State and Local Government Issues - Key Themes and Statistics
Explore key themes and statistics from the state and local government issues, including legislative statistics, introduced bills, and major policy decisions shaping the landscape. Dive into topics such as new members in Senate and House, party majorities, and significant bills like the Hopewell bill SB645 and HB950 VETO.
Uploaded on Mar 11, 2025 | 1 Views
Download Presentation
Please find below an Image/Link to download the presentation.
The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author.If you encounter any issues during the download, it is possible that the publisher has removed the file from their server.
You are allowed to download the files provided on this website for personal or commercial use, subject to the condition that they are used lawfully. All files are the property of their respective owners.
The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author.
E N D
Presentation Transcript
MEPAV State and Local Government Issues MICHELLE GOWDY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MGOWDY@VML.ORG
Key Themes 19 out of 40 members of the Senate were new to the body 10 previously served in the House; one previously in the Senate 36 of the 100 members of the House were new to the body 3 previously served in the House; one in the Senate Majority Both the House and Senate had a Democratic majority of one person each Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General are Republican
2024 Session Statistics Introduced Bills Passed both chambers Failed Cont d to 2025 Vetoed House Bills 1547 656 664 227 126 Senate Bills 737 390 204 143 75 2,284 1,046 868 370 201
2024 Legislation and Budget VA will stay out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Marijuana left in limbo Skill Games are gone for now 1% for School Construction via local referendum gone for now .. Using one-time monies to fund ongoing expenses No Digital Services Tax
The Hopewell bill SB645 (Aird) Local Fiscal Distress Codifies budget language that created a process for identifying and assisting localities in fiscal distress Allows for the appointment of an emergency fiscal manager to assume the fiscal operations of localities in distress in Planning District 19 (Crater) includes Petersburg, Colonial Heights and Emporia
HB950 (Lopez) VETO Uniform Statewide Building Code; temporary prohibition on modifications States that any modifications of the Uniform Statewide Building Code outside of the normal cycle has to be vetted through the Board of Housing and Community Development to determine it s necessity
Budget not where expected Tucked away in a section of the budget related to Clerk s and the Compensation board is this gem: Notwithstanding any other provision of law, subdivision plats deemed valid through July 1, 2020 pursuant to 15.2-2209.1.A., Code of Virginia, that were unable to be recorded prior to the commencement of the Judicial Emergency that extended from March 16, 2020 through July 19, 2020, hereby have validity extended to December 31, 2024.
Speed Limit Bill HB1071 (Carr) This bill allows a locality to reduce the speed limit to less than 25 miles per hour but not less than 15 even on state roads!
SB480 (Aird) / HB906 (Shin) Cut-Off Bill Bill applies to all public utilities owned or operated by a locality of the Commonwealth Electric Utility shall NOT disconnect a residential customer for nonpayment if: Forecasted low is at 32 or below or above 92 within 24 hours of the disconnection Or if its Friday, weekend, state holidays or day prior to a state holiday Cannot disconnect until account is 45 days in arrears May voluntarily suspend disconnections when it is necessary to protect the health and safety of the customers Does allow for the utility to recover fees and expenses for compliance
SB480 (Aird) / HB906 (Shin) Cut-Off Bill Notice Provisions of this bill include: A copy of the disconnection for nonpayment policy to all new residential customers When any disconnection for nonpayment is scheduled by including the policy with the notice of nonpayment Publishing the policy on its website Must be in English and Spanish Must include information regarding payment plans and utility energy assistance programs Notice must be made after each missed payment One notice must be by mail, email, text message, phone call or door hanger
SB480 (Aird) / HB906 (Shin) Cut-Off Bill No electric or gas utility shall require a deposit of more than 25% of the arrearage amount for service, exclusive of nonpayment fees, penalties, or interest, in order to restore service to any residential customer where such utility received funding from the Department of Social Services for such customer through the Home Energy Assistance Program pursuant to 63.2-805 within the last 12 months.
