SB 795 (Sturtevant) is an unfunded mandate that requires every locality and every school division to post on its website a register of all transactions. This includes vendor name, date of payment, amount and description of the type of expense.
Information that is exempt from disclosure under FOIA may be excluded from posting as well as personal information related to a court-ordered payment (such as child support payments), and information regarding undercover law enforcement officers.
The bill would take effect on July 1, 2018.
The Senate passed SB 795 on a 24-16 vote. The bill has been referred to the House Counties, Cities and Towns Committee.
VACo Members – please contact delegates on the House Counties, Cities and Towns Committee to vote NO on SB 795.
TALKING POINTS
- SB 795 is an unfunded mandate on localities and school divisions.
- Some smaller jurisdictions do not operate websites, and even those localities that already post check registers online may not be in compliance with the requirements of the bill (such as credit card transactions).
- In addition to the cost of software, this bill will require significant staff time to implement, since staff will need to review transactions and redact certain payments (such as payments to undercover law enforcement).
- This bill is not needed to ensure transparency since spending information is readily available through FOIA requests.
VACo Members – Share your thoughts on FlagPoll.
KEY CONTACTS
House Counties, Cities and Towns Committee: Ingram (Chairman), Stolle (Vice Chair), Marshall, R.G., Marshall, D.W., Poindexter, Morefield, Wilt, Morris, Hodges, Webert, Austin, Campbell, Pillion, Collins, Holcomb, Herring, Heretick, Boysko, Bell, John J., Krizek, Mullin, Hayes
VACo Contact: Joe Lerch, AICP