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- Subject Index: Since 1995
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2018 SESSION
Co-Chair: Thomas K. Norment, Jr. - Co-Chair: Emmett W. Hanger, Jr.
Clerk: John Garrett
Staff: Lisa Wallmeyer
Date of Meeting: February 7, 2018
Time and Place: 9:00 AM Committee Room B Ground Floor Pocahontas Building
Updated to remove SB 299
Patron: Black
Concealed handgun permits. Allows any person who is otherwise eligible to obtain a concealed handgun permit to carry a concealed handgun without a permit anywhere he may lawfully carry a handgun openly within the Commonwealth.
Patron: Stanley
Regulation of the sale and use of consumer fireworks; criminal and civil penalties. Authorizes a person to sell consumer fireworks, defined in the bill, if he possesses a federal permit to sell fireworks, a permit issued by the Virginia Fire Services Board, and a local permit, if and as required by the locality where the sales facility is located. The bill directs the Board to establish requirements and a process for the issuance and renewal of permits for the sale of consumer fireworks. Among other requirements, a permittee is required to carry, with respect to each permitted facility, public liability and product liability insurance with minimum limits of $5 million to cover potential losses, damages, or injuries to persons or property as a result of the sales of consumer fireworks. The bill specifies certain requirements for facilities at which consumer fireworks are permitted to be sold, including prohibitions on an individual under 18 years of age (i) being admitted into any consumer fireworks retail sales facility, defined in the bill, unless accompanied by a parent, guardian, or responsible adult or (ii) working in any consumer fireworks retail sales facility. The bill prohibits a person from, among other acts, (a) selling consumer fireworks within the Commonwealth unless he is a permittee or an employee or agent of a permittee; (b) selling consumer fireworks from a place other than a permanent consumer fireworks retail sales facility; (c) selling consumer or permissible fireworks to an individual who appears to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs; (d) knowingly selling or otherwise furnishing consumer or permissible fireworks to an individual under 18 years of age; (e) purchasing, using, or possessing consumer or permissible fireworks if the individual is under 18 years of age; or (f) selling or storing fireworks that are not consumer fireworks as defined in a standard established by the American Pyrotechnics Association. Certain violations are punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. A person violating restrictions on the hours during which, or places where, consumer or permissible fireworks may be used is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $150 per violation. The bill also creates a seven percent tax on the purchase of all consumer fireworks. The bill provides that revenues from the tax shall be deposited into the Local Consumer Fireworks Fund, created by the bill, and shall be distributed evenly among all of the localities in which consumer fireworks are sold to be used to supplement the salaries paid to deputy sheriffs.
Patron: Lewis
Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); real property tax exemption for flooding remediation, abatement, and resiliency. Provides for a referendum at the November 6, 2018, election to approve or reject an amendment to allow the General Assembly to authorize the governing bodies of counties, cities, and towns to provide for a partial exemption from local real property taxation, within such restrictions and upon such conditions as may be prescribed, of improved real estate subject to recurrent flooding upon which flooding abatement, mitigation, or resiliency efforts have been undertaken.
Patron: Petersen
Release of seized property; petition to stay release. Provides that any property seized shall be released to the owner or lienholder within one year from the date of seizure unless an information has been filed against the property or the attorney for the Commonwealth files a petition to stay the release of such property. The bill provides that such petition shall allege that the property seized is an integral part of an investigation and that such property cannot be returned without jeopardizing such investigation. The bill provides that the owner or lienholder may file a response to the petition within 30 days of the filing of such petition and that, if a response is filed, the Commonwealth must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the property is an integral part of an investigation.
Patron: Stuart
Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program; eligibility. Extends the benefits of the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program to the spouse or child of a veteran with at least a 90 percent permanent, service-related disability. Under current law, the spouse or child would be eligible for benefits only if the veteran's disability was incurred during military operations against terrorism, on a peacekeeping mission, as a result of a terrorist act, or in any armed conflict.
Patron: Peake
Expungement of certain offenses. Allows a person to petition for expungement of a deferred disposition dismissal for underage alcohol possession or using a false ID to obtain alcohol when the offense occurred prior to the person's twenty-first birthday; all court costs, fines, and restitution have been paid; and the person seeking the expungement is at least 21 years of age and has no other alcohol-related convictions.
