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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
- Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
- Summaries: Since 1994
Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2013 SESSION
Chairman: Walter A. Stosch
Clerk: Patty Lung, Cheryl Law
Staff: Nicole Brenner, L. Wallmeyer
Date of Meeting: January 31, 2013
Time and Place: 4:30 p.m. - Senate Room B
Revised to add SBs 934, 1069 & 1324
Patron: Purkey
Commonwealth's tax code; conformity with federal law; emergency. Advances the conformity with the federal tax code from December 31, 2011, to January 2, 2013, and restores conformity with the federal earned income tax credit. The bill contains an emergency clause.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Alexander
Taxes on fuels; issuance of bonds. Makes the retail sale of gasoline, diesel fuel, and other fuels subject to the general five percent retail sales and use tax and reduces the fuels tax on such fuels by $0.05 per gallon from $0.175 per gallon to $0.125 per gallon. Under current law, the sale of fuels is exempt from the general retail sales and use tax, but fuels are subject to a fuels tax imposed at the rate of $0.175 per gallon. Of the net additional revenues generated each year under the bill, $250 million would be deposited into the Highway Maintenance and Operating Fund and the remainder would be deposited into the Highway Construction Projects Trust Fund created under the bill.
Moneys deposited into the Highway Construction Projects Trust Fund would be used to finance or fund the construction, acquisition, reconstruction, or replacement of or improvements or additions to highway projects as specifically set forth in the general appropriation act to be financed or funded using moneys from the Fund. The bill also authorizes the issuance of up to $5 billion in bonds for such highway projects with the bonds and the interest thereon to be repaid from the net additional revenues generated by the bill and deposited into the Fund.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board is charged with ensuring that of the revenues deposited into the Highway Construction Projects Trust Fund, over the long term, approximately 38 percent of such revenues would be used for projects in the Northern Virginia highway construction district, 31 percent for projects in the Hampton Roads highway construction district, and 31 percent for projects in all other highway construction districts in the Commonwealth.
Patron: Watkins
Establishing and adjusting sources of revenue for appropriations of the Commonwealth and its localities. Makes several changes to sources of revenue of the Commonwealth:
Establishes a five percent tax on motor fuels sales based on the statewide average wholesale price of a gallon of self-serve unleaded regular gasoline. The revenues would be distributed to the Highway Maintenance and Operating Fund, the Transportation Trust Fund, the Intercity Passenger Rail Operating and Capital Fund, and the localities to be used for transportation purposes;
Increases the additional registration fee on electric vehicles from $50 to $102 and requires hybrid electric motor vehicles registered in the Commonwealth to pay this fee. However, owners of hybrid electric motor vehicles registered in the Commonwealth would be eligible for a refund of the new five percent tax on motor fuels sales;
Prohibits the placement of tolls on existing roads in the Commonwealth without the approval of the General Assembly;
Lowers individual income tax rates and changes the individual income tax structure, effective January 1, 2014. Income less than $5,000 would be taxed at a 0.75% rate, income over $5,000 and up to $17,000 would be taxed at a 4.5% rate, and income over $17,000 would continue to be taxed at a 5.75% rate;
Repeals income tax credits for vehicle emissions testing equipment, clean-fuel vehicles, and biodiesel fuel producers effective for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2013;
Eliminates the sales tax exemption currently extended to certain services, such as auto repairs, taxi and limousines, armored cars, travel, and transportation.
Patron: Petersen
Fuels taxes; indexing of tax rates. Increases or decreases each year the rates of Virginia's fuels taxes using a fuel efficiency index. The bill defines the fuel efficiency index as the quotient that is obtained when using as the numerator the total annual vehicle miles traveled in the Commonwealth for the relevant year and using as the denominator the total gallons of motor fuel consumed for highway use in the Commonwealth for the relevant year, as published by the Federal Highway Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The bill establishes 2007 as the base year for the fuel efficiency index. Thus, the percentage change in the fuel efficiency index between the current year and 2007, the base year, would determine the annual percentage increase or decrease in the rates of Virginia's fuels taxes. Each December the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles would compute the adjusted rates of fuels taxes.
Currently, Virginia's fuels taxes are fixed at the rate of 17.5 cents ($0.175) per gallon for each gallon of gasoline, gasohol, and diesel fuel.
Patron: Petersen
Voting devices; number required. Provides that there shall be at least one voting device for each 500 registered voters in a precinct. The current requirement is for one device for each 750 registered voters.
Patron: McWaters
Additional state sales and use tax in the Hampton Roads Planning District; referendum. Provides for an additional one percent sales and use tax in the counties and cities located in the Hampton Roads Planning District, with the additional revenues generated by the tax to be used for regional transportation projects. The tax would become effective on January 1, 2014, and only if approved by a majority of the voters in the Planning District at the November 2013 election.
