General Assembly of Virginia (101)

Authority: Article IV, Constitution of Virginia.

A. Out of this appropriation, the House of Delegates is funded $21,651,364 the first year and $21,651,739 the second year from the general fund. The Senate is funded $12,523,659 the first year and $12,523,878 the second year from the general fund.

B. Out of this appropriation shall be paid:

1. The salaries of the Speaker of the House of Delegates and other members, and personnel employed by each House; the mileage of members, officers and employees, including salaries and mileage of members of legislative committees sitting during recess; public printing and related expenses required by or for the General Assembly; and the incidental expenses of the General Assembly (§§ 30-19.11 through 30-19.20, inclusive, and § 30-19.4, Code of Virginia). The salary of the Speaker of the House of Delegates shall be $36,321 per year. The salaries of other members of the House of Delegates shall be $17,640 per year. The salaries of the members of the Senate shall be $18,000 per year.

2. The annual salary of the Clerk of the House of Delegates, $151,375 from July 1, 2012 to June 24, 2013 and $151,375 from June 25, 2013 to June 30, 2014.

3. The annual salary of the Clerk of the Senate, $148,184 from July 1, 2012 to June 24, 2013 and $148,184 from June 25, 2013 to June 30, 2014.

4. Expenses of the Speaker of the House of Delegates not otherwise reimbursed, $16,200 each year, to be paid in equal monthly installments during the year.

5. In accordance with § 30-19.4, Code of Virginia, and subject to all other conditions of that section except as otherwise provided in the following paragraphs:

a. $96,856 per calendar year for the compensation of one or more secretaries of the Speaker of the House of Delegates. Salary increases shall be governed by the provisions of Item 468 of this act.

b. $145,283 per calendar year for the compensation of one or more legislative assistants of the Speaker of the House of Delegates. Salary increases shall be governed by the provisions of Item 468 of this act.

c. $39,765 per calendar year for the compensation of legislative assistants of each member of the General Assembly. Salary increases granted shall be governed by the provisions of Item 468 of this act.

d. The per diem for each legislative assistant of each member of the General Assembly, including the Speaker of the House of Delegates. Such per diem shall equal the amount authorized per session day for General Assembly members in paragraph B 7, if such legislative assistant maintains a temporary residence during the legislative session or an extension thereof and if the establishment of such temporary residence results from the person's employment by the member. The per diem for a legislative assistant who is domiciled in the City of Richmond or whose domicile is within twenty miles of the Capitol shall equal thirty-five percent of the amount paid to a legislative assistant who maintains a temporary residence during such session. For purposes of this paragraph, (i) a session day shall include such days as shall be established by the Rules Committee of each respective House and (ii) a temporary residence is defined as a residence certified by the member served by the legislative assistant as occupied only by reason of employment during the legislative session or extension thereof. Notwithstanding the provisions of (i) of the preceding sentence, if the House from which the legislative assistant is paid is in adjournment during a regular or special session, he must show to the satisfaction of the Clerk that he worked each day during such adjournment for which such per diem is claimed.

e. A mileage allowance as provided in § 2.2-2823 A, Code of Virginia, and as certified by the member. Such mileage allowance shall be paid to a legislative assistant for one round trip between the City of Richmond and such person's home each week during the legislative session or an extension thereof when such person is maintaining a temporary residence.

f. Per diem and mileage shall be paid only to a person who is paid compensation pursuant to § 30-19.4, Code of Virginia.

g. Not more than one person shall be paid per diem or mileage during a single weekly pay period for serving a member as legislative assistant during a legislative session or extension thereof.

h. No person, by virtue of concurrently serving more than one member, shall be paid mileage or per diem in excess of the daily rates specified in this Item.

i. $19,879 per calendar year additional allowance for secretaries or legislative assistants to the Majority and Minority Leaders of the House of Delegates and the Senate and for secretaries or legislative assistants to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Chairman Emeritus of the Senate Finance Committee. Salary increases shall be governed by the provisions of Item 468 of this act.

