General Assembly 2008

Bills with many local ramifications abound

The 2008 General Assembly session is awash with bills that could significantly affect local budgets if they become law.

Here are five important issues that every local elected official needs to be following closely and contacting their delegates and senators about in the upcoming days.

HB 599 funding. Del. Phil Hamilton of Newport News, a senior Republican who will participate in budget negotiations, continues to push for elimination of the HB 599 program.

Hamilton is likely to try achieving this through his role as a conferee on the 2008-2010 state budget. The conferees are a handful of senior delegates and senators from both parties who hammer out the final details of the state budget before each house votes on it.

HB 599 provides funding for localities with police departments; the money is earmarked for public safety. Eliminating this program would mean the state would turn its back on law enforcement in cities and towns, and those counties that have police departments, while continuing to support law enforcement in counties in which the sheriff performs law enforcement.

Local officials should make certain that their delegates and senators know the value of the HB 599 program. Equate the state funding received in terms of the number of police officers. (Staff contacts: Neal Menkes; Mary Jo Fields; Janet Areson)

Comprehensive Services Act for At-Risk Youth and Families (CSA) amendments. A number of bills place new, expensive requirements on local governments to carry out this state program.

Four bills address case management requirements under CSA. They are: HB 487 (Hanger), SB 658 (Howell), HB 503 (Hamilton) and SB 488 (Hanger). None of the bills identify how or who would pay for any increased or more complex level of case management responsibilities.

A number of budget amendments affecting CSA, most of them specifically addressing the initiatives included in Gov. Tim Kaine’s proposed budget, have been introduced on behalf of local governments. Details will be in an upcoming Legislative Bulletin. (Staff contact: Janet Areson)

Impact fee legislation. The most significant land use legislation of the 2008 session – pushed by the Homebuilders Association of Virginia – would end cash proffers and replace them with impact fees for schools, roads and public safety buildings.

The patron is Sen. John Watkins, who explained the major elements of SB 768 at a press conference on Jan. 18. Watkins maintained that the legislation would relieve existing homeowners from having to bear the cost of building new infrastructure. In addition, he said, the bill would ensure that developers pay their fair share of those costs.

Local officials need to read this very important bill and evaluate its effects on their community. VML is gathering information from its members on the legislation. Please forward your comments to VML Director of Legal Services Mark Flynn. (Staff contact: Mark Flynn)

Rebenchmarking of public education programs. Gov. Tim Kaine’s proposed budget includes about $900 million to update (rebenchmark) the cost of maintaining existing K-12 education programs.

This important issue, like HB 599 funding, likely will be a focus of budget negotiations between the House and the Senate.

Local officials need to be emphasizing the importance of state funding for public education. There may well be attempts by some budget conferees, particularly in the House of Delegates, to strip funding from programs that help at-risk students.

Homestead exemption constitutional amendment and implementation legislation. Constitutional amendments to allow the General Assembly to authorize localities to exempt or defer up to 20 percent of the assessed value of residential property of owner-occupied homes are slowly coming under consideration. A Senate Privileges & Elections subcommittee recommended reporting SJR 6 (Whipple) and SB 9 (Whipple) on Jan. 22; the full committee will take up the measures Jan. 30. SJR 6 is the same resolution as the one that passed in the 2007 session and SB 9 is the measure to put the question on the ballot for the November election.

A House Privileges & Elections subcommittee was scheduled to take up measures relating to the homestead exemption at a Jan. 23 meeting; if approved, the measures would likely be before the full committee on Friday morning, Jan. 25. The House has three resolutions that are identical to SJR 6 and to the measure enacted last year: HJR 3 (Brink), HJR 4 (Albo), HJR 56 (Miller, P.) and HJR 121 (Moran). The bills to put the measure on the ballot are HB 6 (Brink) and HB 11 (Albo). HB 6 puts the measure on the ballot for the November 2008 general election; HB 11 delays the referendum until the November 2009 general election.

Even more importantly, legislation to implement the amendment also is up for consideration. The Senate Finance Committee reported SB 496 (Northam) at its Jan. 23 meeting. The bill tracks the language in the constitutional amendment, thus giving localities broad discretion in setting the terms and conditions of any tax relief program offered. The House P&E Committee that is scheduled to meet on the evening of Jan. 23 also has before it two implementation bills: HB 1045 (Watts) and HB 1148 (P. Miller). HB 1148 is identical to Northam’s bill.

VML supports a real estate homestead exemption, on a local option basis, granting local elected officials maximum authority to establish fiscal policies specific to their jurisdictions, provided that such state legislation could be implemented consistently with our guiding principles. (Staff contacts: Neal Menkes; Mary Jo Fields)

What can you do?

Read each issue of the Legislative Bulletin to keep up with the latest developments; make sure your delegates and senators know your position on pending legislation; and make certain that you communicate the importance of HB 599 and public education funding programs to your delegation.

Lastly, if you haven’t done so already, sign-up to attend the annual VML-VACo Legislative Day in Richmond on Feb. 7 and then stop by to visit your delegate or senator on these important matters. contents

Kaine to address Legislative Day

Gov. Tim Kaine will speak at VML/VACo Legislative Day on Thursday, Feb. 7.

The Legislative Day program will begin at noon in the Metro Richmond Convention Center, located at 403 N. 3rd St. in downtown. Kaine’s address is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. The registration desk will open at 11 a.m.

If you haven’t registered, download the registration form or e-mail Sherall Dementi (804-649-8471) for more information.

Registration is $40 per person, which includes a box lunch.

Sign-up today for this important event! contents

Collective bargaining bill sent to House floor

In a move fraught with political machinations, the House Rules Committee on Jan. 23 reported a bill without recommendation to the floor that would repeal the provisions that prohibit state and local governments from collectively bargaining with employee unions.

Adam Ebbin, the patron of HB 852, asked the committee to strike the bill, but the committee refused. Typically bills are stricken at the request of the patron.

Voting to report without recommendation were Speaker Bill Howell and Dels. Putney; Hargrove; Griffith; Landes; Cox; S.C. Jones; Hogan and Abbitt. Abstaining from voting were Joannou, Spruill, Johnson, Amundson, Armstrong.

The bill is not expected to pass because it was forwarded to the House without recommendation in order to force delegates to take recorded votes on the issue of governmental collective bargaining.

Nonetheless, you may wish to call your member of the House of Delegates to voice opposition to the bill. contents

Fewer bills introduced in 2008 session

Legislators appear to be exercising a little more restraint in the number of bills introduced in the 2008 session. The total bills and resolutions introduced so far is 2,376, as compared to 3,069 in 2007 and 3,287 in 2006.

While the deadline for the introduction of legislation was Friday, Jan. 18, legislation can still be introduced by unanimous consent, and the Governor can send down bills at any time.

In addition, memorial and commending resolutions are included in these totals, and these will be introduced throughout the session. Nonetheless, this appears to be a good trend.

The total legislation introduced may drop even further next session, if the House of Delegates sticks to the rule it adopted on Jan. 9 limiting delegates to introducing 10 bills in sessions in odd-numbered years. contents

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