Helpful Budget Amendments Introduced
In addition to the requests made by VACo, VML, and partner organizations that were discussed in the January 21 edition of County Connections, a number of helpful budget amendments have been introduced that address county priorities. VACo appreciates the work of legislators in introducing these proposals and encourages members to contact their legislators, especially those […]
Board of Education Local Government Representative Bill Aces Subcommittee
On January 26, the House Education Committee’s Early Childhood/Innovation Subcommittee met and unanimously recommended to report by a vote of 8-0 HB 879 (Rasoul). This bill would requires the nine-member Board of Education, all of whom are appointed by the Governor, to include at least one member with experience or expertise in local government leadership […]
Helpful Public Notice Study Bill Passes Senate Rules
SB 417 (Stanley) directs the Virginia Code Commission to convene a work group to review requirements throughout the Code of Virginia for localities to provide public notice for intended actions and events, including (i) the varying frequency for publishing notices in newspapers and other print media, (ii) the number of days required to elapse between […]
Burdensome FOIA Bill Fails
VACo opposed HB 599 (Roem), which changes FOIA policy in three major ways. First, it mandates that each person in the Commonwealth including every member of a news entity receive 8 free hours of FOIA requests per month free of charge. It provides a per hour cap on fees charged on any request after the 8 […]
Capitol Contact ALERT! Several Bills Limiting County Taxing Authority to be Heard Monday – Contact Your Legislators to Oppose
Limitations on meals and transient occupancy taxes HB 75 (Ware) would place restrictions on the additional taxing authority that was granted to counties in 2020. VACo opposes this legislation. The bill would generally place a cap of 5 percent on transient occupancy taxes imposed by counties and require revenues from rates between 2 and 5 […]
Grocery Tax Elimination under Consideration
Five bills have been introduced to eliminate the sales and use tax on groceries and essential personal hygiene products. Currently, food purchased for human consumption and essential hygiene products are taxed at 2.5 percent, a reduced rate relative to the general sales tax applied to other purchases. The 2.5 percent is composed of a 1.5 […]
Legislation Providing Local Flexibility in Marcus Alert Implementation Reported from Senate Committee
SB 361 (Stuart), as reported by the Senate Education and Health Committee, would provide local flexibility for smaller jurisdictions with respect to participation in the Marcus Alert system. This system was created via legislation passed in special session in 2020, and generally seeks to ensure that the behavioral health system responds to behavioral health crises […]
Capitol Contact ALERT! School Construction Bill to be Heard Tomorrow Morning – Call House Finance Subcommittee Members to Support the Bills
HB 531 (Hudson) and HB 1099 (LaRock) would permit any county or city to impose an additional local sales and use tax of up to 1 percent, if initiated by a resolution of the local governing body and approved by voters at a local referendum. The revenues of such a local tax would be used […]
School Construction Bill Passes Senate with Bipartisan Support
On January 24, by a vote of 28-12, the Senate of Virginia voted to report SB 472 (McClellan). VACo strongly supports the measure, which would permit any county or city to impose an additional local sales and use tax of up to 1 percent, if initiated by a resolution of the local governing body and […]
Children’s Services Act Legislation under Consideration
SB 435 (Barker), as introduced, would have required that the parent representatives who must be members of the community policy and management teams and family assessment and planning teams that administer the Children’s Services Act (CSA) at the local level be caregivers for children with past experience with the child welfare, juvenile justice, special education, […]
Oppose Unfunded Mandate that Requires Locality to Supplement Public Defender Salaries
SB 282 (Ebbin) and HB 862 (Lopez) mandate local governments to supplement public defenders’ salaries if they supplement the salaries of Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ offices. Similar to legislation that failed in 2020, VACo opposes these bills that require that the governing body of any County or City that supplements the compensation of the Attorney for the […]
VACo Speaks in Favor of Bill Increasing Eligibility for Local Use of State Broadband Funds
On January 24, HB 249 (Davis) was heard in the House Communications, Technology, and Innovation Committee. As previously reported, this bill expands the eligibility criteria for counties applying for Virginia Telecommunications Initiative grant (VATI) funds. Specifically, the bill directs the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development to align the eligibility criteria with the same […]
School Security Officer Veterans and Scope of Employment Bill Passes House
On January 25, the House of Delegates voted on party lines, 52-46, to pass HB 8 (Anderson). This bill would allow school security officers to be responsible for any duty assigned by the local school board, in addition to current enumerated duties, but excluding enforcement of discipline reserved solely and exclusively to school administrators. Additionally, […]
Elections Bills Roundup
The House Privileges and Elections Committee began to hear legislation for the 2022 session on January 21, and reported several bills of interest to local government. HB 76 (Ware) requires the General Assembly to reimburse local governments for the cost of absentee voting in accordance with a plan to be established in the Appropriation Act. […]
School Bus Seatbelt Bill Tabled
On January 25, by a unanimous vote of 8-0, the House Education Committee’s K-12 Subcommittee voted to table HB 313 (Krizek). This seemingly perennial bill would have mandated that new school buses purchased by school divisions be equipped with lap and shoulder strap seatbelts and that all school buses be equipped with such devices by […]
Budget Amendments Introduced to Address County Priorities
As in past years, VACo worked with members of the General Assembly to introduce a package of budget amendments that address top county priorities. Budget amendments were required to be submitted by Friday, January 14; Senate member amendments were made available on Wednesday, January 19, and House member amendments were made available on Thursday, January […]