Local Governments Working Together Since 1905

Legislative Bulletin

January 10, 2007

General Assembly convenes for 2007 session

The 46-day "short" session of the General Assembly got under way today with legislators poised to begin work on approximately 3,000 bills and numerous proposed amendments to the state budget for FY07 and FY08. The session is scheduled to adjourn Feb. 24.

Important issues in the spotlight will include transportation, land use, eminent domain, natural resources funding, freedom of information and optional post employment benefits. Constitutional amendments will be considered as well, so homestead exemptions (see below) and assessment caps also will be debated.

Kaine homestead exemption bill introduced

Del. Bob Brink (D-Arlington) has introduced HJR 624, Gov. Tim Kaine's initiative to allow local governments to exempt as much as 20 percent of a home's value from real estate taxes. HJR 624 is a constitutional amendment; Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple (D-Arlington) is expected to introduce similar legislation in the Senate.

HJR 624 amends Article X, Section 6 of the state constitution by requiring the General Assembly to authorize counties and municipalities to provide for the exemption by ordinance. Under the proposal, the local government would have the authority to set the limitations and conditions to exempt up to 20 percent of the value of residential or farm property that is designed for continuous habitation and is the primary dwelling of the individual owners.

A constitutional amendment passed in 2007 would have to be passed again in the same form by the 2008 session, before going to the voters in a referendum in 2008.

Kaine budget amendments make use of surplus; budget info available on line

The governor presented his proposed amendments to the 2006-2008 budget on Dec. 15. The state is in the middle of its two-year budget cycle.

Kaine said that even though there was uncertainty about exactly how much revenue the corporate income and recordation taxes would generate, general revenue was projected to grow 6.5 percent in FY07 and 4 percent in FY08. Combined with certain savings, $690 million in unallocated general fund revenue is available. In addition, there is $339 million left in the budget passed by the 2006 General Assembly. This money was set aside for transportation so long as the legislature adopted a transportation-funding plan by Nov. 1, 2006. Because this did not happen, the money is available for any purpose. Together, more than $1 billion is available that could be used to pay for budget amendments.

Kaine said that most of the money available for amendments was non-recurring and that he would propose using it for one-time items and capital expenditures, primarily in education and transportation. He said that surplus recurring revenue would be used to pay for targeted priorities in health, education, public safety, environmental clean-up and economic development. Some also would be used to provide targeted tax relief by increasing the filing threshold on state income taxes from $7,000 to $12,000 for individuals, and from $14,000 to $24,000 for married couples.

VML distributed a detailed summary and analysis of the proposed budget amendments on Dec. 20. If you need a copy of that information, e-mail the league at e-mail@vml.org and request the budget overview, or look at the What's New link on the VML Web site.

In addition, the following links may be of interest:

The House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committee staffs prepare an analysis of the budget each year; these documents are supposed to be posted on the committees' Web sites (Senate Finance / House Appropriations.

The House Appropriations and Senate Finance committees will hold their final public hearing on the budget at 1 p.m. Monday, Jan. 15, in House Room D of the General Assembly Building in Richmond. VML will keep local governments apprised of the latest budget and other legislative developments through the Legislative Bulletin.

VML/VACo Legislative Day set for Feb. 1

The annual VML/VACo Legislative Day will be held Thursday, Feb. 1, at the Marriott Hotel, located at the corner of 5th and Broad Streets in downtown Richmond.

On this day in particular we encourage local officials to meet with their legislators and attend committee meetings and floor sessions. Legislative Day registration will begin at 11 a.m. At noon VML and VACo staff members will brief local officials on key legislative issues to prepare them for their meetings with legislators later that day. Staff will let local officials know about the key bills being discussed in committees or on the floor that day, so that they can decide how to make the best use of their time. A box lunch will be provided during the briefing.

After this briefing local officials can go to Capitol Square. Following visits to the Capitol, a cash-bar reception for attending local officials will be held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Marriott. We strongly encourage local officials to make arrangements to take their legislators to dinner that evening; these plans should be made as soon as possible, as the legislators' schedules will be crowded. If your locality has not yet registered for Legislative Day, please do so as soon as possible. You may obtain a registration form on VML's Web site or by calling Sherall Dementi (804/649-8471 or sdementi@vml.org). The registration fee is $30 per person.

Check out January issue of Virginia Town & City

Be sure to read your January issue of Virginia Town & City. It includes articles about major issues that will come before the 2007 General Assembly, as well as the league's legislative program.

General Assembly telephone numbers, e-mail addresses available

Contact information for General Assembly members has been updated. Committee assignments will be available in a few days.

Senate membership and contact info / House membership and contact info

It's a good idea to ask legislators how they prefer to be reached during the session. Knowing whether that is by telephone, fax, or e-mail will increase the likelihood that your legislator will receive your messages.