Patron: Peake
Concealed handgun permit; expiration date. Extends from five to 15 years the validity of a concealed handgun permit.
Patron: McClellan
Property conveyance; Department of Conservation and Recreation; Economic Development Authority of Henrico County; White Oak Technology Park. Authorizes the Department of Conservation and Recreation to convey certain real property adjacent to the White Oak Technology Park in Henrico County to the Economic Development Authority of Henrico County in return for the grant of an open space easement and the dedication of a natural area preserve on a portion of the White Oak Technology Park property.
Patron: Howell
Office of the Qualified Education Loan Ombudsman. Establishes the Office of the Qualified Education Loan Ombudsman (the Office) within the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. The Office's duties include (i) receiving, reviewing, and attempting to resolve complaints from qualified education loan borrowers; (ii) compiling and analyzing data on such complaints; (iii) assisting qualified education loan borrowers to understand their rights and responsibilities under the terms of qualified education loans; (iv) providing information regarding the problems and concerns of qualified education loan borrowers; (v) analyzing and monitoring the development and implementation of applicable laws and policies; and (vi) disseminating information concerning the availability of the Office to assist qualified education loan borrowers and any other participant in qualified education loan lending, with qualified education loan servicing concerns. The Office is further required to establish and maintain a qualified education loan borrower education course by December 1, 2019.
Patron: Lewis
Constitutional amendment (ballot bill); special funds for transportation purposes. Provides for a referendum at the November 6, 2018, general election to approve or reject an amendment to the Constitution that would require the General Assembly to maintain permanent and separate Transportation Funds. The amendment directs that revenues dedicated to Transportation Funds on January 1, 2018, by general law, other than a general appropriation law, shall be deposited to the Transportation Funds, unless the General Assembly by general law, other than a general appropriation law, alters the revenues dedicated to the Funds. The amendment limits the use of Funds moneys to transportation and related purposes. The amendment specifies that the General Assembly may borrow from the Funds for other purposes only by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house and that the loan must be repaid with reasonable interest within four years.
Patron: McDougle
Driving under the influence; secure transdermal alcohol monitoring. Provides that the court may, upon request of an offender convicted for DUI, order that the offender (i) wear a secure transdermal alcohol monitoring device that continuously monitors the person's blood alcohol level and (ii) refrain from alcohol consumption. The bill provides that if an offender is ordered to wear such a device, the only conditions that will be imposed upon the offender's restricted driver's license, if one is issued, shall be the wearing of such a device and the existing requirement to have an ignition interlock system. The bill also provides that it is a Class 1 misdemeanor to tamper with or in any way attempt to circumvent the operation of a secure transdermal alcohol monitoring device.
Patron: McDougle
Expungement of certain charges and convictions. Allows a person to petition for expungement of convictions and deferred disposition dismissals for marijuana possession, underage alcohol possession, and using a false ID to obtain alcohol when the offense occurred prior to the person's twenty-first birthday; all court costs, fines, and restitution have been paid; and five years have elapsed since the date of completion of all terms of sentencing and probation.
Patron: Wexton
Equal pay irrespective of sex. Amends the existing law requiring equal pay for equal work irrespective of sex to (i) prohibit unequal provision of benefits and privileges on the basis of sex; (ii) prohibit employers from punishing employees for sharing salary information with their coworkers; and (iii) authorize a court to award reasonable attorney fees and costs to an employee who substantially prevails on the merits in an action for wrongful withholding of wages or benefits and privileges. The measure also deletes the exemption for employers covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act from the Commonwealth's prohibition on discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex.
Patron: Wexton
Victims of domestic violence; list of local resources. Provides that upon issuance of an emergency, preliminary, or permanent protective order, the court or magistrate shall provide the petitioner with a list of local resources, including contact information for any sexual and domestic violence victim service provider, crime victim and witness assistance program, legal aid or legal services office, crisis intervention hotline, individual support services provider, support groups, or emergency companion services, emergency housing services, or transportation services provider.
