eNews

In this issue

• It’s finally a wrap: Governor signs budget bill
• Legislative summaries available
• Banquet is Tuesday night at 2018 VML annual conference
• Deeds subcommittee discusses Medicaid, diversion, and capital needs
• Big changes coming for foster care system, with impact on CSA
• Proffer party update
• Updated summer meals program toolkit; Recording of May 24 conference call available
• Intercity passenger rail issues explored

 

It’s finally a wrap: Governor signs budget bill

Governor Ralph Northam signed the budget bills on the Capitol steps Thursday afternoon to an enthusiastic crowd of legislators, staff and lobbyists, including VML Executive Director Michelle Gowdy.  He thanked all the people that for years had told their stories about the need for expansion and credited former Governor McAuliffe for beginning this journey.  To no one’s surprise, Senator Emmet Hangar received many accolades for his work.

While it is good that the budget bills were signed, VML is aware of the Communications Sales and Use Tax Trust Fund “grab” to take $2.0 million each year from the Trust Fund for transfer to the state general fund. We have asked the Governor to submit amendments at the 2019 General Assembly session to rectify this action.

Make sure you’ve read VML’s article on the budget, which was sent out in the June 6 eNews.

Other information is available as well. The Superintendent of Public Instruction has posted a memorandum containing links to a narrative description of the budgets and their effect on K-12 education. The sheets for individual school divisions that detail state and local required shares is presented differently from previous years, however. Follow this link http://www.doe.virginia.gov/school_finance/budget/calc_tools/2018-20/1820-calculation-template.xlsm  to get to those sheets. At the bottom of this page, you can click to continue, and you will be taken to a different page where you can select your school division.

The State Compensation Board has sent out information on FY19 budget estimates for constitutional officers; that is posted here.

VML contacts: Michelle Gowdy, mgowdy@vml.org; Neal Menkes, nmenkes@vml.org and Janet Areson, jareson@vml.org

Legislative summaries available

VML has produced two reports on the 2018 session that should be of use. The first report details the bills affecting local government that were enacted or failed by subject area (such as conflicts, land use, etc.). The second report is a guide that identifies bills that require or allow localities to take some kind of action. Please note that this report is only a guide. The local government attorney and staff should be consulted before any action is taken. If you need either report as a word document, please email Mary Jo Fields at mfields@vml.org.

Also, the state Division of Legislative Services produces an excruciatingly detailed report on all legislation introduced in the session, organized by title of the Code of Virginia. Note that the document is 288 pages long and may take a bit of time to download.

Banquet is Tuesday night at 2018 VML annual conference

Make your room reservation now, conference registration opens soon

The 2018 Annual Conference begins on Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018 and concludes with a reception and banquet dinner on Tuesday night, October 2, 2018. Make sure you’ve made your reservation for the right days! If you haven’t reserved a room, reservations may be made on-line here.

Also, the 2018 Mayors Institute will begin bright and early Saturday, Sept. 29, and conclude at noon on Sunday, Sept. 30, prior to the opening of the Exhibit Hall and the start of the annual conference.

Registration for the annual conference will open soon.  We will send out information when it opens.

Deeds subcommittee discusses Medicaid, diversion, and capital needs

Saying that the recently-passed state budget was the most significant budget the state had seen for mental health in “maybe 200 years,” Senator Creigh Deeds, chair of the Joint Subcommittee to Study Mental Health Services in the 21^st Century, stated that the real work is just beginning for the group.  The work to be done includes incentives to build the work force to meet the needs of the state’s behavioral health system at every level, and “rightsizing” of the system to ensure that people are served in the community as well as in state facilities.

The subcommittee met on June 5 at Central State Hospital in Petersburg.  They began with a tour of the facility, which by any measure needs replacing to ensure basic health and safety for consumers and staff, as well as better accessibility for treatment needs and modern health record-keeping capability.

A total of $3 million was put into the state budget for planning; estimated costs for replacement of facilities was pegged at between $200 – $300 million.  Senator Emmet Hanger said that he thought that some of the new buildings could be modeled after Western State, which previously underwent a reconstruction, and which used modular building construction.  He expressed his wish that replacement work start sooner than later.

The criminal diversion workgroup of the subcommittee met briefly to review its proposed workplan for the year, including identifying for further analysis and study the barriers to community services boards (CSBs) providing services to jails, and reviewing data on recently approved improvements including the mental health jail screening tool, forensic discharge planning, and alternative transportation.  Members of the workgroup expressed interest in looking at the issue of limiting use of restraints in local/regional jails, and diversion of individuals with mental health issues prior to custody.  Senator Hanger said that the approved language in the budget to streamline Medicaid enrollment of inmates and overall expansion of Medicaid could allow the workgroup to look at better coordination of services with CSBs.