6.a. All compensation and reimbursement of expenses to members of the General Assembly and non-General Assembly members for attending a meeting described in paragraphs B.6.c., B.6.d., B.7., and B.8. shall be paid solely as provided pursuant to this item.

b. The provisions of paragraphs B.6.c. and B.6.d. of this item shall not apply during any regular session of the General Assembly or extension thereof, or during any special session of the General Assembly; provided, however, that the provisions of such paragraphs shall apply during any recess of the same.

c. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each General Assembly member shall receive compensation for each day, or portion thereof, of attendance at an official meeting of any joint subcommittee, board, commission, authority, council, compact, or other body that has been created or established by the General Assembly or by resolution of a house of the General Assembly, provided that the member has been appointed to, or designated an official member of, such joint subcommittee, board, commission, authority, council, compact, or other body pursuant to an act of the General Assembly or a resolution of a house of the General Assembly that provides for the appointment or designation.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each General Assembly member shall also receive compensation for each day, or portion thereof, of attendance at an official meeting of (i) any standing committee or subcommittee thereof of the House of Delegates to which the member has been appointed, (ii) any standing committee or subcommittee thereof  or Committee on Rules of the Senate to which the member has been appointed, or (iii) the Joint Rules Committee of the General Assembly. Any official meeting of a subcommittee of any of the committees described in clauses (i), (ii), or (iii) shall also be an official meeting for which the member shall receive compensation.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any General Assembly member whose attendance, in the written opinion of the chairman of (a) any joint subcommittee, board, commission, authority, council, or other body that has been created or established in the legislative branch of state government by the General Assembly or by resolution of a house of the General Assembly; (b) any such standing committee of the House of Delegates or of the Senate; (c) the Committee on Rules of the Senate; or (d) the Joint Rules Committee of the General Assembly, is required at an official meeting of the body shall also receive compensation for each day, or portion thereof, of attendance at such official meeting.

Any General Assembly member receiving compensation pursuant to this paragraph for attending an official meeting shall be reimbursed for his or her reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in attending such meeting. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the reimbursement shall be provided by the respective body holding the meeting or by the entity that supports the work of the body.

d. Compensation to General Assembly members for attendance at any official meeting described under B.6.c.of this item shall be at the rate of $200 for each day, or portion thereof, of attendance. In no case shall a member be paid more than an aggregate of $200 in compensation for each day, or portion thereof, regardless of whether the member attends more than one official meeting during the day. The payment of such compensation shall be subject to the restrictions and limitations set forth in subsections B., C., and G. of § 30-19.12, Code of Virginia. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, compensation to General Assembly members for attendance at such official meetings shall be paid by the offices of the Clerk of the House of Delegates or Clerk of the Senate, as applicable. The body holding the meeting shall as soon as practicable report the member's attendance at any official meeting of such body to the Clerk of the House of Delegates or the Clerk of the Senate, as applicable, in order to facilitate payment of the compensation. Such body shall report the member's attendance in such manner as prescribed by the respective Clerk.

7. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, whenever any General Assembly member is required to travel for official attendance as a representative of the General Assembly at any meeting, conference, seminar, workshop, or conclave, which is not conducted by the Commonwealth of Virginia or any of its agencies or instrumentalities, such member shall be entitled to (i) compensation in an amount not to exceed the per day rate set forth in paragraph B.6.d., and (ii) reimbursement for reasonable and necessary expenses incurred. Such compensation and reimbursement for expenses shall be set by the Speaker of the House of Delegates for members of the House of Delegates and by the Senate Committee on Rules for members of the Senate.

8. The provisions of this paragraph shall apply only to non-General Assembly members (hereinafter, "citizen members") of any (i) board, commission, authority, council, or other body created or established in the legislative branch of state government by the General Assembly or by resolution of a house of the General Assembly, or (ii) joint legislative committee or subcommittee.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any citizen member of any body described in this paragraph who is appointed at the state level, or designated an official member of such body, pursuant to an act of the General Assembly or a resolution of a house of the General Assembly that provides for the appointment or designation, shall receive compensation solely for each day, or portion thereof, of attendance at an official meeting of the same. In no event shall any citizen member be paid compensation for attending a meeting of an advisory committee or other advisory body. Subject to any contrary law that provides for a higher amount of compensation to be paid, compensation shall be paid at the rate of $50 for each day, or portion thereof, of attendance at an official meeting.