Information about members and legislation also is available through the Legislative Information Services Web site at http://leg1.state.va.us/lis.htm or through the General Assembly Web site at http://legis.state.va.us.

Legislative Bulletin subscriptions available

This is one of many Legislative Bulletins that will be sent to you this session. Typically, you can expect to receive the Legislative Bulletin every Wednesday and Friday, although the schedule may be altered as legislative actions dictate.

An electronic copy of the bulletin is available to any official from a VML-member locality. The bulletin also is available through VML's Web site under "What's New." Click on the General Assembly icon.

The distribution of the Legislative Bulletin is as follows:

1. The designated "key official" (usually the chief administrative official or mayor/board chairman) in each member locality automatically receives the Legislative Bulletin.

2. Each locality may designate one additional person to receive the bulletin via fax or mail at no additional charge. Typically localities designate their mayor, attorney, or clerk to receive the second copy.

3. Additional faxed or mailed copies of the bulletin may be purchased at the subscription rate of $75 for member localities.

4. Additional e-mailed copies of the bulletin will be sent at no additional charge to council members/supervisors and staff as approved by the key official.

If your locality has not yet returned its bulletin subscription form, contact Joni Terry (804/649-8471, jterry@vml.org) and let her know how you prefer to receive the bulletin.

Occasionally, the Legislative Bulletin includes attachments that are not in a form that can be e-mailed; they are a hard copy that must be faxed or mailed by U.S. Postal Service. In these cases, e-mail subscribers may obtain any attachments to a Legislative Bulletin by contacting Joni Terry by telephone or by e-mail. Localities also have the option of reading the Legislative Bulletin on VML's Web site.

Be on the lookout for Action Calls

Throughout the session VML sends out Action Calls, which are urgent requests for local officials to contact a legislator in support of, or in opposition to, a specific proposal. An Action Call is sent to the "key official" (usually the manager), provided that they are able to receive it via e-mail or fax. Given the time-sensitive nature of an Action Call, it is not practical to mail them.

If a bill is in committee, usually only the localities that have legislators on the relevant committee will receive the Action Call. It is important that each locality respond as often as possible to these calls for action, as we are relying on a relatively small number of jurisdictions to let legislators know local governments' position. Your timely response to Action Calls may make the difference on whether a bill is reported out of committee or not.

If the bill is on the floor of the General Assembly, all localities will receive the Action Call.

Action Calls also will be posted on the VML Web site. Click on the '07 General Assembly icon.

It would be greatly helpful if you let VML staff know about your legislators' reactions when you talk to them about a particular issue. You may relay this information by e-mailing, calling, or faxing the staff contact for the bill, or leaving your message with VML Office Manager Joni Terry (804/649-8471).

General Assembly schedule

The governor is scheduled to give his State of the Commonwealth speech tonight at 7 p.m. in Jamestown, in celebration of Jamestown's 400th anniversary. Legislators can request and prefile an unlimited number of bills, as long as the requests were made by Dec. 11 and prefiled by Jan. 10, the first day of the session.

For bills and resolutions not prefiled, delegates are limited to introducing five pieces of legislation and senators are limited to eight. Any member, however, may request to introduce a bill with the unanimous consent of the entire body.

The session dates below (except for the Jan. 10 date) are subject to approval and modification by the General Assembly.

Jan. 10: Deadline for filing charter, local fiscal and correctional impact and VRS bills, as well as legislation creating or continuing a study

Jan. 19: VRS impact statements due; deadline for filing legislation

Feb. 1: VML/VACo Legislative Day

Feb. 6: Cross over day; each house to complete work on its own legislation except for the budget bill; deadline for budget amendments

Feb. 8: Each house to complete work on its budget bill

Feb. 14: Each house to complete work on budget bill of the other house; budget conferees appointed

Feb. 19: Last day for committee action

Feb. 22: Budget bill conference report available by noon

Feb. 24: Adjournment

Calendar and proposed procedural resolution.

How to request information on legislation

If you have questions about legislation, call VML between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays. Should an urgent matter arise after hours, telephone numbers of legislative staff are listed below. If your question is routine, it may be quicker to obtain information about the status of a bill through the legislature's Web site at http://leg1.state.va.us/lis.htm.

The capitol information desk also has instant computer access; if you only need a status report on one or two bills, it may be faster to call them at 804/698-7410, 804/698-1470, or toll free 888/892-6948 or 877/391-3228. VML staff can provide some copies of bills, but it is quicker to print them directly from the legislative Web site. For lengthy bills or multiple copies, contact the bill room by calling 804/786-6984 or writing the Division of Legislative Automated Systems, 910 Capitol Square, Richmond, VA 23219.

