Visit Highland County and Find Your Sweet Spot
Did you know Highland County is famous for maple syrup? They have a maple festival every year. Check out “Find Your Sweet Spot” from Highland County on Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/119788136 Highland County – What a Sweet Spot! Many people know about Highland because of our famous maple syrup. On the second and third weekends of March, we celebrate […]
Meet VACo Associate Member – SHI International Corp.
OMNIA Partners New Cooperative Contracts Available
New Cooperative Contracts Available OMNIA Partners is excited to announce these new competitively-solicited contracts providing access to even more powerful opportunities to better manage your spend and resources. Take advantage of these contracts or contact your Regional Manager for more information. READ MORE New Cooperative Contract Available Mythics New Award Announcement – Region 4 Education […]
Capitol Contact ALERT – Oppose Unfunded Mandate for Public Defender Salary Increases
A problematic bill that mandates local governments supplement public defenders’ salaries narrowly passed the House of Delegates and will be heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, February 19. HB 869 (Bourne) requires that the governing body of any County or City that supplements the compensation of the Attorney for the Commonwealth, or any of […]
Problematic “preclearance” bill to be heard in Senate Privileges and Elections; calls needed
HB 761 (VanValkenburg) would establish a process by which the state would review certain election practices at the local level before those actions could take effect, similar to the federal preclearance previously required under the Voting Rights Act. The bill passed the House 59-40 and has been referred to the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee. […]
Stormwater pond inspection bill fails to survive scrutiny of subcommittee
A troubling bill that would have loosened inspection requirements for stormwater ponds failed to advance in the House of Delegates. SB 1007 (Reeves) directs the State Water Control Board to require that any long-term maintenance agreement for a stormwater pond provide for inspections to be done no more frequently than every three years. Initially, when introduced […]
Competing plastic bag tax proposals cross over
Both the House and Senate have struggled throughout the session to develop consensus proposals to impose taxes on plastic bags provided by retailers. Areas of dispute include whether the tax should be levied statewide or on a regional basis, whether taxes should be imposed by the state or by localities, and the use of the […]
Differing approaches to redistricting reform still in play
After several years of unsuccessful attempts to reform Virginia’s redistricting process, the 2019 General Assembly approved a Constitutional amendment that would task a 16-member Virginia Redistricting Commission with drawing district lines for the General Assembly and the U.S. House of Representatives. Since a Constitutional amendment must pass the legislature twice in identical form before being […]
Clean energy financing bill reports out of Senate Local Government, heads to Senate Finance
Delegate Nancy Guy’s bill aimed at helping localities more easily take advantage of creative clean energy financing mechanisms has survived its first hurdle in the Senate, reporting out of the Senate Local Government Committee, 14-1, on February 17. HB 654 (Guy) authorizes the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME) to sponsor a statewide clean energy […]
Local government urban fertilizer program bill advances out of House subcommittee
After unanimously passing the Senate, SB 849 (Mason) has successfully taken its first steps in the House of Delegates, surviving the Chesapeake Subcommittee of the House Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee. The bill authorizes local governments to enter into agreements with the Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) to […]
Money Committees report budgets
The House Appropriations Committee and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee reported their budget proposals on Sunday, February 16. Both committees made providing compensation increases for state employees, state-supported local employees, and teachers a priority, as well as making additional deposits to the state’s reserve funds. The full text of the Committees’ budget amendments will be […]
Bill authorizing local government employees to issue summonses passes House and Senate
A bill introduced by Delegate Steve Heretick relating to local government’s power to issue summonses has now passed the House and Senate and will be sent to the Governor for consideration. HB 1213 (Heretick) permits localities to appoint and train local government employees to enforce local ordinances by issuing summonses for misdemeanor violations of ordinances that […]
Support critical water funding in the Governor’s proposed budget
As has previously been detailed in Capitol Contact as well discussed as at the recent VACo Legislative Day, Governor Northam introduced several funding initiatives in his 2021-2022 budget that are critical to the environmental goals of localities. Two of the most important proposals are as follows: Stormwater Local Assistance Fund (SLAF) $182 million in Virginia […]
Local government mandate for Public Defenders’ salaries poised to be heard in Senate
A problematic bill that mandates local governments supplement their public defenders’ salaries narrowly passed the House of Delegates and is ready to be heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee. HB 869 (Bourne) requires that the governing body of any County or City that elects to supplement the compensation of the attorney for the Commonwealth, or […]
Bills extending state-mandated exemption from local taxes for large solar projects pass both chambers
HB 1131 (Jones), HB 1434 (Jones) and SB 762 (Barker), SB 763 (Barker) are bills that extend a state mandate to exempt utility-scale solar projects from local tax to 2030 (currently set to expire in 2024) have passed in the House and the Senate. VACo opposes the extension of the deadline. In 2016, the state […]
Peer-to-peer vehicle rental bill passes Senate
Legislation seeking to create a comprehensive framework for peer-to-peer vehicle rentals passed the Senate on February 11 by a 40-0 vote. Peer-to-peer vehicle rentals involve a vehicle owner listing a vehicle for rent through an electronic marketplace, which sometimes provides insurance, dispute resolution, or other services, but is not involved in the physical exchange of […]