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Machinery and tools tax under attack; committee vote scheduled Feb. 4
HB 124 would reclassify all machinery and tools used in manufacturing, mining, water well drilling, processing or reprocessing placed in service on or after Jan. 1, 2010, except those used by farm wineries, as intangible personal property exempt from state and local taxation under the state constitution. The measure also exempts from state and local taxation all certified pollution control equipment and facilities placed in service on or after Jan. 1, 2010. A House Finance Committee subcommittee recommended reporting the bill earlier this week.
The legislation's chief patron -- Del. Harry Purkey -- is the chairman of the House Finance Committee. The full committee is expected to approve the bill at its Feb. 4 meeting, and then re-refer the measure to the House Appropriations Committee.
In FY06, local governments collected almost $193 million from this revenue source. Virginia's cities and towns collected $88 million. For eight of the cities and nine towns, the revenue comprises at least 10 percent of all general property taxes collected. Twenty-one cities and the town of West Point collect more than $1 million each year.
If your locality has a position or information about the impact of HB 124, please inform your delegation and VML. Staff contact: Neal Menkes (nmenkes@vml.org).
Impact fee bill to be heard by Senate Finance Committee Feb. 6
SB 768 (Watkins), the bill that does away with cash proffers, limits non-cash proffers and authorizes impact fees is heading to the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday at 9 a.m. The local government committee removed the grantors tax provision, but retained the caps on impact fees. In its current form, the bill is extremely harmful to local government efforts to manage and pay for growth. The short-term result will be a loss of meaningful cash flow for public infrastructure. The long-term result will be fewer rezonings in many counties, as the governing bodies face the options of denying rezonings, or increasing real estate taxes for the schools, roads and other infrastructure.
VML will be sending out a separate memorandum on this important subject on Monday, Feb. 3. Staff contact: Mark Flynn (mflynn@vml.org).
Call Senate Finance Committee members in opposition to overtime bill
SB 269 (Deeds) was unanimously reported from the Senate Courts of Justice and rereferred to Senate Finance. The bill extends the coverage under the overtime compensation for law-enforcement employees and firefighters, etc., to include state police and employers with less than 100 law-enforcement employees. The bill removes that exclusion and makes the law applicable to all law enforcement employees. If enacted, the bill is likely to have a significant fiscal impact on those smaller jurisdictions that are unable to absorb the additional overtime expense.
When contacting your senator to oppose this bill, some talking points are:
- SB 269 is an unfunded mandate.
- The bill goes beyond federal law because it requires overtime to be based on vacation and other off-duty hours.
- Localities will face an administrative burden because: 1) they do not have staff to work out new schedules and 2) they do not have as much flexibility to rearrange work schedules because departments have very few officers.
Staff contact: Kimberly Pollard (kpollard@vml.org).
Focus: CSA budget amendments
Gov. Tim Kaine's introduced budget included several policy and funding recommendations regarding the Comprehensive Services Act for At-Risk Youth and Families (CSA) program. VML supports several of these recommendations. However, VML does not support the recommendation regarding a change in the match rate local governments would pay for children who are placed in residential treatment. As proposed, local governments would be penalized with paying a higher match rate for any children in a residential treatment setting (including a local group home or treatment foster care home) beginning July 1, 2008. The penalty would increase more on Jan. 1, 2009, and again in the next year.
Executive branch officials say that this higher match rate would be offset by a lower match rate that localities would pay for community-based services (also phased in over the biennium). Over time, this may be the case for localities that have the local funding, staff, and access to willing private providers to develop and implement more community-based services. However, it does not address:
- the immediate cost-shift to localities on residential care that takes place July 1;
- the lack of control localities have over children in special education who are placed in residential treatment through federally-mandated Individual Education Plans (IEPs);
- children who are placed in residential treatment by the courts; and
- the new children and families the state mandated for services under CSA who seek primarily mental health treatment.
