eNews November, 18 2022
Friday, November 18, 2022 - 04:39pm
This edition of eNews is sponsored by:
Founded in 1853 in Hartford, CT, Aetna is committed to providing individuals, employers, health care professionals, producers and others with innovative benefits, products and services. Learn more >
In this issue:
- VML to hold Virginia Local Elected Officials Conference on Jan. 4, 2023
- Assistance needed: VML local government health insurance survey
- Opioid epidemic public listening sessions begin in December
- Virginia Institute of Government offering virtual opioid settlement information sessions
VML News
VML to hold Virginia Local Elected Officials 
Conference on Jan. 4, 2023
New and seasoned public officials will benefit from this valuable opportunity to learn from speakers with extensive experience working with local government officials. In addition to required training on FOIA/COIA, the conference offers an excellent opportunity to learn what it takes to succeed as an elected official. Topics pertinent to local officials such as budgeting, risk management, and cybersecurity will also be covered.
The event will run from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM. There are two ways to attend:
- In-Person: $65 with lunch provided. The event will be held at the Richmond offices of the Virginia Risk Sharing Association. The address will be provided to registrants ahead of the event.
- Virtual: $80 with the link to join provided ahead of the event. VML will be working with an experienced provider to produce the event. Virtual attendees will be able to ask questions at the end of each session.
An agenda and link to register are available on VML’s website here >.
VML Contact: Mitchell Smiley, msmiley@vml.org
Assistance needed: VML local government health insurance survey
VML is pleased to announce a partnership with health care provider Aetna and leading insurance provider Gallagher to explore options for local government health insurance needs.
To start this process, we are asking our local government members to help us gather some basic information about how Virginia’s local governments currently handle their health insurance needs.
Please complete this (very) short survey at your convenience:
VML Contact: Rob Bullington, rbullington@vml.org
General Assembly
House and Senate money committees hold annual retreats
The joint meeting of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee was held in Richmond this past Monday, November 14, at the Science Museum of Virginia. The Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee held their annual meeting yesterday and today at Longwood University in Farmville.
House money committee retreat
The House Joint Appropriations and Finance Committee meeting heard from Secretary of Finance Cummings about the administration’s perspective on state revenues for the remainder of the fiscal year. As he has in recent statements, Secretary Cummings again cautioned that future revenue growth is far from certain.
View Secretary Cumming’s presentation here >.
The House Appropriations Committee (HAC) staff provided their overview of revenue and budgetary issues of note for the 2023 session.
View the HAC staff presentation here >.
The full agenda for the HAC meeting with links to all presentations can be found here >.
Senate money committee retreat
During their retreat, the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee heard from Renee Haltom, vice-president and regional executive with the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond about how Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic region’s economy appears to be managing current economic conditions.
View Vice-President and Regional Executive Haltom’s presentation here >.
The Senate Finance and Appropriations’ staff shared with the committee their perspective on the budgetary and revenue issues of significance for the 2023 session.
View the Senate Finance and Appropriations’ staff presentation here >.
The full agenda for the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee meeting with links to all presentations can be found here >.
VML Contact: Mitchell Smiley, msmiley@vml.org
Transportation
Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee holds transportation session during annual retreat
During the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee retreat there was a breakout session on transportation funding that focused on regional authorities. However, much of the interest from senators focused on a variety of issues ranging from dedicated transportation revenues, multi-modal transportation needs, and new federal revenues available from recent infrastructure legislation.
Senators raised concerns about impacts to transportation funding because of policy decisions made by the 2022 General Assembly that resulted in a loss of $741 million in dedicated transportation revenues over the coming six years. This funding gap was created when the state’s share of the retail sales and use tax on groceries was eliminated. The 2022 General Assembly decided to offset the short-term impact of this revenue loss with one-time revenue available within the Transportation Secretariat.
The presentation from the session is available here >.
VML Contact: Mitchell Smiley, msmiley@vml.org
Opioid Settlement
Opioid epidemic public listening sessions begin in December
The Opioid Abatement Authority (OAA) and the Virginia Association of Community Services Boards (VACSB) have jointly announced a series of town-hall style listening sessions to take place around the Commonwealth starting December 1, 2022 in Roanoke with others scheduled at locations throughout Virginia through April, 2023.
The OAA’s Board of Directors will use these listening sessions to collect input from a broad and diverse audience including individuals in recovery, families of people who have been impacted by opioid use disorders, peers/allies, service providers, law enforcement, and local government. Input received during these sessions will help the Board maximize the value and impact of opioid settlement funds.