In the full subcommittee meeting, Senator Deeds noted that with movement to solve issues around transportation and supervision of people taken in on a temporary detention order, it could be time to look at lengthening the period of time a person could be kept for an evaluation.  Although Virginia increased the number of hours someone could be kept for evaluation, it is still one of the most restricted time periods of any state.

The subcommittee also heard presentations from the Department of Medical Assistance Services and Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services regarding their roles in the public health system, and in DBHDS’s case, how the Department interacts with community services boards.

The subcommittee is attempting to meet at state facilities across Virginia; the next meeting is tentatively set for Catawba Hospital.

VML contact: Janet Areson, jareson@vml.org

Big changes coming for foster care system, with impact on CSA

The federal budget signed into law by President Trump in February contained a big change for the national foster care system.  The Family First Prevention Services Act will change the priorities of the foster care system and try to keep children in their homes and out of foster placements or residential placements whenever possible.

The State and Local Advisory Team (SLAT) of the Children’s Services Act (CSA) heard on June 7 a briefing on the new law by Carl Ayers, director of family services for the Virginia Department of Social Services.  The new law may have substantial impact on CSA.  In all other states, foster care is handled by the state social services department, but in Virginia, CSA plays a major role.

Under this new federal act, which represents the first major revision of the Title IV-E foster care program since 1981, states and localities will be allowed to use federal IV-E funds for prevention as well as for foster care placements.  Prevention funds could go towards services for the child and family, not just the child.  Some Virginia local governments operate prevention programs for children through CSA, but it is not done statewide, nor is it a uniform set of programs. With this new law, the state will have to develop a statewide prevention program platform.  The federal program calls for three major service buckets within prevention:  substance abuse; mental health; and in-services such as parenting assistance and other home visiting.

All prevention programs under the new federal program will have to be evidence-based.  Ayers said that the federal government will have to create an evidence-based clearinghouse of allowable services, but in the meantime, people could look to California, which currently has such a clearinghouse.

States will also have to define what it means to be “at risk of removal” from the home, in order to use the prevention services allowed under the new law.  Ayers said that Virginia used to have a broad definition of this term, but it was subsequently narrowed significantly.  He said the state may need to reexamine the need to broaden its definition.

The IV-E program will continue to require a 50/50 state-federal match.  Ayers said that while there is no local match for IV-E, there was an open question of whether that would continue to be the case.

He said that new guidelines for use of funds could mean a savings for CSA, because every dollar that can be used for the new IV-E program could save some CSA match money.

While access to prevention money may become easier, using funds for residential placements will face new requirements and restrictions.  Again, the focus of the new act is to encourage family preservation and discourage out-of-home placements unless absolutely necessary.  As such, private providers will face new certification requirements, and judges will have to approve residential placements.  In addition, family-based follow-up services will be required for six months following a child’s discharge from a residential/congregate care program.  Ayers warned that if the IV-E funds were not allowed for these services, CSA funds could not be used either.

More will be known about the new federal requirements when guidance is issued, likely in October of this year.  Virginia Social Services is also convening a steering group to start looking at changes needed in Virginia.  This multi-agency, multi-stakeholder group will include representatives from VML and VACo.

Contact:  Janet Areson (jareson@vml.org)

Proffer party update

VML continues to be involved in the work on possible changes to the proffer statute. The Senate Local Government Committee has charged localities and the homebuilders to work out proposed changes.

Senator Peake’s aide recently hosted a private party on proffers that included representatives from VML, VACo, Goochland County and the Thomas Jefferson Planning District. The basic upshot of the meeting was that local governments and homebuilders were told to meet and develop sensical changes to the proffer statute. Andrew Clark of the Virginia Home Builders Association committed to working on a solution by mid-August for all parties and providing monthly updates on the status of his proposal.

Here is the update from Clark sent on June 7^th:

“My apologies for the delay in responding – been on the road for the last week.

We are continuing to have internal discussions with our legislative committee and members from around the state about the concerns that have been expressed by local governments.  We are considering several concepts but as of this moment, those draft concepts are not ready for distribution.  But the progress thus far is promising.  Will continue to provide everyone with updates on our deliberations.”

VML contact: Michelle Gowdy, mgowdy@vml.org

Updated summer meals program toolkit; Recording of May 24 conference call available

During the summer months, children from low-income families lose access to school breakfast and school lunch.

The Summer Meals Program helps fill this gap.  Unfortunately, only 15% of Virginia children who rely on free or reduced-price school lunches are also getting free meals during the summer.

