Cigarette tax legislation overhauled; regional board participation mandate removed
Legislation that would have mandated county participation in regional cigarette tax boards before the imposition of a cigarette tax has been significantly amended on the Senate floor. As reported from the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, SB 1326 (Hanger) would have mandated that any locality that was not already imposing a cigarette tax on January […]
Legislation reducing the number of required Standards of Learning assessments passes Senate
SB 1401 (Pillion) would reduce the total number and type of required Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments to the minimum required by the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). SOLs are used by the Virginia Department of Education to assess student learning and achievement, as well as factoring largely into the Standards […]
Virginia Voting Rights Act bills pass in chambers of origin
HB 1890 (Price) and SB 1395 (McClellan), which impose state oversight over certain local voting practices, have each passed their respective chambers of origin – HB 1890 by a vote of 55-45 and SB 1395 by a vote of 21-17. The bills provide broad authority to the Attorney General to file a civil action in […]
School board employee striking bill left in committee
Legislation that would have exempted employees of local school boards from the prohibition on striking and from termination of employment for striking did not make it past the deadline for bills to crossover between the House and Senate. HB 1780 (Carter) was left in the House Labor and Commerce Committee without being acted upon. The […]
Property tax exemption legislation amended to limit local revenue impact
HB 2308 (Brewer) amends a Code section that deals with the amount of acreage that may be owned by certain benevolent or charitable associations. As reported by the House General Laws Committee, the bill increases the amount of property that may be owned by an association or post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American […]
WIP III wastewater bills pass House and Senate; to be heard again in committee
Two important bills that save localities money, provide greater certainty to wastewater treatment plants, and still provide a roadmap for achieving the goals and obligations of the Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP III) have now passed the House and Senate and will each be re-heard in committees in the opposite chamber. HB 2129 (Lopez) […]
VACo supports amending economic development incentive to include creation of teleworking jobs
SB 1418 (McPike) amends an economic development incentive program known as the Commonwealth’s Development Opportunity Fund (CDOF) by allowing “new teleworking jobs” to qualify towards the minimum job creation requirements in order to receive a cash grant to offset a qualifying project’s related costs, such as site acquisition and development, transportation access, utility extension or […]
Health and Human Services Update
As the General Assembly passes the crossover milestone, several bills related to health and human services await consideration by the House or Senate, respectively. Following is a brief overview of bills of interest: HB 1894 (Kory) adds employees of the Department of Juvenile Justice designated as probation and parole officers or as juvenile correctional officers […]
Expanded Stormwater Local Assistance Fund (SLAF) eligibility survives crossover
SB 1404 (Lewis) proposes a slight expansion of project eligibility for Stormwater Local Assistance Fund (SLAF) projects. Specifically, the bill authorizes SLAF awarded for projects related to Chesapeake Bay total maximum daily load (TMDL) requirements to take into account total phosphorus reductions or total nitrogen reductions. Additionally, SB 1404 authorizes grants awarded for eligible projects […]
Visit Wythe County and St. John’s Lutheran Church
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF Virginia Landmarks Register Listing – Date 04/19/1977 National Register of Historic Places Listing – Date 01/26/1978 NRHP Reference Number 78003047 During the late 18th century, German settlers were concentrated near the present town of Wytheville. In 1798, St. John’s Church, recently organized, adopted a common “Order of […]
Introducing a New Associate Member – HydroGeo
February 17 Educational Webinar for County Officials on New Online Tool to Compare Revenue Options for Solar Projects
The Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME) in partnership with the Energy Transition Initiative (ETI) has developed a new online tool for local governments to compare the choice between applying the current Machinery and Tools (M&T) tax on utility-scale solar energy equipment versus the recently adopted option to apply an energy tax (aka […]
Commonwealth Connect: Round One FY2021 VATI grants
Governor Northam recently announced $29.6 million in VATI awards to 5 projects, connecting 11,743 Virginia homes and businesses. Congratulations to the winning projects and we look forward to seeing more of Virginia get connected. These awards are for the first round of the FY21 Virginia Telecommunications Initiative (VATI) and the list of winning projects are […]
Premier Partner News – VML/VACo Finance
VML/VACo Finance is the financial services arm of the Virginia Association of Counties (VACo) and Virginia Municipal League (VML). We provide high quality financial services at low cost, a goal achieved through cost-sharing. We offer services in the following areas: Financing & Municipal Advisory, Investments, and Accounting. Our investment programs comprise the VACo/VML Pooled OPEB […]
New requirements for community outreach for air, water and waste permits fail in Senate, move forward in House
Legislation that requires new, and robust, community and environmental justice outreach for certain applications for permits from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) failed to report out of the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee on February 4, while a companion measure has made it to the House floor. The debate and controversy […]
In-person and virtual learning requirement bill graduates Senate
SB 1303 (Dunnavant) would require that each local school division in the Commonwealth make virtual and in-person learning available to all students by choice of the student’s parent or guardian. This is meant to address the concerns of some parents that virtual or hybrid learning is not as effective as in-person instruction and also the […]