eNews Jan. 24, 2020
Friday, January 24, 2020 - 06:54pm
In this issue:
- Bills of interest that survived
- Bills stricken from the docket by the patron, defeated or otherwise disposed of in committee
- Bills that passed the full House Cities, Counties and Towns Committee
- Charter Subcommittee bills that will be heard next Friday in full House Counties, Cities and Towns Committee
- Bills reported by the House General Laws Subcommittee on Housing/Consumer Protection
- House Labor & Commerce Committee bills sent to the Appropriations Committee
- Bills reported by the House General Laws Committee
- Localities will not be compensated for lost property tax revenue
- New property tax exemptions for disabled veterans introduced
- Real estate property tax exemption bills reported to House, Senate floors
- Local Government Legislative Day is February 6
- Deadline for essay contest is January 31st
- Workforce housing toolkit available
Action Alert
Peer-to-Peer vehicle rental bills to be heard next week
Please contact your delegations to support SB749 and SB750 and to oppose SB735.
The “disruption economy” makes another appearance in the General Assembly next week when the Senate begins work on three bills dealing with issues related to Peer-to-Peer (P2P) vehicle rentals.
What is Peer-to-Peer (P2P) vehicle rental? P2P shared vehicle rentals are conducted by vehicle owners using a platform accessed via the internet or a smart-phone app. It’s like an Airbnb service for cars.
The problem: Under current law, P2P vehicle sharing transactions are subject to the Motor Vehicle Rental Tax at the same 10 percent total rate as all other motor vehicles offered for rent in the Commonwealth. However, very few, if any, P2P sharing platform companies or vehicle owners are fulfilling the requirement to collect and remit the required 10 percent tax.
How does it affect localities? The current situation creates an unlevel playing field for traditional rental car companies who pay the tax as required by law and who arguably do more for local economies than P2P. Moreover, the lost tax dollars mean less revenue for localities.
Bills to support
SB749 establishes taxation, insurance coverage, sale of insurance, disclosure, safety recall, airport operation, and recordkeeping requirements for peer-to-peer vehicle sharing platforms, as defined in the bill. Highlights include:
- Requires P2P vehicle sharing platforms that qualify as dealers under the marketplace facilitator provisions of the sales tax laws to collect and remit all Motor Vehicle Rental Taxes due on P2P transactions.
- Prohibits the owners of P2P shared vehicles from collecting and remitting the taxes that the platform would be required to collect.
The bill is awaiting action in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee.
SB750 is a slimmed-down version of SB749, focusing on the role of the sharing platforms and preserving the 10 percent Motor Vehicle Rental Tax.
This bill is in the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee.
Why we support these bills: VML strongly supports SB749 and SB750 because the Motor Vehicle Rental Tax annually returns some $50 million to local governments.
Bill to oppose
SB735 is the bill championed by the P2P vehicle sharing platforms that are looking to effectively reduce the Motor Vehicle Rental Tax paid by their customers from 10 percent to 4 percent, giving their service a competitive advantage in the market over traditional rental car companies. The bill is awaiting action in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee.
Why we oppose this bill: Reducing the tax rate as SB735 proposes will cut the amount of money going to localities. Additionally, reducing the rental tax rate will result in less money going to Washington Metro, the state Rail Enhancement Fund, and the Transportation Trust Fund. Finally, the bill gives a competitive advantage to P2P over “brick and mortar” companies that contribute in more ways to the local economy.
Similar bills languishing in the House
The House has three similar bills to consider. HB891 and HB892 are identical to the two Senate bills that VML supports. HB1539 is similar to SB735 but would cut the Motor Vehicle Rental Tax from 10 percent to 6 percent, reducing the amount of funding for localities and regional and state transportation needs.
HB891 and HB1539 are in the Communications Subcommittee of the House Committee on Communications, Technology and Innovation; HB892 is in House Finance. These bills are not on the subcommittee’s or committee’s dockets as of this time.
