Three Interesting Bills: Swastikas, Free Water at Restaurants and a Cigarette Sale Loophole

More than 1,000 bills are filed for General Assembly consideration each year. In this weekly series, the Mercury takes a look at a few of lawmakers’ 2025 proposals that might not otherwise make headlines during the whirlwind legislative session.

House Bills 2783 and 2343: Expanding Virginia’s anti-swastika law

Under current Virginia law, it’s a Class 6 felony to intimidate others by placing a swastika on a church, synagogue or other place used for religious worship, as well as any school, educational facility or community center owned or operated by a religious body.

Identical bills by Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax, and Del. Chris Obenshain, R-Montgomery, would expand on that law to include placing a swastika on an individual’s private property without their permission, a highway or other public place in a manner that could cause someone to fear for their safety.

A Class 6 felony can result in one to five years in prison and a fine of $2,500. Or, at the discretion of the court, confinement for not more than 12 months and a fine, either or both.

Obenshain told the House floor this week he was inspired to introduce the legislation following an instance at Virginia Tech where students were threatened and intimidated with swastikas drawn on their dorm room floors. He learned that even if the perpetrators had been identified, they couldn’t be prosecuted under current law.

Several people representing the Jewish community spoke to the House Criminal Subcommittee last month in favor of the bill, including Ira Korshin, whose relatives were killed in Germany during the Holocaust.

“The swastika for us is synonymous with ill-intent to our people, the desire of destruction to our people and certainly to this day a threat of imminent danger,” Korshin said. “Sadly, antisemitism is on the rise.”

Holocaust survivor Halina Zimm, 97, told the subcommittee she still gets scared every time she sees the symbol.

“It should not happen, not in America, not all over the world, but especially in our country and in Virginia,” Zimm said. “It can only stop if we people… we have to stand against it, we have to speak up and talk and do something about it.”

Obenshain told the Mercury he was “not given any reason” why his version of the bill was not scheduled for a hearing and therefore ultimately failed, but emphasized the issue is important to him and his constituents.

Simon’s bill passed the House unanimously and now heads to the Senate.

House Bill 1994: Free water at restaurants that sell alcohol

Restaurants licensed to sell alcoholic beverages would need to provide free water to customers upon request, under legislation from Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, D-Alexandria.

Bennett-Parker told the House ABC Gaming Subcommittee last month her bill is inspired by a constituent who was refused free water and told to purchase a bottle of water instead.“Ensuring that customers have access to free potable water is a common sense step to promote health, safety and responsible consumption,” Bennett-Parker said.

The delegate said the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging and Travel Association has taken a neutral stance on her legislation, “recognizing this simply codifies a practice already followed by most restaurants.”

Hotels and clubs licensed and authorized to sell alcoholic beverages would also be required to provide free water under the bill.

Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax, emphasized, “this water is not spiked, it’s regular H2O.”

The legislation passed the House on a party-line vote, with Republicans in opposition, and will be heard by the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services Friday morning.

Senate Bill 1067 and House Bill 2370: Closing a cigarette sale loophole

Identical bills from Sen. Mark Peake, R-Lynchburg, and Del. Tony Wilt, R-Harrisonburg, would close a loophole in state law that currently allows home-delivery companies to deliver cigarettes with little oversight.

Peake told the Senate Courts of Justice Subcommittee last month his bill focuses on “retail tobacco deliverers,” who are, “kind of like Grubhub or whatever — the people who take food to your house are now taking cigarettes to your house.”

Sean Thornton, chief of the Attorney General’s Tobacco Enforcement Section, told the panel the bill is trying to “level the playing field,” by ensuring these companies follow the same legal requirements as in-store retailers, like registering to sell tobacco products, reporting monthly cigarette sales and accurately verifying the age of customers.

“We need to know the ages have been verified by the numbers in order to ensure kids aren’t finding a way around the system to buy cigarettes from the convenience of their homes via their computer or app on their computer,” Thornton said.

Shaun Kenney, Director of Communications for the AG’s office, told the Mercury the exploitation of the current loophole could also jeopardize payments Virginia receives from the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement — anywhere between $120 million to $150 million a year — if the office is held in noncompliance.

Both bills passed their respective chambers unanimously.

by Meghan McIntyre, Virginia Mercury