HB650 (Coyner) / SB701 (French) Permit Timing Bill Zoning; residential & electrical generation projects; period of validity If there is a special/conditional use permit for these projects it shall be for a period of 3 years or more During the period of validity no changes to the local rules shall adversely affect the right of the developer unless there is a state law change or mistake, fraud or change in circumstance that substantially affects the public health, safety and welfare Vested Rights; building permits. If a locality has issued a building permit despite nonconformance with the zoning ordinance and the owner incurs extensive obligations or substantial expenses then the locality shall treat the project as a legal nonconforming use
PFAS Forever Chemicals HB1085 (Rasoul) / SB243 (McPike) Requires the owner or operator of a publicly-owned treatment works to monitor PFAS levels on an applicable discharge monitoring report required by federal regulations Requires DEQ to develop a PFAS action plan to identify and address sources Requires certain manufacturers and facilities to report the use of chemicals Budget language Department of Health will conduct a cost analysis of implementing PFAS federal regulations and a cost analysis to replace lead water service lines
PFAS Facts Forever Chemicals Reproductive Challenges, Developmental effects and increased risk of some cancers Comes from Firefighting foam and gear, stain resistant or waterproof clothing, fast food packaging, makeup, cleaning products According to the CDC in 2020 97% Of Americans have PFAS in their bodies
PFAS Litigation There are many lawsuits across the country dealing with PFAS Currently only covers water supplier claims for PFAS treatment and remediation costs a Water Source that has a qualifying test result showing measurable concentration of PFAS = Impacted Water Source (key definition) These claims have to be filed very soon VML is working with John Gallagher, jgallagher@milberg.com
Procurement SB242 (McPike) / HB242 (Bulova) When evaluating proposals a public body cannot consider objections to contractual terms in deciding who to short list but can consider them in deciding who wins May also ask for objections when firms are submitting proposals Applies to all RFP s HB151 (Helmer) / SB245 (McPike) Builds upon prior legislation requiring localities to build energy efficient buildings although there is still an opt out HB311 (Hope) All public bodies must offer an option to submit bids electronically but can require paper copies effective Jan. 1, 2025
Procurement HB1113 (Carr) This raises the Job Order Contracting annual threshold from $6M to $10M and the individual job order threshold from $500k to $1M It allows 3 one-year renewals of JOC rather than 2 HB1116 (Carr) Raises the small purchase limit on non-transportation related construction from $200K to $300K for the aggregate or sum of all phases
Freedom of Information Act SB324 (Roem) Study to reduce the fees that public bodies can charge for records requests HB818 (Cherry) / SB36 (Locke) Amends the definition of Meeting to clarify that a gathering of 2 or more members of a public body is not a meeting if there is no transaction of public business HB1040 (Bennett-Parker) / SB85 (Favola) Allows for a person with a disability or a caregiver to participate in meetings remotely and count toward the quorum HB894 (Bennett-Parker) / SB734 (Marsden) All Virtual meetings can be held 2 times or 50% per year only certain public bodies
Public Notices HB264 (Hope) / SB157 (Boysko) Allow a locality to publish their public notices online-only new publication if the online publication meets criteria listed in the bill Sb413 (Head) / HB1488 (Henson) Clean-up from last year, amends the frequency for publishing notices, the number of days required to elapse between notices and amount of information contained
Public Administration HB69 (Bulova) States that if there is a vacancy on a local governing body or elected school board that prior to making an interim appointment there must be an announcement of the names of the candidates in a public meeting at least 7 days prior to the appointment HB456 (Callsen) Increases the statutory salary caps for members of city councils HB61 (Wright /SB670 (Head) Extend the renewal period for enterprise zones
Public Administration HB128 (Watts) Local ordinances related to door-to-door vendors shall not apply to any person participating in certain specified political activities SB354 (Locke) / HB467 (Simon) Localities may NOT establish or enforce a mandatory disclosure requirement for a real estate transaction dealing with residential real property HB1211 (Hayes) Changes the threshold for petitioning a city or town for establishment of a tax assessment district from not less than 3/4ths of the landowners affected to the owners of not less than 3/4thof the PARCELS affected
Natural Resources HB71 (Bulova) / SB372 (Ebbin) Extends the deadline for upgrading certain combined sewage overflow outfalls in the Chesapeake Bay from July 1, 2025 to July 1, 2026 to comply with federal mandates HB220 (Orrock) Authorizes sewage treatment, waterworks, and other water treatment facilities to employ a licensed operator to remotely monitor facility operations provided the necessary technology to remotely monitor is in place HB985 (Tran) Prohibits after July 1, 2024 the sale or distribution of pavement sealants that contain more than 1% by weight concentrations of high polycyclic hydrocarbons
Vaping Products HB947 (Lopez) Does allow for localities to regulate retail sale locations of tobacco products .etc. and may prohibit a location on property within 1,000 linear feet of a child day care center or a school.
State Budget Grocery Tax held harmless 3% salary increase for teachers, state employees, state-supported local employees Improvements on Wastewater Treatment plants - $200M each year for nutrient reduction projects at wastewater facilities State assistance to local policy is $296M each year for localities with police departments (up $10M/year) Study of Fire and EMS funding
Property Tax Exemptions SB4 (McPike), SB240 (McPike), SJ3 (McPike), HJ45 (Tran), HB558 (Hernandez) Expands property tax exemptions from surviving spouses of soldiers killed in action to those who die in the line of duty Current law including mandatory property tax exemptions for veterans and spouses are almost $200M annually
Tax Policy Language Requires the Joint Subcommittee on Taxation to explore efforts to modernize the Commonwealth s income and sales/use taxes by: Evaluating existing sales and use tax exemptions Applying sales and use tax to digital goods and services Evaluating efforts to increase the progressivity of the income tax Long-term revenue growth to maintain core government services
Tax Policy Language (cont.) Requiring three members each from the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations to assess the trends in pari-mutuel pools generated by historic horse racing wagering at satellite facilities, including the corresponding distribution of revenues to localities, and make recommendations regarding future distributions of such revenues .
Transportation HB234 (Ward) Authorizes cities to adopt ordinances for the seizure, impoundment, and disposal of off-road vehicles operated on city sidewalks or roadways SB336 (Roem) Expands the locations where photo speed monitoring devices can be deployed to include what the bill defines as a high risk intersection HB285 (McQuinn) Allows local building officials to enforce the building code for bus shelters there is a sunset clause
Transportation HB1071 (Carr) Gives towns and counties that do not control their own roads the authority to decrease speed limits in business and residential districts to below 25 mph The ordinance must be reported to the Commissioner of Highways
Photo Speed Monitoring Bills Failed but HB521 (Laufer) Would have expanded local authority to operate photo speed monitoring devices on specific road segments due to specific safety criteria HB533 (Seibold) Would have expanded local authority to operate photo speed monitoring devices on roads with a speed limit of 45mph or less located in a priority pedestrian corridor or other high-risk pedestrian corridor as identified by VDOT
