Capitol Contact ALERT – Oppose Bill that Adds ‘Weddings’ to Definition of ‘Agritourism Activity’ and Thwarts Local Regulation
VACo opposes HB 2364 (Knight), which adds “weddings” to the definition of “Agritourism Activity” under Code of Virginia § 3.2-6400. This is the section of the Virginia Code that limits the liability of agritourism operators for the risks of agritourism activities. More importantly for localities is the fact that anything defined as “Agritourism Activity” then […]
2019 VACo County Government Day
VACo President Tim Reeves kicked off the 2019 County Government Day by encouraging more than 200 County Officials to “make our presence known by boldly sharing our policy priorities with our state legislators.” County elected officials and staff from all over the Commonwealth convened in Richmond on January 31 to hear Governor Ralph Northam speak […]
Speaker Cox and House Appropriations leadership come out in support of 5 percent teacher salary increase as Virginia teachers march on Richmond
On January 28, House Appropriations Committee Vice-Chairman Steve Landes announced that the House of Delegates budget to be released on Sunday will include a 5 percent pay raise for public school teachers. This follows the Governor’s proposed budget presented in December which included $88 million in additional state funding for a 2 percent raise on […]
Troubling school security bill defeated in subcommittee
A problematic school security bill, HB 2734 (Bourne) that would have resulted in heavy costs to localities, was defeated Monday night. HB 2734 was intended to accomplish three main objectives. First, it directed the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) to establish compulsory minimum training standards for law enforcement officers serving as school resource officers […]
Oppose charter school bill removing local authority
VACo spoke in opposition to HB 2416 (Davis) at a January 25 meeting of the House Education Committee’s Subcommittee #2. The bill would allow certain charter schools to appeal to the Virginia Board of Education the denial by a local school board an application establishing a charter school. HB 2416 advanced from the Subcommittee to […]
Legislation to enhance mental health care in jails advances
Several bills have been introduced to direct the development of standards for the provision of care in jails, a topic of considerable interest during recently General Assembly sessions and among several study groups last year. Several high-profile cases, notably the death of a mentally ill man in the Hampton Roads Regional Jail in 2015, have […]
Construction contracts statute of limitation bill advances
Procurement legislation introduced by Senator Tommy Norment seeking to change the statute of limitations on actions on construction contracts has advanced out of the Senate Courts of Justice Committee with a substitute. As originally introduced, SB 1369 (Norment) provided that no action may be brought by a public body on any construction contract unless such […]
VACo helps defeat bill mandating every school division provide alternative education program
VACo registered their continued opposition to HB 2387 (Bulova) at a January 25 meeting of the House Appropriations Committee’s Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee. The bill would require local school boards to provide alternative education programs for suspended students and assign licensed instructional personnel for such programs at division-wide ratios of students to full-time equivalent […]
Senate municipal renewable energy bill advances
SB 1779 (Ebbin), Senator Adam Ebbin’s municipal net metering bill, successfully reported out of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee on January 28 by a unanimous vote. Sb 1779, the Senate counterpart to Delegate Kathy Tran’s HB 2792 (Tran), establishes a six-year pilot program that allows a locality to use excess energy generated by a […]
Helpful bill on local parks and recreation programs moves forward
VACo supports HB 2280 (Head), which preserves the current status, with respect to state regulation, of child day programs that are operated by local parks and recreation departments and serve school-age children. In 2017, legislation was introduced that sought to make distinctions among the types of child day programs that are exempt from licensure and […]
Unfunded mandate school bus bill comes to a halt
On January 25 at a meeting of the House Appropriations Committee’s Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee, VACo staff spoke in opposition to HB 1710 (Krizek), which instructs the Virginia Board of Education to make regulations requiring each new public school bus purchased to be equipped with a seat belt consisting of a lap belt and […]
VACo voices concerns over bill shifting burden of proof for Due Process Hearings for children with disabilities
VACo registered its concerns over HB 2463 (Tran) at a January 28 meeting of the House Education Committee’s Subcommittee #1. The bill specifies that in any due process hearing (DPH) before a hearing officer to resolve certain disputes relating to the education of children with disabilities, the local school division has the burden of proof, […]
‘Solar Freedom’ legislation fails to escape Senate Committee
A sweeping solar energy reform bill dubbed “Solar Freedom” failed to advance out of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee on January 29. SB 1456 (McClellan) sought to achieve eight key reforms in renewable energy policy in a broad effort to remove barriers and create a stronger market for distributed solar energy. The eight reforms were: […]
Local Stormwater Management Fund inches closer to reality
The Local Stormwater Management Fund has moved a step closer to reality, as HB 1614 (Cole) passed out of subcommittee late last week by a 6-2 vote. HB 1614, along with its Senate counterpart SB 1248 (Reeves), authorizes any locality to provide by ordinance the creation of a Local Stormwater Management Fund for providing grants […]
VACo opposes bill prohibiting local school divisions from collecting fees to help fund extracurricular activities
VACo expressed its concerns over HB 2319 (Bell, Richard) at a January 28 meeting of the House Education Committee’s Subcommittee #1. The bill would prohibit local school boards from collecting fees or charges for any currently approved extracurricular activities or services such as drivers’ education, or to help replace lost or damaged school property such […]
‘Tim Tebow’ bill fails to make first down with VACo in opposition
On January 23, VACo spoke in opposition to HB 2102 (Freitas), also known as the “Tim Tebow” bill, which would prohibit public schools from participating in interscholastic programs such as the Virginia High School League if they did not allow participation from students receiving home instruction. This is perennial effort named after NFL star Tim […]