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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.
2016 SESSION
Co-Chair: Thomas K. Norment, Jr. - Co-Chair: Emmett W. Hanger, Jr.
Clerk: Patty Lung
Staff: Lisa Wallmeyer, Nicole Brenner
Date of Meeting: February 2, 2016
Time and Place: Tuesday, 9:00 AM - Senate Room B
Revised to remove SB 416, SB 470, SB 477 & SB 742
Patron: Stanley
Virginia Retirement System; health insurance credit. Increases the monthly health insurance credit for retired local government employees, local officers, general registrars, employees of a general registrar, and employees of local social services boards from $1.50 per year of creditable service with a cap of $45, to $4 per year of creditable service, with no cap.
Patron: Chafin
Clean Power Plan; state implementation plan; General Assembly approval. Requires the Department of Environmental Quality to receive approval from the General Assembly for a state implementation plan to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants prior to submitting the plan to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for approval.
Patron: Carrico
Vehicle registration fees; funds for Department of State Police. Raises the vehicle registration fee an additional $1.25 per year on each July 1 from 2016 through 2025 and allocates the funds to the Department of State Police.
Patron: Carrico
Commonwealth Space Flight Fund; transfer of funds. Extends through fiscal year 2020-2021 the annual transfer of $9.5 million from the Transportation Trust Fund to the Commonwealth Space Flight Fund. Under current law, the transfer would cease in fiscal year 2016-2017.
Patron: Howell
The Virginia Retirement System; technical corrections. Makes technical corrections to programs administered by the Virginia Retirement System, some of which will become effective on January 1, 2017.
Patron: Ruff
Virginia Sickness and Disability Program; open enrollment period. Opens enrollment into the Virginia Sickness and Disability Program between October 1, 2016, and January 1, 2017, for eligible employees not currently participating in the program. Any employee electing to participate in the program would convert his sick leave balances to (i) additional retirement service credit on the basis of one month f service for each 173 hours of sick leave or (ii) disability credits on the basis of one hour of disability credit for each hour of sick leave. An election to participate in the program must be in writing and is irrevocable.
Patron: Cosgrove
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; charitable gaming; audit and administration fee; adjusted gross receipts. Limits the audit and administration fee to no more than 1.25 percent of the adjusted gross receipts of a charitable organization, defined as the total amount of money received by the organization from charitable gaming before the deduction of expenses and excluding prizes paid out. Under current law, such fee is limited to 1.25 percent of the gross receipts, which includes prizes.
Patron: Ruff
Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; annual supplement. Adjusts the annual supplemental allowance under the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System to continue until a member reaches Social Security retirement age. Current law would end the benefit at age 65.
Patron: Stanley
Interstate 73 Corridor Development Fund and Program. Reallocates and transfers the U.S. Route 58 Corridor Development Fund and Program to Interstate 73 effective either July 1, 2020, or upon completion of the U.S. Route 58 Corridor Development Program, whichever occurs sooner. Currently, $40 million is allocated annually to the Route 58 project.
Patron: McEachin
Department of Environmental Quality; toxic waste site inventory. Directs the Department of Environmental Quality to inventory by July 1, 2017, nonfederally managed toxic waste sites in the Commonwealth and publish the inventory at that time and annually thereafter. The bill does not become effective unless an appropriation effectuating the purposes of the bill is included in a general appropriation act passed in 2016 by the General Assembly that becomes law.
Patron: Petersen
Local fuels tax. Authorizes localities to impose a local fuels tax, not to exceed five cents per gallon of fuel. The tax would be paid by the distributor at the point of sale to a retail distributor in the same manner as regional fuel taxes. The Commonwealth would make an annual payment to localities for the difference between revenues that were collected from the tangible personal property tax on vehicles, including personal property tax relief, and the amount of revenues collected by a five-cents-per-gallon fuels tax. The bill also repeals the personal property tax relief program. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2019, and is contingent on passage of a constitutional amendment making motor vehicles used for nonbusiness purposes exempt from taxation.
