eNews March 9, 2018
Friday, March 09, 2018 - 02:54pm
In this issue:
- Legislature gives up on reaching a budget: Governor asked to convene a special session
- Ask for veto of wireless bills
- Write letters requesting veto of open space assessment bill
- Request veto of mulch bills
- School safety committee announced
- Value of historic rehabilitation tax credits tabulated
Legislature gives up on reaching a budget
Governor asked to convene a special session
The General Assembly earlier today agreed to adjourn the 2018 regular session tomorrow, March 10, without reaching agreement on a budget for either the remainder of this fiscal year or for the upcoming biennium. The two bodies have asked the Governor to convene a special session for purposes of adopting the budget and electing judges. The timing of the special session has not been announced. In a media release, Speaker of the House Kirk Cox said that “We are all committed to completing work on a state budget long before July 1, but after a lengthy and tiring session the best step is for everyone to return home as we assess our next steps…Taking a few weeks away from Richmond will give us the opportunity to begin a fresh discussion on the next steps.” The media release notes the gap between the two bodies over Medicaid. Senator Tommy Norment, president of the Senate, said on the floor today that the gap between the House and Senate budgets for the next biennium is $843 million.
The Governor will have until April 9 at act on legislation from this session, and the General Assembly will reconvene for the veto session on April 18, and at that time will consider amendments and vetoes to legislation adopted during this regular session.
Ask for veto of wireless bills
Please ask Governor Ralph Northam to veto the four wireless bills: HB1258 and SB405, and HB1427 and SB823. Yesterday we asked you to send in those letters by today, but now that the General Assembly is adjourning tomorrow, the Governor will have until April 9 to act. But please do not delay in sending your letters in; the sooner, the better.
HB1258 and SB405 are the wireless infrastructure bills that would allow the wireless industry to place a cell tower that is up to 50 feet tall on a public right-of-way without going through the normal zoning process. This not only erodes local land use authority, it removes the ability of residents to voice any concerns over the placement of these structures.
HB1427 and SB823 are the bills that set statewide fees for the use of state and local public rights-of-way. The Virginia Department of Transportation negotiated these bills but VML and VACo were not at the table and did not agree to these bills. Further, the General Assembly should not be setting fees for the use of local public rights-of-way. Statewide fees will not reflect the true value of the use of the public rights-of-way. This is true for jurisdictions as disparate as Alexandria and Altavista, but it is also true for public rights-of-way within a jurisdiction.
A link to an email address for Governor Northam is here: https://governor.virginia.gov/constituent-services/Communicating-with-the-governors-office. The telephone number is 804-786-2211.
VML contact: Michelle Gowdy, mgowdy@vml.org
Write letters requesting veto of open space assessment bill
HB 1204 (Hugo) mandates that Arlington and Loudoun Counties establish open-space programs and that the reduced land use valuations be treated as “fair market value” assessments.
The bill has the purpose of reducing the real estate bills for two privately owned golf courses in Arlington County, but the bill’s long-term impact goes well beyond that preferential tax treatment. If open-space property in either jurisdiction is sold or developed for purposes other than open-space, the land owner would not be subject to the five-year rollback of taxes.
If the mandate and redefinition of fair market value is extended by future General Assembly sessions to include the land use valuation programs for agriculture, horticulture or forestal, there would be a substantial impact on the Local Composite Index formula used for allocating K-12 basic aid.
Additional talking points are in the Feb. 23 eNews.
A link to an email address for Governor Northam is here: https://governor.virginia.gov/constituent-services/Communicating-with-the-governors-office. The telephone number is 804-786-2211.
VML contact: Neal Menkes, nmenkes@vml.org
Request veto of mulch bills
HB1595 (Wilt) and SB972 (Obenshain) would restrict a locality’s ability to regulate landscape cover materials. Despite testimony in opposition from the State Fire Marshal and the Director of the Department of Fire Programs, the bills have passed both bodies and been sent to Governor Northam. Please write the Governor to request a veto of these bills.
HB1595 and SB972 raise fire safety concerns. A typical scenario is that someone will discard a burning cigarette in a pile of mulch outside a building. The mulch then can catch on fire, and because the mulch abuts flammable siding, the fire spreads to the building. The bills preclude the authority of localities to require a separation between the flammable mulch materials and a building.
Talking points:
- This is a fire-safety issue that should be addressed at the local level. There have been multiple fires related to landscape materials in multiple jurisdictions. Here’s a link to a mulch fire that took place just last week!
- A recommended approach is to have an 18-inch clearance between landscape materials and combustible building materials, such as wood, vinyl siding and decks.
- Regulation of landscape materials should not be in the vested rights section of the Virginia Code.
- This issue has been litigated and local government has prevailed in regulating landscape materials; this bill would discredit the court decision.
A link to an email address for Governor Northam is here: https://governor.virginia.gov/constituent-services/Communicating-with-the-governors-office. The telephone number is 804-786-2211.
VML contact: Michelle Gowdy, mgowdy@vml.org
School safety committee announced
Speaker of the House Kirk Cox announced March 8 the establishment of a select subcommittee on school safety. The committee, to be made up of 22 members of the House of Delegates, will focus on:
- Emergency preparedness,
- School security infrastructure,
- Security best practices,
- Additional security personnel,
- Behavioral health resources for students, and
- Prevention protocols at primary and secondary institutions
Speaker Cox’s letter establishing the committee noted that it “will not discuss issues related to guns or broader behavioral health policy that are being considered by other commissions or standing committees.” Further, the committee will not work on issues related to security at colleges, universities and community colleges.
The committee is charged with making recommendations for consideration at the 2019 session of the General Assembly.
Delegates appointed to the select committee include Kirk Cox (chair), Steve Landes, Chris Jones, Tommy Wright, Rob Bell, Danny Marshall (vice chair), Todd Gilbert, Chris Peace, Barry Knight, Roxann Robinson, Israel O’Quinn, Nick Rush, Vivian Watts, Mark Sickles, David Toscano, Charniele Herring, Luke Torian, Paul Krizek, Steve Heretick, Mike Mullin, Jeff Bourne and Schuyler VanValkenburg.
Value of historic rehabilitation tax credits tabulated
The Virginia Department of Historic Resources recently released a report detailing the role of the state’s Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit (HRTC) program in the preservation of historic properties since the program began 20 years ago. The report was prepared by staff with the Center for Urban and Regional Analysis in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University.
According to the report, the program has issued $1.2 billion in tax credits since 1997, which in turn stimulated $4.5 billion in private investment. The report states that while the $1.2 billion represents revenue not collected immediately by the Commonwealth, much of the $4.5 billion of private investment may not have otherwise occurred.
The full reported is posted at https://bit.ly/2HheoOo.
VML legislative staff and assignments
Michelle Gowdy – Local government authority, planning and zoning, legal matters, housing, Freedom of Information, telecommunications and technology. mgowdy@vml.org; 804-523-8525
Janet Areson – Health and human services, and the state budget. jareson@vml.org; 804-523-8522
Mike Polychrones – Environment, land use, natural resources, elections and transportation policy. mpolychrones@vml.org; 804-523-8530
Neal Menkes (under contract) – Taxation and finance, the state budget, transportation funding, retirement, education funding and community and economic development. nmenkes@vml.org; 804-523-8523
Roger Wiley (under contract) – Courts, criminal law, civil law, and procurement. roger@heftywiley.com; 804-780-3143
Chris LaGow (under contract) –Insurance and workers’ compensation. chris@lagowlobby.com; 804-225-8570