Patron: Petersen
Transportation; funding and administration. Increases the base fuel tax rate in Virginia by 10 cents to $0.275 per gallon of gasoline, gasohol, and diesel fuel, and then increases or decreases the rate each year using a fuel efficiency index. The bill would define the fuel efficiency index as the quotient that is obtained when using as the numerator the total annual vehicle miles traveled in the Commonwealth for the relevant year and using as the denominator the total gallons of motor fuel consumed for highway use in the Commonwealth for the relevant year. The numerator and denominator would be the corresponding amounts as published by the Federal Highway Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The bill would establish 2007 as the base year for the fuel efficiency index. Thus, the percentage change in the fuel efficiency index between the current year and 2007, the base year, would determine the annual percentage increase or decrease in the rates of Virginia's fuels taxes. Each December the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles would compute the adjusted rates of fuels taxes.
The bill also establishes a $10 fee for the sale of each new electric motor vehicle battery, with the proceeds being deposited into the Highway Maintenance and Operating Fund.
Finally, the bill increases the membership of the Commonwealth Transportation Board from 17 members to 23 members, with four members representing Northern Virginia, three members representing Hampton Roads, and two members representing Richmond. Currently, each of those areas has one representative on the Board.
Patron: McEachin
Tolling Interstate Highway System components. Requires General Assembly approval before tolls are imposed or collected by the Commonwealth Transportation Board on any component of the Interstate Highway System except for High-occupancy toll lanes.
Patron: McWaters
Assignment of general fund balance; Transportation Trust Fund. Increases from 67 percent to 75 percent the portion of the general fund surplus remaining at the end of each fiscal year that is deposited into the Transportation Trust Fund. Such deposit takes place after deposits are made to the Revenue Stabilization Fund and the Water Quality Improvement Fund and other statutorily mandated commitments are met.
Patron: Watkins
State severance tax; uranium. Establishes a three percent state severance tax on the gross receipts of any uranium severed from the earth in the Commonwealth. One-half of the proceeds of the tax shall be deposited in the general fund of the Commonwealth. The other half of the proceeds shall be deposited into an Economic Development and Environmental Trust Fund established for each locality from which uranium is mined. Each locality's fund would be administered by a board appointed by the governing body of the locality.
Patron: McWaters
Sales and use tax revenue dedicated to the Transportation Trust Fund. Increases the amount of sales and use tax revenue dedicated to the Transportation Trust Fund from an amount generated by a 0.5 percent tax rate under current law to an amount generated by a 0.75 percent tax rate, phased in over a period of three years.
Patron: Obenshain
Charter schools; personnel. Allows public charter schools to designate in its application whether their employees will participate in the Virginia Retirement System. The bill directs the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Retirement System to develop procedures allowing school boards who approve such applications to exempt the charter school employees from participation. The bill also (i) requires at least 75 percent of public charter elementary school teachers to be licensed and at least 50 percent of public charter middle and high school teachers to be licensed, and (ii) specifies that all teachers otherwise be "highly qualified," as defined by the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
Patron: Carrico
Public schools; Virginia Longitudinal Data System established. Requires the Board of Education to establish the Virginia Longitudinal Data System to track and examine student progress from early childhood to postsecondary education to the student entering the workforce. The bill also establishes the Virginia Longitudinal Data System Advisory Council to advise the Board of Education on all matters related to the Virginia Longitudinal Data System.
Patron: Petersen
Commonwealth Mass Transit Fund. Removes all current allocations made by the Commonwealth Transportation Board to mass transit and implements performance-based funding for mass transit.
Patron: Obenshain
Voter identification requirements; photo ID. Requires photo ID at the polls by eliminating all forms of identification that do not contain a photograph of the voter from the list of forms of identification any one of which a voter must present in order to be allowed to vote. The bill also adds a valid United States passport to the list and requires that a student identification card issued by an institution of higher education in the Commonwealth contain a photograph in order to be used by a voter. The bill does not affect the right of a voter who does not present one of the required forms of identification to cast a provisional ballot. The bill also provides that the State Board shall provide voter registration cards that contain a voter's photograph and signature if the voter does not possess other satisfactory photo ID.
Patron: Stosch
Local income tax. Adds the City of Portsmouth to the list of localities authorized to impose a local income tax to generate revenue to be used for transportation purposes. The bill also removes the requirement that the local income tax be approved by a referendum and repeals the five-year sunset on the local income tax.
Patron: Obenshain
Assignment of general fund balance; Transportation Trust Fund. Provides that after the full deposit is assigned to the Revenue Stabilization Fund from any general fund surplus at the end of the fiscal year, the Comptroller shall assign the remaining general fund balance to the Transportation Trust Fund.
