Regional Charter Schools Bill Carried Over to 2019
SB 516 (Obenshain), which creates regional charter schools, has been carried by for the year and will be taken back up by the Senate Finance Committee in 2019. Senator Mark Obenshain’s bill allows the Board of Education to establish regional charter school divisions consisting of at least two but not more than three existing school […]
Update on Bills Regarding Land Use Value Taxation, Assessment of Wetlands
HB 871 (Orrock) is the result of discussions over several years between the Rappahannock River Basin Commission and the Virginia Department of Forestry, along with the Virginia Farm Bureau, and makes several changes to the statutes governing land use value taxation. It provides that the definition of “land devoted to agricultural use” includes land used […]
Pretrial Services Bill Gone for the Year
HB 997 (Gilbert) would repeal the Pretrial Services Act established in 1995. Repealing the Pretrial Services Act would require more defendants to remain in confinement in both local and regional jails, leading to increased jail overcrowding at a great cost to localities and the state. There are 33 pretrial service agencies that serve 100 of […]
Update on CSA Bills
Several bills have been introduced that seek to address localities’ interest in flexibility in serving children with high-level needs within local school divisions. HB 176 (Bell, Richard P.) and SB 975 (Vogel) require the Department of Education to implement a pilot program in two school divisions to determine what resources would be needed to transition […]
Eminent Domain Bills Move Forward
SB 278 (Petersen) requires that condemning authorities pay agreed settlements or court awards in condemnation cases to the landowners or their attorneys within 30 days. VACo worked with Senator Chap Petersen to add language insuring that the recipients of such payments are responsible for getting outstanding liens on the property released. The bill passed out […]
House Appropriations Compensation and Retirement Subcommittee Tables VRS-Related Bills
HB 66 (McQuinn) would have expanded the requirement for local school divisions to provide a health insurance credit of $4 per year of service to all retired members of local school divisions with at least 15 years of service; currently, the health insurance credit is provided only to teachers at the $4/year level, and non-teacher […]
Distracted Driving Bills
At least 10 bills were introduced to address, in some manner, the increase in traffic accidents due to drivers’ use of mobile phones and other handheld devices. All four Senate bills have been killed in the Senate Courts of Justice Committee. Four House bills have also been killed, including HB 116 (Webert), which was backed […]
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 […]