Legislative Newsletter No. 1— January 14, 2005

Calendar for 2005 General Assembly Session

January 18 Deadline for legislators to request budget amendments
January 21 Final deadline for bill introduction
February 6 House and Senate budgets released
February 8 "Crossover"day

Budget Issues

Legislators have begun the 46-day "short" session of the General Assembly, facing a workload that includes crafting amendments to the current, two-year state budget and considering hundreds of bills. Governor Warner and chairmen of the General Assembly's money committees have cautioned legislators to invest a one-time $900 million surplus in one-time investments. In his State of the Commonwealth speech Wednesday night, the governor noted, "We will not use these additional revenues to create tax or spending commitments that we can't afford over the long-term….we must take a long-term view. We know that in a growing state, rising costs for health care, corrections, and an increasing school population will place renewed strains on future budgets." Nonetheless, legislators likely will submit hundreds of budget amendments requesting many more millions of dollars to fund their priorities, and as usual, many bills are being proposed that impact the work of local governments.

Car Tax

As you know, the transition of the car tax reimbursement program from a calendar year to a fiscal year basis has been discussed for months, and was the object of numerous budget amendments proposed by the governor. These amendments, while not including the nearly $230 million in FY06 reimbursements to localities eliminated when the budget was approved last spring, attempt to address the transition problems in a way to minimize financial disruption to localities, and to provide clarifications and technical changes to facilitate implementation. Your staff has received a copy of a memo from the Secretary of Finance that details a schedule for state reimbursement to localities in early FY07. Please advise me and/or the VML and VACo staffs of questions, problems, unique circumstances, etc. that arise in your locality as a result of the proposed budget amendments and repayment schedule.

Legislators have filed about 2,200 bills and resolutions so far, with the final filing deadline set for next Friday. Following are just some of the bills of particular interest to local governments in our region that have been submitted and reviewed so far; your staffs are being alerted to additional bills of interest in your locality. Please note that you can click on the bill number in the first list below to be linked to the summary and text of the bill. Additional bills will be highlighted in the next newsletter:

HB 1609—requires repayment of funds spent on the Rt. 29 bypass, if the road is not built, to be deducted from allocations to the localities where the project would have been built, rather than from the entire Culpeper construction district. HB 2229 is similar, though not locality specific.

HB 1631—requires all businesses to be treated equally when emergency water restrictions are imposed.

HB 1760—provides for a $1/ton solid waste surcharge, to be collected by localities, which retain half the money and submit the other half to the state to be used for various environmental clean-up efforts.

HB 1819 and HB 2167—revise state provisions concerning affordable dwelling unit ordinances.

HB 1823—links local rezoning approval to transportation policy and funding.

HB 1851—provides for transfer of development rights in zoning ordinances.

HB 1889—revises and clarifies advertisement requirements for enactment of certain local fees.

HB 2039—directs revisions to the statewide emergency medical services plan to include establishing a process for crisis intervention and peer support services for emergency medical services and public safety personnel, and a program to improve dispatching of emergency medical services.

HB 2074—requires localities to annually test two sites where biosolids have been applied.

HB 2126—requires law enforcement agencies to develop a high-speed pursuit policy.

HB 2152 and HB 2159—revise the criteria for instances in which the board of zoning appeals may grant a variance to the zoning ordinance.

HB 2197—requires biosolids applicators to notify localities 100 days prior to application.

HB 2198—establishes a program to train employees in local governments that have adopted a biosolids ordinance in the testing and monitoring of sewage sludge.

HB 2220—authorizes localities to establish civil penalties for violations relating to the operation and maintenance of non-conventional sewage disposal systems.

HJ 623—Constitutional amendment prohibiting unfunded state mandates.

HJ 643—directs a JLARC study of the land application of biosolids.

SB 787—provides for reimbursement to localities for costs of biosolids testing and monitoring.

SB 810—requires DEQ to finance at least half the cost of designing and installing nutrient removal technology at all public wastewater treatment facilities.

SB 812—requires CTB to offer residue parcels to localities before otherwise disposing of them.

SB 900—removes the $300 cap on fees localities can charge for processing and reviewing an application for the creation of an agricultural or forestal district.

  Bills requested by several of our PDC localities have been introduced and include the following: For Charlottesville, HB 1628 and SB 954 (regulation of mopeds), HB 1630 and SB 955 (VASCAR speed determination devices), HB 1632 and SB 845 (advertisements in right of way), HB 1843 and SB 957 (activities of former local officials), and HB 1844 and SB 846 (affordable housing). For Greene and Albemarle, HB 2249 (regulation of panhandlers)

**For questions or additional information, please contact David Blount, TJPD Legislative Liaison, at 979-7310, x350 or .

General Assembly Contact Numbers

804-644-3702 (phone)

804-783-8226 (fax)

979-7310 x350 (Charlottesville voicemail)