Local Governments Working Together Since 1905
Legislative Bulletin

February 20, 2007

2007 session likely to adjourn by Saturday; transportation, budget negotiations loom

The General Assembly appears poised to complete its 2007 session by Saturday at the latest, assuming that two conference committees can reach agreement over the budget and transportation funding.

Important deadlines:

Homestead exemption passed by for the day

The House of Delegates passed by for the day the constitutional amendment that would authorize the General Assembly to enact legislation that will allow localities to exempt or defer real property taxes for some property owners -- SJR 354 (Rerras). The amendment permits the exemption or deferral of taxes on up to 20 percent of the value of the primary residence of a homeowner.

While the amendment was being discussed, Del. Clark Hogan (Halifax) questioned whether federal law prohibited differential taxation of primary and secondary homes. After some discussion, delegates agreed to pass the amendment by for the day. It will be on the calendar again Wednesday.

Touch screen voting bills differ slightly

HB 2707 (Hugo) and SB 840 (Devolites Davis) are identical in all but one respect, dealing with the automatic recount of optical scan voting machines. As these bills head toward final passage, they both prohibit the purchase of direct electronic recording (DRE) voting machines after July 1, 2007. DREs are the touch screen voting machines in use in most localities in the state. The bills also authorize the State Board of Elections to determine the allocation to cities and counties of any federal or state funds made available to implement the act.

HB 2707 was amended to include a requirement for an automatic re-tabulation of optical scan voting machines if the undercount in a particular race is large enough to affect the outcome of the election. HB 2707 is on the Senate floor; SB 840 is on the House floor.

House, Senate differ on teacher retiree health care credits

HB 2370 (Tata) and SB 1218 (Hanger) both increase the health care credit for retired teachers from the current $2.50 a month to $4 a month for each full year of service but differ in the details. The Senate has adopted a substitute to HB 2370 that limits the total credit to $4 multiplied by the smaller of (1) twice the amount of creditable service, or (2) the amount of creditable service the retiree would have completed at age 60 if he had kept working to that age. The bill also deletes the authority of localities to increase the current $2.50 a month credit to $3.50. If this authority is not deleted, the 16 localities that currently give this extra credit would end up paying a $5 per month credit. The bill takes effect July 1, 2007.

The House has adopted a substitute to SB 1218 that caps the total credit at $120 a month, and makes the bill effective Jan. 1, 2008. The bill also makes the change in the credit contingent on funding being included in the appropriations act. The House has included $5.7 million in its version of the budget to pay for the state share of the teacher retiree health care credit effective Jan. 1, 2008, while the Senate budget includes $11.9 million for the state share of the credit effective this July.

Regardless of which version ends up in the approved budget, local costs will increase as local governments pay 60 percent of the costs of the credit.

Approaches to public safety retirement benefits at odds

The Senate and House are pursuing different courses on enhanced retirement benefits for public safety officers in terms of budget amendments, as well as legislation.

The only bill affecting enhanced retirement benefits for law enforcement officers that is still alive is SB 1166 (Stolle). As approved Friday by the House Appropriations Committee, the bill simply raises the retirement multiplier for state police from the current 1.70 percent to 1.85 percent for retirements on or after July 1, 2007. In addition, the bill allows, but does not require, localities to raise the retirement allowance for public safety officers to 1.85 percent.

As it left the Senate, SB 1166 was far more reaching. It required localities to extend sheriffs deputies the enhanced retirement benefits available under the Law Enforcement Officers Retirement System, increased the retirement multiplier for state police and for sheriffs to 2 percent (from the current 1.70 percent), and phased in a higher multiplier (up to 2.25 percent) for officers who stayed on the job past the age of 55. The bill also authorized localities to raise the multiplier for public safety officers to 2 percent, and to provide the higher multiplier for those staying beyond age 55. Finally, the bill also provided for the state, through the Compensation Board, to reimburse localities, based on the local fiscal stress index, for a portion of the costs of offers LEOS coverage to sheriffs' deputies.

What the final version of SB 1166 will be is anyone's guess at this point.

The House and Senate versions of the budget also vary greatly. The House adds $3.8 million to the Compensation Board's budget to increase the maximum retirement contribution rate to 7.77 percent (the maximum rate is now 5.74 percent). The retirement rate reimbursed by the Compensation Board is the lower of either the individual locality's rate or the state rate, so the effect of increasing the maximum state rate varies depending on whether the local rate is lower or higher than that. The House budget also gives localities have not already extended these enhanced benefits to their deputies to have the option of putting deputies under either LEOs or the less expensive Virginia Law Officers Retirement System (VALORS), which up until now has been available only to state employees.

