Legislative Newsletter No. 5 — February 17, 2005

Calendar for 2005 General Assembly Session

February 21     Last day for committee action on bills

February 22     Deadline for budget conferees to agree on compromise spending plan

February 26     Adjournment

BUDGET news

            The House and Senate have formally rejected the budgets proposed by the opposite chamber and a conference committee of senior legislators will meet over the several days to reach a compromise spending plan for the remainder of the current biennium. Members of the budget conference committee, as appointed on Wednesday, are Senators Chichester (Stafford), Wampler (Bristol), Stosch (Henrico), Colgan (Prince William) and Houck (Spotsylvania), and Delegates Callahan (Fairfax), Putney (Bedford), Hamilton (Newport News), Cox (Chesterfield), Wardrup (Virginia Beach) and Joannou (Portsmouth).

            State budget coffers continue to receive dollars above the revenue forecast, though budget conferees first may have to grapple with setting a new estimated revenue number before deciding on appropriation levels. Revenue figures for January show collections up nearly 21%. Secretary of Finance John Bennett, however, has cautioned legislators that the most volatile revenue sources (corporate income tax, recordation taxes and individual nonwitholding) are driving the collections. For the fiscal year, revenues have grown 14.3% above the same period a year ago, well ahead of the 8.2% growth on which the introduced budget was built. Perhaps some relief for “spring billers” could be slipped in the budget?

Differences in House and Senate transportation plans and funding for water quality improvements are expected to garner much attention in the budget conference committee. The House has proposed a $1.02 billion transportation funding package (about $200 million more than in the governor’s plan), while the Senate plan totals about $670 million. Concerning water quality, both chambers propose deposits into the Water Quality Improvement Fund. The House proposes the first $50 million of what it hopes will be 10 years of like installments, while the Senate proposes $57 million and a process for developing options for future funding. There also is corresponding legislation; both bills contain provisions that would prioritize projects, neither of which is greatly helpful to many local governments.

Several other proposed budget items are of particular local interest. You are encouraged to communicate with the budget conferees and your legislators your support of these items:

· The House includes language to update the base year used for calculating CSA program administrative costs from 1994 to 1997 (however, it does not include the $57,000 requested to restore funding to the 1997 level).

· The House provides $50,000 to Charlottesville Area Dental Access for the establishment of a dental clinic serving about 10,000 low-income children each year. Both plans increase reimbursement rates for dental services. The Senate provides $750,000 in general funds for Healthy Families.

· The House budget provides over $700,000 for a minimum appropriation to each PDC of $100,000. The Senate plan provides an additional $200,000 for PDCs.

· The Senate includes $350,000 for the Center for Innovative Technology to support the development and delivery of broadband services throughout rural and underserved areas, and also includes $100,000 for the Oakland Museum in Nelson County and $25,000 for the Trevillian Station Battlefield Foundation.

· The Senate provides $1.3 million to fund Compensation Board staffing standards for Commonwealth’s Attorneys over the next three years.

LEGISLATION in the mix

Monday will be a busy day at the General Assembly. HB 2282 will be heard in the Senate Local Government Committee. This bill provides that the operation of a sport shooting range in any county or city cannot be denied if it meets a state-imposed noise standard of 64db when averaged over a 60-minute period. It is unusual for the state to impose such standards; these decisions should be left to local policymakers. Noise related to this type of operation is one of the factors in current litigation in Nelson Circuit Court. This bill is being lobbied heavily by both proponents and opponents, and a close committee vote is expected.

Also to be heard in the committee that day are two proffer bills. HB 2456 limits the ability of a locality to provide necessary infrastructure improvements (i.e. roads) by prohibiting localities from seeking proffers prior to the building permit stage. HB 2888 provides that if work is not begun within 7 years of receipt of a cash proffer, then the money collected must be remitted to VDOT.

The Senate Courts of Justice Committee will take up a pair of eminent domain bills the first of next week. HB 1820 places additional notice requirements on condemners and authorizes landowners to collect certain attorney and witness fees if property is damaged by the condemner.

HB 1821 requires condemners to pay witness fees if amount awarded to a landowner is 30% greater than the condemner’s final offer. Subcommittee changes to these bills this past week have made the bills more favorable for state and local government.

            The Senate Agriculture Committee will discuss a series of biosolids bills on Monday, including the following: HB 2197, which requires 100 days notice prior to land application of biosolids, and HB 2805, which requires sewage sludge to be treated to meet standards for land application prior to delivery at the application site, and prohibits altering of sewage sludge composition at the application site.

The telecommunications tax reform bill is HB 2880, which simply states that the Auditor of Public Accounts will determine the amount of FY05 revenues received by localities from certain telecommunications taxes (similar to that which was done this past year) and to report that information by December 1. The bill passed the Senate today. Efforts to move forward in this area broke down earlier in the session.

Concerning locally-requested legislation, HB 2249 to authorize Albemarle and Greene counties to regulate panhandling was reported from the Senate Transportation Committee this afternoon and will be on the Senate floor early next week. Two bills to authorize Charlottesville to limit certain activities by former officers and employees for one year after their service has ended, are nearing approval in the opposite chamber.

Defeated this past week

· Legislation to remove the cap on car tax reimbursement enacted by the 2004 General Assembly and to proceed with phase-out of the tax beginning in 2007. This bill died for lack of a motion in the Senate Finance Committee.

· A bill to require repayment of funds spent on a Rt. 29 bypass, if such 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. The bill was left in the Senate Transportation Committee.

· Two bills that would have established a one-year moratorium on certain local actions on affordable housing. In the original form, they would have adversely affected certain localities’ ability to request or receive contributions for affordable housing. These bills were submitted in response to an Arlington court case and now have been stricken after Arlington decided not to appeal the court decision.

· A bill that would have allowed localities to adopt an ordinance to license abortion clinics was withdrawn by the patron in the Senate Education and Health Committee.

General Assembly Contact Numbers for David Blount, TJPDC Legislative Liaison

804-644-3702 (phone)

804-783-8226 (fax)

979-7310 x350 (Charlottesville voicemail)

(Richmond email)