The Local Government Toolkit and Checklist for the summer meals program has been updated and is posted here.

In case you missed the May 24 conference call with First Lady Pamela Northam and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney on the summer meals program, you can listen to it here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/5406241890130635521

VML contact: Janet Areson, jareson@vml.org

Intercity passenger rail issues explored

More people are choosing to take the train over driving or flying than at any time in the past 50 years and Virginia has emerged as one of Amtrak’s most successful state partners, according to a recent University of Virginia News Letter. The Lynchburg-Charlottesville-Washington-New York train is Virginia’s best-performing single daily train among the state-supported regionals. The best-performing station on the route is Charlottesville, with more boarding and alighting passengers annually (84,394 in 2017) than any other station on the entire route, including Washington, DC, and New York.

This News Letter is Part 1 of a two-part series that also examines evolving state and national transportation policies and the potential for expansion of passenger rail. The second part of the series is to be published this month. The author, Meredith Richards, a former vice mayor and member of the city council in Charlottesville, is the founder and chair of CvilleRail and the Piedmont Rail Coalition.

 

 

 

In this issue

• Legislature passes budget bills
• VRS publishes employer contribution rates for new biennium
• FOIA advisory opinions, public comment and civil penalties considered
• July 12 webinar scheduled on internet sales tax case
• Hall appointed to Virginia Housing Commission
• NLC releases State of the City report
• Policy committees meet July 19; Institute for Local Officials to be held July 19-20

Legislature passes budget bills

Gov. Ralph Northam has until midnight Friday to sign, veto or submit amendments.

After weeks and weeks of feints and pulled punches, the General Assembly crammed 10-rounds of action into a single legislative day on May 30 to pass a budget bill for the remainder of FY 2018 (HB 5001) and for the upcoming biennium (HB 5002).

The often-emotional budget debate resulted in a marathon session on the Senate floor.  Senators focused their oratory on the question of expanding Medicaid to individuals and families who currently earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to qualify for the insurance premium subsidies.  The General Assembly had rejected Medicaid expansion the previous four years.

The cost of the enhanced Medicaid coverage is estimated at $80.8 million in FY 2019 and $226.1 million in FY 2020.  Over 300,000 Virginians with incomes up to 138.0 percent of the federal poverty level are expected to become eligible for medical insurance.  (Inmates in local and regional jails could qualify, producing savings for local budgets.)  The General Assembly appropriated $25.5 million in the next biennium to support the Training, Education, Employment and Opportunity Program for the new Medicaid enrollees.  A work requirement is central to the compromise agreed upon by Gov. Northam and the General Assembly.  The General Assembly also appropriated $5.8 million for the biennium to the Department of Social Services for eligibility determinations.

A new assessment on private acute care hospitals will cover the required ten percent state match for the federal Medicaid dollars.  As part of the legislative deal, provider rates for hospitals will increase from 76.0 percent to 88.0 percent of Medicaid allowable costs for inpatient services and from 70.0 percent to 88.0 percent for outpatient services.  Increasing financial support for the hospital rate enhancements will cost $300.0 million in FY19 and $479.0 million in FY20.

Budget Highlights:

