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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 3, 2016
Time and Place: 9:00 a.m. - Senate Room B
Revised to add SBs 49, 646 and 715
Patron: Stanley
Grants for donations to science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) programs at qualified schools. Establishes a grant program administered by the Board of Education beginning in 2017 for donations made by STEM organizations to qualified schools. The donations must be used by qualified schools to support STEM programs. The bill defines qualified schools as those public elementary and secondary schools at which at least 40 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Grants are capped at $50,000 per organization per year.
Patron: Howell
Protective orders; possession of firearms; penalty. Prohibits a person who is subject to a protective order from possessing a firearm; currently, such person is only prohibited from purchasing or transporting a firearm. Such conduct is punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Patron: Howell
Courthouse and courtroom security; assessment. Increases from $10 to $20 the maximum amount a local governing body may assess against a convicted defendant as part of the costs in a criminal or traffic case in district or circuit court to fund courthouse and courtroom security.
Patron: Howell
Number of district court judges. Increases from seven to eight the number of juvenile and domestic relations district court judges in the 19th Judicial District (Fairfax, Fairfax County) and increases from three to four the number of general district court judges in the 25th Judicial District (Covington, Lexington, Staunton, Buena Vista, Waynesboro, Highland, Augusta, Rockbridge, Bath, Alleghany, Botetourt, and Craig). This bill is a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts.
Patron: Ruff
Sales and use tax exemption; certain data centers. Removes the sunset date (June 30, 2020) from a sales and use tax exemption for certain data centers. The bill also makes a technical correction regarding a subdivision that is erroneously set out twice in the Code.
Patron: Locke
Virginia Housing Trust Fund; revenue deposits. Provides that 20% of annual recordation tax revenue in excess of $325 million shall be deposited into the Virginia Housing Trust Fund. The bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Housing Commission.
Patron: Reeves
Local option health insurance plan; participation of regional emergency medical services councils. Authorizes regional emergency medical services councils to participate in the local option health insurance plan.
Patron: Miller
Voting systems; use of direct recording electronic machines. Prohibits the use of direct recording electronic machines (DREs) in elections on and after July 1, 2017. The governing bodies of counties and cities have been prohibited from acquiring DREs for use in elections since July 1, 2007, but under current law the use of previously acquired DREs is permitted for the remainder of their useful life.
Patron: Garrett
Statewide Fire Prevention Code; State Fire Marshal; consumer fireworks; penalties. Authorizes the use of consumer fireworks in the Commonwealth and distinguishes by definition consumer fireworks from display fireworks and permissible fireworks. The bill defines "consumer fireworks" as small fireworks devices (i) containing restricted amounts of pyrotechnic composition designed primarily to produce visible or audible effects by combustion and (ii) complying with certain federal regulations regarding composition and labeling. The bill also provides that the storage and transportation of consumer fireworks are to be considered the same hazard class as the storage and transportation of 1.4G explosives under the Statewide Fire Prevention Code (SFPC) and Uniform Statewide Building Code. The bill excludes from the provisions of the SFPC, unless prohibited by a local ordinance, (a) the sale of permissible or consumer fireworks, (b) any person using, igniting, or exploding permissible or consumer fireworks on residential or agricultural property with the consent of the owner of such property, or (c) such permissible or consumer fireworks when they are being transported from a locality where they were legally obtained to a locality where they are legally permitted. Current law only excludes sale of permissible fireworks or the use of such fireworks on private property. The provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2017. The bill contains technical amendments.
Patron: Stanley
Grants for science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) competition teams at qualified schools. Establishes a grant program administered by the Board of Education beginning in 2017 to establish STEM competition teams at qualified schools. The bill defines qualified schools as those public secondary schools at which at least 40 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Grants are capped at $10,000 per school per year.
Patron: Howell
Virginia taxable income; deduction for personal exemptions. Increases the deduction, for purposes of computing Virginia taxable income, for personal exemptions. For taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2017, a taxpayer may deduct $1,000 for each personal exemption allowable to the taxpayer on federal income taxes; current law allows a deduction of $930 per exemption. A blind or aged taxpayer may deduct an additional personal exemption in the amount of $900; current law allows an additional deduction of $800.