Such citizen members shall also be reimbursed for reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in attending (i) an official meeting of any body described in this paragraph, or (ii) a meeting of an advisory committee or advisory body of any body described in this paragraph.

Compensation and reimbursement of expenses to such citizen members shall be paid by the body holding the meeting (or for meetings of advisory committees or advisory bodies, the body on whose behalf the meeting is being held) or by the entity that supports the work of the body.

A citizen member, however, who is a full-time employee of the Commonwealth or any of its local political subdivisions, including any full-time faculty member of a public institution of higher education, shall not be entitled to compensation under this paragraph and shall be limited to reimbursement for his reasonable and necessary expenses incurred, which shall be reimbursed by his employer.

9. Pursuant to § 30-19.13, Code of Virginia, allowances for expenses of members of the General Assembly during any regular session of the General Assembly or extension thereof or during any special session of the General Assembly shall be paid in an amount not to exceed the maximum daily amount permitted by the Internal Revenue Service under rates established by the U.S. General Services Administration.

10. Allowance for office expenses and supplies of members of the General Assembly, in the amount of $1,250 for each month of each calendar year. An additional $500 for each month of each calendar year shall be paid to the Majority and Minority Leaders of the House of Delegates and the Senate and to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

C. A legislative assistant of a member of the General Assembly regularly employed on a twelve (12) consecutive month salary basis receiving 60 percent or more of the salary allotted pursuant to paragraph A 5, may, for the purposes of §§ 51.1-124.3 and 51.1-152, Code of Virginia, be deemed a "state employee" and as such will be eligible for participation in the Virginia Retirement System, the group life insurance plan, the VRS short and long term disability plans, and the state health insurance plan. Upon approval by the Joint Rules Committee, legislative assistants shall be eligible to participate in the short and long-term disability plans sponsored by the Virginia Retirement System pursuant to Chapter 11 of Title 51.1, Code of Virginia. Such legislative assistants shall not receive sick leave and family and personal leave benefits under this plan. Short-term disability benefits shall be payable from the Legislative Reversion Clearing Account.

D. Out of this appropriation the Clerk of the House of Delegates shall pay the routine maintenance and operating expenses of the General Assembly Building as apportioned to the Senate, House of Delegates, Division of Legislative Services, Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, or other legislative agencies. The funds appropriated to each agency in the Legislative Department for routine maintenance and operating expenses during the current biennium shall be transferred to the account established for this purpose.

E. An amount of up to $10,000 per year shall be transferred from Item 34 of this act, to reflect equivalent compensation allowances for the Lieutenant Governor as were authorized by the 1994 General Assembly. The Lieutenant Governor shall report such increases to the Speaker of the House and the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

F.1. The Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees shall each appoint four members from their respective committees to a joint subcommittee to review public higher education funding policies and to make recommendations to their respective committees. The objective of the review is to develop policies and formulas to provide the public institutions of higher education with an equitable funding methodology that: (a) recognizes differences in institutional mission; (b) provides incentives for achievement and productivity; (c) recognizes enrollment growth; and (d) establishes funding objectives in areas such as faculty salaries, financial aid, and the appropriate share of educational and general costs that should be borne by resident students. In addition, the review shall include the development of comparable cost data concerning the delivery of higher education through an analysis of the relationship of each public institution to its national peers. The public institutions of higher education and the staff of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia are directed to provide technical assistance, as required, to the joint subcommittee.

2. The Joint Subcommittee on Higher Education Funding Policies shall conduct an assessment of the adequacy of the current educational and general funding levels for Virginia's public institutions of higher education. The assessment shall be used to develop guidelines against which to measure funding requests for higher education. The assessment shall include, but not be limited to, the following components:

a) Updated student-to-faculty ratios based on current practice or industry norms.

b) Consideration of support staff needs and the changing requirements of support staff due to technology and privatization of services previously performed by the institutions.

c) Costs of instruction, such as equipment, utilities, facilities maintenance, and other nonpersonal services expenses.

d) Recognition of the individual mission of the institution, student characteristics, location, or other factors that may influence the costs of instruction.

e) Benchmarking of the funding guidelines against a group of peer institutions, or other appropriate comparator group, to assess the validity of the guidelines.

f) Means by which measures of institutional performance can be assessed and incorporated into funding and policy guidelines for higher education.