Patron: Chafin
Abandoned school revitalization zones in coalfield region. Allows localities located in the coalfield region of Virginia to establish by ordinance one or more abandoned school revitalization zones for the purpose of providing incentives to private entities to purchase or develop real property or to assemble parcels suitable for economic development that include an abandoned school site. Each locality establishing an abandoned school revitalization zone may grant incentives and provide regulatory flexibility. The incentives may include, but not be limited to, (i) reduction of permit fees, (ii) reduction of user fees, (iii) reduction of any type of gross receipts tax or any other type of tax as permitted by state law, and (iv) waiver of tax liens to facilitate the sale of property, if deemed appropriate. A school located in an abandoned school revitalization zone shall be eligible for participation in the Virginia Shell Building Initiative.
Patron: Edwards
Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act; civil penalties; rate of inflation. Raises the amounts for the civil penalties in the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act from not less than $5,500 and not more than $11,000 to not less than $10,957 and not more than $21,916. The bill also provides that these amounts shall automatically increase as prescribed by the Federal False Claims Act, in which the civil penalties are adjusted to the rate of inflation.
Patron: Obenshain
Public schools; regional charter school divisions. Authorizes the Board of Education (the Board) to establish regional charter school divisions consisting of at least two but not more than three existing school divisions in regions in which each underlying school division has (i) an enrollment of more than 3,000 students and (ii) one or more schools that have accreditation denied status for two out of the past three years. The bill requires such regional charter school divisions to be supervised by a school board that consists of eight members appointed by the Board and one member appointed by the localities of each of the underlying divisions. The bill authorizes the school board, after a review by the Board, to review and approve public charter school applications in the regional charter school divisions and to contract with the applicant. The bill requires that the state share of Standards of Quality per pupil funding of the underlying school district in which the student resides be transferred to such school.
Patron: Hanger
Education; computation of composite index; land-use assessment value. Requires the General Assembly to modify the current standards of quality funding formula and calculation of composite index of local ability to pay to incorporate within the real estate indicator of local wealth the land-use assessment value for those properties located within a land-use plan.
Patron: Obenshain
Involuntary manslaughter; death of a fetus; penalty. Provides that any person who, as a result of driving under the influence, causes the death of the fetus of another is guilty of involuntary manslaughter. The bill provides that if such person's conduct was so gross, wanton, and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life, he is guilty of aggravated involuntary manslaughter.
Patron: DeSteph
Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act; secure return of voted military-overseas ballots by electronic means; pilot program. Requires the State Board of Elections to establish and supervise a pilot program for the secure return of voted military-overseas ballots by electronic means from those uniformed-service voters who are members (i) of the active or reserve components of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard of the United States who are on active duty or (ii) of the National Guard on activated status and who are deployed outside of the United States. Under the pilot program, those uniformed-service voters shall be permitted to sign the military-overseas ballot application, the statement of voter accompanying the military-overseas ballot, and any other related documents deemed necessary by the State Board to ensure authentication of the voter's identification using his digital signature associated with his military-issued electronic mail account. The State Board is directed to request proposals for the development and maintenance of the system used for the pilot program and to provide instructions, procedures, services, and ongoing security assessments for the entity selected to develop and maintain the system. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2020.
Patron: Obenshain
Restitution; collection; Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund. Adds to the duties of the Workers' Compensation Commission in its role as administrator of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund (Fund) the obligation to identify and locate victims for whom restitution owed to such victims has been deposited into the Fund. The bill provides that clerks shall deposit into the Fund on an annual basis restitution collected for victims who can no longer be identified or located. The bill requires that clerks record the receipt of restitution payments in the Virginia Supreme Court's automated information system and that the restitution form used by the court include the victim's contact information, including address, telephone number, and email address.
Patron: Obenshain
DNA analysis upon conviction of certain misdemeanors. Adds misdemeanor violations of §§ 18.2-57 (assault and battery), 18.2-57.2 (assault and battery against a family or household member), 18.2-96 (petit larceny), 18.2-103 (concealing merchandise; altering price tags), 18.2-119 (trespass), 18.2-137 (destruction of property), and 18.2-460 (obstruction of justice) to the list of offenses for which an adult convicted of such offense must have a sample of his blood, saliva, or tissue taken for DNA analysis. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia State Crime Commission.
