WQIF and SLAF bill clears latest hurdle, awaits House Appropriations Committee hearing
A bill seeking to broaden the applicability of Water Quality Improvement Fund (WQIF) grants as well as enact new reporting requirements for WQIF and Stormwater Local Assistance Fund (SLAF) needs has cleared its latest hurdle, unanimously passing the House Appropriations Committee’s Commerce, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Technology Subcommittee. HB 1822 (Bulova) authorizes the Director of […]
Capitol Contact ALERT – Legislation Affecting Valuation of Machinery and Tools Headed to House Floor; Calls Needed
VACo opposes HB 2640 (Byron), which has been reported from the House Finance Committee and will be on the House floor later this week. A final vote could be held as soon as Thursday, January 31. ACTION REQUIRED – VACo encourages members to contact their Delegates to oppose HB 2640. This bill would change one […]
Legislation Affecting Valuation of Machinery and Tools Advances from Subcommittee
VACo opposes HB 2640 (Byron), which would change a long-standing interpretation of one of the methods of valuation of machinery and tools currently specified in statute. The bill was initially heard in the House Finance Committee on Monday, January 20; after opposition was expressed by local governments, the bill was sent to the House Finance […]
Workers’ comp presumption legislation updates
VACo raised concerns over Workers’ Comp Presumptive Illness legislation at a January 23 Senate Finance Committee meeting. As previously reported two pieces of legislation concerning workers’ compensation for firefighters and other public safety employees with potentially massive local fiscal impact were referred from the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee to the Senate Finance Committee. One […]
Major threat to local land use authority defeated
SB 1761 (Sturtevant), which presented a dangerous threat to local land use authority, was defeated by a unanimous vote on January 24 in the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee. SB 1761 sought to require that an application for a new solid waste management facility permit or for an expansion of or an increase […]
Rural stormwater bill advances to full Senate
VACo supports SB 1328 (Hanger), which seeks to tweak the current Stormwater Local Assistance Fund (SLAF) program to provide greater assistance to rural communities. The bill passed out of the Senate Agriculture, Conservation, and Natural Resources Committee on January 24 by a unanimous vote. SB 1328 authorizes the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to provide […]
School behavior analyst staffing requirement bill modified to reduce fiscal impact
On January 23, the Senate Finance Committee unanimously reported a substitute for legislation that would have required local school boards to employ one full-time equivalent licensed behavior analyst or licensed assistant behavior analyst per five schools within a local school division. Licensed Behavior Analysts try to teach students more effective ways of behaving and making […]
Alcohol beverage reform bill passes House committee
HB 2634 (Hurst), the House vehicle for a major alcohol beverage control law reform, passed the House General Laws Committee on January 24 by a 16-6 vote and will now head to the House Floor for consideration. The bill’s Senate companion, SB 1110 (Reeves), passed the Senate earlier this week and will be considered by […]
Municipal renewable energy bill powers forward
Delegate Kathy Tran’s municipal renewable energy bill, HB 2792 (Tran), was unanimously passed out of subcommittee on January 24 and moves on to the House Commerce and Labor Committee. The bill establishes a six-year pilot program that allows a locality to use excess energy generated by a renewable energy project to be credited towards electric […]
Troubling fleet vehicle tracking bill introduced
A troubling vehicle tracking bill has been introduced that would negatively impact localities across the Commonwealth. HB 2412 (Adams, L.) seeks to require the owner of fleet vehicles to obtain consent of the vehicle operator before installing or placing an electronic device on the fleet vehicle to track it. Under the language of the bill, […]
VACo opposes stripping counties of authority to address impacts of massive solar projects
SB 1398 (Stanley) and HB 2621 (Ingram) take away the authority of local elected officials to negotiate the terms and conditions for restoration of property upon the removal (aka decommissioning) of “certified solar energy equipment, facilities, or devices” installed for utility-scale solar projects. This includes not only solar panels, but any related battery storage devices. […]
Casino bill rolls on
Legislation seeking to legalize and regulate casinos in certain parts of the Commonwealth took a big step forward on January 21, as the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee voted 9-3-1 to report SB 1126 (Lucas) and rerefer the bill to the Senate Finance Committee for further consideration. SB 1126 was one of three bills […]
Update on Constitutional amendments
VACo opposes Constitutional amendments that would expand current mandatory real property tax exemptions to additional qualifying individuals and to new types of property were heard in the House and Senate earlier this week. VACo pointed out that the current mandatory real property tax exemptions – for disabled veterans and their surviving spouses and for the […]
Alcohol Beverage Control reform bills advance
SB 1110 (Reeves) and HB 2634 (Hurst), which seek to reform one of Virginia’s foremost alcohol beverage control laws, have each advanced in their respective chambers. The bills, introduced by Senator Bryce Reeves and Delegate Chris Hurst, seek to allow the sale of mixed beverages by licensed restaurants and the sale of alcoholic beverages by […]
Broad equal taxing authority measure defeated; cigarette tax study continued
SB 1127 (Favola), legislation introduced at VACo’s request, was heard in the Senate Finance Committee on January 23. The bill would have equalized taxing authority between counties and cities and towns, effective July 1, 2020. In the intervening time, a work group convened under the auspices of the Division of Legislative Services would determine any […]
VACo opposes bill mandating every school division provide alternative education program
VACo spoke in opposition to HB 2387 (Bulova) that 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 teaching at a ratio of 10 to 1. Though the provisions of the bill would become effective […]