All dates and locations as well as a link to register for an event near you are available here >.
OAA Contact: Executive Director Tony McDowell, tmcdowell@voaa.us
Virginia Institute of 
Government offering virtual opioid settlement information sessions
In December, the Virginia Institute of Government will host two virtual information sessions with the Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority. VML are encouraged to attend. There is no cost, but participants must register for the date that best suits them:
- December 8, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM
- December 13, 10:30 AM – Noon
The link to register is available here >.
VIG Contact: Charles Hartgrove, cwh4e@virginia.edu
Housing
Affordable Housing and Neighborhood Transitions Workgroup
The Affordable Housing and Neighborhood Transitions Workgroup met on Nov. 9. Their agenda included a presentation by the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, a presentation on Community Development Financial Institution Funds for Housing and an update on Modular and Mobile homes.
View a recording of the meeting with presentations here >.
During the first item on the agenda – “Partnerships to Address Virginia’s Affordable Housing Needs” – the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy spoke about using religious properties for affordable housing and suggested that there should be a request for $150M for the Virginia Housing Trust Fund to build new units, $45M for the Housing Stability Fund, and money for the eviction reduction program. As the population of persons attending religious institutions declines, there could be cooperation on assessing congregations in transition and looking at land that is owned by religious groups. Things that they identified where state / local assistance is needed are expediting zoning and permitting, keeping the property tax exemption status, and waiving permitting fees. The presentation was a smorgasbord of ideas one of which was to create a map of statewide zoning for use by developers. While an interesting presentation, the impediment to local zoning was mentioned several times.
The next item on the agenda – “Scaling Housing Resources Through Community Development Financial Institutions Funds” – focused on how successful this funding mechanism has been for some affordable housing projects. These are private financial institutions that are dedicated to delivering affordable support to help low-income and other disadvantaged people and communities to join the economic mainstream. Types of institutions in this cohort include banks, credit unions, loan funds and even venture capital funds. This group is working to establish a program in state code to become a permanent resource for community investment in Virginia.
Next up was an “Update on Mobile/Modular Homes in Virginia” and why it can assist in obtaining affordable housing. The presenters defined “manufactured housing” as modular and mobile homes and went on to describe the regulatory framework for these structures (which is different than a stick-built house). The value of the factory building process is the climate-controlled environment and the fact that is generates less material waste than a stick-built house. Localities are beginning to allow these houses in more zoning classes than before as they come to understand their value for citizens.
Last on the agenda was “Follow Through on Companion Animals in Apartments” which outlined a bill by Delegate VanValkenburg related to assistance animals in dwellings. While the draft legislation continues to be tweaked, the basic premise of the bill is that if you have an assistance animal the company who provides verification must be properly vetted to ensure that there is an appropriate and documented therapeutic relationship.
The Full Housing Commission will meet on December 14th in Richmond (location TBD) at 1:00pm to discuss legislation that they may bring forward in the 2023 General Assembly Session.
VML Contact: Michelle Gowdy, mgowdy@vml.org
Health & Human Services
Virginia’s behavioral health needs surveys are open until Nov. 30
Members of the public (that includes local government officials!) have until Nov. 30 to offer their opinions and ideas about multiple aspects of Virginia’s behavioral health and developmental services system through five separate surveys. The surveys may be found on the Secretary of Health and Human Services’ website here >.
The five surveys address:
- Adult behavioral health services
- Developmental disability services
- Substance use disorder services
- Children’s behavioral health services
- Forensic services
You can complete as many of the surveys as you like, and you can share the survey link with anyone you believe would be interested in completing a survey. Depending on how detailed your responses are, the survey should take about 10-20 minutes.
Remember, the last day to complete a survey is November 30, 2022.
Background
The Youngkin Administration is developing plans and areas of focus to redesign the Commonwealth’s behavioral health and developmental disability system to build stronger and more resilient communities through high-quality, accessible services for all ages. Over the next three years the Administration will develop those plans and areas of focus to make changes to the system, simply known as behavioral health redesign.
VML Contact: Janet Areson, jareson@vml.org
Broadband
NTIA announces timeline for national high-speed internet deployment
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) to announce state Internet for All funding allocations by June 30, 2023, using most up-to-date version of FCC’s National Broadband Map
Following the Federal Communications Commission’s announcement that on November 18 it will unveil an initial version of new broadband maps and open the mapping challenge process, NTIA expects to communicate Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment allocation levels to eligible entities by June 30.