VML Contact: Neal Menkes, nmenkes@vml.org
The week in legislation
Bills of interest that survived
Construction:
- SB341 (Locke) deals with construction management and design-build contracting. Currently these projects are capped at $10M. A substitute bill reported out of Senate General Laws allows this cost threshold to be set in procedures adopted by the Secretary of Administration.
Procurements:
- SB380 (McPike) allows a locality to include criteria in an Invitation to Bid that can be used to determine whether a bidder is a responsible bidder. Such criteria may include the history of the bidder and any potential subcontractors concerning (1) project completion, (2) specified safety training programs, (3) participation by the bidder and any potential subcontractors in apprenticeship training programs, and maintenance by the bidder and any potential subcontractors of records of compliance.
- SB650 (Boysko) increases the small purchase exemption under the Virginia Public Procurement Act from $100,000 to $200,000 for single or term contracts for goods and services other than professional services.
FOIA/COIA:
- SB701 (Obenshain) requires the executive director and members of every industrial development and economic development authority to take training on the conflict of interest act and freedom of information acts once every two years; and SB703 (Obenshain) requires those officials to file annual financial disclosure statements. The clerk of the respective local governing body is made responsible for maintaining the records of such training and financial statements. HB1527 /HB1528 (Webert) are identical to the Senate bills and are moving forward in the House of Delegates.
Miscellaneous:
- SB1008 (Peake) prohibits a locality from providing emergency services across local boundaries solely for financial reasons.
- SB773 (Stanley) directs the Department of Historic Resources, for the promotion of tourism and economic development, to convene a group of stakeholders to create, design and implement a designation of historic NASCAR and other motor vehicle tracks.
- SB780 (Lewis) makes the owner or operator of a campground immune from civil liability for acts or omissions related to camping if a person is injured or killed or property is damaged as a result of the inherent risks of camping.
VML Contact: Michelle Gowdy, mgowdy@vml.org
Bills stricken from the docket by the patron, defeated or otherwise disposed of in committee
HB1242 (Heretick) and SB351 (Lucas) were both stricken from the docket in their respective committees at the request of the patrons. The bills would have allowed localities to offer telecommunications, internet access, broadband, information and data transmission services.
SB141 (Stuart) stricken by the patron in Senate General Laws committee this week, would have required that mandatory notices about building and fire code deficiencies be provided to the owner of the building relating to building and fire code deficiencies be provided to the owner of the building or premises as in addition to other appropriate persons.
SB333 (Stuart) was sent to the Department of Housing and Community Development for a study on security locking mechanisms for publicly owned buildings. This includes locking mechanisms for doors and windows which are designed to prevent ingress and egress in the event of a threat to the physical security of persons in the building.
SB829 (Stanley) would have given the Governor the power to reinstate the license for any profession regulated by an executive branch agency that has been revoked by such agency. This bill died a quick death in Senate General Laws and Technology.
HB70 (Carter) would have prohibited providers of broadband services from throttling, blocking, or prioritizing on the basis of content, format, host address or source. was tabled in subcommittee
HB116 (Cole, M.L.) this bill was also tabled in subcommittee and would have allowed grants from a local Stormwater Management Fund to be used for various purposes related to stormwater management.
HB151 (Samirah) VML and local governments opposed this bill and ultimately defeated it in subcommittee. It would have overridden all local zoning ordinances to allow construction of one accessory dwelling per single-family dwelling. Accessory dwelling unit was defined as an independent dwelling with a bathroom and a kitchen.
HB152 (Samirah) would have overridden local zoning ordinances to require any single-family development or redevelopment to include a portion of “middle housing,” defined to include duplexes, townhouses, cottages and similar structures. This bill was also killed in subcommittee.
HB571 (Carter) would have allowed localities to get into the house rental business; a wide range of groups opposed it, so it also died in subcommittee.
HB413 (Delaney) also killed in subcommittee would have allowed localities to establish in their subdivision ordinances minimum standards of energy efficiency and access to sources of renewable energy.
VML Contact: Michelle Gowdy, mgowdy@vml.org
Bills that passed the full House Cities, Counties and Towns Committee
HB370 (Bell) clarifies the law regarding a board of zoning appeals member also working as an officer of election. If it passes in the Senate, you can do both!
