The House of Delegates passed a Qualified Immunity bill on Tuesday after the bill was previously voted down. The bill’s sponsor Delegate Jeff Bourne (D) has stuck with the bill and saw it breathe new air twice in it’s the path through the House.
This bill would open up law enforcement officers to civil lawsuits. It originally failed to pass Committee earlier in the session and took two days and some adjustments for the bill to make it to the full House floor.
Once on the full floor, the House failed to pass the bill as several Democrats either abstained from voting or they outright voted against the bill. The backlash against the Democrats over the labor day weekend took place publicly with Delegates disagreeing on Twitter.
After addressing his vote in this video and mounting public pressure over his vote, Delegate Ibraheem Samirah re-introduced the bill during the full House session on Tuesday. “Today’s the day,” said Samirah on Twitter. “I’ll motion for a revote to end Qualified Immunity in Virginia for good during session, at 4 p.m. With the help of Delegate Kaye Kory, we can pass it.”
The House passed the bill with ease, as Samirah and Kory voted in favor of the bill this time. “Although I had concerns about the bill last Friday,” said Kory in a statement on Tuesday. “I welcomed the reconsideration as an opportunity to do further work with Delegate Bourne and my House and Senate colleagues.”
“Although I continue to stand in opposition of the current weakened language of HB 5013, the bill to eliminate qualified immunity in Virginia, I would not let my current opposition to the language prevent it from passing from the Virginia House to the Senate,” said Samirah after the final vote.
The bill now must be passed by the Senate, but Delegates and activists are not optimistic they will pass it. Democrats hold a slim 21-19 majority, and the Senate already killed a similar bill during the special session.
The House also passed HB 5030 on Tuesday, sponsored by Delegate Delores McQuinn (D), which makes it easier for localities to remove a monument without a waiting period.
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