Patron: Surovell
Expert witnesses; government officer and employees; fees. Provides that no officer or employee of the Commonwealth or of any locality or political subdivision thereof who is called to testify as an expert witness shall charge a fee for providing such testimony, whether at trial or in a deposition.
Patron: McPike
DNA sample after arrest; certain misdemeanors. Adds indecent exposure and obscene sexual display to the list of crimes for which a DNA sample must be taken upon arrest for commission or attempted commission of such crimes. The provisions of the bill apply only to persons convicted on or after July 1, 2018.
Patron: McPike
Board for Purchases of Services from People with Severe Disabilities; report. Establishes the Board for Purchases of Services from People with Severe Disabilities to encourage state agencies and political subdivisions of the Commonwealth to purchase services provided by persons with severe disabilities as a means of increasing employment opportunities for such persons. The bill directs the Board to establish and publish a procurement list consisting of services provided by qualified nonprofit entities for procurement by state agencies and political subdivisions and to establish the fair market price of services that are contained on the procurement list.
Patron: Hanger
Virginia College Savings Plan. Makes several changes to the provisions that establish the Virginia College Savings Plan (the Plan), including (i) clarifying that members of the Plan's governing board (the board) are required to disclose personal interests pursuant to the State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act, (ii) permitting the Plan to maintain an independent disbursement system for the disbursement of prepaid tuition contract benefits, and (iii) requiring each prepaid tuition contract entered into on or after July 1, 2018, to include provisions for the application of tuition prepayments, at a rate equal to the percentage of enrollment-weighted average tuition at public institutions of higher education to be determined by the board, at (a) public institutions of higher education, (b) accredited nonprofit independent or private institutions of higher education, and (c) non-Virginia public and accredited nonprofit independent or private institutions of higher education, provided that no such payment is less than the sum of tuition prepayments made, less any fees as determined by the board.
Patron: Chase
Carrying a concealed handgun; firefighters and emergency medical services providers. Provides that any firefighter or person employed as emergency medical services personnel who was previously employed as a law-enforcement officer or as a member of the Virginia National Guard, Armed Forces of the United States, or Armed Forces Reserves of the United States may carry a concealed handgun throughout the Commonwealth without a permit, provided that such firefighter or person employed as emergency medical services personnel has been approved to carry a concealed handgun by his fire chief or emergency medical services chief.
Patron: McDougle
Wireless support structures; public rights-of-way use fees. Establishes an annual wireless support structure public rights-of-way use fee to be charged to wireless services providers and wireless infrastructure providers in connection with a permit for occupation and use of the public rights-of-way under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation (VDOT) or a locality for the construction of new wireless support structures. The amount of the use fee is (i) $1,000 for any wireless support structure at or below 50 feet in height; (ii) $3,000 for any wireless support structure above 50 feet and at or below 120 feet in height; (iii) $5,000 for any wireless support structure above 120 feet in height; and (iv) $1 per square foot for any other equipment, shelter, or associated facilities constructed on the ground. The measure provides that the use fee amounts shall be adjusted every five years on the basis of inflation. The measure also provides that an existing agreement, contract, license, easement, or permit allowing the use of the public rights-of-way by a wireless services provider or wireless infrastructure provider may be enforced by VDOT or the locality only until the current term of the agreement, contract, license, easement, or permit expires.
Patron: Petersen
Public institutions of higher education; tuition and fee increases; public comment. Prohibits the governing board of each public institution of higher education from approving an increase in undergraduate tuition or mandatory fees without providing students and the public an opportunity to provide public comment at a board meeting at least 30 days prior to any vote on such an increase.
Patron: Chafin
Public Rights-of-Way Use Fees; high-speed Internet access. Allocates a portion of Public Rights-of-Way Use fees collected by the Virginia Department of Transportation and certain localities to be used for the deployment and expansion of high-speed Internet services in underserved areas.
Patron: Stuart
Local ability to pay; certain counties. Requires that the composite index of local ability to pay for any county within which there is a school division composed of a town be calculated as if there were no such school division composed of a town within the county.
Patron: Stanley
Income tax; modification for certain companies and subtraction for their employees; local grants. Establishes an income tax modification for companies that, from 2018 through 2028, either (i) invest at least $5 million in new capital investment in a qualified locality and create at least 10 jobs in a qualified locality or (ii) create at least 50 jobs in a qualified locality. Such companies are exempt from withholding for their employees that reside in a qualified locality.