Patrons: McDougle, Alexander
Opportunity Educational Institution and Board established. Creates the Opportunity Educational Institution to be administered and supervised by the Opportunity Educational Institution Board and requires any school that has been denied accreditation for the previous two school years to be transferred to the Institution and remain in the Institution for five years or until the school achieves full accreditation. The bill also sets forth requirements for student attendance, staffing, and funding for the Institution.
Patron: Wagner
Revenues and appropriations of the Commonwealth. Makes several changes to the revenues collected by the Commonwealth, and the distribution of such revenues, as follows:
The bill raises the state sales and use tax from 4% to 4.5%, and designates the increased revenues for the Transportation Trust Fund, to be allocated in the same manner as other sales and use tax revenues designated for the Transportation Trust Fund.
The bill provides that retail sales and hotel taxes on transient room rentals are computed based upon the total charges or the total price paid for the use or possession of the room. For those cases in which a hotel or similar establishment contracts with an intermediary to facilitate the sale of the room and the intermediary charges the customer for the room and such facilitation efforts, the bill requires the intermediary to separately state the taxes on the bill or invoice provided to the customer and to collect the taxes based upon the total charges or the total price paid for the use or possession of the room. Additional revenues generated by this change would be dedicated to transportation. The effective date of these provisions of the bill is January 1, 2014.
The bill eliminates the statewide cents-per-gallon taxation of gasoline and blended fuel containing gasoline under the Virginia Fuels Act but leaves the current cents-per-gallon tax in place for other types of motor fuels. The bill establishes a new 5.5% tax on motor fuels sales based on the statewide average wholesale price of a gallon of self-service unleaded regular gasoline.
The bill increases the registration fee for electronic vehicles from $50 to $75, and levies the annual fee on alternative fuel vehicles.
Patron: Martin
Tolls for the use of Interstate Highway System components. Requires prior General Assembly approval to toll any component of the Interstate Highway System in existence prior to July 1, 2013, except for HOT and HOV lanes.
Patron: Saslaw
Revenues and appropriations of the Commonwealth. Makes several changes to the revenues and appropriations of the Commonwealth, specifically relating to transportation funding, as follows:
The bill raises the state sales and use tax rate from four percent to five percent. Of these new revenues, an amount equal to a one-half percent sales and use tax will be deposited in the Transportation Trust Fund, and the percentage of the Transportation Trust Fund sales and use tax revenues dedicated to mass transit will be raised to 25%. Of the other one-half percent of the new one percent sales and use tax, two-thirds will be distributed to localities to use for education, and one-third will be used to fund higher education in the Commonwealth.
In fiscal years 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017, $80 million dollars each year that would otherwise be distributed to the Transportation Trust Fund will be designated to the Phase 2 Dulles Corridor Metrorail Extension Project, subject to certain conditions.
The bill raises the cents-per-gallon rate of the tax on motor fuels by 5 cents on July 1, 2013 and July 1, 2014, and then begins indexing the cents-per-gallon rate on July 1, 2015.
The bill makes additional technical changes.
Patron: Petersen
Charter; City of Fairfax. Increases the maximum transient occupancy tax that the city may levy from four percent to six percent. Any amount above four percent shall be placed into an economic development opportunity fund to be used solely for economic development, marketing, or tourism initiatives.
Patron: Newman
Revenues and appropriations of the Commonwealth. Makes several changes to the revenues collected by the Commonwealth, and the distribution of such revenues, as follows:
The bill raises the registration fees for vehicles and trailers and designates these increased revenues for the Commonwealth Mass Transit Fund and the Intercity Passenger Rail Operating and Capital Fund.
The bill raises the state sales and use tax from 4% to 4.8% and designates the increased revenues for the Commonwealth Transportation Fund.
The bill establishes procedures for the collection of the state sales and use tax from remote sellers for sales made in the Commonwealth, contingent upon the federal government passing legislation authorizing such collection. In the event that such revenues are collected, a portion of the revenues will be allocated to the localities with a stipulation that some of the funds be used by the locality for transportation needs and a portion of the revenues will be deposited in the Transportation Trust Fund.
The bill eliminates the statewide taxation of gasoline and blended fuel containing gasoline under the Virginia Fuels Act but leaves the current tax in place for other types of motor fuels.
The bill raises the annual license fee for electric vehicles from $50 to $100 and imposes the fee on hybrid electric vehicles and alternative fuel vehicles.
The bill repeals the application of the local sales and use tax to the sale of certain fuels used for domestic consumption, and replaces the revenue for the localities that imposed the sales and use tax with a portion of the new revenues generated by the bill.
The bill also makes several technical changes related to the administration of these provisions.
The provisions of the bill are effective July 1, 2013, except that the changes in the distribution of Fuels Act revenues related to the repeal of the tax on gasoline is effective July 1, 2014.
Patron: Black
Constitutional amendment (first resolution); real property tax exemption for spouses of soldiers killed in action. Provides a real property tax exemption for the primary residence of surviving spouses of members of the military who are killed in action.