HB505 (Knight) amends VA Code Section 15.2-2314 related to appeals from the board of zoning appeals to the circuit court. Upon presentation of the petition, the court allows a writ of certiorari. this bill clarifies that once the writ is served, the board of zoning appeals has 21 days to respond.
HB106 (Cole, M.L.) will allow for a civil penalty in a local ordinance for persons who do not correct numbering on building issues within 15 days of the notice. Previously it was only a criminal penalty.
HB150 (Samirah) provides for a civil penalty for failure to secure or demolish a derelict residential building.
HB406 (Subramanyam) changes the annual deadline for local submittal of the comparative report of local government revenues and expenditures to the Auditor of Public Accounts from November 30 to December 15. This bill was a request of Prince William County.
HB585 (Guzman) now amended to apply only to counties with over 100,000 population and cities with 20,000 or more in population; requires each locality to incorporate strategies to promote transit-oriented development (TOD) as they update their Comprehensive Plans. This bill asks all localities to consider transit-oriented development for reducing Green House Gas emissions through transport, housing and land use planning.
HB632 (LaRock) provides that after annexation, boundary adjustment or other action causing property to be in a new jurisdiction, any existing development approvals shall be recognized by the new locality.
VML Contact: Michelle Gowdy, mgowdy@vml.org
Charter Subcommittee bills that will be heard next Friday in full House Counties, Cities and Towns Committee
The following proposed charter changes were passed out of subcommittee Thursday evening:  Town of Broadnax, Town of Bluefield, Town of Scottsville, Town of Middleburg, City of Virginia Beach, Town of Cheriton, Town of Blacksburg, City of Norfolk, Town of Elkton, City of Richmond, City of Charlottesville, Town of Dayton, Town of Parksley and Town of Blackstone.
HB1108 (Hudson) also was passed out of committee and removes the statutory salary cap for City council members.
VML Contact: Michelle Gowdy, mgowdy@vml.org
Bills reported by the House General Laws Subcommittee on Housing/Consumer Protection
HB827 (Carroll Foy) Requires employers to make reasonable accommodation for the known limitations of a person related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions if the accommodation is necessary unless the employer can demonstrate that the accommodation would be an undue burden on the employer. It also states that adverse action based on the accommodation is legally actionable.
HB1663 (Sickles) many bills dealing with discrimination were rolled into this bill, which now deals with prohibited discrimination in public accommodations, employment, housing and credit. It also creates causes of action for discrimination.
HB1514 (McQuinn) prohibits discrimination based on traits historically associated with race, including hair texture, hair type and protective hairstyles such as braids, locks or twists.
HB1408 (Rush) – CORNHOLE is the Official Tailgate Game of the Commonwealth!
VML Contact: Michelle Gowdy, mgowdy@vml.org
House Labor & Commerce Committee bills sent to the Appropriations Committee
HB1558 (Kilgore) is a recommendation from the 2019 JLARC study of workers’ compensation creates an Ombudsman program at the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission.
HB783 (Askew) is the first responder Workers’ Compensation presumption bill. Numerous bills were rolled into this one. It changes the 12-year service requirement for eligibility to 5 years of service, removes the requirement that a first responder had to be exposed to a toxic substance and adds colon, brain and testicular cancer to the list of cancers presumed to be work related for first responders. These are all recommendations from the 2019 JLARC study of workers’ compensation.
VML Contact: Michelle Gowdy, mgowdy@vml.org
Bills reported by the House General Laws Committee
HB949 (Webert) comes from the Town of Warrenton and allows a locality to issue special events licenses 16 times per year (instead of 12) with a duration of not more than three consecutive days.
HB313 (Gooditis) clarifies that library records for both borrowed library materials and those accessed electronically are included in the exemption for library patron records. Previously the code section only said “borrowed.”
HB544 (Carr) provides that eVA – the electronic procurement system of the Department of General Services – will have to contain awarded contracts and modifications thereto. This is a change and the requirement will apply to everyone who uses this system.