3. The Joint Subcommittee on Higher Education Funding Policies shall develop a more precise methodology for determining funding needs at Virginia's public institutions of higher education related to enrollment growth. The methodology should take into consideration that support staff and operations may need to be expanded when enrollment growth reaches certain levels.

4. The Joint Subcommittee may seek support from the staff of the Senate Finance and House Appropriations Committees, the public institutions of higher education, or other higher education or state agency representatives, as requested by the Joint Subcommittee. At its discretion, the Joint Subcommittee may contract for consulting services.

5. The Joint Subcommittee is hereby continued to provide direction and oversight of higher education funding policies. The Joint Subcommittee shall review and articulate policies and funding methodologies on: (a) the appropriate share of educational and general costs that should be borne by students; (b) student financial aid; (c) undergraduate medical education funding; (d) the mix of full-time and part-time faculty; (e) the mix of in-state and out-of-state students as it relates to tuition policy; and (f) the viability of statewide articulation agreements between four-year and two-year public institutions.

6. a. It is the objective of the General Assembly that funding for Virginia's public colleges and universities shall be based primarily on the funding guidelines outlined in the November, 2001 report of the Joint Subcommittee on Higher Education Funding Policies.

b. Based on the findings and recommendations of its November, 2001 report, the Joint Subcommittee shall coordinate with the State Council of Higher Education, the Secretary of Education, and the Department of Planning and Budget in incorporating the higher education funding guidelines into the development of budget recommendations.

c. As part of its responsibilities to ensure the fair and equitable distribution and use of public funds among the public institutions of higher education, the State Council of Higher Education shall incorporate the funding guidelines established by the Joint Subcommittee into its budget recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly.

G. The Chairmen of the Senate Finance and House Appropriations Committees shall each appoint four members from their respective committees to a joint subcommittee to review compensation of state agency heads and cabinet secretaries.  The Department of Human Resource Management, the Virginia Retirement System and all other agencies and institutions of the Commonwealth are directed to provide technical assistance, as required, to the joint subcommittee.

H. 1. The Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees shall each appoint up to five members from their respective committees to a joint subcommittee to provide on-going direction and oversight of Standards of Quality funding cost policies and to make recommendations to their respective committees.

2. The Joint Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education Funding shall: a) study the Commonwealth’s use of the prevailing salary and cost approaches to funding the Standards of Quality, as compared with alternative approaches, such as a fixed point in time salary base that is increased annually by some minimum percentage or funding the national average teacher salary; and b) review the “federal revenue deduct” methodology, including the current use of a cap on the deduction; and c) review the methodology for establishing a consistent funding cap process for all state funded instructional and certain support positions.

3. The school divisions, the staff of the Virginia Department of Education, and staff of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, are directed to provide technical assistance, as required, to the joint subcommittee.

I. Notwithstanding the salaries listed in Item 1, paragraph B.2., of this act, the Speaker of the House may establish a salary range for the Clerk of the House of Delegates.

J. Notwithstanding the salaries listed in Item 1, paragraph B.3. of this act, the Senate Committee on Rules may establish a salary range for the Clerk of the Senate.

K. Notwithstanding the salaries set out in Items 2, 5, and 6, the Committee on Joint Rules may establish salary ranges for such agency heads consistent with the provisions and salary ranges included in Item 4-6.01 of this act.

L.  Included within this appropriation is $15,400 each year from the general fund for expenses related to the Joint Subcommittee on Tax Preferences, pursuant to House Bill 777 of the 2012 Session.  This includes $6,622 each year to be allocated by the Clerk of the Senate and $8,778 each year to be allocated by the Clerk of the House of Delegates.

M.  Included in the appropriations for this item is $25,000 the first year and $25,000 the second year from the general fund for the operations of the Virginia Indian Commemorative Commission and the development of a monument commemorating the life, achievements, and legacy of Native Americans in the Commonwealth.