“The next eight weeks are critical for our federal efforts to connect the unconnected,” said Alan Davidson, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information. “The FCC’s upcoming challenge process is one of the best chances to ensure that we have accurate maps guiding us as we allocate major Internet for All awards in 2023. I urge every state and community that believes it can offer improvements to be part of this process so that we can deliver on the promise of affordable, reliable high-speed Internet service for everyone in America.”
Timeline for “Internet for All” deployment
| Key Dates | Description |
| November 18, 2022 | FCC releases draft National Broadband Map, a location-by-location view of high-speed Internet availability in America. |
| November 18, 2022-January 13, 2023 | Best opportunity for eligible entities to submit challenges in time for the FCC to include corrections in the final version of the map that will be used to allocate Internet for All funding in the summer of 2023. |
| By June 30, 2023 | NTIA plans to announce BEAD allocations, using the most up-to-date version of the FCC maps as a guide. |
The Biden-Harris Administration is required by law to allocate Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment funds according to a formula derived from the map data. NTIA coordinates closely with the FCC to ensure that this data is accurate and reliable and will continue to do so. NTIA’s efforts to date include:
- Calling every single Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the United States to remind them of their obligations relating to the Broadband Data Collection (BDC) process, register any concerns or technical assistance requests, and relay those to the FCC;
- Engaging in sustained outreach with Governors’ offices, state broadband offices, and stakeholder communities to share technical assistance resources, solicit feedback, and relay major areas of concern; and
- Producing and sharing materials to break down the process with key dates and deadlines for affected stakeholders.
NTIA will engage in a comprehensive outreach effort to support the FCC in its efforts to ensure that every state that wishes to file a challenge can do so. This effort will include:
- Technical assistance to state broadband officials and governors’ offices as they prepare challenges;
- Webinars for members of the public wishing to learn more about how to participate in the challenge process;
- Regular engagement with state officials to identify and resolve issues.
“Internet for All”
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes a historic $65 billion investment to expand affordable and reliable high-speed Internet access in communities across the U.S. NTIA recently launched a series of new high-speed Internet grant programs funded by the law that will build high-speed Internet infrastructure across the country, create more low-cost high-speed Internet service options, and address the digital equity and inclusion needs in our communities.
Additionally, the Federal Communications Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program provides a discount of up to $30 per month toward high-speed Internet service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands. Visit getinternet.gov for more information.
For more information on the Biden-Harris Administration’s high-speed Internet programs as well as quotes from the awardees, please visit InternetforAll.gov.
NTIA Contact: internetforall@ntia.gov
Opportunities
Forest Sustainability Fund applications due Nov. 15
Forestland provides many benefits to landowners, but also to communities. Landowners directly realize timber, wildlife, and recreational values, while the benefits of watershed protection, clean air, and scenic beauty are enjoyed by society at large. Realizing this, the Code of Virginia enables localities to provide use-value taxation that can assist owners in keeping their land as forests. Under use-value taxation, properties are taxed based on the productive value of the land rather than the current market value, which results in lower property taxes.
For county and city governments, maintaining forestland is beneficial, as land devoted to forest land use generally requires less cost in providing services than more intensive uses. However, property used for forestland does result in less revenue to local governments. Because of this, the 2022 General Assembly established the Forest Sustainability Fund administered by the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF)
Localities with forest use-value assessment may apply for an allocation from the Fund to help to offset lower, or forgone tax revenue. VDOF has developed guidelines for localities to apply for and receive funds. VDOF has received guidance from a steering committee made up of local commissioners of revenue, finance staff and interested associations.
Application process for 2022
- Receive email with instructions: VDOF will send an email to commissioners of revenue in localities with Forest Use Value in mid-October with application instructions.
- Applications are due on Nov. 15: Facilitated through an online web grants portal, applicants will need to provide basic contact information, a copy of the ordinance that established forestland use taxation, and the amount of forgone revenue due to forest land use taxation (the fair market value of forest land minus the forest use value of forest land times the locality tax rate).
- Review and Distribute: VDOF will review the applications and make distributions to the localities from the Fund, based upon their proportional share of the total applications received. In 2022, there is $1,000,000 in the Fund.
VDOF Contact: forestmgt@DOF.Virginia.gov