Patron: Lucas
Line of Duty Act; certain employees of the Department of Corrections. Expands the definition of a deceased person under the Line of Duty Act to include employees of the Department of Corrections with internal investigations authority whose death occurs as a direct or proximate result of the performance of their duty.
Patron: Deeds
Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; conservation officers. Adds conservation officers of the Department of Conservation and Recreation as members of the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System. Conservation officers would accrue retirement benefits under the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System only for creditable service on or after July 1, 2016.
Patron: Carrico
Investments by the Virginia Retirement System. Prohibits the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) from investing in companies with current substantial business operations in Iran and requires VRS to divest itself of any current holdings in such companies by January 1, 2017, and within six months of identifying any such company.
Patron: Sturtevant
Corporate income tax; addback for Captive REIT dividends. Provides that the voting power or value of the beneficial interests or shares in a real estate investment trust (REIT) that is held in a segregated asset account of a life insurance corporation shall not be taken into consideration when determining if the REIT is a Captive REIT for corporate income tax purposes. Under current law, no deduction from corporate income is allowed for dividends paid by a Captive REIT. The bill modifies current law for purposes of determining whether a REIT is a Captive REIT that will not be allowed a deduction for the dividends it pays.
The bill is effective for taxable year 2016 and thereafter.
Patron: McPike
Line of Duty Act; firefighters and emergency medical services trainees. Includes persons enrolled in a Fire Service Training course offered by the Virginia Department of Fire Programs under the Line of Duty Act.
Patron: Surovell
Secretary of the Commonwealth; establishment of digital document authentication standards. Requires the Secretary of the Commonwealth to establish digital document authentication standards for use with all public records of the Commonwealth by July 1, 2017.
Patron: Edwards
Two-Year College Scholarship Match Program. Establishes the Two-Year College Scholarship Match Program to provide matching funds to two-year college foundations and the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education. Funds paid shall not exceed $5 million, in aggregate, in any fiscal year. These funds shall be used to award scholarships to students who (i) are domiciled residents of Virginia and (ii) are enrolled in an associate degree program in a Virginia two-year college based on science, technology, engineering, math, education, or nursing.
Patron: Sturtevant
Governor; performance review of state departments, agencies, and programs; scope of review; report. Directs the Governor to initiate on July 1, 2016, and every two years thereafter, an operational and programmatic performance review of all state departments, agencies, and programs. The purpose of the review is to provide an objective and independent cost savings assessment of the Commonwealth's organizational structure and its programs in order to provide information to the Governor and the General Assembly to effect savings in expenditures, a reduction in duplication of effort, and programmatic efficiencies in the operation of state government. The bill provides that the review must be conducted by a United States-based private management consulting firm with experience in conducting statewide performance reviews and provides for certain required terms for the consulting contract. The Governor shall submit a report to the General Assembly on the results of each review by December 1 of the year in which such review is conducted.
Patron: McDougle
Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System; certain members of the enforcement division of the Department of Motor Vehicles. Adds full-time sworn employees of the enforcement division of the Department of Motor Vehicles who have the powers of sheriffs for enforcing laws of the Commonwealth as members of the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System. Such employees would accrue retirement benefits under the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System only for creditable service on or after July 1, 2016.
Patron: Lucas
Line of Duty Act; probation and parole officers. Expands the definition of a deceased person under the Line of Duty Act to include probation and parole officers whose death occurs as a direct or proximate result of the performance of their duty.
Patron: Edwards
Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission; repeal; transfer of funds to Medicaid. Repeals the enabling legislation of the Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission (the Commission) and directs that all funds in the Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Fund (the Fund), the Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Endowment, and the Virginia Tobacco Region Revolving Fund be transferred to the Commonwealth's Medicaid program. The bill also authorizes the Department of Medical Assistance Services to seek to recover any payments from the Fund that it determines were made incorrectly or erroneously by the Commission and directs the Auditor of Public Accounts to audit the accounts of the Commission.