House further amends CSA bill

SB 1332 (Devolites Davis) was further amended in the House Appropriations Committee and reported on Feb. 19. This is the bill that attempted to expand the mandated population for the Comprehensive Services Act for At-Risk Youth and Families (CSA) to include children who need mental health services.

The committee added two additional enactment clauses to the bill:

Direction to the Office of Comprehensive Services to review the recommendations of the a) Joint Subcommittee Studying the Cost Effectiveness of the CSA program (SJR 96 -- 2006 session), and the 2) Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission's (JLARC) evaluation of CSA (HJR 60 -- 2006 session) and report on the impact of these recommendations on the implementation of SB 1332 by Dec. 15, 2007.

Direction to the Office of Comprehensive Services to report on the potential fiscal impact of this act, including the estimated number of additional children who would be eligible for services, and mechanisms to offset the cost of these services, including the need for changes to ensure services are delivered in the least restrictive and most cost-effective manner. Report is due Dec. 15, 2007.

The House Health, Welfare, and Institutions Committee added a reenactment clause to the bill before it went to House Appropriations. This clause provides that the act will not become effective unless reenacted by the 2008 regular session of the General Assembly. Local governments were very vocal on this bill, and members of the General Assembly listened. The enactment clauses reflect the concerns raised by local governments. Gov. Tim Kaine told VML last week that his staff would work with local governments on these issues after this year's General Assembly session. The bill is on the House floor for action.

Photo-red monitoring bill amended on floor

SB 829 (Devolites Davis), which will allow local governments to use automated cameras to catch motorists running red lights and fine them $50 for the offense, was amended on the House floor. Del. Leo Wardrup (Virginia Beach) got his amendment added to the bill that will make it a misdemeanor to release information to the public pertaining to the violation. Del. John Cosgrove (Chesapeake) was opposed to the amendment since his photo-red monitoring bill, HB 1778, was conformed to SB 829 in committee. Adding the amendment to only one bill will cause both bills to go to a conference committee, which could jeopardize the measure.

Shooting range bill reported from Senate Courts Committee

HB 3109 (Janis), which will take away a locality's authority to prohibit hunting generally within a half-mile radius of a subdivision, was reported from the Senate Courts Committee 8-6. Considering the close vote, please contact your senators to oppose this bill, which goes to the Senate floor for discussion.

The committee vote was: YEAS (8) - Stolle, Quayle, Edwards, Reynolds, Rerras, Cuccinelli, Obenshain and McDougle and NAYS (6) -- Saslaw, Marsh, Howell, Lucas, Puller and Blevins.

Some talking points are:

1) suggest amending the bill to reinstate the one-half mile provision;

2) HB 3109 is premature given that HB 2308, which has already passed the House and Senate, will address model ordinances for hunting with firearms. (Localities are willing to work with the Game of Department and Inland Fisheries to develop such ordinances).

3) if the one-half mile provision previously included in the bill is removed, localities could be pressured by citizens to prohibit shooting all together if citizens feel that their lives are at risk when people hunt so close to their home, and;

4) shooting for purposes of hunting is not a controlled environment and there is more of a chance that a bullet can strike someone or someone's home.

Water funding legislation headed to conference

The House and the Senate have taken different approaches to funding mandated nutrient control upgrades at wastewater treatment plants. The two proposals, HB 1710 (Callahan) and SB 771 (Chichester), will probably go to a conference committee. The House authorizes up to $500 million, proposing a combination of debt and cash to fund the grants. The Senate proposal contains no authorization for bonds, effectively putting off a decision on how to fund the projects.

As a result of substitute legislation, the House's proposal is now embodied in substitute version SB 771, which authorizes up to $500 million in state grants to local governments. The Water Quality Improvement Fund and the issuance of Virginia Public Building Authority (VPBA) Revenue Bonds would provide this funding. A substitute version of HB 1710 can become the Senate plan. The Senate proposal contains no authorization for the issuance of VPBA bonds, depending instead on the current Water Quality Improvement funding formula.

In addition to uncertainty about funding, some local governments are concerned that the method of reimbursement in both substitutes will delay funding. Projects reimbursements are made monthly now. Under HB 1710 and SB 771, grants would be provided "upon certification that 75 percent of the local share of the cost" of the project has been expended. Both bills also contain enactment clauses requiring the Department of Environmental Quality to develop criteria and guidance for ensuring that local governments adopt the most cost-effective programs possible for administering their programs.

