Legislative Newsletter No. 7 — March 16, 2004

Assembly Adjourns; Special Session Called

The General Assembly spent much of Tuesday haggling over its next steps-including whether to extend the session another three days, whether to adjourn and convene in special session (and whether to then recess that special session for two weeks) and who can submit legislation during such a special session. Finally, the House and Senate adjourned just before 7:30 p.m., but not before Governor Mark Warner already had called for a special session, to commence at 12 noon Wednesday, to address the state budget crisis. He also indicated that he will resubmit his two-year budget he introduced to the General Assembly in December. In his message calling for the special session, the governor stated, "The failure to resolve this dispute has serious consequences. A continued standoff will hamper the ability of local school divisions to hire teachers for the upcoming school year. It will force local governments to raise property taxes just to adequately fund schools and police departments. Wall Street will look even more skeptically at Virginia's fiscal affairs. Perhaps worst of all, it will signal to potential employers that Virginia is not a stable business environment.

"The people of Virginia do not care about the politics or turf battles between the House and the Senate. They elected public officials to prepare a budget that is fair and that meets the needs of our people. They expect you as legislators to accomplish that task," said Warner.

Last Saturday, the legislature had extended the session for three days in hopes of forging a compromise 2004-2006 budget, the issue that has sharply divided the House and Senate since before the session even began. En route to the current impasse, the House and Senate budget negotiators missed several self-imposed deadlines over the past week. Both sides have offered some slight movement from their positions on the budget in order move discussions along, but deep philosophical differences between the two spending plans over the scope of state services and ways to generate additional revenue to bridge a multi-billion dollar gap thwarted a compromise. Still, at this point, it appears that neither side is willing to move further.

Last week, as the session was winding down, local government officials held a media briefing to decry the negative effects that the legislature's failure to adopt a budget would have on localities. Specifically cited were education, public safety and heath and human services funding that are critical to continuing local government operations. Officials also endorsed the Senate's plan to enhance revenues while revamping parts of the state tax code. On Monday, Governor Warner joined local officials in Hampton Roads to discuss the impact of the state budget situation on localities. Depending on the next legislative steps, similar events involving the governor and local officials could occur in the coming days.

Legislation

The remainder of this newsletter will concentrate on bills of interest to local governments that were still pending, then ultimately decided, during the closing days of the session:

SB 670, the bill that initially directed VDOT to construct a bypass around Charlottesville, notwithstanding objections from the metropolitan planning organization, passed the General Assembly in a substantially amended form. The bill, which now goes to the governor for his action, states that if a Rt. 29 bypass is not constructed because of opposition from the MPO and the FHA requires repayment of federal funds spent on the project, then those funds will be deducted from the construction district in which the project was located (Culpeper district). It also stipulates that the amount of state funds spent on the project also will be deducted from the district. Meanwhile, HB 1419, which authorizes a Charlottesville/Albemarle transportation district, also was approved. At one point late in the process, that bill also contained the same "payback" language as the Senate bill, but that provision ultimately was deleted from the bill due to concerns about it being germane.

HJR 170, which continues the Commission on Growth and Economic Development, has been approved. The panel will continue its work to study adequate public facilities (APF) and also will review conditional zoning to determine its effect on residential development patterns, housing cost/availability and the construction and improvements of public infrastructure. The House Appropriations Committee carried over SB 284 for the year. This is the bill that would have made Line of Duty benefits retroactive and would have required local governments to pay for benefits extended to persons who had been local employees. These types of benefits will be examined by a legislative subcommittee that will study retirement issues during the offseason (HJR 34).

HB 504 and SB 214 are two bills that expand the use of the courthouse security fee to include, in addition to personnel, various equipment used in courthouse security that may be requested by a sheriff. Both bills passed in nearly identical form.

Differences between the House and Senate over SB 58, concerning non-conforming billboards, were decided in a conference committee. The approved measure is basically the version that was introduced on the Senate floor, which requires localities to use replacement costs in requests to repair or maintain nonconforming billboards, that localities continue to use the 50% of value rule and that the bill applies only to billboards advertising off-site items. The House (and the conference committee report) removed a Senate amendment the allowed use of pre-existing valuation methods, rather than dictating use of replacement value.

A conference committee also decided the fate of HB 1212 and SB 543, which proposed to create a Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry. The bills stipulate that the position will be created if funding is included in the 2004-2006 budget, that it will not be filled until the next governor takes office and that effective this July, a deputy secretary will be appointed within Commerce and Trade to administer policies affecting agriculture and forestry interests. The conference committee report for SB 204 was approved. This bill deals with local authority to require inoperative motor vehicles to be kept in a building or removed from the property. A House/Senate compromise preserves local rights to require inoperative motor vehicles to be kept in a building or removed from the lot. It also provides an exception to allow an inoperative vehicle actively being restored or repaired (and a second one being used in the restoration or repair work) to be kept on the property if screened from view (meaning the vehicle cannot be seen from the edge of the property on which it is located.)

Studies

The following studies of interest were approved by the General Assembly:

• HJR 34 establishes a two-year joint subcommittee to examine, among other things, the current VRS benefit structure and adequacy of funding and blending of contribution rates.
• HJR 72 directs JLARC to study the effectiveness of the implementation, performance and enforcement of Virginia's nutrient management plans.
• HJR 103 directs a two-year JLARC study of the impact of the aging population on state agency services.
• HJR 105 creates a two-year joint subcommittee to study state assistance to localities for school infrastructure needs. The panel is to examine, among other things, local school infrastructure needs, the availability of local funding to meet those needs, the priority of each of those needs and the level of needed and appropriate state commitment to supplement local efforts in meeting those needs.
• HJR 133 directs JLARC to study emergency care services.
• HJR 152 directs the Virginia Housing Study Commission to continue its study of certain housing-related issues, including the development of a statewide housing policy.
• HJR 153 requests the State Corporation Commission to study the feasibility of placing overhead utility lines underground.
• HJR 176 creates a joint subcommittee to study the impact of collecting remote sales taxes on the state's economy.
• HJR 193 directs JLARC to conduct a two-year study of the mission and effectiveness of the organization, operation, and performance of the Department of Social Services.
• SJR 38 requests the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, in consultation with local government attorneys, to study local firearms hunting ordinances.
• SJR 75 requests the Board of Forestry to study the provision of incentives to private landowners to hold and preserve forestland.

Thank you for your interest and assistance during the session.

A final, detailed summary of General Assembly action will distributed following the reconvened session.