The bill defines qualified locality to include (i) the Counties of Bland, Buchanan, Dickenson, Giles, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Wise, and Wythe and the Cities of Bristol and Norton, (ii) the Counties of Carroll, Grayson, Henry, Halifax, Patrick, and Pittsylvania and the Cities of Danville, Galax, and Martinsville, and (iii) the City of Petersburg. Qualified locality also includes certain real property owned or partly owned by such localities outside of their territorial boundaries.
A company is eligible to claim the subtraction if it had no property or payroll in Virginia or if it had property or payroll in a qualified locality on the effective date of the act and remits its applicable estimated tax to the Tax Department. The bill authorizes the Commonwealth's Development Opportunity Fund and the Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Fund to issue grants or loans to eligible companies to pay their estimated tax liability. The bill defines applicable estimated tax as the sum of (i) the company's tax liability, calculated without allowing the modification, and (ii) the amount it would have been required to withhold for each of its employees that reside in a qualified locality.
Generally, the amount of the modification is the value of the company's property and payroll in qualified localities. The bill provides similar modifications for industries that use different apportionment formulas including motor carriers, financial companies, construction companies, railway companies, manufacturing companies, retailers, and businesses with enterprise data center operations.
The bill also establishes a subtraction of up to $250,000 from individual income tax for employees of an eligible company. Eligibility for the corporate and individual income tax subtractions shall continue for nine years following the year in which the company initially makes a modification to its apportionment formula. Continuing eligibility is contingent on the company maintaining its capital investment and jobs created in qualified localities.
The bill permits (i) the Counties of Bland, Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, and Wise and the Cities of Bristol and Norton, (ii) the Counties of Carroll, Grayson, Henry, Halifax, and Pittsylvania and the Cities of Danville, Galax, and Martinsville, and (iii) the City of Petersburg to provide grants and loans to companies that qualify for the modification provided by the bill. The bill also authorizes all industrial development authorities to provide grants and loans to such companies.
Patron: Vogel
Property conveyance; Camp 7 parcel located in Clark County. Authorizes the conveyance of the Camp 7 parcel to Clark County.
Patron: Stuart
Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); real property tax exemption for surviving spouses of certain disabled veterans. Provides for a referendum at the November 6, 2018, election to approve or reject an amendment to the real property tax exemption for a primary residence that is currently provided to the surviving spouses of veterans who had a one hundred percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability to allow the surviving spouse to move to a different principal place of residence. Similar real property tax exemptions provided in the Constitution of Virginia to (i) the surviving spouses of members of the armed forces killed in action and (ii) the surviving spouses of certain emergency services providers killed in the line of duty allow the surviving spouse to move to a different principal place of residence and still claim the tax exemption.
Patron: Obenshain
Office of the Attorney General; employment of special counsel. Provides that when entering into a contract with special counsel, the Office of the Governor or Office of the Attorney General, as applicable, must make a copy of the contract available to the public on the website of the Governor or the Attorney General. However, the Attorney General may temporarily not disclose such information upon making a written determination that such action is necessary to protect attorney-client or otherwise privileged information or that immediate disclosure of the existence of special counsel, or any other sensitive information, could compromise the initiation, handling, or conclusion of any investigation or case matter handled by the Attorney General or special counsel and might put the Commonwealth and its citizens at a disadvantage. The bill also provides that prior to entering into a contract with special counsel, the Attorney General must make a written determination that the representation is both cost-effective and in the public interest. In addition, the bill (i) requires the Governor and the Attorney General to submit an annual report to the General Assembly describing the use of contracts for special counsel; (ii) provides that the Attorney General, or counsel to the Governor in cases in which the Attorney General has a conflict, shall retain control over special counsel; and (iii) limits the contingency fee that may be charged by special counsel depending on the amount recovered.