1. Cash Reserves – House Appropriations and Senate Finance staff estimate that the amendments to bolster the Rainy Day Fund and the Revenue Reserve Fund will likely total 5.0 percent of state operating revenues. If realized, this would reserve a projected $976.3 million and help protect the state’s bond rating.  Secretary of Finance Aubrey Layne told the two money committees earlier in May that the cash reserve in FY18 was an estimated $283.0 million or 1.4 percent of expenditures.  This amount placed Virginia dead last among the triple AAA rated states.
2. K-12 Pay Increases — An additional $131.4 million over the introduced budget is provided in FY20 as the state’s share of a three percent salary increase for all funded SOQ instructional and support positions with an effective starting date of July 1, 2019. Local participation is optional but requires at least a three percent salary increase be given during the biennium – either in the first year or second year or through a combination of the two years.
3. Other Pay Increases — A two percent raise for state-supported local employees is provided in FY 2020. The salary increase is for the entire fiscal year and will cost $17.8 million.  A targeted salary increase for deputy sheriffs is also provided at $1.34 million and $4.11 million in FY19 and FY20, respectively.  The increase is expected to raise the starting pay for deputy sheriffs in all localities up to $32,500 per year.
4. HB 599 – The new budget includes $6.6 million in FY19 and $13.8 million in FY20 for additional financial aid to localities with police departments. The amount to be distributed to localities in each year will be proportionate to the amounts allocated to them in FY 2018.
5. Unfunded Body Camera Mandate – Senate budget language requiring localities to increase their financial support for the hiring of Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorneys to review police body camera video was dropped. New budget language directs the Compensation Board to convene a working group of stakeholders, including local governments, to examine the workload of the Commonwealth’s Attorneys offices and to develop budgetary and legislative recommendations for the 2019 Session.
6. Stormwater Local Assistance Fund – Includes $20.0 million in cash in DEQ’s FY 2019 appropriations.
7. GO Virginia – The enacted budget bill increases funding by $5.0 million in FY19 and by $10.0 million in FY20 over the FY18 base appropriation. This increases the total GO Virginia package to $29.5 million in the first year and $34.5 million in the second year.  Budget language increases the minimum regional funding under the per-capita grants to $1.0 million and enables the GO VA Board to grant waivers for matching funds if requested by a region.  Budget language also directs GO Virginia to begin activity in broadband initiatives.
8. Broadband and Enterprise Zones – The Virginia Telecommunication Initiative is funded at $4.0 million each year. Enterprise Zone grants are increased by $1.4 million for the biennium to reduce prorated payments made to eligible applicants.
9. Mental Health Services – Provides $191.7 million for behavioral health and developmental services, including $84.1 million for community mental health services. This means new spending for the CSBs, alternative transportation for TDOs, discharge assistance plans for individuals on the extraordinary barrier list at state hospitals, permanent supportive housing for 275 more individuals, discharge planning at local jails, a telemental health pilot program, and other services.
10. Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant – Additional spending of this non-general fund source includes $3.0 million each year for community employment and training, $2.0 million each year for Community Action Agencies, $500,000 each year for local domestic violence programs, $300,000 each year for child advocacy centers, and $300,000 for the biennium for FACETS homeless assistance services.

Budget Disappointments:

Transit Capital — The General Assembly punted for another year action to address the capital and operating challenges of transit systems other than the Metro system in Northern Virginia.  Budget language sets up another task force to explore a long-term funding mechanism for transit capital.

Under the budget language, the Department of Rail and Public Transportation will examine options for financing statewide transit capital needs using the state’s Master Equipment Leasing Program as a model.  The goal is to achieve cost savings through bulk purchases and to establish a revolving fund to meet transit capital replacement needs that do not rely on longer-term debt for equipment with limited life cycles.  VML is included as one of the study stakeholders.  A report is due to the governor and two money committees in early November.

Communications Sales and Use Tax Trust Fund – The budget amendment to grab $2.0 million each year from the Trust Fund for transfer to the state general fund is as slippery as an eel.  The amendment first appeared in the Senate amendments to SB 30, but was not part of the House amendments to HB 30.

In the Special Session, the amendment was not included in the version of HB 5002 that passed the House on April 17.  It was included, however, in an amendment package adopted by the Senate Finance Committee on May 29.  The Committee’s amendments were rejected the next day on the Senate floor by a four-vote margin (22 to 18).

The Senate later approved on May 30 the Hanger floor substitute by a vote of 23 to 17.  VML thought the proposed transfer was dead because the Senate floor substitute which was negotiated by Gov. Northam, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Chris Jones, and Senate Finance Committee Co-Chairman Emmett Hanger and published May 23 on the House Appropriations web site did not include the amendment.

Unbeknownst to local governments, the amendment was inserted in Hanger’s May 30 floor substitute and was approved along with the other amendments.

Why is a $4.0 million budget amendment so important?  The establishment of the Trust Fund was done as a quid pro quo when the General Assembly dissolved local authority to impose local telecommunications taxes.  Transferring these dollars to the state general fund for purposes not specified in the state law creating the Trust Fund is a major foul.  Such action invites future transfers for even greater sums of money.  And, because the Communications Sales and Use Tax covers services and devices that are disappearing or have effectively disappeared like landline telephone service and personal pagers and because the tax does not apply to other growing services like video and audio streaming, the amounts collected for the Trust Fund have steadily declined.  The cash transfer coupled with declining revenues is a double-whammy financially affecting all of Virginia’s cities and counties and most of Virginia’s towns.

This is an issue that needs to be addressed in the 2019 legislative session.

VML contact: Neal Menkes, nmenkes@vml.org

VRS publishes employer contribution rates for new biennium

Pending final approval of the state budget, VRS has released what it believes to be the final rates for state employees, teachers and other state plans.  In accordance with legislative policy, the rates for fiscal years 2019 and 2020 are to fund 100.0 percent of the VRS-certified contributions rates.

The link to the rate tables are found here.