VML staff directory and assignments (area codes are 804)

A listing of VML legislative staff members follows, as well as a brief description of each person's areas of responsibilities during the legislative session. League employees may be reached through the league main telephone (804/649-8471) and fax number (804/343-3758); cell telephone and email addresses also are given. In most cases, an email is preferable, because the staff is in committee meetings where they cannot take phone calls. The league has several legislative consultants during the General Assembly session; their contact information also is included below.

League employees

R. Michael Amyx, mamyx@vml.org, Executive Director, 523-8521 (O); 387-9692 (cell), general legislative inquiries

Suzette Denslow; sdenslow@vml.org, 523-8523 (O); 400-1191 (cell), directs legislative lobbying team; finance and taxation issues

Tim Ailsworth, tailsworth@vmlins.org, 310-3097 (cell); 273-0038 (O); insurance and workers' compensation

Janet Areson, jareson@vml.org, 523-8522 (O); 400-0556 (cell); state budget, health and human services

Mary Jo Fields, mfields@vml.org, 523-8524 (O); 400-0555 (cell); education, elections, retirement and rules

Mark Flynn, mflynn@vml.org, 523-8525 (O); 400-1321 (cell); legal, land use and zoning, telecommunications (except for taxes), technology and general government

Kimberly Pollard, kpollard@vml.org, 523-8528 (O); 400-1987 (cell); public safety; photo-red

Denise Thompson, dthompson@vml.org, 523-8530 (O); 640-5615 (cell); environment, transportation

Legislative consultants

Randy Cook, wrcook@mmecpc.com, 746-3773 (O), courts, criminal law, civil law, eminent domain

Marianne Radcliff, mradcliff@kemperconsult.com, 649-7945 (O); transportation

Howard W. Dobbins, dobbins@wmcd.com, 643-1991(O); general government, Senate Local Government Committee

Roger Wiley, roger.wiley4@verizon.net, 780-3143 (O): telecommunications taxes; freedom of information; procurement; general laws

The league has an office during the session in the basement of Old City Hall. The telephone number is 804/644-3704 and 644-3705; fax: 804/783-8226. It's generally quicker to reach legislative staff by calling the main VML number or by calling the person's cell phone.

Tips for affecting legislative action

Help VML to help you!

VML's legislative staff will need your assistance throughout the 2005 General Assembly session if it is to be effective in helping shape legislation of importance to local governments.

Please keep in mind:

1. Ideally, your VML legislative team serves to reiterate messages that you already have delivered to your legislator(s). Your VML staff needs relies on you to reinforce critical messages at crucial times during the session (please see the above section on VML Action Calls).

2. Consider joining your VML legislative team for a day. Each staff person is responsible for specific committee meetings. Please refer to the above section regarding the VML Staff Directory and assignments. Staff welcomes the opportunity to have local leaders work with them. Please call several days in advance to schedule a visit.

3. Know how to reach your legislator(s). Be sure you have their latest telephone and fax numbers, address and e-mail address handy: http://legis.state.va.us. Find out how your legislators prefer to be reached. It may determine whether your legislators see your message in time. Keep in mind that legislators' schedules are unpredictable in the final weeks of the session. Contacts through legislative aides often prove to be an effective way to communicate.

4. Telephone calls, faxes or e-mails (if your legislator uses it) work better than letters. The legislative process is fast paced. Legislation can be introduced and voted on in committee within 24-hours. If you want your legislators to know what you think about a bill, don't assume that you have time to mail a letter. Contact them immediately!

5. Be specific and concise. Your communications should mention the bill number, the patron of the bill, and a brief summary of the bill. Tell them how the legislation will affect your community. Legislators are inundated with letters, faxes, and phone calls. To be read and digested, your message must be concise.

6. Stay in touch with your legislators over the weekend. Away from the hustle and bustle of Richmond, legislators may not be as pressed for time and may be able to listen more attentively. Make the most of these informal opportunities.

7. Work through your local media on important legislative issues such as tax reform and local authority. Take the opportunity to pen a Letter to the Editor or an Opinion Editorial in your local newspaper or to appear on a local radio or TV news program. Delegates and senators need to hear from your shared constituents. Contact David Parsons, VML's Director of Communications (804/649-8471 or dparsons@vml.org) for assistance in working through your local media.

8. Whether communicating directly with a legislator or working with the media, please remember a few simple rules: Be polite and positive in all your communications.

Do not show anger. Instead, know your facts and make your case to be effective.

Ask for a commitment: will you please support or oppose the bill? (Please advise VML when your legislator takes a position -- one way or another -- on a bill of consequence.)

9. Don't blind-side your legislator. Give them the facts and the benefit of your knowledge on an issue and its impact on your community before talking to the media.

Remember to say, "thank you." Legislators, just like you, appreciate positive, constructive feedback. Look for opportunities, especially publicly, to give them credit for their efforts.

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