HB722 (Reid) is a Freedom of Information Act bill that excludes from mandatory disclosure financial and proprietary records submitted with a loan application to a locality for the preservation or construction of affordable housing that is related to a competitive application process for loans or grants from either the US Department of Housing and Urban Development or the Virginia Housing Development Authority; however they shall not be withheld by the locality after the documents have been made public by those agencies.
HB1527 /HB1528 (Webert) these companion bills are a statewide solution to a certain EDA. These bills require that EDA Executive Directors and members of each Industrial Development Authority and Economic Development Authority take both Freedom of Information and Conflict of Information training once every two years and file the Financial Disclosure Statements. The records will be maintained with the clerk of the Governing Body.
HB1392 (Roem) creates a Freedom of Information Act Ombudsman in the Office of the Attorney General that will mediate state FOIA conflicts, but the Ombudsman is required to consult with stakeholders (including VML) on a regular basis.
HB630 (Hurst) requires registered lobbyists and credentialed press to take sexual harassment training once every two calendar years. This bill does not become effective until May 1, 2021.
HB757 (Aird) is the “ban the box” bill; Delegate Davis (HB140) had the same bill and rolled his bill into Aird’s. As originally written the bill did not have any exception for sensitive employees for local government; VML along with others were able to have an exception placed in the local section.
VML Contact: Michelle Gowdy, mgowdy@vml.org
Budget & Finance
Localities will not be compensated for lost property tax revenue
Senate Committee says “No thank you” to bill that would have reimbursed localities for revenue lost to exemptions for disabled veterans and others
The Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee continued to the 2021 Session a bill (SB143) that would have required the state to partially reimburse certain localities for lost revenue resulting from property tax exemptions for disabled veterans (and their surviving spouses) and for surviving spouses of members of the military killed in action.
Senator Richard Stuart introduced the measure for Stafford County. The amount of foregone real estate taxes in Stafford are equal to at least 1 percent of the locality’s total real estate revenue.
Money committee members expressed concern that the bill’s annual cost to state coffers could exceed $2 million. According to a survey undertaken by the Commissioners of the Revenue two-years ago the annual cost to all localities for the property tax exemptions cited above exceed $50 million.
A similar bill in the House (HB1496) would provide all localities an opportunity for a state subsidy of property tax exemptions for disabled veterans’ surviving spouses. The bill is languishing in the House Finance Committee and is unlikely to receive a favorable action.
VML Contact: Neal Menkes, nmenkes@vml.org
New property tax exemptions for disabled veterans introduced
Once again, the state will give tax breaks it does not have to pay for
Two identical proposed constitutional amendments are awaiting action in the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections. SJ33 and SJ58, if approved in the 2020 Session and by Virginia voters this November, would exempt one motor vehicle owned by a veteran who has a 100 percent service-connected, permanent and total disability. The exemption would apply only for automobiles and pickup trucks.
HB1268 and HJ103 are companion measures in the House. HJ103 has been referred to House Rules. HB1268 awaits action in the House Privileges and Elections Committee.
Following precedent set by earlier passage of real property tax exemptions for disabled veterans, the Commonwealth bears no financial obligations, either implied or explicit, to pay for the new benefit.
VML Contact: Neal Menkes, nmenkes@vml.org
Real estate tax exemption bills reported to House, Senate floors
Identical legislation (HB537 and SB727) would increase the maximum duration of a local real estate tax exemption for structures in redevelopment, conservation or rehabilitation areas, and rehabilitation districts from fifteen to thirty years.
State law already authorizes local governing bodies to provide a partial exemption for new structures or other improvements to real estate located in these designated areas. The partial exemption is a percentage of the increase or dollar amount equal to the increase in assessed value resulting from constructing a new structure or improving an existing one.
The exemption can be as high as fifty percent of the new construction or improvement costs. Localities have the flexibility to set the tax exemption for the entire fifteen-year period or to gradually reduce the exemption based on criteria approved in a local ordinance.
SB727 was unanimously reported out of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee on Tuesday. HB537 had a bumpy ride. The House Finance Committee approved the bill on Wednesday by a vote of 12 to 9.