Patron: Saslaw
Corporate income tax; rate of taxation. Lowers the corporate income tax rate from six percent to 5.75 percent for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2017.
Patron: Chafin
Local option health insurance plan. Requires the Department of Human Resource Management to consider all participants in the local option health insurance plan in one pool for purposes of establishing contribution rates and accounting for claims and contributions for participants.
Patron: Vogel
State health insurance program; participation by certain local school division employees. Provides for the participation by employees of a school division in the state employee health plan. If the local school board elects to participate in the state employee health plan, it must make the election no later than January 1, 2017, with an effective date of July 1, 2017, for an initial period of three consecutive plan years, and thereafter participation shall be renewable for additional three-year terms at the option of the local school board. The bill also provides that the total cost of participation shall be paid by the local school board and the employees of the school division.
Patron: Hanger
Sales and use tax; refunds. Prohibits any taxpayer failing to give a dealer at the time of purchase an exemption certificate that was issued by the Department of Taxation from receiving interest on a refund claim for any period prior to the date the refund claim is completed. The bill also subjects tax preparers of and tax practitioners assisting with false or fraudulent returns, exemption certificates, or refund requests to the same criminal penalty (Class 1 misdemeanor) to which dealers who violate the sales tax laws are subjected.
Patron: Vogel
Voter registration; notification to other states of a person's registration in Virginia. Requires the general registrars, when registering any person who was previously registered in another state, to notify the appropriate authority in that state of the person's registration in Virginia by providing, through the Department of Elections, an electronic copy of that person's registration application.
Patron: Surovell
Sales and use tax; exemption for certain nonprofit entities. Provides exemptions from sales and use tax and local license taxes for certain nonprofit veterans organizations.
Patron: Norment
Sales and use tax exemption; materials and equipment used to drill natural gas and oil. Extends the sunset from July 1, 2016, to July 1, 2021, for the sales and use tax exemption for machinery and tools, materials, and supplies used to drill, extract, or process natural gas or oil.
Patron: Obenshain
Education improvement scholarship tax credit program; disbursement of donations. Extends from one year to three years the time during which a scholarship foundation must disburse, for qualified educational expenses, donations it receives for which education improvement scholarship tax credits were issued.
Patron: Cosgrove
Appeal of local tax assessments; confidentiality; trial by jury. Provides that an appeal to the circuit court for correction of an erroneous local tax assessment filed on or after July 1, 2016, may be conducted as a jury trial, at the discretion of the taxpayer, and prescribes the process for selecting jurors for such a proceeding. Additionally, the bill requires that prior to the release of confidential tax information in the course of such appeal, the court order the parties not to disclose such information to anyone not entitled to receive it and inform the parties that a violation of such an order is punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. Finally, the bill requires such a proceeding to follow the Uniform Pretrial Schedule Order provided in the Rules of Supreme Court unless the parties agree otherwise.
Patron: DeSteph
Virginia Beach arena. Extends from 2043 to 2050 an existing contingent sunset provision relating to the Virginia Beach arena.
Patron: McDougle
Fantasy Contests Act; registration required; conditions of registration; civil penalty. Creates the Fantasy Contests Act (the Act), which applies to fantasy contests with an entry fee offered in Virginia. The bill defines "fantasy contest" as any fantasy or simulated game or contest in which (i) the value of all prizes and awards offered to winning participants is established and made known to the participants in advance of the contest; (ii) all winning outcomes reflect the relative knowledge and skill of the participants and are determined predominantly by accumulated statistical results of the performance of individuals, including athletes in the case of sports events; and (iii) no winning outcome is based on the score, point spread, or any performance of any single actual team or combination of teams or solely on any single performance of an individual athlete or player in any single actual event. The bill requires operators of fantasy contests to register annually with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The bill sets forth the conditions for registration and penalties for violation of the Act. The bill provides that such contests are not illegal gambling.