VML, working with VACo and local social services executives, worked with legislators to introduce some budget amendments to address the immediate cost-shift by the change in match rates, as well as other measures that would help local governments with this costly and complex program, including an overdue increase in the state's share of administrative funding to this program (localities currently pay about 90 percent of this program's administrative costs). Del. Harvey Morgan is carrying this amendment in the House (Item 283 #4h) and Sen. Tommy Norment in the Senate (Item 283 #2s).
Beside the administrative costs, in any conversations or correspondence with legislators or their staff, local governments should focus on a few budget amendments in particular. In the House, an amendment submitted by Del. Terry Kilgore (Item 283#9h) would require the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to convene a workgroup with local representation to prepare guidelines for a system of financial incentives to localities to use community-based services while eliminating the budget language setting the new match rates. (There is no companion item in the Senate.)
Another amendment in the House, patroned by Del. Hamilton (Item 283 #2h) also calls for a workgroup and for exemptions from higher match rates for residential placements. An identical measure is being carried by Sen. Edd Houck (Item 282 #1s)
Another important amendment for local governments addresses the fact that as large and complex as CSA is, this program is not covered under the Administrative Process Act (APA). Two proposed amendments would require that all proposed rules, regulations, and policies issued by the State Executive Council (CSA's governing body) would have to conform with the provisions of the APA. These amendments are being carried by Del. Bill Carrico (Item 283 #8h), and Sen. William Wampler (Item 283 #5s). Staff Contact: Janet Areson (jareson@vml.org).
Pedestrian, driver responsibilities defined
A bill that sets out the responsibilities of pedestrians and drivers will go to the full Senate next week. VML supports SB 644 (Ticer), which clarifies what constitutes a crosswalk, as well as the rules for drivers and pedestrians at intersections without signals. The bill specifies that when traffic control signals are not in place or not operating, drivers must stop and remain stopped to allow a pedestrian to cross on roads where the speed limit is 35 miles per hour or less. On higher speed roads without signals, drivers must yield the right-of-way, slowing down or stopping, if need be, for pedestrians.
VML's Transportation Policy Statement recommends that state law be amended to clarify the respective rights and duties of pedestrians and vehicle drivers. In addition, the policy statement specifies that drivers should be required to stop, not just yield, for pedestrians in all marked and unmarked crosswalks. SB 644, reported by the Senate Transportation Committee on Jan. 31, and its House companion, HB 1270 (Ebbin), are designed to increase pedestrian safety. Statistics show that serious pedestrian accidents, and deaths, are increasing. Staff contact: Denise Thompson (dthompson@vml.org).
Review of site plans for commercial projects changes in large localities
The Counties, Cities and Towns Committee recommended a significant change to the rules for reviewing commercial site plans in localities over 90,000 population. HB 721 (Oder) provides that if the planning staff misses defects in a site plan on the first review, the planning commission could be forced to approve the site plan anyway. However, if the defects are a violation of state or local regulation, the defective provisions are not deemed to be approved.
This bill will create additional conflict between developers and localities, because the developer will want to proceed and the locality will demand the defects that it had missed before be fixed. Nonetheless, the bill was compromised quite a bit from its original, more harmful form. As a result, VML does not oppose it at this point. Staff contact: Mark Flynn (mflynn@vml.org).
FOIA and procurement bills advance
The FOIA/Procurement Act subcommittee of House General Laws has voted to report HB 854 (Ebbin), which would allow local governing bodies to meet electronically, without a quorum being physically present, in certain emergency situations. To use this procedure a state of emergency would have to be declared by the Governor, the emergency would have to be a catastrophic nature that made physical assembly of a quorum impracticable, and the agenda would be limited to addressing the emergency.
HB 854 has the positive recommendation of the FOIA Council and the concurrence of the Virginia Press Association, Association of Broadcasters, and Coalition for Open Government. The bill is also included in both VML's and VACo's 2007 legislative Programs. Staff contact: Roger Wiley (roger@heftywiley.com).
The special subcommittee on immigration matters of the House has voted to recommend reporting a substitute for HB 1558 (Cline). The bill would require all businesses contracting with state agencies, or local governments to certify that they have verified the immigration status of every one of their employees, using the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's much-criticized E-Verify system.