VML Contact: Neal Menkes, nmenkes@vml.org
Health & Human Services
CSA flexibility bill carried over to 2021
The Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee this week agreed to carry over to the 2021 Session SB190 (Peake) which would allow a community policy and management team (CPMT) to use the Children’s Services Act (CSA) state pool of funds for services in a public school setting as well as for private special education day schools. Currently the funds may not be used in public school settings, only in private settings and for out-of-school-time services.
VML supports greater local flexibility in use of CSA funds.
Contact:Â Janet Areson, jareson@vml.org
Bill introduced that would affect drug court caseload
SB819 (Morrissey) would stop the state from denying a locality or group of localities the ability to move forward to establish a drug treatment court solely on the basis of funding such a court. It would further provide that a drug treatment court shall be available to every defendant regardless of the jurisdiction. VML supports drug courts but would oppose proposals that would create logistical issues and shift costs to localities as would happen with this proposal.
The bill has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Contact:Â Janet Areson, jareson@vml.org
Transportation
Traffic Incident Management Vehicle legislation hits traffic jam in Senate
…but rolls on in the House
Senator Boysko’s SB644 authorizing Traffic Incident Management Vehicles to be equipped with flashing emergency vehicle lights was voted down in the Senate Transportation Committee on Thursday. Companion legislation in the House, Delegate Delaney’s HB983, cleared the full House Transportation Committee and subcommittee earlier this week unanimously and should reach the House floor early next week.
Typically, bills that have moved out of committee unanimously are voted on in a block when they reach the floor. If HB983 clears the House, it will then go before the Senate Transportation Committee. Time will tell if this legislation is able to move past the Senate Transportation Committee.
VML Contact: Mitchell Smiley, msmiley@vml.org
Elections
No-excuse absentee voting moves forward
Both the House and the Senate are moving forward with legislation to expand absentee voting access to all Virginia residents. HB1 (Herring) and SB111 (Howell) would allow any registered voter to vote by absentee ballot, removing current qualifications like mileage between a person’s job and their voting precinct.
The Senate has passed its version of the bill; HB1 will appear on the House floor next week.
VML Contact: Jessica Ackerman, jackerman@vml.org
Events & Opportunities
Local Government Legislative Day is February 6
Register now to take part in this important event
Join VML, the Virginia Association of Counties and the Virginia Association of Planning District Commissions on Thursday, February 6 in Richmond for briefings on issues of greatest importance to localities during the 2020 General Assembly. All attendees will then be encouraged to visit General Assembly members and committee meetings at the Pocahontas Building and the Capitol.
As you may be aware, heightened security measures have resulted in more time needed to enter these buildings. But don’t worry, we will be allowing extra time for attendees to go through security.
A brief evening reception and meet-up with delegation members will follow at the Omni Hotel.
Details and registration available here >
Deadline for VML’s “If I Were Mayor” 7th grade essay contest is end of this month
The deadline for VML’s annual “If I Were Mayor” contest for member municipality 7th graders is fast approaching! Entries must be submitted electronically by the end of the day on Friday, January 31. Entries submitted by mail must be postmarked no later than that date.
VML encourages all eligible Virginia 7th Graders to participate.
Regional winners selected from around the state will each receive a $150 cash prize and plaque. One statewide winner chosen from the regional winners will receive a $250 cash prize and plaque. The runner-up from the region that receives the statewide award will become that region’s winner.
Winning essays will be featured in the May issue of VML’s magazine Virginia Town & City.
Details, regulations and instructions for submitting entries are available here >
VML Contact: Rob Bullington, rbullington@vml.org
Workforce housing toolkit available
Virginia Housing has released a workforce housing toolkit that presents data on unmet housing needs by region and locality and that presents information on some of the most successful workforce housing programs from Virginia and other states. Further, Housing Virginia is compiling a directory of firms that will assist with workforce housing project.
Check out the toolkit here >.
Housing Virginia statewide partnership of public and private organizations and individuals working to ensure access to high quality, affordable housing in suitable locations.