Patron: Surovell
Claims; Davey Reedy. Provides relief in the amount of $961,489 to Davey Reedy, who was incarcerated from 1988 until 2009 after being convicted of two counts of first degree murder and arson in the daytime. On December 21, 2015, Governor McAuliffe granted an absolute pardon to Mr. Reedy, finding that Mr. Reedy's convictions were not supported by the forensic evidence relied upon at trial. Mr. Reedy's relief would be paid as follows: (i) an initial lump sum of $192,298 to be paid within 60 days immediately following the execution of a release by Mr. Reedy from any present or future claims he may have and (ii) the sum of $769,191 to purchase an annuity before October 1, 2016, for the primary benefit of Mr. Reedy with the terms structured in his best interests. In addition, the bill entitles Mr. Reedy to receive up to $10,000 for tuition for career and technical training within the Virginia Community College System.
Patron: Chafin
Health insurance for local employees. Allows local school boards and local governing bodies to elect to have all their employees and retirees, as well as the dependents of employees and retirees, eligible to participate in the state employee health insurance plan. The local school boards and governing bodies shall be responsible for whatever portion of the cost of such insurance is not paid by the employee, except any portion that the General Assembly elects to pay. The school board and governing body of a given locality must both elect to participate in the state plan in order for their employees to participate.
Patron: Dunnavant
Virginia taxable income; deduction for personal exemptions. Increases the deduction, for purposes of computing Virginia taxable income, for personal exemptions. For taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2017, a taxpayer may deduct $1,000 for each personal exemption allowable to the taxpayer on federal income taxes; current law allows a deduction of $930 per exemption. A blind or aged taxpayer may deduct an additional personal exemption in the amount of $900; current law allows an additional deduction of $800.
Patron: Petersen
Local tax officials; electronic dissemination of tax bills and tax documents. Authorizes treasurers, commissioners of the revenue, and other local tax officials to convey tax bills and other tax documents via electronic means, with the consent of the taxpayer, in lieu of mailing the bill or document. Current law only authorizes the treasurer to convey tax bills via electronic means. The bill also clarifies that consent of the taxpayer may be obtained electronically, so long as the taxpayer's identity is reasonably verified.
Patron: Edwards
Firearms shows; voluntary background checks;
penalties.
Requires the Department of State Police to be available to perform background checks for non-dealer sales at gun shows if requested by a party involved in a transaction. The promoter of the firearms show shall furnish the Department of State Police sufficient facilities to perform the background checks. In order for the bill to become effective, the U.S. Department of Justice must approve the policies and procedures that the Department of State Police will use to implement the provisions of the bill.
Patron: Saslaw
Corporate income tax; apportionment of revenue. Requires the Commissioner of the Department of Taxation to consider, when reviewing whether the method of apportionment used to determine corporate tax liability in the Commonwealth was inapplicable or inequitable, whether the portion of income taxed under current methodology resulted in taxation of a greater portion of income than could be reasonably attributed to the business in Virginia due to inconsistency with the methodology used in a majority of other states.
Patron: Surovell
Tax administration; awards for detection of tax underpayments. Creates a program for the payment of monetary rewards to individuals who provide information to the Tax Commissioner that leads to the successful collection of taxes that are owed by other individual or business taxpayers. Awards may only be given if the underpaying individual taxpayer's income exceeds $100,000 or the underpaying business taxpayer's income exceeds $500,000, and the amount in question exceeds $50,000.
Patron: Norment
Commonwealth's Development Opportunity Fund; political contributions; reporting. Requires the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) to provide to the Governor and to each campaign committee or political action committee known by VEDP to have been established by or on behalf of the Governor a quarterly report listing all businesses that received awards from the Commonwealth's Development Opportunity Fund (the Fund) in the previous quarter. The bill also requires the Governor and the campaign committee or political action committee receiving the reports to submit a report to the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council containing any contributions greater than $100 that were received from such businesses between the time the application was made to the Fund through the one-year period after the business received a grant or loan from the Fund. The reporting requirements of the bill replace a provision prohibiting any person or entity submitting an application for an award from the Fund from making a contribution to the Governor or to the Governor's campaign committee or political action committee during the time the application is pending and in the one-year period following the award from the Fund.
Patron: Sturtevant
Corporate income tax; rate of taxation. Lowers the corporate income tax rate from six percent to 5.5 percent for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2017.