FOIA advisory opinions, public comment and civil penalties considered

Two subcommittees of the Virginia Freedom of Information Council are pushing full steam ahead to consider the bills from the 2018 that were sent to them for study. The full FOIA Council meets on August 22, 2018 and these subcommittees will complete their work before that meeting.

Advisory opinions and civil penalties

The Council’s Remedies Subcommittee met June 4 and considered a revised draft of Delegate Mullin’s bill HB213, which relates to formal advisory opinions and immunity from civil penalties (unfortunately the revision is not available electronically).   This legislation as introduced would require that formal advisory opinions issued and approved by the FOIA Council be published on the Council’s website.  Currently the Council issues advisory opinions that are available electronically.  In addition, the bill provides that persons who rely upon a formal advisory opinion and act in compliance with the opinion shall not be found to willfully and knowingly violated certain enumerated provisions of the FOIA if they acted in good faith.

Senator Surovell had the second bill that the remedies subcommittee reviewed; it was Revised SB630 and it imposes additional civil penalties to the FOIA penalty code section.  The Senator indicated he was trying to solve two problems with this bill:  the first to deal with persons who intentionally or destroy records and the second for persons who certify closed session when it is improper to certify that only the business stated in the motion was discussed.  It was alleged that some localities were telling their employees that if they didn’t have a record (email or text message) then they couldn’t turn it over under a FOIA request because it didn’t exist, and further that with a “wink wink” it was suggested that these records not be maintained.  The Senator went on to allege that many localities and other boards/commissions certify closed session even when it is improper.  For both of these acts, this legislation would impose an additional penalty on the person who acted intentionally.

These bills were discussed at length and additional drafts with options were presented.   Both bills were sent to the full FOIA Council for consideration at their August 22 meeting.

Right to speak at meetings and use of text messages

The meetings subcommittee held its first meeting of the summer but did not have a quorum of members present.  The committee took comment on HB1101 and SB336 from the 2018 session, both of which address the right to speak at open meetings.  Even though a quorum didn’t exist, there was a lot of discussion on these bills.  It was decided that they will be taken to the full FOIA Council in August.

This subcommittee also took up the topic of text messages during a public meeting.  This issue was brought to the FOIA Council’s attention as a result of an article in Loudoun Now that accused a Board member of texting during a meeting.   This issue had been reviewed but not resolved during the three-year study of the FOIA act that concluded prior to the 2018 session. Again, a lot of discussion ensued, and it was suggested that staff draft some best practices for the use of mobile devices in public meetings.

VML contact: Michelle Gowdy, mgowdy@vml.org

July 12 webinar scheduled on internet sales tax case

In April the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of South Dakota v. Wayfair, which takes up the question of when and how on-line retailers must collect and remit sales and use taxes to states. The decision from the court is expected this month.

The National League of Cities has scheduled a webinar on this topic. Participants include the authors of the amicus brief filed by NLC and governmental associations on the case, as well as speakers from the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board, and the Government Finance Officers Association.

The webinar will be held July 12 at 1 p.m. Follow this link for information to register.

Hall appointed to Virginia Housing Commission

Gov. Ralph Northam announced on May 25 that he had appointed Norfolk Deputy Attorney Cynthia B. Hall to a seat on the Virginia Housing Commission.

Hall is a deputy city attorney in the city of Norfolk and has worked with the city for 29 years. As deputy attorney, she handles all code and regulatory issues including environmental compliance, environmental criminal enforcement, code enforcement issues, and blight eradication efforts. She has served on numerous task forces relating to housing issues and works closely with enforcement personnel, citizens, and elected officials to solve tough neighborhood problems to eliminate crime and blight.

Ms. Hall has authored several publications on code enforcement and has spoken at seminars and conferences on these issues, including at sessions of the Virginia Municipal League and the Virginia Building and Code Officials Association. Further, she has been recognized for her work in establishing the Norfolk Environmental Crimes Task Force and her work in combating crime through proactive code enforcement.

VML nominated Hall for the position and sent a letter of endorsement to the Northam Administration.

NLC releases State of the City report

Economic development, infrastructure, budgets, housing and public safety top the list of issues covered by mayors across the U.S. in state of the city speeches, according to a National League of Cities report released May 30.

This is the fifth anniversary of the report, which includes an in-depth analysis of 160 mayoral speeches given between January and April 2018. The report includes speeches from cities across population sizes and geographic regions.

Policy committees meet July 19; Institute for Local Officials to be held July 19-20

VML’s six policy committees will meet on Thursday, July 19, at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.  The committees on general laws, human development and education, and transportation will meet from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon. The committees on community and economic development, environmental quality and finance will meet from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Lunch will be available for all committee members from 12 to 1 p.m. If you have not sent in your policy committee appointments, there is still time to sign up!  Please email Janet Areson at VML (jareson@vml.org) to get policy committee information and a locality nominations form. Or, look at VML’s website at https://www.vml.org/advocacy/policy-committees/.

