% of Americans are now online and according to the United States Department of Justice, 1 in 5 children ages 10-17 years old receive an unwanted sexual solicitation online. The Crimes Against Children Research Center reports that 1 in 33 children, ages 10 to 17 had an aggressive sexual solicitation and 1 in 4 children ages 10 to 17 years old had an unwanted exposure to obscene images or persons engaged in sexual acts.

With this new legislation sponsored by Senator McDougle, all sex offenders listed on the Sex Offender Registry will be required to provide their e-mail address and IM address. If these sex offenders do not provide their e-mail address and chat handles or give incorrect information, they will be guilty of a new criminal offense. The maximum penalty on the new offense may be a felony and a violator could be sentenced with additional prison time.

Already a dozen other states have contacted Attorney General McDonnell about this legislation for the possibility of copying Virginia’s lead.

“I am excited about the opportunity to sponsor legislation which will provide law enforcement the tools to monitor sexual predators who solicit our young people on the Internet. Penalties must be set in place for those that use the Internet to exploit our children. Passage of this new law and partnering with technology groups and Internet providers will allow us to protect our children and crack down on sexual predators on the Internet,” said McDougle.

McDougle serves on the Senate Courts of Justice Committee and represents the 4th Senate District.

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