Clearly, nutrient control projects must be as cost-effective as possible to ensure the lowest costs for ratepayers and the best use of limited grant funds. Language in the enactment clauses, however, could delay project start-ups and jeopardize the eligibility of some localities to receive grants.

House kills billboard bill

The Senate bill that would have allowed billboards to be relocated and have their height or angle changed was killed in the House 40-58. Thanks to everyone who contacted their delegates in opposition to SB 1102 (Williams). Seven more delegates voted against the bill compared to the last time there was a vote on it. If your delegate was one of the 58 who voted "no," please thank him or her for their support. The vote was:

YEAS (40) -- Albo, Barlow, Bowling, Carrico, Cosgrove, Cox, Crockett-Stark, Dudley, Fralin, Gear, Griffith, Hall, Hargrove, Hugo, Iaquinto, Ingram, Janis, Joannou, Jones, S.C., Kilgore, Landes, Lohr, Marsden, Marshall, D.W., Miller, J.H., Morgan, Nixon, Orrock, Phillips, Poisson, Putney, Rapp, Rust, Saxman, Scott, E.T., Sherwood, Suit, Wardrup, Ware, R.L., Welch.

NAYS (58) -- Abbitt, Alexander, Amundson, Armstrong, Athey, BaCote, Bell, Brink, Bulova, Byron, Callahan, Caputo, Cline, Cole, Dance, Ebbin, Eisenberg, Englin, Frederick, Gilbert, Hamilton, Hogan, Howell, A.T., Hull, Hurt, Jones, D.C., Lewis, Lingamfelter, Marshall, R.G., May, McClellan, McEachin, McQuigg, Melvin, Miller, P.J., Moran, Nutter, O'Bannon, Peace, Plum, Purkey, Reid, Scott, J.M., Shannon, Shuler, Sickles, Spruill, Tata, Toscano, Tyler, Valentine, Waddell, Ward, Ware, O., Watts, Wittman, Wright, Mr. Speaker.

ABSTENTIONS (1) -- Oder.

NOT VOTING (1) -- Johnson.

Fertilizer, biosolids legislation headed to governor

A bill regulating biosolids, SB 1300 (Hawkins), passed the General Assembly and will be forwarded to the governor for signature. The measure gives local governments the authority to require a special use permit for the storage of sewage sludge in its jurisdiction. Special exceptions or a special use permit would not be required if biosolids will be stored on the same farm to which it will be land applied. Related legislation, HB 2802 (Byron) consolidates the biosolids regulatory program under the Department of Environmental Quality. The Senate amended the bill to require the landowner's written consent to apply sewage sludge on his property on permit applications.

Regulation of fertilizer management passes

SB 1061 (Watkins), initially of concern to local governments because it would have hindered local stormwater management and public safety efforts, was amended. The measure now allows local governments flexibility in managing fertilizer, consistent with the provisions of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act, the Erosion and Sediment Control Law, the Stormwater Management Act, or other nonpoint source regulations promulgated by the Department of Conservation and Recreation or the Soil and Water Conservation Board, as well as the Statewide Fire Prevention Code and the Uniform Statewide Building Code.

Consolidation of environmental boards slated for 2008

Both House and Senate proposals to consolidate the State Air Pollution Control Board, the State Water Control Board, and the Waste Management Board into one eleven-member citizen board -- the Virginia Board of Environmental Quality, would not be effective until 2008. HB 3113 (Landes) and SB 1403 (Puckett) include a "re-enactment clause" that requires the General Assembly of 2008 to reaffirm the legislation and delays the effective date until July 1, 2008. The delay gives citizens, conservation organizations, businesses and local governments more opportunity to review the changes. The House agreed to several Senate amendments to HB 3113, including a provision that the director's decision to grant or deny a formal hearing is discretionary and not subject to judicial review.

Bill affecting first day introductions killed

The Senate Rules Committee passed by for the day Monday the bill that would have removed the statutory requirement that VRS, charter, local fiscal impact, and correctional impact bills be introduced by the first day of the session. Del. Morgan Griffith of Salem introduced HB 2670 at the request of the Division of Legislative Services, on the premise that so much legislation is prefiled that the first day introduction requirement was no longer needed. The deadline for committee action was Feb. 19, so the legislation is dead for the session.

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