Finally, VML will hold its Institute for Local Officials starting the evening of July 19 and all-day July 20. We hope this cuts down on travel time for people who may be attending the policy committees and the conference! Register on-line at https://www.vml.org/education/conferences/institute-for-local-officials-2/. A draft agenda is posted there as well. This conference will be an excellent overview for newly-elected officials and incumbents as well.

 

In this issue

• Tuesday’s lava flow on the Senate floor may foreshadow volcanic eruption next week
• In the meantime…urge your Senator(s) to adopt a budget: Local governments and their citizens need a state budget sooner rather than later
• Hoarding, inoperable vehicles are topics for Housing Commission subcommittee
• Advisory opinions, religious preferences and public records definition discussed
• State ban on mining uranium headed for U.S. Supreme Court
• Running bamboo ordinance posted on VDACS website
• First Legislative Committee meeting to be held May 31

Tuesday’s lava flow on the Senate floor may foreshadow volcanic eruption next week

“Discussion” on Medicaid expansion exposes raw nerves.

After starting late in the afternoon on May 22 and approving commending and memorial resolutions, the Senate’s traditional cordiality and courtesy were snuffed out. The Senate recessed to allow the Rules Committee to exercise a procedural maneuver delaying for another week the Finance Committee’s consideration of two House budget bills (HB 5001 and HB 5002) and a joint budget proposal prepared by Chris Jones, the House Appropriations Committee chairman, and Emmett Hanger, who is co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

Senate Democrats had come to Richmond expecting decisive votes to expand Medicaid coverage for up to 400,000 Virginians who are without health insurance. Their disappointment was matched by House Speaker Kirk Cox who issued a statement that “(t)he House of Delegates passed a budget five weeks ago. Since then, the Senate Finance Committee had ample time to draft a budget and put it on the floor for debate and a vote. Instead, we’ve seen a series of disappointing delays that have pushed this process late in to May.”

Gov. Ralph Northam also expressed his frustration over the turn of events. “This unnecessary delay is made more insulting to Virginians by the reality that the House of Delegates passed a budget that expands health care weeks ago, and a majority of Senators have indicated they would vote for a similar measure if the Senate would simply put one on the floor. Virginians have waited long enough. It’s time to pass a budget that expands Medicaid and invests in the future of our economy.”

Although acknowledging that Medicaid expansion is likely to pass, Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment said the delay was necessary to allow senators to review the joint budget proposal. He announced that the Finance Committee will meet at noon next Tuesday, May 29, with a Senate floor session scheduled for 3:00 p.m. that same day. If needed, a floor session will also be scheduled for next Wednesday.

Senate Minority Leader Dick Saslaw made clear to the members that if the Finance Committee fails to put a budget bill on the floor next Tuesday, then he is prepared along with Senator Hanger to make a motion to discharge the committee from further consideration. If the motion is successful, the budget bills would be taken up by the Senate as a committee of the whole.

It was soon after Senator Saslaw spoke that the discourse fractured along ideological fault lines. It was not the Senate’s finest hour. Opponents of Medicaid expansion claimed that the program will foster more government dependency and lead to even more government intervention in the economy and in people’s lives. Proponents of expansion argued that the program is critical to address the hardships of Virginians facing and trapped by personal health and financial catastrophes.   It was clear that the two sides were talking at and not to each other.

Assuming that Senate Republicans have exhausted all of the available rope-a-dope tactics to delay a vote, Medicaid expansion may be approved. But, the floor debate leading to the voting will likely engage full-scale pyrotechnics.

VML contact: Neal Menkes, nmenkes@vml.org

 

In the meantime…urge your Senator(s) to adopt a budget

Local governments and their citizens need a state budget sooner rather than later

VML urges you to tell your state senator that localities can wait no longer. It’s time to pass the state budget. It’s time to govern. Save the policy debates for next November.

It’s quite likely that the state budget impasse will not be resolved until sometime in June. That means local governments will have to scramble to make sure all financial bases are covered.