The substitute eliminates the bill's most objectionable requirement – automatic termination of the contract for any contractor found to be employing an illegal immigrant regardless of the cost to the state or locality to find a replacement contractor. It now only provides for a one-year ban on bidding on new contracts for such a violation.
A major concern of the bill is the broadness of its coverage. The Public Procurement Act is not limited to construction contracts, but covers virtually every purchase of goods or services made by the state or localities. The substitute bill exempts businesses with fewer than 100 employees from the E-Verify requirement. It applies to larger businesses, however, even if they aren't located in Virginia. A software vendor in California, for example, would have to participate in E-Verify, in order to bid on a Virginia locality's procurement. This could seriously restrict the number of bidders and result in higher prices for goods and services.
The bill now appears poised to come out of the House of Delegates. It still is opposed by some major business interest groups and will be debated again in Senate General Laws. VML will continue to monitor this legislation. Staff contact: Roger Wiley (roger@heftywiley.com).
Mental health bills reported
House and Senate committees are tackling a large number of bills regarding a host of mental health issues, including involuntary commitment standards and timelines, outpatient treatment standards and requirements, and sharing of certain health records with law enforcement and the courts.
Many of the bills have a fiscal impact, so they are being reported from committees and referred to House or Senate budget committees for further consideration.
Recent action on legislation includes the following:
HB 560 (Bell) would require a Community Services Board representative to be present at a commitment hearing, either in person or through video/audio teleconferencing or by phone. It gives some flexibility to allow another CSB staff member to attend in the pre-screener's place if necessary. The House Courts of Justice Committee reported the bill and referred it to House Appropriations.
HB 499 (Hamilton), would put in new requirements for assessments of persons brought before a magistrate for involuntary commitment, as well as new monitoring, treatment, and reporting requirements for Community Services Boards regarding anyone who is committed to mandatory outpatient treatment services. The House Courts of Justice Committee reported the bill, which is now in House Appropriations because of the fiscal impact. A companion bill, SB 246 (Howell), was reported by the Senate Courts of Justice Committee and is in the Senate Finance Committee.
HB 576 (Watts) would give health providers more flexibility in disclosing necessary medical information to protect a minor's health and safety and the safety of police or court officials pursuant to an emergency custody order or involuntary commitment hearing regarding a minor. Health providers under such circumstances would be immune from civil liability. The House passed this bill on Jan. 31. It now moves to the Senate.
HB 582 (Marsden) would increase the length of time to hold a hearing for involuntary commitment of a minor for inpatient treatment to take into account weekends or holidays. The House passed the bill on Jan. 31. It now moves to the Senate.
HB 583 (Marsden) would increase the amount of time allowed for someone to be held under an emergency custody order. The original order would still be four hours, but a magistrate could extend it by two hours at the request of law enforcement, family members, or the community services board. The House passed the bill on Jan. 31. It now moves to the Senate.
SB 16 (Edwards) would permit the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish crisis intervention team pilot programs by Jan. 1, 2009. These team pilots would assist law enforcement officers in responding to crisis situations involving persons with mental illness, substance abuse disorders, or both. The Senate Courts of Justice Committee reported the bill on Jan. 28, and referred it to Senate Finance, because of the fiscal impact.
SB 18 (Edwards) would direct the Virginia Supreme Court to establish by Jan. 1, 2009, between two and five mental health courts in Virginia for nonviolent offenders with serious mental illness. The Senate Courts of Justice Committee reported the bill on Jan. 28 and referred it to Senate Finance, because of the fiscal impact.
SB 216 (Edwards) would clarify that orders for both involuntary inpatient and outpatient treatment must be forwarded to the Central Criminal Records Exchange so that persons involuntarily committed for such treatment would be banned from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm (codifies Executive Order 50). Upon release from treatment, the person may petition the court for authority to possess a firearm. The Senate passed the bill on Jan. 31 and communicated it to the House. Staff contact: Janet Areson (jareson@vml.org).
