Legislation to Impose Standards on License-Exempt Child Day Programs Tabled in House; Passes Senate
HB 1480 (Filler-Corn) and SB 539 (Hanger) are complex bills that represent a second attempt to make distinctions among the variety of child day programs currently exempt from licensure and impose certain minimum health and welfare standards on programs deemed to be more akin to child care. Similar legislation was considered in 2017 but became […]
Update: Mandated Land Use Value Assessment Bill on House Floor
HB 1204 (Hugo) is a problematic bill that would require that certain property be assessed based on use value in certain localities meeting specified population growth criteria. The bill would require that real property of at least five acres that is devoted to open space be assessed based on the property’s land use value. Although […]
Governor Northam speaks at VACo County Government Day
VACo President and King and Queen Supervisor Sherrin Alsop encouraged the crowd of more than 200 County officials to make Thursday their day. “I know you’re excited to start your legislative experience,” Alsop said. “Please be sure to talk about the important legislative issues we’ve discussed. Today is our day – County Government Day.” County […]
Stormwater Workgroup Bills Pass House
HB 1307 (Hodges) and HB 1308 (Hodges), which seek to fix the so-called stormwater “donut hole,” both passed the House of Delegates. HB 1307 pass unanimously as a part of the block vote, and HB 1308 passed by a vote of 96-1. The bills, drafted upon the recommendations of the HB 1774 Workgroup (named after Delegate Keith […]
Troubling Stormwater Waiver Bills End Their Run
Two bills were introduced this year that seek to provide waivers for certain stormwater charges for public use airport runways and taxiways. SB 367 (Newman) would have allowed localities to provide for a partial waiver of service charges for stormwater management to airports for that portion of the property that is used for runways and […]
School Voucher Bill Fails
HB 1286 (LaRock) creates “Parental Choice Education Savings Accounts,” one-year accounts consisting of an amount equivalent to a certain percentage of all applicable annual Standards of Quality per pupil state funds appropriated for public school purposes and apportioned to the resident school division in which the student resides. This includes the per pupil share of […]
Problematic Towing Bill Clunks
HB 1406 (Pogge) provides that a law-enforcement agency bear the costs of stolen vehicle towing recovery if a car owner retrieves his vehicle within five days. The law-enforcement agency must pay the full recovery cost to the towing company 30 days after receiving the payment request. The law-enforcement agency may then seek reimbursement from the state […]
School Opening Day Bills Update
Many bills were introduced this session allowing local school boards to set their school calendar and determine the opening day of the school year, eliminating the post-Labor Day opening requirement and “good cause” scenarios for which the Board of Education may grant waivers of this requirement. Seven bills were introduced, but as crossover nears, only […]
Oppose House and Senate Bills Mandating Public Comment
HB 1101 (Robinson) requires every public body, except for governing boards of public institutions of higher education, provide an opportunity for public comment during any open meeting. Although the bill states that if a public body holds more than four meetings each calendar year, such public body may, by recorded vote, limit the number of […]
Calls Needed to Oppose Bill Mandating Land Use Value Taxation for Certain Properties
HB 1204 (Hugo) is a problematic bill that would require certain property be assessed based on use value in certain localities meeting specified population growth critieria. The bill would require that real property of at least five acres that is devoted to open space be assessed based on the property’s land use value. VACo opposes […]
Oppose Heavier Trucks in Virginia – Committee Votes Scheduled for Early this Week
SB 504 (Carrico) and HB 1276 (Garrett) authorize the Commissioner of Highways, with the approval of the Governor, to allow for heavier, six-axle tractor trucks to travel Virginia roads as part of any federal pilot program, for a period of up to 15 years. Action Required – Please contact your legislators now to OPPOSE SB […]
Support the Virginia Grocery Investment Fund
The Virginia Grocery Investment Fund (VGIF) needs your help. SB 37 (Stanley) unanimously reported out of the Senate Finance Committee and passed on the Senate floor by a 36-4 vote. However, the House of Delegates has not yet taken action or placed on an agenda HB 85 (Bell/McQuinn), the House counterpart to SB 37. With […]
Problematic Tax Bills Defeated; Cigarette Taxing Authority Legislation Carried Over to 2019
On February 2, the House Finance Committee’s Subcommittee #3 took up several bills of concern to localities. HB 471 (Reid), as amended in a previous hearing by the House Commerce and Labor Committee, exempts certain new small businesses from the local option sales tax and from local business license taxes for their first five years […]
Tax Increment Financing for Dredging Passes House
A bill that makes dredging projects eligible for tax increment financing passed the House of Delegates on February 2. Under current law, the definition of “development project area” does not specifically include or mention dredging projects. HB 1092 (Hodges) modifies the definition to include “any area designated as a dredging project” for purposes of tax […]
Solar Tax Exemption Bill Passes Senate
SB 902 (Lucas) passed the Senate by a vote of 33-6-1. As described in VACo’s January 23 Capitol Contact, the bill makes it a local option to provide certain local tax exemptions for solar facilities of a certain size. Under current law, solar facilities greater than 20 MW in generation capacity are provided a mandatory […]
Former VACo President-Elect’s Merchants’ Capital Tax Bill Passes House
Former VACo President-Elect Bob Thomas’s merchants’ capital tax bill passed the House of Delegates on February 2 by a 94-3 margin. VACo spoke in support of HB 119 (Thomas), which creates a separate class for merchants’ capital of any wholesaler reported as inventory that is located, and is normally located, in a structure that contains […]