For example:

1. Does your locality have enough cash reserves and/or new tax revenues coming in June and July to float operations until state dollars arrive? Does your school division have the fiscal capacity to operate during this timeframe?
2. Spending items you are expecting in the state budget may not arrive until who knows when. Will you have to revise your budget plan? Will the school board have to revise its budget?
3. If you built pay raises in your budget assuming state money will cover some portion of the cost increases does your budget include contingency provisions? Does your budget have enough flexibility to cover compensation increases until the state spigot is turned on? Do the teacher contracts have contingency language?
4. Do you have a plan to explain to the public the reasons for curtailing core services (and state mandates) in the absence of state dollars?
5. If you’re planning to enter the bond market for capital projects have you consulted with your financial advisors about the impact of the state budget crisis? Failure to pass the state budget before June 30 will likely shake Wall Street’s confidence in Virginia debt. If the state’s bond rating drops, then yours is likely to do so as well.  If that’s the case, then your bond issuance and interest costs will go up.
6. Is your unrestricted cash position strong enough to handle delays in state reimbursements for Compensation Board funded positions, local social services departments, urban road maintenance, and Children’s Services Act programs?
7. Are you prepared for local tax dollars to get “lost” in the state budget development abyss? Distribution of local revenues collected by or held by the state – such as local sales taxes, communications sales and use taxes, and local fines and fees imposed by the courts – could be delayed.
8. How will you handle locally administered positions and programs that are jointly funded by you and the state? Think about regional jails, community colleges, local health departments, regional commissions, etc. Do you have the cash?
9. What happens if the federal pass-through grants you are expecting from the state get held up?

Please reach out to your members of the Senate. Tell them to adopt the budget.

VML contact: Neal Menkes, nmenkes@vml.org

 

Hoarding, inoperable vehicles are topics for Housing Commission subcommittee

Matt Paxton, who was on the TV show “Hoarders,” was the featured speaker on hoarding at the May 22 meeting of the Housing Commission Subcommittee on Affordable Housing, Real Estate Law and Mortgages. Adam Kinsman, James City County Attorney, was the featured speaker on inoperable vehicles along with Christy Parrish, the James City County zoning administrator.

Hoarding

Delegate Keam brought hoarding as an issue to the attention of the General Assembly through his introduction of HB391 in the 2018 session; he told the Housing Commission today that this was an issue that should be studied and a solution that could be a nationwide model was his goal.

Hoarding affects over 14.5 million people in the United States and affects people at all income levels.   In 2014, the American Psychiatric Association deemed hoarding as a protected mental disorder. Paxton indicated that hoarding is often triggered by a traumatic event such as a death, trauma, divorce, abuse or even job loss.

It is believed that 5% of the Virginia population, roughly 424,000 people, struggle with hoarding. It is prevalent in Northern Virginia, according to Mr. Paxton based upon his experiences. Used in combination, some form of therapy and cleaning can tame hoarding disorders with a success rate of 60%, according to Paxton.

After a lot of discussion, the Housing Commission subcommittee agreed to continue to study this issue and bring in some additional speakers later in the summer.

Inoperable Vehicles

James City County has unsuccessfully attempted to be added to Virginia Code Section 15.2-905 for more than 3 years. This Code section allows localities to enforce inoperable vehicle ordinances if a vehicle is missing a valid inspection sticker or a license plate. There are over 20 localities listed in this code section. Ironically all localities can take advantage of Virginia Code Section 15.2-904 which states that the vehicle must be missing both a valid inspection sticker and license plate. The Housing Commission subcommittee agreed to look at draft language during their next meeting that may include combining the two code sections applying to all localities and tightening up the definition of “inoperable vehicle.”

VML contact: Michelle Gowdy, mgowdy@vml.org

 

Advisory opinions, religious preferences and public records definition discussed

The records and remedies subcommittees of the FOIA Advisory Council met May 21^st to consider bills sent to it for study after the 2018 General Assembly session. The full FOIA Council meets on August 22, and these subcommittees will complete their work before that meeting.

Remedies Subcommittee

The remedies subcommittee met first and took up HB213 (Mullin) relating to formal advisory opinions and immunity from civil penalties.   This legislation would require that formal advisory opinions issued and approved by the FOIA Council be published on the Council’s website. Currently the Council issues advisory opinions that are available on their website; these opinions are written by staff but they are not put before the council for approval. In addition, the bill provides that persons who rely upon a formal advisory opinion and act in compliance with the opinion shall not be found to willfully and knowingly violated certain enumerated provisions of the Act if they acted in good faith.

Senator Surovell’s SB630, which would impose additional civil penalties to the FOIA penalty code section, was the second bill considered by the subcommittee.   The Senator indicated he was trying to solve two problems with this bill: the first to deal with persons who intentionally or destroy records and the second for persons who certify closed session when it is improper to certify that only the business stated in the motion was discussed.   It was alleged that some localities were telling their employees that if they didn’t have a record (email or text message) that they couldn’t turn it over under a FOIA request because it didn’t exist and with a “wink wink” it was suggested that these records not be maintained.   The Senator went on to allege that many localities and other boards/commissions certify closed session even when it is improper.   For both of these acts, this legislation would impose an additional penalty on the person who acted intentionally.