House, Senate repeal abusive driver fees
The Senate's legislation that repeals fees on bad drivers will move on to the House. SB 1 (Houck), legislation that passed the Senate on Jan. 30, would repeal the fees, and refund fees already collected. The House sent its abusive driver fee legislation over to the Senate a day earlier. HB 1243 (Hugo), also repeals the fees, but does not provide for refunds. Both bills include emergency clauses, and will take effect as soon as signed by Governor Tim Kaine. Neither of the bills replaces the $65 million for transportation that was to be raised by the fees. Staff contact: Denise Thompson (dthompson@vml.org).
House takes up dam safety, stormwater and solid waste measures
Legislation designed to improve safety in areas below dams passed the House of Delegates on Jan. 29. The dam break inundation zone bill, HB 837 (Sherwood) requires developers to financially contribute to the upgrades and improvements of dams when hazard levels are elevated below dams due to increased commercial and residential development.
The House Committee on Agriculture Chesapeake and Natural Resources at its meeting on Jan.30 approved HB 392 (Bulova), legislation that authorizes localities classified as "MS4 stormwater localities" to enact ordinances to enforce stormwater permits.. The bill would give these localities the authority to seek civil charges and injunctive relief, and impose civil penalties. In other action, the committee carried over to 2009 legislation that would prohibit dumping of construction and demolition debris (CDD) in a publicly owned solid waste landfill if a CDD recycling facility is within fifty miles of the landfill. Local governments voiced concern that the legislation, HB 1548 (Morgan), would divert revenues from tipping fees that publicly owned landfill operators use for recycling, household hazardous waste disposal, and other operating costs. Staff contact: Denise Thompson (dthompson@vml.org).
Fireworks bill stricken by patron
HB 1353 (Gear) would have prohibited a locality from restricting the manufacture, transportation, storage, sale or use of any permissible firework and defined permissible firework as any ground-based or hand-held sparkler, fountain, snake, cap for pistols, spinner or smoke item. The patron struck the bill, and interested parties will look at the issue over the summer, including VML. Staff contact: Kimberly Pollard (kpollard@vml.org).
Firearms in libraries
HB 734 (Caputo) would have prohibited the possession of a firearm at a state, regional, or local public library. The bill failed to report from subcommittee for the lack of a second in Militia and Police. Staff contact: Kimberly Pollard (kpollard@vml.org).
Photo-monitoring system bill defeated
HB 1574 (Hargrove) failed to report. The bill would have allowed any county, city, or town having fewer than 10,000 residents to install and operate a traffic light signal photo-monitoring system at no more than one intersection for every intersection within such county, city, or town that has an average daily traffic volume of at least 20,000 vehicles per day. Staff contact: Kimberly Pollard (kpollard@vml.org).
Prisoner health care cost bill dies
HB 1273 (Spruill) was stricken at the request of the patron. The bill would have provided that payment by local correctional facilities for costs incurred for the provision of health care services for prisoners shall be limited to the lesser of the actual amount billed by the health care provider or the Medicaid rate. Staff contact: Kimberly Pollard (kpollard@vml.org).
Broader loan authority proposed for Virginia Resources Authority
Several bills broadening the types of projects that the Virginia Resources Authority can finance are making their way through the General Assembly. HB 171 (Kilgore) authorizes the authority to finance local government energy projects. HB 632 (May) authorizes the authority to be a funding mechanism for all broadband services. The bills have passed the House and are in the Senate Agricultural & Natural Resources Committee. HB 723 (Scott, E.) authorizes the authority to fund parks and recreation facilities; it has passed the House and is in Senate Local Government; a companion piece, SB 473 (Hanger) has passed the Senate and is now is awaiting committee assignment in the House. HB 1457 (Nicholls) authorizes the authority to fund the construction of any local government building. It is in House General Laws. A companion piece, SB 56 (Colgan) has passed the Senate and is awaiting committee assignment in the House. Staff contact: Mary Jo Fields (mfields@vml.org).
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