Patron: Hanger
Pipeline construction; upland impacts; supplemental review. Requires the Department of Environmental Quality (the Department) to determine whether any activity associated with a federally regulated natural gas pipeline project will occur in an upland area or other sensitive area, will be likely to result in a discharge to state waters and will not be covered by a federal Clean Water Act certification. The bill requires the Department, for each identified activity, to conduct a separate supplemental review of the project. In certain cases, the bill requires the Department to recommend that the State Water Control Board (the Board) impose additional conditions on the project. The bill also directs the Board to require both a Virginia Water Protection Permit and an Individual Water Quality Certification under the federal Clean Water Act for any interstate natural gas pipeline and, for such pipelines, to review water body crossings as well as plans for erosion and sediment control and stormwater management. Finally, the bill directs the Board to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the act.
Patron: Stuart
Protective orders; issuance upon convictions for certain felonies; penalty. Authorizes a court to issue a protective order upon convicting a defendant for a felony offense of (i) violating a protective order, (ii) homicide set forth in Article 1 (§ 18.2-30 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2, (iii) kidnapping set forth in Article 3 (§ 18.2-47 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2, (iv) assaults and bodily woundings set forth in Article 4 (§ 18.2-51 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2, (v) extortion set forth in Article 6 (§ 18.2-59 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2, or (vi) criminal sexual assault set forth in Article 7 (§ 18.2-61 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2. The bill provides that the duration of such protective order can be for any period of time, including up to the lifetime of the defendant, that the court deems necessary to protect the health and safety of the victim and may only prohibit (a) acts of family abuse or of violence, force, or threat against the victim or criminal offenses that may result in injury to the person or property of the victim and (b) such contacts by the defendant with the victim as the court deems necessary for the health or safety of the victim. The bill provides that a violation of a protective order issued upon conviction of one of the enumerated offenses is punishable as contempt of court or in the same manner as criminal violations of other protective orders are punished.
Patron: Norment
Possession of marijuana; first offense; expungement; penalty. Reduces the penalties for possession of marijuana to a fine of not more than $500. Current law provides that the possession of marijuana may be punished by confinement in jail for not more than 30 days and subject to a fine of not more than $500. The bill also provides that a first offense for possession of marijuana is eligible for expungement. The bill provides that any person seeking expungement of a first-offense marijuana charge shall be assessed a $300 fee, which shall be paid into the Heroin and Prescription Opioid Epidemic Fund. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2019, except for the provisions related to the reduction of penalties for possession of marijuana, which shall become effective July 1, 2018. The bill contains technical amendments.
Patron: Edwards
Disclosure of information under the Master Settlement Agreement and Non-Participating Manufacturer Adjustment Settlement Agreement. Provides that officers, employees, or agents of the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Taxation shall share with each other's departments and disclose to the appropriate person or party information in accordance with the Master Settlement Agreement and the Non-Participating Manufacturer Adjustment Settlement Agreement entered into by the Commonwealth on October 10, 2017. The bill provides that any records shared by, collected by, disclosed by, or reported or provided to an officer, employee, or agent of the Office of the Attorney General or the Department of Taxation in accordance with such agreements are exempt from the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq.) and the Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act (§ 2.2-3800 et seq.).
Patron: Lewis
Constitutional amendment (second resolution); property tax; exemption for flooding remediation, abatement, and resiliency efforts. Provides that the General Assembly may authorize a county, city, or town to partially exempt any real estate subject to recurring flooding upon which flooding abatement, mitigation, or resiliency efforts have been undertaken.
Patron: Lewis
Constitutional amendment (second resolution); Transportation Funds. Requires the General Assembly to maintain permanent and separate Transportation Funds to include the Commonwealth Transportation Fund, Transportation Trust Fund, Highway Maintenance and Operating Fund, and other funds established by general law for transportation. The amendment directs that revenues dedicated to Transportation Funds on January 1, 2018, by general law, other than a general appropriation law, shall be deposited to the Transportation Funds, unless the General Assembly by general law, other than a general appropriation law, alters the revenues dedicated to the Funds. The amendment limits the use of Funds moneys to transportation and related purposes. The amendment specifies that the General Assembly may borrow from the Funds for other purposes only by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house and that the loan must be repaid with reasonable interest within four years.
Patron: Stuart
Constitutional amendment (second resolution); real property tax; exemption for surviving spouse of a disabled veteran. Provides that the real property tax exemption for the principal residence of the surviving spouse of a disabled military veteran applies without any restriction on the surviving spouse's moving to a different principal place of residence.