These bills were discussed at length and additional drafts with options will be presented at their next meeting which is June 4.

Records Subcommittee

The Records subcommittee first took up HB1329 (Tran), dealing with the dissemination of information concerning religious preferences and affiliations.  The intent of the bill is to prohibit state agencies from disseminating information on individuals’ religious preferences and affiliations to the federal government for the purpose of compiling a list based on religious affiliation, national origin or ethnicity. There are some limited exceptions. This bill was recommended to be heard at the full FOIA Council meeting on August 22, 2018.

Senator DeSteph had the second bill of the day, SB730, which deals with the definition of a “public record.”   His legislation proposes to add this line to the current definition: “Records that are not prepared for or used in the transaction of public business are not public records.” This line was removed during the 3-year FOIA study that ended last year. The legislation also proposed to define “social media account” and create a new discretionary exemption for social media records of General Assembly members when the records relate to the use of a social media account by a member in his or her individual capacity. It also requires the public body to be a necessary party in enforcement proceedings. This bill, in part, is the result of litigation against a member of the General Assembly due to his/her Facebook page and the costs that he/she incurred in defending the suit.   This bill will be considered again at their next meeting on June 27.

VML contact: Michelle Gowdy, mgowdy@vml.org

 

State ban on mining uranium headed for U.S. Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed this week to consider whether the Commonwealth has the legal authority to ban uranium mining. Lower federal courts have ruled against the suit filed by Virginia Uranium, upholding the state’s ban that was put into effect by the General Assembly in 1982. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the district court decision declaring that federal law does not preempt state regulations of conventional uranium mining. The case will be heard in October.

Virginia Uranium’s request for Supreme Court intervention was boosted in April by the U.S. Solicitor General who is representing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The federal government’s argument is that the Atomic Energy Act gives the federal government the power to oversee all matters of radiological safety, effectively prohibiting any state from banning uranium mining over fear of radiation hazards.

At stake for Virginia Uranium is a deposit located in Pittsylvania County that is estimated to hold 119 million pounds of uranium. The value of the deposit depends on market demand but has been projected in the range of $7.0 billion to $10.0 billion. The site has the potential to supply the nation’s nuclear power plants for about two years.

Opponents of uranium mining point out that there is no large-scale uranium mining east of the Mississippi River because population density and a wet climate increase the chance of radiation contaminating streams and groundwater and exposure to humans. Several Hampton Roads cities that draw their water supplies from Lake Gaston in Southside Virginia oppose mining for this reason.

Repeated efforts over the years to persuade the General Assembly to rescind the ban have failed. Studies by the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering concluded that steep hurdles had to be surmounted before Virginia should lift the ban. A technical report ordered by former Gov. Bob McDonnell and prepared by several state agencies noted that a robust regulatory structure would be needed to oversee uranium mining and that there would be challenges tied to the storage of radioactive-laced rock that would have to be stored on site for generations.

VML has supported the moratorium on the mining and milling of uranium in Virginia until studies can demonstrate that such activity is safe for the environment and the public’s health.

VML contact: Neal Menkes, nmenkes@vml.org

 

Running bamboo ordinance posted on VDACS website

Bills allowing localities to adopt ordinances regulating “running bamboo” were passed in the 2017 session (HB2154 and SB964). The bills also directed the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) to develop a model running bamboo ordinance for localities to adopt. That model ordinance has now been developed and is posted on the VDACS website at https://bit.ly/2J1R5N7.

 

First Legislative Committee meeting to be held May 31

VML’s 2018 Legislative Committee kicks off its preparations for the 2019 session on May 31 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants Center, 4309 Cox Road, Glen Allen, VA 23060.

The committee will take a deep dive into some of the issues that VML will need to develop positions on for its 2019 legislative program, including the state budget, tax reform, transportation funding and more.

The meeting also will include a review of actions taken in the regular 2018 session and an overview of how VML’s legislative program fared.

By the conclusion of the meeting, the committee will have developed a list of items for the policy committees to consider at their July 19 meetings at the Richmond Convention Center.

Bluefield Mayor Don Harris chairs the committee and Suffolk Council Member Roger Fawcett is the vice chair.

In addition to the meeting on May 31, the committee will meet Thursday, September 6, and Sunday, September 30, during the VML Annual Conference, which will be held September 30-October 2 in Hampton. The full membership will debate and vote on the 2019 legislative program at the annual business meeting held during the conference.

VML contact: Janet Areson, jareson@vml.org

 

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